ARIC’s Emergency Fund (AEF)
As the founders of ARIC developed connections among the immigrant support groups in the North Country, we recognized the need to have readily available financial resources to help immigrants in crisis. So we began to envision a “strong box” to contain resources which we could share with our collaborators and other immigrant allies. ARIC’s Emergency Fund, the AEF, was the first resource to be developed.
The purpose of the AEF is to provide urgent, short-term, and emergency support for immigrant individuals and families in the Adirondack region who are facing acute crises. These include, but not limited to:
emergency medical care (uninsured costs, urgent prescriptions, ER visits)
legal assistance (immigration defense, family reunification, asylum filings)
emergency housing (eviction prevention, shelter stays, transitional housing)
crisis transportation (medical appointments, legal hearings, shelter access)
basic survival needs (food, winter clothing, infant formula, hygiene products).
Referrals and requests have come from regional service organizations, legal clinics, schools, faith groups, and trusted community partners. Applications for funding document details of the immigrant living situations and the crises in which they have found themselves. An applications is reviewed by ARIC’s board of directors as soon as possible. We have consistently been able to make decisions and to send out funds within 24 hours. These are restricted grants, 100% of which is only for direct client support.
The AEF was launched in June, 2025. Our first grant was to cover application fees required to secure more durable status for a migrant family at risk of deportation.
Happily, we have been able to attract donations from empathetic individuals and generous grants from regional foundations. These. have allowed the AEF to respond to the increasing number of crises because of the increasing ICE activity in the North Country. In 2025, ARIC disbursed a total of $9,690 in grants. From January through August 2026, disbursements have totaled $11,296.
