Maya McFadden Photo
As Linda Gutierrez soaked her hand in sanitizer and collected groceries Wednesday at the Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen (DESK) food pantry, she reflected on how she received sustenance beyond just food.
“They’re the only people who are out here and still helping. They haven’t stopped treating us like people,” said Gutierrez, who is also known as “Colombiana.”
It was grab-and-go at DESK’s home at Center Church Park House at 311 Temple St., where before the spread of Covid-19 the soup kitchen invited people inside to eat and socialize. On Wednesday the pantry served 144 households (representing over 360 individuals).
Gutierrez has been homeless for years and said she has grown comfortable with many staff and regular volunteers at the DESK. As Gutierrez approached the multi-agency food pantry on Wednesday she soaked her hands in the provided hand sanitizer and collected her groceries.
In each bag of groceries were beets, radish, grapefruit, avocados, tomatoes, chickpeas, peanut butter, orange juice, lettuce, lentils, and bread.
Before heading off to what she called “her spot” across from Marco Polo Pizzeria & Italian Restaurant where she usually sleeps, a DESK staffer gave Gutierrez a bag with a pack of yogurts. “You know we’re here for you, Colombiana,” the staff member said to Gutierrez.
Gutierrez said she has been visiting DESK for years. “I like them because if they got it they will share it,” she said. In the past, Gutierrez said she has been able to depend on DESK not only for meals but things like blankets, band-aids, and water.
This is the third-week DESK made the switch to handing out the groceries outside its center. Since starting the outdoor process, DESK Executive Director Steve Werlin said, they have seen an influx of new visitors collecting the free groceries.
In addition to the food pantry, three weeks ago DESK joined a collaborative effort with Loaves & Fishes, the United Way, and others to offer local grocery deliveries. On Wednesday the team made 42 deliveries to families around the city. Werlin said many of the deliveries were made to residents over 60 years of age and some who have tested positive for COVID-19
“The plan is to get as many people off the street as possible,” Werlin said.
As the visitors waited in the food pantry line, stenciled footprints on the sidewalk helped to keep each person six feet from each other. The volunteers stood two tables apart to pass the food out to each visitor.
Werlin pointed out this week’s bags being heavier with produce than usual due to a donation from Yale Hospitality and due to having to empty out the remaining products in storage.
In normal times, Werlin said, about 10 percent of the pantry’s food comes from food drive donations from schools, faith-based organizations, and businesses. Recent closures of these organizations due to Covid-19 have limited the pantry’s supply.
The grab-and-go style has also cut the pantry’s ability to provide choice to visitors, promote the use of reusable bags, and social gatherings.
Since the shift, Werlin said, he has increasingly encountered new faces to the pantry, including people who never before had to make use of a food pantry due to a recent lack of accessible food.
After one visitor checked in and got her groceries, she yelled from her car with excitement, “I’ve never had yellow beets before, God bless!”
Going into the third week of the Covid-19 pivot, Werlin said his team hopes to transition most if not all services to be delivery-based.
Prepped in a mask and gloves (pictured above) like all other staff and volunteers, Werlin recalled the last night the team hosted the food pantry inside.
The team reminded visitors to wash their hands and to keep some distance between each other all night.
“We got to get out of here,” Werlin recalled telling himself and staff. The next week the pantry decided to move outdoors.
Each visitor was provided with a paper bag full of groceries and a plastic bag with the remaining food. A total of about 280 bags were packaged to distribute Wednesday.
One visitor who wished to remain anonymous stopped by the pantry on Wednesday to thank the staff after getting her first delivery earlier in the day.
The visitor signed up for the delivery program on Monday while getting dinner from the DESK which serves evening meals Monday through Thursday and Sunday. “It was very convenient and easy,” she said.