Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
Speaker 1 (00:01):
Welcome to get connected with Nina del Rio, a weekly
conversation about fitness, health and happenings in our community on
one oh six point seven Light FM.
Speaker 2 (00:12):
Thanks for listening to get connected approaching Thanksgiving with one
of our favorite conversations of the year. iHeartRadio New York
is once again teaming up with Why Hunger For Hunger
than Hunger Thon is an annual radio tradition organized by
y Hunger to educate and raise funds to confront the
root causes of hunger in America and defend the right
(00:32):
to nutritious food for all. You can take action, donate
or bid on exclusive iHeartRadio auction items at hungerthon dot
org now through December ninth. Why Hunger works with community
based organizations across the country that are tackling the systemic
injustice at the root of hunger through creative local solutions,
and our guest for this conversation is Denny Marsh, executive
(00:55):
director of Neighbors Together, a Brooklyn based soup kitchen, social
service and community advocacy center that Why Hunger has been
proud to work alongside for over a decade. Danny Marsh
of Neighbors Together welcome to the show.
Speaker 3 (01:08):
Thank you so much for having me. It's a pleasure
to be here.
Speaker 2 (01:11):
To find out more, you can visit hungerthon dot org
and Neighborstogether dot org. So Neighbors Together opened its doors
in nineteen eighty two, it's a long time ago. Can
you talk about the story from back then and what
the organization has evolved into.
Speaker 3 (01:25):
Yes, Neighbors Together was founded in nineteen eighty two by
a small group of Catholic nuns in the neighborhood who
saw a great need to open an emergency food program.
At the time, this was during the Reagan administration. It
actually felt like a similar time to right now, where
the Social Safety Net had been divested from and there
was great need in central Brooklyn for food access. And
(01:46):
everyone at the time thought that Neighbors Together would not
be around for more than a year. And here we
are forty three years later, and our programs and our
missions have evolved. Our mission is to end hunger and
poverty in Ocean Hell, Brownsville, and Bedford Stuyvesant, which are
three the lowest income neighborhoods in Brooklyn and in New
York City. And we do that through a three pronged
(02:06):
model that combines direct food access with wrap around social
services to help people access stabilizing resources like housing and
healthcare and employment. And we also engage our low income
neighbors in community organizing and advocacy efforts to change public
(02:26):
policies that in a way that will improve the lives
of low income people across the city, in the state,
and the nation.
Speaker 2 (02:33):
This is a mission that's aligned with Y Hunger. Can
you talk about your partnership with the organization.
Speaker 3 (02:39):
Yes, Neighbors Tether has been truly blessed to be connected
to Y Hunger for as you said earlier, over a decade.
We first got connected to Y Hunger because we applied
for a grant from Y Hunger and we were selected
for their Harry Chapin Self Reliance Award back in twenty twelve,
(02:59):
I believe, and that was thirteen years ago. But we've
stayed connected since that first year of being a grantee.
And why Hunger has been an incredible partner to Neighbors Together.
They are an amazing connector of nonprofits working on the
front lines, not only connecting us to other groups in
the city, but connecting neighbors together to other groups nationally
(03:22):
who are doing really innovative work on the ground around
addressing hunger in their communities, and Why Hunger has created
a learning network among the national anti hunger organizations that
are working on the frontlines in a very beautiful way.
They've also been continuing to support Neighbors Together through their connections,
(03:44):
their incredible connections to the music industry. They do a
lot of advocacy within that space and a lot of
promoting of small community based groups like ours within the
music industry. And so we've been connected to amazing musicians
through Springsteen and Rage Against the Machine who have held
(04:04):
local concerts in the city and have raised significant funds
to support our work and the work of other organizations
like us.
Speaker 2 (04:11):
Why Hunger is a pretty amazing organization. And again, right
now Hunger Thon is on. You can take action, donate
or bid on exclusive iHeartRadio auction items to support organizations
like Neighbors Together via y Hunger at hungerthon dot org.
Now through December ninth, you're listening to get Connected on
one six point seven light FM Imina del Rio. Our
(04:31):
guest is Denny Marsh, executive director of Neighbors Together, and
to get a little bit more about the scope of
what you do. Who is the community you serve?
Speaker 3 (04:39):
Now?
Speaker 2 (04:40):
How many meals do you serve annually? Can you talk
about just the scope of your work.
Speaker 3 (04:44):
Neighbors Together serves the lowest income people in New York City.
So we serve people who are unstably housed or who
are experiencing homelessness. We serve people who are looking for work.
We serve people who have jobs, many who have multiple
(05:04):
jobs and are just simply not making enough money to
pay rent and buy food and cover the costs of
medicine and supplies and clothing and all the costs of living.
The cost of living in New York City is so
high right now that we are seeing really all kinds
of people on our line. We are serving asylum seekers
(05:24):
who have recently come to the city in search of
more stability in their lives and really have a need
for food access and other resources as well. And we're
serving families, families with children, college educated folks, seniors who
are living on fixed incomes. Just a really wide swath
of people.
Speaker 2 (05:46):
I think the average person doesn't think about that. So
many people who are on food assistants and other kinds
of assistance, are actually working, they have jobs. That's the
majority of people who come out, correct.
Speaker 3 (05:56):
Yes, I think that that is correct. People are utilizing
emergency food programs as a way to supplement their very
limited income. You know, the research is showing that rent
in New York City has risen seven times faster than
wages in the past couple of years since the pandemic,
and that's a really unsustainable life for most New Yorkers
(06:20):
and people. It's not that people aren't trying very hard
and aren't working and aren't trying to have you know,
secure housing and take care of themselves and their families.
It's that they are doing all those things and wages
are not keeping pace with the cost of living at all.
Speaker 2 (06:34):
So how has given that? How has the trajectory of
need changed in the last few years and the community changed.
Speaker 3 (06:41):
We have seen a significant increase in need in the
past few years, and there's been sort of waves of that.
The pandemic was you know, a huge wave of just
a crisis that created a ton of need. And then
in you know, twenty twenty two, twenty twenty three, as
we were all sort of emerging from the pandemic and
(07:03):
kind of settling into the new normal. The influx of
new asylum seekers into the city really began and started
to peak, and we were seeing a lot of new
people on our lines, a really new population for us
and a population that had tremendous level of need, and
we were really grateful to be able to be there
for folks who are newly arriving in our country and
(07:25):
trying to get their sea legs here. And now we're
kind of in this new I would call it kind
of like a third cycle of need where the federal
under the current administration, the federal government has demonstrated a
lack of care for people who are low income and
working class in our country and in our city, and
(07:48):
there has been a really clear divestment from the Emergency
Food Network, so our federal funding and federal funding nationally
for emergency food programs, this is separate from SNAP, but
funding cash funding for emergency food programs has been on
pause since late January early February twenty twenty five, and
(08:11):
it's on indefinite pause. So that's been a real challenge
in terms of navigating a higher need time with significantly
less resources.
Speaker 2 (08:22):
So how are you funded? Beyond that?
Speaker 3 (08:24):
We have historically received city, state, and federal funding for
emergency food We've received federal funding for decades, you know,
and this is the first year emergency food programs are
not receiving federal funding. Outside of government funding, Neighbors Together
is funded by institutional supporters, through private foundations. We have,
(08:47):
you know, some multi year funders that are major partners
in our work. We have wonderful smaller family foundations that
support our work. We have some corporate funding, and we
have funding from a wide swath of you know, just
general individual donors who are caring, concerned citizens and want
to support all of their neighbors in the city, and
(09:09):
Neighbors Together is a place where they can tangibly do that.
Speaker 2 (09:12):
And there's still but there still remains a gap between
the federal funding and what other people are able or
have provided for you.
Speaker 3 (09:18):
There remains a gap. The federal funding is deeply the
federal funding withholding is deeply felt. And it's not just
at Neighbors Together, it's nationally and so the entire food system,
emergency food system is really strained right now because of
(09:39):
this funding that is has not been dispersed.
Speaker 2 (09:42):
So you started out saying that the mission of neighbors
together is not to alleviate hunger, but to end hunger. Yes,
the mission of Hunger thon and y hunger. And there's
many organizations that have the same plan, that work with
the same circumstances, with similar types of issues. Why hasn't
hunger been solved in the US?
Speaker 3 (10:03):
One thing we know is that hunger is a solvable problem,
and homelessness is a solvable problem, and poverty is a
solvable problem. And I think that these issues have not
been solved over the course of these forty years plus
throughout the history because the priorities of people with you know,
(10:25):
the most resources and the most power in terms of
decision making around how resources are allocated, have not made
decisions that will end these social ills. And so there
has not been an investment enough investment in political investment
in creating policies where there is equity, where there is access,
(10:51):
where there is a value for all humans that supersedes
the value of power and money in our kind. And
there has not been political will to create social housing
or reduce rent or you know, really put rent limits
in place that are feasible for the lowest income people
(11:14):
in our city. And so we're seeing the highest levels
of homelessness that we've ever seen. I think we're at
a crisis point that is solvable with political will and
political investment in the housing system and in the you know,
really bringing down the cost of living in the city
would significantly impact in a positive way the rates of
(11:37):
food and security, the rates of homelessness, and the rates
of people living in deeper levels of poverty that are
at all necessary.
Speaker 2 (11:45):
So what would you say to someone listening to this conversation.
Speaker 3 (11:48):
I think we're at a time where we have to
get creative around finding and being part of the creative
force to end these problems. And I do think everyone
plays a part. And I have, like one of the
mantras that I think about a lot is that small
is all and the large is a reflection of the small.
(12:10):
And so every single person matters. The every act of generosity,
of care, of connection, of being in relationship with the
problems of our nation and of our city matters. And
neighbors together is a place where you can take concrete
action as a single individual to make a huge impact
(12:31):
on the lives of other people who are your neighbors.
And that's a beautiful thing, and it's a really important thing,
particularly in this time.
Speaker 2 (12:39):
Let's talk about opportunities for people to support you. Then
people can do it as individuals, and you can also
work with corporate volunteers.
Speaker 3 (12:46):
Yes, thank you for asking this. Neighbors Together has plenty
of opportunities for folks to volunteer with us throughout the year.
We take volunteers every day of the week Monday through Friday.
We welcome individual volunteers, and we also love to host
corporate groups as well. This is an area we're trying
to grow in and have had wonderful partnerships come through
(13:07):
through corporate volunteerism. We host small teams of corporate employees
who would like to volunteer in our soup kitchen. We
also have had corporate groups do wonderful things for us,
like collect clothing for clothing drives for our members, particularly
as we head into the colder season. That can be
a really wonderful way for corporate groups to support our neighbors.
(13:31):
Some wonderful corporations have matching gift programs and employees can
donate either through contribution every month through their own paycheck,
or can pool together with their colleagues to support Neighbors Together.
And request a company match. Many companies are matching employee
giving these days, which is really exciting.
Speaker 2 (13:51):
So during hunger than for anybody who's listening. When you
bid or donate or get into the action with the auction, there,
your funds go directly to organizations like Neighbors Together. Denny,
what would you say to people about, you know, how
the funds are used locally when they contribute through Hungerthon
Neighbors Together.
Speaker 3 (14:11):
I think, like many community based organizations, operates on a
very shoe string budget in many ways, I would say that,
you know, eighty to ninety percent of donations go directly
into our programs. So when you make a donation to
Neighbors Together, whether it's five dollars or you know, ten
(14:33):
thousand dollars, every dollar accounts, and every dollar really supports
the meals that we serve, the services that we provide,
and the systemic change work that we are also engaged
in to try to create a city where hunger and
homelessness and poverty are no longer such burdens for low
income New Yorkers.
Speaker 2 (14:52):
You can take action, donate or bid now at Hungerthon
dot org again through December ninth, Denny marsh Is, executive
director of Neighbors Together. Thank you for being on to
Get Connected.
Speaker 3 (15:04):
Thank you so much, it was such a pleasure.
Speaker 1 (15:07):
This has been Get Connected with Nina del Rio on
one oh six point seven light Fm. The views and
opinions of our guests do not necessarily reflect the views
of the station. If you missed any part of our
show or want to share it, visit our website for
downloads and podcasts at one oh six to seven lightfm
dot com. Thanks for listening.