New York Common Pantry

As the point of entry for all Choice Pantry members, Help 365 offices are open 365 days a year and provide screening by case managers to check for sufficient family income and resources. All first time registrants will receive emergency bags of food, appropriate for the family size, at the first visit. Help 365 staff at our Manhattan, Bronx, and Mobile Pantries assist with acquiring benefits and entitlements, such as Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) and Social Security Supplemental Income; and provide assistance with accessing the other appropriate resources to prevent families from being evicted from their homes and by making employment referrals. Help 365 also provides referrals for on-site financial counseling, legal services and off site tax preparation.

The Live Healthy! Program at New York Common Pantry offers direct nutrition education and policy system and environments programming for under-served, high-need community members, with a focus on the SNAP-eligible population. As part of a complementary approach, the Live Healthy! program provides behaviorally-focused nutrition education and obesity prevention activities for adults and children. Delivered through single and series workshops in a variety of settings such as schools, community centers, senior centers, food pantries, community colleges and health care settings, Live Healthy! aims to change attitudes and behaviors when it comes to choosing nutrient-dense real food. Live Healthy! is funded by the Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance through the SNAP-Ed administered grant and serves New Yorkers across all boroughs, primarily focused on high need neighborhoods in the South Bronx and Upper Manhattan.

Nourish is a Commodity Supplementary Food Program, funded by the USDA and NYS Department of Health, that works to improve the health of low-income elderly persons at least 60 years of age by supplementing their diets with nutritious USDA foods. New York Common Pantry is one of the three agencies statewide contracted to run this program, which allows seniors to receive food on a monthly basis. Food packages include a variety of foods, such as milk, juice, farina, oats, ready-to-eat cereal, rice, pasta, peanut butter, dry beans, canned meat, poultry or fish, and canned fruits and vegetables. Additional components of Nourish include guidance for preparing nutritious meals, dissemination of nutrition and health information by nutritionists, and referral to health care and social service agencies for other needed services.

Project Dignity provides case management services to homeless individuals at our 109th Street Manhattan Pantry. Case managers offer counseling and referral services, access to benefits and entitlements, substance abuse treatment, and other medical and social services. Project Dignity’s array of services is also designed to meet the most basic needs of the Common Pantry’s visitors— food, haircuts, mail service, laundry—as well as the larger, more challenging issues they face—long-term housing, health care, and benefits. The goal of the program is to serve as a bridge back to health, well-being and self-sufficiency for our homeless and hungry guests.

Hot Meals serves fresh breakfast and dinner Monday to Friday at our 109th Street Manhattan location. All meals are cooked on premises with staff preparing hearty, balanced meals with wholesome ingredients. Beyond providing nutritious food, the program also offers participants a chance to sit, eat, and socialize in a relaxing, safe, and friendly atmosphere that offers a retreat from the stressors of being homeless or living in poverty. Brown Bag lunches containing a sandwich, a snack, and a beverage are offered for pickup at our Manhattan Pantry on the weekends.

Our Mobile Pantry Program helps to increase access to fresh produce and nutritious groceries through collaboration with community-based organizations. The program reduces food insecurity in the community by engaging families that do not have access to free food through traditional channels like food pantries and other resources by bringing food closer to where they live and by removing barriers such as transportation costs.