The Queens Ledger attended our rally on food insecurity in Queens. Read their article online at http://www.queensledger.com/view/full_story/27780279/article-Community-groups-rally-to-address-food-insecurity?
SCS News
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Writer Allie Griffin spoke to our Executive Director, Judy Zangwill and Jonathan Forgash, co-founder of Queens Together, for an article about food insecurity in Queens. Read the article online at https://sunnysidepost.com/queens-food-pantries-see-food-supply-depleting-as-food-lines-increase.
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Learn more about our rally that was held in Woodside that we co-hosted with Queens Together. You can read the Queens Courier article and view several photos from the event online at https://qns.com/2020/10/community-groups-team-up-to-fight-food-insecurity-in-woodside/.
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Queens organizations including Sunnyside Community Services, Queens Together, Nice, and others rallied for food security. Watch the video online at https://www.univision.com/local/nueva-york-wxtv/trabajadores-de-restaurantes-piden-ayuda-para-sobreponerse-a-los-efectos-de-la-pandemia-video.
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CBS News highlights recent efforts by Sunnyside Community Services, Queens Together, and Catholic Charities Brooklyn & Queens to meet the growning need for food in New York City. Watch the story online at https://newyork.cbslocal.com/2020/10/28/halloween-harvest-pop-up-helps-hundreds-of-families-in-need-in-brooklyn/,
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Telemundo filmed live at our rally in Woodside, Queens about food insecurity in the borough. Jonah Gensler, Associate Executive Director of Community Services for Sunnyside Community Services was interviewed, along with some Queens residents who have benefited from our food distribution efforts. You can watch the video online at https://www.telemundo47.com/local/organizaciones-comunitarias-reclaman-falta-de-despensas-tras-alta-demanda-en-queens/2111586/.
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Sunnyside Community Services and Queens Together organized a rally to draw attention to the dwindling funding for food programs. Read the Queens Gazette article online at https://www.qgazette.com/articles/rally-for-food-security-in-woodside-wednesday.
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Sunnyside Post reporter Allie Griffin talked to Judy Zangwill, Executive Director of Sunnyside Community Services, property owner Harry Otterman, and Kristina Baines, one of the organizers with the 45th Street Composters for this feature article about how they worked together to convert a vacant lot in Sunnyside into a composting site.
Judy Zangwill, executive director for Sunnyside Community Service, calls it “… a great story about how people in the community came together to make something positive happen.”
Read the full story online at https://sunnysidepost.com/sunnyside-residents-and-property-owner-come-together-to-turn-empty-lot-into-composting-site.
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Since last June, Sunnyside Community Services (SCS) has been working with the 45th Street Composters to negotiate with the owner of a vacant lot in Sunnyside to use the lot for composting. The property owner, Harry Otterman, agreed to allow the composters to use the lot if SCS was involved. Last week, the negotiations were finalized and SCS signed a one-year lease for the lot on behalf of the 45th Street Composters.
On Saturday, October 17, the 45th Street Composters held a plant swap, their first official public event since the lease signing. The lot, located at 45th Street and Skillman in Sunnyside, Queens. will be open every Saturday from 9:30 am – 1 pm so that local residents can drop off food scraps to be composted. In addition to composting, there are plans for additional garden-related programming in the spring and summer.
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Since the pandemic began, Sunnyside Community Services in Queens has distributed over half a million dollars in cash assistance to struggling New Yorkers. But with more than 500 people currently on the waiting list, the funds have run out.
“The number of people asking for help is just staggering,” said Judith Zangwill, executive director of Sunnyside Community Services. “In a 12-month period during normal times, we would expect to distribute about $25,000 in assistance. Since March, we have given out 20 times that amount, and that represents just a small portion of the gaping need that is out there. We need our elected officials to marshal their resources to tackle this challenge.”
Since March, more than 500 people have received assistance from Sunnyside Community Services. The vast majority seeking help did so for rent expenses. Typically, applicants request help in the amount of $3–9,000 for months of past-due rent. Actual disbursements ranged from $50–$2,000.
A large portion of the assistance money was earmarked for undocumented immigrants who do not qualify for other forms of government aid such as unemployment insurance. Funding for the program was provided by Gerstner Family Foundation, Mayor’s Fund to Advance New York City, The New York Community Trust, and Robin Hood Foundation.
“There is a lack of resources for undocumented immigrants,” said Johan Lopez, director of adult and immigrant services for Sunnyside Community Services. “Couple that with the fact that many immigrants rent their apartments with no lease agreements, and therefore have no protection against evictions, and it’s clear that our undocumented residents are facing unique challenges. Immigrants are the backbone of this city. But once the pandemic hit, there were no resources for them and they were left behind.”
Sunnyside Community Services (SCS) is a community-based nonprofit centered on the belief that every person deserves meaningful support to achieve their aspirations – especially struggling families and individuals. SCS serves a diverse community of over 16,000 people of all ethnicities and income levels throughout Queens with programs that range from pre-K to college and career readiness, home care and home health aide training, Beacon and Cornerstone community centers for children and families, a vibrant senior center and full range of services for at-risk older adults including social adult day care for individuals with Alzheimer’s, and a city-wide program of supportive services for those who care for them. With programs designed to enrich lives and strengthen communities through services and engagement for individuals at all ages, beginning with those most in need, SCS has been lighting up lives with programs as diverse as the people they serve since 1974. For more information visit scsny.org or email info@scsny.org.