Story by JUSTINA RAMLAKHAN, Photo by THEA SETTERBO

New York City’s nonprofit sector relies on the nurturing caregivers who attend to the needs of the bustling population, providing everything from child care to home-based health care. But what happens when those individuals are not compensated for the services they provide?

For decades, Highbridge Advisory Council Family Services (HACFS) has offered free 3-K, Pre-K, and early childhood education programs in the Bronx. The agency receives funding from the City of New York, which is supposed to be used to pay their providers.

HACFS centers temporarily closed in the late spring without notice, and employees were left to scramble and figure out whether they still had jobs. In July, the nonprofit’s chief executive officer resigned.

On Aug. 1, members of Local 95 Head Start Employees and Local 205 Day Care Employees gathered outside the Marshall England Early Learning Center, the largest center that HACFS operates, for the second of a series of rallies to demand payment for their work after months of inconsistent paychecks led to receiving no payment altogether.

“I’ve worked here for 21 years,” said Juana Lopez, a Local 205 member and assistant teacher at the center. “I started to have problems with my paychecks back in January, and haven’t received a payment since earlier this summer. We’re here to claim our paychecks because that is the only money we have for our expenses. The agency needs to hear about us. We did the work and now we are owed!”

Dozens of providers have continued working out of their homes without pay since May, hoping they’ll eventually receive approximately $700,000 in unpaid wages. To further complicate matters, increasing attrition due to wage uncertainty has made it difficult to operate at full capacity while abiding by legally required staff-to-child ratios.

The closure of the Marshall England center has adverse implications for hundreds of families in the Highbridge neighborhood who depend on child care in order to attend their own jobs. The center is one of few in the neighborhood that offers affordable services for the working-class community.

Assembly Member Chantel Jackson, who represents the 79th District in the Bronx, joined the rally. Jackson echoed the demand for timely payments and back pay and pledged her support for the workers.

As of print, HACFS has not made any additional payments to its workers and released a statement explaining that all workers have been furloughed throughout 2024.

DC 37 has filed three grievances against the HACFS special education, Head Start and day care programs. The grievances are currently being arbitrated and awaiting a response from HACFS to set a date.

“In the best case scenario, we win arbitration and get our members back pay,” said Onja Overby, a Council Representative for the special education program. “We want to get our members back to work as soon as possible because they’re behind on bills, their housing situations are in jeopardy without a steady stream of income, and they are in dire straits financially.”