But when economic crisis hit New York City, her life changed dramatically.

“When the recession went down and everything,” she said, “they ended up laying me off.”

Correa began turning to Yorkville Common Pantry on a weekly basis in order to feed her children.

“I’ve been coming here for about two years now, ever since I lost my job,” Correa said. “I have five children, you know. I have to survive.”

As the Correa household and other families prepare to celebrate the holiday season, a stagnant national economy means less money to put food on the table. In New York City alone, the jobless rate has hit 10 percent, according to the State Department of Labor. Those numbers mean that more New Yorkers are now living without a steady source of income than in the last 12 years.

In order to curb the threat of hunger for the unemployed, Yorkville Common Pantry in East Harlem is serving more than 1,800 families through their food distribution program, which runs every Thursday, Friday and Saturday. With dozens of volunteers and a permanent staff, the resource center has made unprecedented efforts to feed hungry New Yorkers, with more than 2 million meals served in 2008. That figure makes YCP’s program the largest community-based food pantry in New York City.

And their numbers are growing.

YCP estimates their client base grew between 2007 and 2009 somewhere between 15 percent to 30 percent. With the nation in economic crisis, a sharp increase in clientele was no surprise to Steve Grimaldi, executive director of Yorkville Common Pantry.

Despite the recession, Grimaldi says food donations themselves have increased over the past year. While plenty of goods are coming in to distribute to clients, money can actually be stretched further in order to feed more mouths. With YCP receiving discounts from local grocers, Grimaldi says the pantry can provide clients with food that comes out to about 50 cents per meal.

In order to serve 2 million meals annually, the pantry relies heavily on private funding. Those numbers are down this year, meaning less food that can be distributed to each client.

“We had to cut back on types of food,” Grimaldi said. “While we’re still serving the same number of meals, it’s a little less meat, a little less dairy. And that’s what happens when contributions are down, meals are up.”

For Correa and her family, unemployment translates into a more downscaled Christmas than in years past. But by putting food on their table, the pantry program at YCP is bringing a sense of joy into their lives.

“When I come in the door with the food, they’re happy.” she said.

The post Yorkville pantry helps hungry New Yorkers appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

A facility on 166th Street in the South Bronx serves as home for women and children seeking emergency or transitional housing. Photo by Holly Gilbert

Landy Acevedo lives in a South Bronx housing project with her three children — ages 10, 12 and 15. When she and her family lost their apartment, she feared what might await her in a facility for the homeless.

“I didn’t want to be in a shelter,” 34-year-old Acevedo said in Spanish. “I had heard of their conditions and that people were always fighting. I couldn’t believe people were living that way.”

For a few months, Acevedo and her children stayed with her sister. While the family had a roof over their heads, the apartment was small and extremely cramped.

“It was very uncomfortable,” she said. “I slept on the floor with my kids.”

Acevedo was struggling to live in the South Bronx, which, according to the New York City Government Web site, is one of 10 neighborhoods in New York City experiencing the highest rate of family homelessness.

Acevedo knew she had to do something to get her children back into the semblance of a home. They left her sister’s house and visited the Prevention Assistance Temporary Housing office, which places homeless families in federally funded housing facilities.

After meeting the requirements, including being on public assistance, she and her three children moved into an emergency housing facility on 166th Street, run by the Bronx Parent Housing Network. Much to her surprise, she and her family were comfortable for the first time in months. Their apartment, which they share with another family, is complete with bedrooms, a bathroom and a kitchen.

“When I got here, I said, ‘This isn’t a shelter,’ ” Acevedo said. “It was a long time that (my children) didn’t have a place where they could be calm, where they could eat in peace, where they could lie down in a bed.”

The Bronx Parent Housing Network, a non-profit organization, runs four housing facilities in the South Bronx community, each one designed to meet the needs of specific members of the homeless population. Acevedo and her children live in a building specifically for women and children.

Victor Rivera, director of the Bronx Parent Housing Network, enters the facility in the South Bronx for men just getting out of prison. Photo by Holly Gilbert

Victor Rivera, who founded BPHN and serves as its director, does not speak on the subject of homelessness solely from an administrative standpoint. Nineteen years ago, he was among the people without a home in New York City.

“I know what people’s perception of the homeless population is,” he said. “But (others) actually believed that I had the potential to be someone else when I didn’t believe in myself.”

Now, Rivera said, he can draw upon his experience in order to help homeless families. According to him, assisting the homeless population means treating them as human beings.

“Just because someone is homeless doesn’t mean they don’t have dignity or pride,” he said. “You can’t put everyone under the same roof. Think about the client not as a number, but as someone that has needs.”

The needs he refers to are vast, ranging from medical care and legal aide to substance-abuse counseling and post-incarceration programs. According to Rivera, these supportive services are the key to a higher quality of life for his clients.

“If we’re not providing a sound environment, then we’re defeating the purpose,” he said.

Rivera is not the only housing advocate working hard for the city’s families living in emergency facilities. Basilio Vega, who works for Catholic Charities of New York, helps Rivera place clients in the BPHN facility on 166th Street. He says housing projects that serve families with nutritional care, job-referral service and other assistance are always in need of financial support to sustain their effectiveness.

“When you find someone that can provide all-around services, sort of like a holistic approach, then you’re talking about money,” Vega said. “You’re talking about hiring people that are qualified to do those particular things.”

Because the number of homeless families is overwhelming, Vega said, more emphasis also must be placed on helping them find private housing. In turn, they not only will be off the Department of Homeless Service’s list, but they also can become self-sufficient. Without the financial support for the housing facilities, he said, that simply won’t happen.

“If you don’t have the money to (provide services), then you’re just providing a place to sleep, and you’re not making a difference,” Vega said. “Is there something you can do to assist them with becoming independent again?”

The federal government does provide vouchers for low-income families to pay for private housing through the Section 8 program, run by the New York City Housing Authority. Currently, more than 83,000 New Yorkers participate in the NYCHA Section 8 program, making it the largest in the nation of its kind. To be eligible for the voucher, applicants must meet a list of requirements, such as making a certain income level, and can be denied for having a criminal background or history of drug abuse.

Families living in the Bronx Parent Housing Network facilities are given an allotted amount of time to find and arrange to live in a private residence. More often than not, Rivera said, the residents in his facilities are eligible for the Section 8 vouchers.

“Within in a year, either with the assistance from us or from Catholic Charities, (the families) should be able to get their Section 8 vouchers,” Rivera said. “It’s valuable because it’s guaranteed money from the city New York that’s going to be paid directly to the landlord.”

If a family is determined eligible for the money, however, they are then faced with the dilemma of finding affordable housing. And it comes as no surprise that the nation’s current economic climate has negatively impacted the search for a private residence.

“It really has become very difficult to find affordable housing in New York,” Rivera said. “The problem is growing so fast, so there’s more demand (for housing).”

Victoria Wolanek, 27, who also lives in a BPHN facility, said the Section 8 vouchers only provide about half of what is really needed to live in a New York City apartment.

“It’s hard because they allow, I think, $1,090 for a two-bedroom,” she said. “Honestly, where are you really going to find a two-bedroom apartment for that much? And that’s with everything included.”

In a prepared statement, Mayor Michael Bloomberg acknowledged that many changes must be made to the way New York City deals with programs providing assistance to the homeless. He said more work needs to be done in order to provide families with a more efficient Section 8 program, which has faced financial constraints because of the national economic crisis.

“The New York City Housing Authority, much like every other public housing authority across the nation, has faced extraordinary challenges in recent years, especially as federal and state support has waned,” Bloomberg said in a May 13 press release. “NYCHA now more than ever needs sound management and accountability to ensure that its resources are put to the best possible use and preserving the future of public housing for generations.”

For Wolanek and her 10-year-old daughter Alyssa, the Section 8 program will provide at least some of what they need to move out of the temporary housing facility. Having a private residence, Wolanek said, is entirely different from living in a facility designed for the homeless.

“It’s not the same as going to your own house,” she said. “I would just settle on being able to walk into my own apartment.”

The post South Bronx housing projects help struggling residents appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

Runners in the New York City Marathon come down the home stretch in Central Park. Photo by Holly Gilbert

While most fans standing at the finish line of the New York City Marathon kept their eyes steadfastly fixed on the runners, Terguame Haddis and Selome Argaw, both 28, couldn’t keep their eyes off each other.

“We got married last week,” said Argaw, beaming. She and her husband cuddled in the chilly fall weather in Central Park as the annual marathon unfolded Sunday.

With a recent matrimony to celebrate, the couple from Ethiopia was only more ecstatic when their nation captured the coveted crown in the female division of the race. Ethiopia’s Derartu Tulu, 37, finished the 26.2-mile contest ahead of tens of thousands of competitors. She is the first Ethiopian female to win the New York City Marathon in its 40 years of existence.

“We won,” Argaw said with pride. “We won the women’s division.”

After standing at the finish line for three hours, the newlyweds were astounded by the athletes’ completion of the grueling 26.2-mile run. They admit their own exercise schedule is not nearly as demanding.

“I used to run when I was a teenager,” said Haddis, laughing. “But not now.”

His wife shared his sentiments.

“To see someone running for a continuous two hours, it’s not imaginable,” she said. “I can’t even run for twenty minutes.”

Terguame Haddis and Selome Argaw, newlyweds, display the former Ethiopian flag. Photo by Holly Gilbertminutes.”

Although Argaw doesn’t do much running herself, she came to the race’s edge in Central Park on Sunday prepared for a win, clutching an older version of the Ethiopian flag.

“I brought it from home,” she said, displaying the red, yellow and green-striped flag. “It’s the only one we had.”

Official flag or not, the newlyweds were certainly brandishing the right colors as Ethiopia’s Tulu beat out last year’s victor Paula Radcliffe, of England, for the win. The laurel wreath given to the winner, following marathon tradition, will only bolster Tulu’s already impressive running career.

In 1992, she became the first African female to capture an Olympic gold medal. Her record-setting wins have inspired Ethiopians such as Haddis and Argaw, who value the opportunity to see their athletes compete in the United States.

“She’s one of the greatest runners in Ethiopia,” Haddis said. “To see her winning here in New York, one of the greatest cities in the world, I think it’s really beautiful.”

The post NYC Marathon: Ethiopian pride appeared first on Pavement Pieces.

An official poster for National Latino AIDS Awareness Day is displayed in a subway station in the Bronx. Photo by Holly Gilbert

When Milagra Cortes contracted HIV 21 years ago, she knew her life was far from over.

“I’m a happy woman,” she said at the commemoration of National Latino AIDS Awareness Day on Oct. 14. “My life is realized.”

Still, the 52 year-old Bronx resident is painfully aware of the consequences of having HIV, which was passed to her by her husband. He died of AIDS four years ago.

“He was the love of my life, but he was in denial,” she said. “He didn’t want to get treated.”

Cortes and her late husband, both from Puerto Rico, represent just two of the countless Latinos in the Bronx disproportionately affected by the HIV/AIDS epidemic. Nationwide, Hispanics represent nearly one in five people newly diagnosed with AIDS.

But for Latinos living in the New York City borough, AIDS is the third leading cause of death. In fact, more Latinos are dying of AIDS in the Bronx alone than in 43 states nationwide, according to a press release from the Bronx Borough President’s Office.

These statistics were the rallying cause for community leaders on Oct. 14 who gave speeches at the commemoration ceremony.

Bronx President Reuben Diaz Jr. expressed concern for the Latinos in his borough affected by the disease.

“We know that (AIDS) is a national concern,” he said. “But here in the Bronx, it’s a crisis.”

The ceremony took place on the last day of the National Hispanic Heritage month, a combination that one community leader called “a bittersweet moment.”

“I wish I were here to celebrate the incredible achievements of our heritage,” said Jose Davilia, executive director of Bronx AIDS Services. “Unfortunately, that’s not why we’re here.”

While Bronx leaders lamented the rapid spread of the disease among Latinos, they were also aware that the community must actively combat the HIV/AIDS epidemic.

“It’s in our hands to make a change happen,” Davila said. “We need to be out there telling people to get tested, to get their partners tested.”

Currently, all New York state hospitals are offering free testing for the HIV virus. To better reach the Hispanic population, related service announcements on local television stations are broadcast in both English and Spanish. By promoting testing for the HIV virus, medical and community leaders alike hope to avoid new cases of infection in the Bronx.

While the ceremony highlighted the terrible effects of the disease for the Latino population, it simultaneously offered a sense of hope.

“The disease isn’t who you are,” said Richard Nadal, 55, a former Puerto Rican basketball star who has lived with HIV since 1997. “It’s what you have.”

In addition to his personal story, Nadal read an original poem entitled “The Promise of Today,” which characterizes the harrowing effects of the illness.

“We have come together, connected by our souls,” he read aloud, “facing a disease that swallows us whole.”

Wiping tears from his eyes, Nadal finished his poem with a shaky voice.

“Today I ask that we keep this promise together — that no matter what, we will make life better.”

The post AIDS awareness resonates in Bronx appeared first on Pavement Pieces.