FOOD/FOOD SECURITY
Ask for your client’s home address
- You can also ask for their work address if there aren’t food pantry/food acquisition locations near their home address
Connect your client to one or more of these resources, available at www.nyc.gov/GetFood :
- NYCGetFood: Free Food Locations:
- Find the locations nearest your client; there are food pantries, free Grab&Go meals, soup pantries, and grocery stores
- Link: https://nyc-oem.maps.arcgis.com/apps/webappviewer/index.html?id=d781ef8a46cf417dbbfaf28f3b902ac4
NYC Meal Deliveries: COVID-19 Emergency Food Deliveries
- Online form as a result of the pandemic. The client can fill it out if they would like to, otherwise you can do it for them
- Link: https://cv19engagementportal.cityofnewyork.us/#/display/5e7555117ad6750216160409
- NY Common Pantry is a great state-sponsored resource if clients are able/willing to travel to a location even if it’s not nearby They are open during the pandemic and haven’t run out of food for as long as the Director of Social Services has been working there!
Meals on Wheels (search ZipCode and call the place, some websites are strange), Citymeals on Wheels (>age 60 and mental/physical disability that prevents shopping for or preparing food; the website says they do not ask about documentation status), and God’s Love We Deliver (chronic illness and unable to shop/cook) also exist but are charitable i.e. not state-sponsored resources.
If food pantries are not open, connect your client to nearby food banks
- Link: https://foodbanks.nyc/
- Food economics is food suppliers (for-profit companies) → food banks (warehouses for edible but unmarketable food) → food pantries/soup kitchens/faith-based orgs etc. (which reach out to communities directly) → people in communities BUT some food banks also directly offer food to the general public (“front-line” model vs a purely “warehouse” model)
- Call to see if they offer food to the general public and if people need to bring vouchers in order to receive food
- If vouchers are needed, ask how you can secure one for your client
You can also try connecting your client to Mutual Aid NYC
- Link: https://mutualaid.nyc/i-need-help/
- Mutual aid groups are community-based support systems (people working cooperatively to meet the needs of everyone in the community) and can help with delivering groceries/supplies, picking up prescriptions, etc.
- They also offer other resources, including childcare, eldercare, exercise/wellness, PPE, etc. : https://mutualaid.nyc/resources-groups/
Call the location(s) to make sure they are open/operating at the times they give on the website.
Autonomy and sustainability are two of our goals and giving clients the tools they need to succeed now and in the future are what we’re all about :)
- When connecting your client, do what you can to share more than just the name of the location/a finished Google Form.
- Basically, imagine if you were your client. What would you need/want to know in order to most successfully access this resource now and in the future?
- For example: Share the website you used (in their primary language, either by selecting the language if it’s offered on the site or using Google Translate’s “Translating a Web Site” feature) and consider explaining how you found the location Include operating hours and the location’s phone number Send a picture of a map if there are multiple resources with each resource’s address Define any map legends
Ensure everything is clear for the client; politely ask “Is everything clear? Do you have any questions?” (In Spanish: ¿Está todo claro? ¿Tiene usted alguna pregunta?)
Follow up with a question like “Please let me know the first time you get food” so that you can ensure the resource is a good one. The state of New York vets the NYC resources, but we don’t, and we want to make sure we’re sending our clients to quality places. [COVID-19] Many, many food pantries have closed because of the pandemic.
For urgent cases or for clients without access to pantries, your ACCESS leads also can send a one-time grocery delivery on FreshDirect
Contact Shahood & Janet to do this. - Send an email to access.hrp@icahn.mssm.edu and CC Shahood (shahood.fazal@icahn.mssm.edu) and Janet (janet.coleman-belin@icahn.mssm.edu) with your client’s case # and initials, along with all of the below information: - Ask for this information about your client:
Have they received a delivery before?
Updated, confirmed address
Any specific grocery requests
Good to know if they have a freezer/microwave so we can know what to send
Any food allergies
_Please also ask your client about access to pantries, medical conditions, and employment status for our internal tracking of how we're spending delivery money Were they referred to NYC Free Meals? NYC Food Delivery Services? Pantries near them? _ Medical conditions / inability to leave house? Employment status?
- Unfortunately, FreshDirect deliveries are not sustainable, and we do not have as much funding in this account at this time (GoFundMe fundraisers are welcome, please let us know if you’re interested in setting one of these up for this account)