As Vise Tightens, Food Giveways Provide Lifeline

It was Yvonne Halloway’s first free-food pick-up. With hard times growing harder and with supplemental unemployment benefits expiring, she and others around her didn’t expect this visit to be their last.

Halloway was among the 250 people who showed up at a food distribution event Friday afternoon at John S. Martinez School in Fair Haven.

The event coincided with the expiration of the program that gave unemployed workers an extra $600 a month during the Covid-19 pandemic — added a new factor in the proliferation of such community giveaways in town.

Just last week Halloway, who lives on the Boulevard, attended a giveaway of sanitary supplies outside of Dwight policing substation. Her family has survived the Covid-19 pandemic on donations.

“This means a whole lot because I’m not working right now, and my pension only gets me a little bit of money. And it don’t get me nothing much. So out here, it’s a pleasure to get all of this food that’s fresh and free,” Halloway said. ​“The unemployment and everything. It’s not going so great for a lot of people so the food that we do get we appreciate.”

Mayor Justin Elicker participated in the giveaway by passing out boxes and bags of fresh produce, nonperishable items, and even pet food to a long line of shoppers. He acknowledged the ongoing challenges residents are up against.

“It’s possible that Congress will get its act together and kind of lengthen the support for unemployment, because we’re not going to be out of this crisis for quite some time,” Elicker said. ​“We also have an eviction problem on the horizon; we’re very concerned about many people not being able to stay in their homes. Not only is that very bad for all kinds of economic reasons and humanitarian reasons, but it’s also bad for the spread of the virus.”

The Community Soup Kitchen, City of New Haven, FISH, CFAN, Vertical Church, CARE, YSPH, SCSU, Fair Haven CMT, Cathedral of Higher Praise worked with the task force of the United Way of Greater New Haven and CT Food Bank on Friday’s event.

Additional services included free Covid-19 testing, voting registration, census taking, and mask distribution.

Paul Shipman (pictured), a spokesperson for CT Food Bank, said that throughout the pandemic, food industry donations have been reduced by 60 percent.

“We’re trying to make up that gap by going out and buying food on the wholesale market. There’s not a lot to go around and the prices have gone up,” Shipman said. ​“Most Americans do not have the savings that can get them through a long term emergency. We recognize that New Haven County has the highest food insecurity in Connecticut.”

Yisel Contreras, 16-years-old, who lives with her family in Fair Haven, said that without the donated fresh fruit and vegetables, their health would deteriorate.

“It helps with our health and nutrition,” Contreras said. ​“We’re blessed to have jobs, but at times things can get a little difficult. We love when people help us.”

Friday was the United Way of Greater New Haven’s third neighborhood pop-up pandemic pantry. The first pop-up was in the Hill neighborhood; the second one was in Newhallville. Vice President of Community Impact Aly Fox (pictured) said due to it being the end of the month, folks have stretched their groceries as long as they can.

“United Way alone purchased probably close to $4,000 to $5,000 of food for today,” Fox said. ​“Having a walk-up and drive-up option in the community allows for a larger drop. Our walk up line is longer right now. I got here at 1:30 p.m., and there were already people lined up, when the event doesn’t start until 4:30 p.m.”

Several of the providers that attended are additionally a part of the Pantry to Pantry Food Delivery Program, which delivers to families in the neighborhood and local areas as a result of Covid-19. That serves approximately 1,000 families a week.

Sasha Heredia waited an hour before the event officially began to secure a spot in line for her kids, nieces, and nephews.

“This could be helpful for anyone. Especially for all of the homeless people that have no home to go to. People who is really out here struggling in shelters,” Heredia said. ​“There’s a lot of people who need help, and this is big.”

Brett Christensen and his friend, who identified himself only as ​“Hans,” were on their way to the scrapyard until the long line caught their eyes. The two, who are homeless, have hit numerous giveaway events during the pandemic.

“For me, the food fills my stomach and it tastes good,” Christensen said. ​“Life is rough right now but the food does help with my situation. In my situation, there’s not much food when you’re not working.”

Hans, an ex-offender (at left in photo, with Christensen), said the giveaway isn’t designed for everyone.

“I mean this is great, but I don’t have a refrigerator to put the food in. If I don’t eat it or give it away to somebody, then I don’t have anywhere to keep it,” Hans said. ​“I mean it’s a great idea for families that have apartments. But for somebody like me, and others who are homeless, there’s not much that we can do with that. We’d be better off trying to sell it.”

Devin Avshalom-Smith, community engagement coordinator for CARE, was seen promoting an Active Transportation Plan at the neighborhood pop-up in order to make the streets more pedestrian friendly and overall safer. CARE is working with the city in soliciting community feedback. Avshalom-Smith stressed that racial and health are just as essential as food.

“I think that it’s always great to see community people and community organizations come together to serve one another. It looks from the outside in like the people in line are being served. But really the people who are giving and are here working — we’re the ones being served, because it’s an honor and privilege to be able to extend a helping hand to our neighbors,” Avshalom-Smith said. ​“I think it helps in a turbulent time with all of this racial tension and political tension. It brings us together to realize that we all have the same fundamental needs.”