24 • November 16, 2023 - November 22, 2023
THE NEW YORK AMSTERDAM NEWS
Local groups are fighting hunger, strengthening community ated an intake form. This was [so that we were] not only thinking about homelessness, because if a person’s homeless they’re dealing with other issues as well. The intake form consisted of assessing how do they get back and forth to school? Do they have enough clothing to feel comfortable in the classroom? Are they eating balanced meals every day? Are they having to do technology on their phone? I looked at a holistic approach––not just at the homelessness––and it turned out that not only were these students homeless, they were also hungry on campus.”
Some community organizations have taken it upon themselves to try to tackle this crippling problem, by creating food programs that provide nourishment and allow people to push themselves further in life.
Members of the New Afrikan Black Panther Party (NABPP) have been working for the last four years with a South Jersey farmer and a local company to bring free food to residents in Newark, New Jersey. (NABPP photos)
By KAREN JUANITA CARRILLO Amsterdam News Staff Food discussions always take place with the onset of the holiday season. Many questions come up: what to eat, how many to serve, who’s doing the cooking, and how will the food be prepared? The holiday season is also one of the primary times when the larger society remembers those who will not be celebrating with food—those who live day by day with food insecurity. When people lack access to good quality, affordable and nutritious food, it takes a toll on their physical and mental health. Food insecurity means a person may not know if they will have another meal, much less what that meal will consist of. “By November 2022, food insufficiency grew to 10.8% of New Yorkers and rates for households with children increased to 13.4%,” New York State Comptroller Thomas P. DiNapoli said in a report published this past March. “Over the last two years, Black and Hispanic or Latino adult New Yorkers
were more likely to report food insufficiency than both white adult New Yorkers and adult New Yorkers overall.” Some community organizations have taken it upon themselves to try to tackle this crippling problem, by creating food programs that provide nourishment and allow people to push themselves further in life. Dr. Waleek Boone, director of the Transition Academy at Brooklyn’s Medgar Evers College (MEC), says that at one point it was not unusual to find MEC students who were homeless. These were students from lowincome households who had lost their food assistance and medical benefits after graduating high school. They were registered for college but couldn’t afford to pay for MetroCards, so they were hopping the turnstiles or asking bus drivers for a free ride. They were homeless, or sometimes just had
fresh produce at the local farmers market, as well as developing relationships with local supermarkets so they could give students vouchers to go to Foodtown where they could find some of the things not available in the MEC pantry. Transition Academy also conducts workshops and helps students find jobs. What started as MEC’s effort to support students experiencing homelessness and food insecurity has become a point of entry where students can find all kinds of resources. “It was difficult in the beginning because when
difficulty trying to maintain themselves in a home. And then, when at home, they had no food. Often the whole situation would become so discouraging that some students simply stopped attending school altogether. Transition Academy started as an idea, a method to try to help students live securely while studying. Initially, Transition Academy had no resources, just an office, says Dr. Boone: “The first order of business was I cre-
MEC’s Transition Academy created its own Cougar Country Food Pantry which offers kale, collard greens, bok choy, chicken, salmon, halal meats, fresh beans, 100% juice, and more. But they found that the food pantry didn’t fully satisfy the needs of MEC students and their families. Organizers turned to offering vouchers to the school cafeteria and vouchers for reduced price/
students are faced with those hardships, they generally hide in the shadows to avoid this embarrassment. They don’t want anyone to know their business. So, the best selling point was: ‘Anything you share will be confidential with us.’ That’s how we began to build up Transition Academy and have students come out from behind the shadows to seek the resources.”
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