Our Work

Promoting Workers’ Rights

We organize low-income immigrant workers to empower them to stand up for themselves, advocate for policy changes, and to build a stronger labor movement. Together with our allies, we successfully campaigned for the New York State Domestic Workers Bill of Rights, the first legislation in the country to recognize the rights and dignity of domestic workers. We also successfully advocated for the International Convention on Domestic Workers (C189).

We co-founded and currently lead the New York Healthy Nail Salon Coalition. This year, there has been unprecedented media and public interest in the nail salon industry, which has created opportunities for policy changes in New York. We have added Nepali and Tibetan languages to the licensing exam; made it easier for unlicensed workers to get licensed regardless of their immigration status; created a “Nail Salon Workers’ Bill of Rights” poster that New York State has mandated will be posted in all salons; and created a trainee program to allow unlicensed workers to work while preparing for their licensing exam.

Adhikaar is an active member of the Justice for Jobseekers Campaign. In New York City, we have spoken out for many changes, including the municipal ID (IDNYC) and the paid sick leave, which directly and indirectly impact the workers’ rights.

Increasing Access to Healthcare

We make it easier to access free and affordable healthcare providers, particularly for the more than half of adult Nepali-speakers who live in New York without health insurance. We provide education about patient’s rights, and organize free health fairs and cancer screenings. We also advocate for meaningful language access at hospitals and other institutions for low-incidence languages such as Nepali and Tibetan. This can be a matter or life or death if patients do not fully understand the medications or the medical procedures.

To implement the Affordable Care Act, we have trained multilingual navigators who support Nepalis, Tibetans, and other Asian Americans sign up for health insurance. Adhikaar is the only organization with Nepali- and Tibetan-speaking navigators certified by the New York State.

Expanding Immigrant Rights & Civic Engagement

We organize our community to fight for fair and humane immigration laws, and for improved access to services for immigrants and refugees. We march and rally in the streets, and meet with elected officials to present our policy recommendations. We host educational workshops about immigration laws and proposed policy changes that directly affect our members. Additionally, we seek to ensure equitable access to resources for all New Yorkers, including the emerging immigrant communities.

Following the devastating earthquake in Nepal, Adhikaar successfully led a campaign to designate Nepal for the Temporary Protected Status, providing temporary immigration relief for all Nepalis living in the U.S. including work authorization and protection from deportation until December 2016.

Adhikaar provides a platform for new immigrants, particularly Nepali-speaking, Tibetan, and other Asian immigrants, to fully participate in civic life. We help those who are eligible to become citizens, register to vote, and go to the polls. We also hold candidate forums and promote civic awareness so that everyone in our community can participate in the political process.

How We Do It

  • Organizing & Grassroots Advocacy

    Adhikaar organizes Nepali-speaking immigrants so that our emerging immigrant community can have a voice in determining policies that affect us. Alongside other social justice advocates, we have organized to protect domestic workers, expand paid sick leave, end human trafficking, and create a healthier nail salon industry.

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    Adhikaar currently leads the New York Healthy Nail Salons Coalition, Justice in the Home Campaign, and the Beyond Survival Campaign (against trafficking of domestic workers), and is an active member of many other campaigns including the Justice for Jobseekers campaign. We also advocate for language justice and data dis-aggregation to ensure that our community’s needs are documented and met.

  • Leadership Development

    We build leadership of our members to strengthen our organizational capacity as well as build a stronger social justice movement led by low-wage immigrant workers. We develop leadership from within the immigrant worker community, whereby those directly affected by labor, civil rights, and immigration abuses lead the effort to improve their own conditions.

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    Through informal on-going conversations, structured workshops, and a formal leadership training series, members develop the skills needed to fully participate in civic life and social change efforts. We also use art as a tool for leadership development, to explore the challenges of immigrant lives and find creative solutions.

  • Participatory Action Research

    Through participatory action research, we build leadership of our members and also document our community’s stories so our program decisions and policy recommendations are truly rooted in the community.

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    Adhikaar completed the first comprehensive needs assessment of our community, including surveys, focus group discussions, and individual interviews. The 2010 report “Snapshots of the Nepali-Speaking Community in New York: Demographics and Challenges” provides the baseline data about our community. Adhikaar served as an anchor organization and trained workers to serve as surveyors for the first national domestic workers’ survey.

    We have also completed ground-breaking worker-led participatory action research documenting nail salon industry conditions and published the report, “Behind the Polish: Experiences of Nepali-speaking Nail Salon Workers in New York City.”

  • Community Education

    We organize Know Your Rights workshops and community forums on a range of issues of importance to our community, including workers’ rights, immigration, and tenant rights.

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    We also work with media partners in the community to reach the broader population.

    In January 2015, 180 people attended our workshop on the newly created municipal ID (IDNYC) and the Executive Action on immigration. We organized the event in partnership with Council Member Daniel Dromm and Nepali-language media outlet Sampreshan.

  • Workforce Development Training

    We host skill-building trainings, such as CPR certification, nanny training, and green cleaning, tailored to the needs of Adhikaar members.

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    In 2014, in partnership with JFREJ and Damayan, we developed an innovative pilot training conducted jointly with eldercare providers and recipients. In 2015, we partnered with Cornell University to develop a bilingual nanny training program, and trained 20 nannies.

    Our English for Empowerment classes build language capacity and confidence among our members. We have weekly 2-hour English classes at multiple levels to meet the needs of our community, including those who have never attended school. We currently hold classes on Sundays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays. Our class schedule may change due to other programming. To confirm class schedule and to register, please visit us at our Community Center or call us at 718-937-1117.

  • Support Services & Referrals

    In order to provide holistic support to our members, we provide case management support and referrals to services to individuals and families.

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    We have created successful partnerships with other organizers, advocates, service providers, and elected officials to provide high quality services to our community. Access to information and resources allow new immigrant families to make informed decisions, and rebuild their lives in the new country.

    Adhikaar is the community’s 411/311 information and referral service. We are the first stop for other community organizations, government agencies, researchers, and media personnel looking for information about the Nepali-speaking community. Adhikaar is also a gateway between the Nepali-speaking community and other social justice movements, elected officials and mainstream institutions.

  • Language Access

    As low-incidence languages, Nepali and Tibetan are not covered by language access policies at City, State, or Federal levels. By advocating for increased services in Nepali and Tibetan and translating important information, we ensure language access for our community members so that they can access vital services regardless of their English skills.

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    We train bilingual and multilingual individuals to provide interpretation and translation services, and we have created a handbook for interpreters.

Guiding Principles

  • Adhikaar’s health program staff giving a presentation on health insurance services.

    We balance the day-to-day needs of our community with long-term strategy and vision of systematic change.

    It is important to get this week’s paycheck on time, and equally important to work to create a pathway to citizenship for all immigrants.

  • Group of staff members stretching during workforce development training.

    Our programs are guided by community needs and demands.

    We listen to our members when they talk to us about their lives. Our programs are guided by community needs and demands. We listen to our members when they talk to us about their lives.

  • Joyful community members at our annual women’s day (Nari Diwas) celebration.

    In all of our work, we embrace a social justice vision bound in dignity and equity for all, with Nepali voices at the center.

    We actively prioritize leadership of marginalized groups, including women and youth, within the Nepali-speaking community.