NYC launches $53M program to give pre-paid debit cards to migrants to spend in BODEGAS: Users must sign affidavit promising only to use card for food and baby supplies, with family of four set to get $1,000-a-month
- Migrants staying at the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan are given prepaid cards to spend on food, instead of the city providing meals at the hotel
- The cards can only be used at bodegas, supermarkets, supermarkets and convenience stores
- A spokesperson for the mayor said the pilot program is expected to save New York City more than $600,000 per month, or $7.2 million per year.
Migrants staying at one of New York City’s hotels will receive prepaid cards to purchase food and baby supplies, instead of the city providing meals that migrants often did not want.
Eric Adams, New York’s mayor, estimated that the plan will save the city $600,000 per month, or $7.2 million per year.
The pilot program is being rolled out at the Roosevelt Hotel in Manhattan, involving 500 families. The New York Post reported.
They receive cards that can only be used at bodegas, supermarkets and delicatessens. Migrants must sign an affidavit promising to use the cards only for food and baby supplies, or else have them cut off.
The amount on each card depends on individual circumstances.
Migrants are seen outside the Roosevelt Hotel on January 9. Families living at the hotel will participate in the prepaid card pilot, purchasing food instead of receiving meals.
Migrants arrive at the Roosevelt Hotel in New York City on January 26
The hotel has been used as a reception center for migrants since May 2023
A family of four could get almost $1,000 each month, which equates to $35 a day for food for the four. Currently, each migrant meal costs $11, so feeding a family of four for a day could cost up to $132.
Cards are refilled every 28 days.
The scheme was used last year for residents of social housing, so that they could buy food for the holidays.
“Not only will this provide families with the opportunity to purchase fresh foods for their culturally relevant diets and the baby essentials of their choice, but the pilot program is expected to save New York City more than $600,000 per month, or more than $7.2 million per month.” year. said Kayla Mamelak, Adams’ spokesperson.
Eric Adams, the mayor of New York, is seen on January 25. He has begged Joe Biden for federal help in addressing the city’s migrant crisis
Migrants will be given prepaid cards packed with cash to spend on food and baby supplies
The program is run by a company founded by a former Wall Street financier, Wole Coaxum, called MoCaFi.
The website describes MoCaFi as “a financial services platform for the 110 million Americans facing economic hardship and no path to better circumstances.”
Coaxum said, “MoCaFi looks forward to working with New York City to free up funds for asylum seekers to purchase fresh, hot food.
‘MoCaFi’s aim is to expand access to financial resources for individuals excluded from banking, such as asylum seekers, while helping the local economy.’
If the program is successful, the city will expand it to all migrant families staying in hotels, which currently number about 15,000, officials said Friday.