This Week's Resources
Hudson Link Spring Benefit and Employer Toolkit
If you have resources to share with our network, please contact Tobi Mojeed-Balogun our Associate Director of Programs Support.
NYS COVID Mandate Updates
A lot of the news around mandates and restrictions have been a little confusing so I will list some resources below that might help.
PIX11 COVID Updates - kind of NYC-centric but state information is sometimes included. Link here.
NYS Department of Health COVID website - It's a one stop shop with an info summary at the top. Link here.
Federal COVID website - covid.gov - it's pretty bare bones but you can search your county and get COVID level
If you have any other resources, please feel free to share them with me so I can share them with everyone!
2022 Bulk Buy Application!
We are thrilled to announce that we will begin accepting proposals for our 2022 Bulk Buy Program! Bulk Buy allows us to aggregate food purchasing across the Diocese and means free high-quality food for EC programs. You can find our brief application form HERE! Please contact me (Tobi) with any questions or concerns.
The Church of the Epiphany Wednesday Night Dinner Program is in need of a new Cook
Our friends over at the Church of the Epiphany's Wednesday Night Dinner Program need a new cook for our Wednesday Night Dinner Program. They are seeking someone for 7-8 hours a week to cook the dinner and also handle the ordering of food through the various agencies, and coordinate deliveries with the church. They will send a full job description soon.The actual cooking happens Wednesday afternoon, so maybe another program's cook may want the additional hours, etc. They're open to all ideas! If you want more information, know any good candidates, or have any suggestions contact the Rev. Elise Hanley at hanley@epiphanynyc.org.
Holy Nativity "An Old Victorian Tea Party"
The Church of the Holy Nativity in the Norwood section of the Bronx will be having a tea party fundraiser on Saturday of the Fathers' Day/Juneteenth weekend from 4-7 pm. The dress code is elegant attire so bring your best tea party clothes! The flier is linked here and you can contact Priscilla Talbot at hunkress7@aol.com about tickets or if you have any questions.
St Ignatius of Antioch Soup Kitchen is in need of a Team Captain
Our friends over at St Ignatius of Antioch Soup Kitchen over in the Upper West Side, Manhattan is losing one of their long-time team captains for their Saturday evening meal prep to retirement and need help finding a replacement. If you want more information, know any good candidates, or have any suggestions let me know and I will pass it along to Nick Greendyk, their volunteer coordinator.
Hudson Link Spring Benefit & Employer Toolkit
Our friends at Hudson Link for Higher Education in Prison held their virtual Spring Benefit last week and it was amazing! You can watch it on their website here and learn about all the amazing work they do.
Hudson Link put together an employer toolkit for hiring formerly incarcerated people. Thank you to Sean Pica, Eldredge Blalock, Elisabeth Santiago, and the rest of the team at Hudson Link for this important resource. The toolkit can be found here. If you have any questions about hiring formerly incarcerated people, please contact Elisabeth Santiago from Hudson Link's Alumni Services at esantiago@hudsonlink.org.
ActivePlus
Our friends over at Active Plus work with the community to create a culture of healthy and active living.They provide health and physical education for youth coming from vulnerable communities. Regarding their mission they have said: "This mission embodies our purpose, drives our everyday actions, and is at the core of who we are as an organization. We believe that, by exposing children and teens to new activities, mindsets, information, and behavior at a young age, we can change the course of the rest of their lives."
Visit their website at https://www.activeplus-nyc.org/ to learn more!
Sing For Hope - Young at Arts Programming
Our Friend Sharyn Pirtle over at Young at Arts shared with us some programming that might be of use to our community:
"The first free program that I'd like to share is on our Open Arts platform that can interactively reach students, the elderly or any other group suffering from pandemic isolation, with curated arts programming. We have 2 interactive "Careers in the Arts" series, coming up on Open Arts. I have attached a flyer and any one can RSVP to these events HERE. The 2nd project is a 30 minute vaccine confidence musical, Don't Throw Away Your Shot that we had created, cast and filmed in New York and includes 20 or so Young at Arts performers. Like the Careers in the Arts, this program also includes a live talk back with the artists. The musical was underwritten through a grant from the CDC Foundation and we have the funding to present the performance 40 times, both virtually and in person throughout the NY area. To find out more about bringing the musical virtually to a school or other youth organization, visit the Sing for Hope website."
Biden and Latin American leaders strike migration deal (AP)
"LOS ANGELES (AP) — President Joe Biden and other Western Hemisphere leaders on Friday announced what is being billed as a roadmap for countries to host large numbers of migrants and refugees." Read more here.
NYC public school families to receive $375 per child for food benefits through federal COVID relief (Chalkbeat)
"All New York City public school families regardless of income will receive $375 per child in food benefits to help cover the costs of meals from last summer during the pandemic —whether they attended summer school or not.
The state began the rollout this month, with the retroactive benefit being distributed to students enrolled as of June 2021." Read more here.
Demand at food banks is way up again. But inflation makes it harder to meet the need (NPR)
'NORFOLK, Virginia — On a sultry evening at a neighborhood food pantry in this waterfront city, some in the line outside have come from work. Justine Lee, a teller at a credit union, had never gone to a food bank until prices went crazy this year. Now, she says with a laugh, inflation means "a lot of fussing between mothers and daughters."' Read more or listen to the article here.
Community Food Funders Newslink
Community Food Funders has opened up their newsletter to a wider audience (so not just food funders). "Each month, CFF compiles a newsletter with news, articles, reports, and events for those in our region interested in an equitable and sustainable food system." Highlights on this month's newsletter include:
Report: The FDA’s Food Failure - "A monthslong POLITICO investigation — based on more than 50 interviews — found that drugs and other medical products dominate food at the agency, both in budget and bandwidth. Over the years, the food side of FDA has been so ignored and grown so dysfunctional that even former FDA commissioners readily acknowledged problems...We published a deep dive into the agency’s structural failures, lack of action to prevent major produce outbreaks and slowness to try to make food healthier. We encourage you to bookmark it and read it in full." - Helena Bottemiller Evich, Politico. You can read the four key takeaways of the investigation here.
You Can’t Isolate the Food Crisis From the Climate Crisis, Andrew McCormick, The Nation, Apr 1 2022
‘We can’t even buy food’: New Yorkers protest proposed rent increases, Gloria Oladipo, The Guardian, Apr 30 2022
plus loads more!
I will continue to include highlights from each month's newsletter on our weekly resource round-ups but if you would like to subscribe yourself, the link is here. The link to last month's newsletter is here and their archive is here.
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That's all for this week -- thanks for all you do!