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Agency News and Updates
December 20, 2006
Demand for Hunger Relief Continues to Go Up
The number of people forced to come to us for food continues to increase. The working poor and families with 2 or more children are increasingly among those in need of emergency relief from hunger. Because of this, we are working on expanding our days of operation to 6 days per week. We hope that with the aid of America’s Second Harvest, City Harvest, and the United Way of New York City that we will be able to undertake this expansion sometime in the middle of January, 2007. We encourage those who are interested in pushing hunger out of the lives of those afflicted by it to join us. Make a contribution today and help ensure that a needy child and his family will not have to do without something to eat.
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July, 2005
Expansion of Services
The Resurrection House has expanded its emergency food assistance program to include the weekends. This was done for the sake of accommodating the heads of poor working families, homebound senior citizens, large family units, and the homeless. . Regrettably, many of them find it impossible to provide food for themselves and their families. Steady increases in rental and other living cost have made it impossible for them to purchase food on a regular basis. They have been forced to turn to Emergency Food Programs like the Resurrection House on daily basis to place food on their tables.
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Front Line Agencies
- For some time small neighborhood agencies have been in the forefront of the fight against hunger and its related ills. Theses are agencies who have 3 to 6 regular staff members at best 6 and fewer volunteers. They are those entities that exits in a storefront, church basement, etc. These are the organizations that tend to be located directly in the community, no more than a door step or two from the clients they serve.
- In other words, they are the front line agencies in the fight against hunger. It is to them community members turn to at the first sign of trouble. They are the ones that are first to be pounded and exhausted by pleas for relief against the rafts of hunger. Similarly, they are the first to be forgotten and ignored in regards to funding and like the clients they serve, they often suffer silently from indifference and social neglect.
- Like any other entity, these agencies require adequate funding to provide the vital services they render from day to day. They too have the obligation of paying salaries, rental cost, telephone cost, etc. preserve their ability to help the disadvantaged members of their communities. However, very often they are ignored in this regard. They very seldomly receive adequate funding to pay rent, let alone workers. Because of the limited funds they receive, they are routinely forced to scale back operations. Much of this is due to a habit on the part of some funding agencies to provide funding to large agencies alone. \
- This tendency, though well meaning constitute a huge mistake that is devastating in its effects. Why? Because it is usually the small it is the front line community agencies that disadvantaged people run to in time of need and crisis - those agencies which are right up the street or around the corner. These are the relief stations, so to speak, they have become familiar with by virtue of their proximity in the community and easy access. They are usually perceived as that first and sometimes, only line for defense against hunger and its related ills and they need your support.
- They are not fancy entities, nor is their ability to project themselves to perspective founders great. However, the services they provided in times of crisis are great indeed. We, at the Resurrection House Family Service Center, salute them the enormous help they provide our needy citizens on a daily basis.
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