Spotlight On

Mission:
The New York City Coalition Against Hunger (NYCCAH) represents the more than 1,200 charitable soup kitchens and food pantries in New York City, as well as the over one million low-income New Yorkers forced to rely on these agencies to feed themselves and their families. The Coalition works to meet the immediate food needs of low-income New Yorkers while enacting innovative solutions to help them move “beyond the soup kitchen” towards greater economic self-sufficiency.

Background:

Established in 1983, NYCCAH is an umbrella group for the more than 1,200 soup kitchens and food pantries citywide, most of which are small, faith-based, under-funded, and volunteer-led. NYCCAH enables these agencies not only to serve more – and higher quality – food, but to reduce the long-term need of their clients/customers for such emergency assistance. The Coalition has developed a national reputation for pioneering effective new ways for these agencies to: build their capacities and expand their programming; advocate for improved governmental and economic policies that address the underlying causes of hunger; ensure that low-income families receive the government nutrition and tax benefits to which they are entitled; harmonize and coordinate services with each other; and develop the next generation of neighborhood anti-hunger and anti-poverty leaders.

The need for NYCCAH’s services is greater than ever, with the city facing an increasing crisis of poverty and hunger. Even before September 11, more than 1.7 million New Yorkers lived below the federal poverty line, and more than one million were forced to utilize charitable pantries and kitchens. According to the most comprehensive annual survey of local hunger (conducted by NYCCAH), the number of people fed at the city’s pantries and kitchens rose by 48% from 2000 – 2003. That number rose an additional 9% from 2003 – 2004, indicating that any economic recovery has yet to significantly aid the lowest-income New Yorkers.

The fastest-growing populations at these agencies are working parents, children, and senior citizens. While the public often uses the terms “hungry” and “homeless” interchangeably, at least 90% of the people forced to utilize kitchens and pantries in the city do live in some sort of home; they simply don’t have enough income to purchase all the food their families need.

Fully 81% of the city’s pantries and kitchens said they faced at least some increased demand for food in 2004, with 52% saying the demand had increased "greatly." The number of people being fed by such agencies is now at record levels. Yet, in the last year, only 22% of the agencies obtained more food and funding, only 15% hired more staff, and only 27% obtained more volunteers. In fact, more than twice as many agencies faced cuts in food and money as obtained increases. This “food distribution resources gap” forced a record 48 agencies to shut down entirely, forcing their clients to either go hungry or look elsewhere for food this year. Of the agencies that were able to stay in business, limited resources forced more than half (53%) to ration their food by either turning away hungry New Yorkers, reducing portion sizes, and/or cutting hours of operation – a 20% increase since 2002 in the number of agencies forced to ration food.

NYCCAH programs are dedicated to reversing these disturbing trends by helping these agencies obtain more food, staff, volunteer and funding resources and by addressing the root causes of this increasing hunger and poverty.

Current Programs:

NYCCAH currently runs eight programs:

• The groundbreaking Emergency Food Action Center (EFAC) is one of the first programs in the nation to provide comprehensive technical assistance to kitchens and pantries, free of cost, to help them strengthen their infrastructures in order to provide more and better food, as well as to help their clients move towards self-sufficiency. Providing technical assistance through workshops and one-on-one training, EFAC helps pantries and kitchens obtain more food and improve their operations in fundraising, financial management, nutrition education, technology, client service, and board and program development.
• The Interfaith Voices Against Hunger Program (IVAH) engages religious and civic leaders, people of varied faiths, and hungry people themselves in addressing hunger and advocating for intensified government action to alleviate poverty. IVAH works to expand and simplify access to food stamps and other government nutrition assistance programs, support the adoption of a living wage, increase government support for food pantries and soup kitchens, improve child nutrition programs, and support the ability of low-income people to develop assets to move towards financial independence.
• The Policy Research and Development Project determines the extent of – and the causes of – hunger in New York City and America and proposes innovative yet practical ways to tackle the problem. NYCCAH conducts extensive field research for its annual hunger survey, which is the city’s most comprehensive annual study of hunger.
• The Communications Initiative uses the mass media, the Internet, newsletters, and other creative ways of message delivery to inform New Yorkers about the hunger problem and concrete ways they can help address it.
• The Benefits Outreach Program trains pantries and kitchens to connect their clients with key anti-hunger and anti-poverty programs, including: Food Stamps; Women, Infants, and Children (WIC); Child and Family Health Plus; School Meals; After-School Snacks; Summer Meals; and the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC).
• The AmeriCorps*VISTA Project places developing leaders at pantries and kitchens in all five boroughs of New York City. This project provides day-to-day assistance to agency staff to improve the professionalism of their agencies, organize cooperative neighborhood networks to diversify and reduce duplication of local social services, and effectively tackle social problems in their communities. VISTA participants also develop professional skills necessary to take on future management roles in nonprofit groups and neighborhood initiatives.
• The Technology Project enables kitchens and pantries to better use computer hardware and software to feed more people, track clients, conduct benefits outreach, improve nutrition, link clients to jobs, and perform many other vital functions. To date, the Coalition has provided two dozen agencies with donated technological hardware, software, and the training to use it for important tasks such as accounting, client tracking, communications, and job training.
• The Volunteer Matching Center places hundreds of volunteers at kitchens and pantries to help meet basic needs such as stocking shelves and serving customers. The Coalition also recruits long-term, professionally skilled volunteers to help kitchens and pantries perform tasks essential to their program development, such as fundraising, computer skills training, graphic design, and accounting.

Funding Needs:
NYCCAH carries out its vital work in an extremely cost-effective manner. Wrote the national trade publication, the Community Food and Nutrition Report: “Only in New York City, and with organizations such as NYCCAH, does so little money do so much.” NYCCAH is seeking general operating support, as well as funding to maintain and expand each of its eight program areas. NYCCAH is also seeking strategic partnerships with corporations and other entities that seek to combine funding with employee volunteerism and technical assistance initiatives.

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