Urban Resource Institute

10/08/2025

✨ Hispanic Heritage Month: Honoring the Past, Inspiring the Future ✨

At URI, we are committed to helping individuals and families heal from violence, homelessness, poverty, and trauma. This month, we celebrate the Latinx community whose resilience, culture, and leadership inspire our mission of healing and empowerment.

Dionisio Infante, Senior Director of Facilities, oversees URI’s Bronx and Queens residences—creating safe, supportive spaces where families can rebuild their lives.

Reflecting on his journey as an immigrant from the Dominican Republic, Dionisio shares:

“Our collective heritage is more than traditions—it’s the strength, love, and sacrifices that brought us here. By honoring the past, I carry these stories with me and hope to inspire the future with gratitude and pride.”

His story reminds us that culture and community are at the heart of resilience and hope. This month, we proudly honor our Latinx staff and partners, including the NYC Department of Homeless Servicess, for helping survivors and families find safety, stability, and strength.

Join us in celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month and help amplify the voices of our community by sharing this post!

10/08/2025

🐾 Big news! Former PALS resident Elizabeth Rose and Teal Inzunza, LCSW, URI’s AVP of Justice Initiatives, are featured on the 6 Degrees of Cats podcast!

In this special “Housecats!” episode, they talk about how families — including their pets — can stay safely together. Elizabeth and Teal share insights from URI’s PALS (People and Animals Living Safely) program, the barriers survivors face, and the important role that cats play in healing and creating safe homes.

🎧 Check out the full episode here: pod.link/6degreesofcats or on your favorite podcast platform (including YouTube).

10/05/2025

✨ Hispanic Heritage Month: Collective Heritage—Honoring the Past, Inspiring the Future ✨

At URI, our mission is rooted in resilience—helping individuals and families heal from violence, homelessness, poverty, and trauma. This month, we honor the Latinx community whose strength and leadership inspire our work.

Patricia Arroyo, LMSW, Program Director at URI’s Hope House Domestic Violence residence, ensures survivors and their children receive safety and healing through holistic, trauma-informed services.

"The laughter of primos-hermanos playing together, the aromas from abuelita's cooking, the proud way we ask for la bendición. Tradition is our strength!" – Patricia

Her words remind us that culture and community strengthen resilience and healing.

Shout out to our partner NYC Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence, who works with URI and other community partners to provide inclusive support to survivors and their families.

Join us in celebrating Hispanic Heritage Month by supporting URI’s programs and partners.

10/05/2025

💜 Safety is a Human Right.
Everyone deserves to live free from violence, fear, and instability.

If you are experiencing domestic or gender-based violence — including intimate partner violence, economic abuse, sexual violence, stalking, or human trafficking — free and confidential help is available in NYC:

📞 NYC Domestic Violence Hotline: 800-621-4673

📞 National DV Hotline: 800-799-7233 | thehotline.org

🏠 NYC Family Justice Centers: Call 311 or visit nyc.gov/fjc

🌐 NYC HOPE Directory: nyc.gov/content/nychope/pages/

At Urban Resource Institute, we walk with survivors from trauma to triumph — helping them heal, rise, and shine. 💜

10/03/2025

✨ Exciting News at URI! ✨

Samantha Cardenas has joined Urban Resource Institute as our Senior Director of Government Affairs!

With extensive experience in government, advocacy, and grassroots organizing, Samantha will strengthen URI’s voice in policymaking — championing survivors of domestic violence and families experiencing homelessness. Her leadership will help advance policies that break cycles of violence and poverty, ensuring survivors get the protections and resources they need to thrive.

Read more about Samantha’s vision and URI’s advocacy agenda here: http://bit.ly/4hczoIx

10/01/2025

✨ From Trauma to Triumph: Heal, Rise, and Shine ✨

Every 24 minutes, someone in the U.S. becomes a victim of intimate partner violence. Behind these statistics are real people—each with a story of courage, survival, and hope.

At Urban Resource Institute, we are committed to walking alongside survivors as they heal, rise, and shine. From emergency shelter to holistic resources and empowerment, URI provides pathways from fear to safety, and from trauma to triumph.

This , we honor every survivor’s journey and invite you to join us. By advocating, sharing, and amplifying their voices, we can turn trauma into healing and hope.

💜 Read the full statement from URI CEO Nathaniel M. Fields here: https://bit.ly/4o2v8gQ

From Trauma to Triumph: Heal, Rise, ShineURI stands with survivors—offering shelter, support, and empowerment—from fear to safety, from trauma to triumph. This Domestic Violence Awareness Month, we honor every journey and reaffirm a simple truth: everyone deserves safety and dignity. READ MORE W...

09/30/2025

✨ Hispanic Heritage Month: Collective Heritage—Honoring the Past, Inspiring the Future ✨

At URI, our mission is rooted in resilience—helping individuals and families heal from violence, homelessness, poverty, and trauma. This month, we honor the Latinx community whose strength, legacy, and leadership inspire this work every day.

We’re proud to spotlight Eyenit Santana, Executive Assistant to URI’s Chief Executive Officer & Chief of Staff and a dedicated member of our Latinx Employee Resource Group (ERG).

Eyenit shares:
“Joy, faith, hope, resolve, integrity, and passion—these words come to mind as the pillars of the Hispanic Collective Heritage. I remember the joy of growing up in a home where every gathering was a celebration of life, love, and legacy. Like the oral traditions that carried our ancestors’ wisdom through time, our heritage is a living memory—woven with sacrifice, resilience, and hope. In honoring it, we don’t just remember—we feel, we rise, and we carry forward the light they left behind.”

Her words remind us that heritage and healing go hand in hand. By uplifting culture and community, we strengthen our mission to break cycles of trauma and build brighter futures.

💜 Help us amplify these voices—share this post in support of URI’s mission.

09/28/2025

Recently, URI’s People and Animals Living Safely (PALS) program partnered with My Dog Is My Home to host an Open House at PALS Place, bringing together 27 representatives from emergency housing, animal welfare, and government agencies.

✨ Highlights included a presentation from URI’s PALS team on expanding pet-inclusive emergency housing, a powerful story from former PALS resident Lisa, and a tour of one of URI’s pet-inclusive transitional housing facilities.

As the nation’s largest provider of domestic violence shelter services, URI is proud to lead in pet-inclusive care through PALS and our PALS for All initiative. Together with partners like My Dog Is My Home, we’re building networks across the country to expand access to pet-inclusive housing.

💜 Because every survivor deserves safety, healing, and the comfort of staying with their pets. Learn more: https://urinyc.org/uripals/



Photo: Bright Eyes Photos

09/27/2025

This Hispanic Heritage Month, Urban Resource Institute and our Latinx Employee Resource Group celebrate “Collective Heritage: Honoring the Past, Inspiring the Future.”

💜 Meet Luis Troncoso, URI’s Cybersecurity Analyst:
"You can't fight a war with just one soldier. Hispanic Heritage Month reminds me that lasting change comes from connection, community, and carrying forward the resilience and traditions of those who came before us."

Through his role, Luis ensures our network is secure and equips employees with the tools to defend against cyber threats—allowing URI staff to focus on providing healing, housing, and holistic care for survivors of domestic violence and homelessness.

💬 Help us amplify the voices of our community—share this post to support URI’s mission.

09/25/2025

🌟 This Hispanic Heritage Month, we celebrate Collective Heritage: Honoring the Past, Inspiring the Future — a tribute to the strength, leadership, and enduring impact that shape URI’s mission every day.

💜 “It is a privilege to serve alongside my fellow Trustees to further URI’s mission. I am grateful for the foundation laid by past Trustees and look forward to ensuring URI is here for generations to come.” — Martha Espinoza, URI Board of Trustees

We honor the strength and leadership of our Latinx community and give special thanks to our Board of Trustees and partners like the NYC Mayor’s Office to End Domestic and Gender-Based Violence for advancing safety, healing, and opportunity for the individuals and families we serve.

09/24/2025

This Hispanic Heritage Month, URI and our Latinx Employee Resource Group honor “Collective Heritage: Honoring the Past, Inspiring the Future.”

💜 Jasmin Cardoza, Development Manager, shared:
"In my role at URI, I connect supporters with our mission and bring essential resources to the individuals and families we serve. Our community’s resilience, unity, and cultural strength are powerful forces for change.”

Through her work, Jasmin helps provide healing, housing, and holistic support to survivors of domestic violence and homelessness.

✨ Special shoutout to Maria Castro, founder of LovePurse, for donations of purses and essential women’s toiletries to the community.

👉 Join us in honoring Hispanic Heritage Month by supporting URI’s programs and partners: https://urinyc.org/donate-today/