By Susan Lee

 For Queens immigrants in need of basic services, such as English classes, daycare centers or citizenship help, the City’s most diverse borough delivers, with a wide range of easily accessible help services that make life a little easier for newcomers.

Queens offers a variety of basic and vital services, ranging from obtaining translations of confusing paperwork or providing daycare while immigrants attend English as a Second Language (ESL) classes. No matter what the service, Queens immigrants can be assured that dozens of certified agencies offer help in areas including mental health, youth and adult needs, citizenship, employment, housing, immigration, abuse, disability, senior citizen, and more.

Many of these services are available at either a nominal sliding scale fee or for free, depending on the agency and the eligibility requirements. 

At the Corona-Elmhurst Guidance Center, which specializes in mental health services, a spokeswoman said that the center provides mental health services available for a sliding scale fee that usually amounts to $90 for an individual therapy session.

At Builders for the Family and Youth Center, a Catholic Charities of Brooklyn-Queens affiliate, recent events have targeted immigrants in need of work after Sept. 11. According to Director Dina Maniotis, the center set up a disaster response team, and has an employment developer and a job coach that directly help clients with resumes and assist them in finding job opportunities. Computer training and ESL classes are also available, Maniotis said, as are child care opportunities on Saturdays for parents who are busy searching for jobs.

Maniotis said, “It is free for anyone, but we have a social worker who does a pre-screening and then directs them to a service provider who is also a social worker, who makes a risk assessment of the client.”

According to Maniotis, many of the center’s clients are Spanish-speaking, both documented and undocumented, who know that the center is affiliated with the church and feel “comfortable to walk in” because it’s not a governmental-based agency.

At the Esther Grunblatt Russian Service Center, Director Anne Kovnat said that much of the services revolve around case management and help with entitlements, including paperwork on Medicare, social security, food stamps, and other public assistance programs. Translation services are also available, and around 170 people currently use the center for case management services. On average, 20 to 25 people come in for referrals or entitlements. 

The center also offers counseling for parents and children, and gives out food and clothing to “anyone who needs it,” Kovnat said – an act that continues the practice of founder Esther Grunblatt, who used to give out materials to the needy from her own garage in the 1970s.

The National Korean American Service and Education Consortium is another group that helps immigrants, and Director Steve Yun said that “while it is rare that community members will walk from the street into the office” for services, the national organization that advocates for Korean-American immigrants rights offers a slightly different service than other organization. 

“Our center provides some form of social services, such as free legal income tax filing clinics, and sponsored by IRS, for low-income residents, but our strength is community organizing which is unique,” he said. 

For example, around election time, the organization urges Koreans to go out and vote, produces voter guide booklets and engages in a street campaign to raise voting awareness. In addition, the organization seeks to “urge, lobby, and pressure governments to pass pro-immigration legislation.”

Executive Director Annetta Seecharran of the South Asian Youth Action (SAYA) Center in Elmhurst that was founded only five years ago and now serves around 400 South Asian youth said that her organization provides South Asian teens ages 14 to 19 with an after-school program that includes recreational activities and  a strong academic program for SAT and regents preparation. 

An activist for the New York City-based organization Coalition for the Human Rights of Immigrants, Jane Guskin warned that it is a “common thing” for immigrants to get cheated out of money after seeking out legal advice from lawyers chosen randomly out of the phone book or without referrals, and said, “They have to know for sure that the lawyer is reliable, unless you know someone that has dealt with them.” He advocated immigrants to call a local immigrant organization for help in dealing with these issues.

In alphabetical order, the following is a list of several credible and reputable Queens immigrant service-based agencies that have been listed in the  New York City Mayor’s Office of Immigrant Affairs and Language Services’ “Directory of Services to Immigrants,” and an online database compiled by the New Americans Program at the Queens Borough Public Library. 

The different organizations offer programs in a variety of languages and on a variety of days. Some of the agencies listed may have nominal fees or may be free, and may also have referral services to other programs and agencies call for information.

Accion Latina
39-19 103rd St., 2nd Floor, Corona
429-0500

AIDS Center of Queens County
97-45 Queens Blvd., 12th Floor, Rego Park
896-2500  

American Immigrants/Centro Cultural Argentino
51-07 43rd Ave., Woodside
426-0226  

Astoria Community Service Center (ACSC)
14-54 31st Rd., Astoria
626-1490  

Bosnian Refugees Association
34-07 31st Ave., Suite 3C, Astoria
204-5259  

Builders for the Family and Youth Catholic Charities–Queens North
23-40 Astoria Blvd., Astoria
726-9790          

Builders for the Family and Youth Catholic Charities–Queens South
90-39 189th St., Hollis
217-1440  

Chinese Immigrant Services
135-17 40th Rd., Flushing
353-0195  

Concerned Citizens of Queens
40-18 Junction Blvd., Corona
478-1600  

Corona-Elmhurst Guidance Center
37-22 82nd St., Jackson Heights
779-1600  

Dominico-American Society of Queens
35-54 98th St., Corona
457-5395  

Educational Center for Russian Jewry
98-12 66th Ave., Rego Park
275-3318  

Emerald Isle Immigration Center
59-26 Woodside Ave., Woodside
478-5502  

Esther Grunblatt Russian Service Center
93-10 Queens Blvd., Rego Park
263-3323  

Federation Employment/Guidance Rego Park Counseling Center
97-45 Queens Blvd., Rego Park
896-9090  

Forest Hills Community House
108-25 62nd Dr., Forest Hills
592-5757  

Haitian Americans United for Progress (HAUP)
221-05 Linden Blvd., Cambria Heights
527-3776  

Hellenic American Neighborhood Action Center (HANAC)
31-14 30th Ave. , Astoria
728-3586  

Immigration Advocacy Services
24-40 Steinway St., Astoria
956-8218  

Jackson Heights-Elmhurst Kehillah
33-47 91st St., Jackson Heights
457-4591  

Jewish Community Council of the Rockaway Peninsula
10-11 Nameoke St., Far Rockaway
327-7867  

Korean-American Senior Citizens Society of Greater New York, Inc.
149-18 41 Ave., Flushing
461-3545  

Korean Youth Center
35-34 Union St. #1A, Flushing
321-1010  

Latin American Immigrant Association
61-07 43 Ave., Woodside
426-0226  

Liberty Center for Immigrants
125-09 Jamaica Ave., Richmond Hill
847-3757  

Mental Health Providers of Western Queens
74-09 37th Ave., Suite 311, Jackson Heights
672-1705  

National Korean American Service and Education Consortium, Inc. (NAKASEC)
50-60 Parsons Blvd. Suite 100, Flushing
445-3939  

Nav Nirmaan Foundation
87-08 Justice Ave. Suite LA, Elmhurst
478-4588  

New Immigrant Community Empowerment
In the process of moving
482-3618  

Polonians Organized to Minister to Our Community (POMOC)
60-17 56th Dr., Maspeth
326-9098  

Safe Horizon/ Traveler’s Aid Society
74-09 37th Ave., Jackson Heights
899-1233  

South Jamaica Services for Families and Children
106-10 Jamaica Ave., Richmond Hill
805-6495  

Steinway Child and Family Services
41-36 27th St., Long Island City
389-5100  

YMCA-Flushing/Bayside Beacon Center for District 25 at JHS 189
42-07 Parsons Blvd., Flushing
144-80 Barclay Ave., Flushing
961-6014