Welfare Rights Initiative

For 30 years, since 1995, Welfare Rights Initiative (WRI) has inspired, organized, and nurtured a student-led, grassroots movement dedicated to ensuring welfare-eligible and low-income students have every opportunity to pursue education as a pathway out of poverty. Unfortunately, many who are experiencing severe financial hardship are not fully aware of their rights under the law or how to access available resources.

Once informed, many students require hands-on support to continue their college studies and graduate. WRI addresses the real-life, holistic needs of families struggling to stabilize and emerge from crises. WRI's legal advocacy, community leadership, and policy education programs are guided by a deep commitment to inclusion, social justice, and participatory policy making. WRI’s ultimate NorthStar is to remove all barriers to postsecondary education for people experiencing severe financial hardship thereby strengthening their capacity to emerge from poverty, achieve their full potential, and contribute to society as outstanding community leaders and lifelong social justice advocates.

With your financial support, WRI will continue to help Hunter students build on their potential in a city where they may have been overlooked.