Every Saturday the Evangelistic Missionary Temple in Williamsburg gives packages of food to anyone who is in need, and there are Poles among them. About 200 people come here every Saturday to get food, some because food stamps are not enough for the entire month, others to help family members and friends.
Service in this church is different from a mass in a Polish Catholic church. It is lively, full of joyful singing and clapping and the pastor, Dominican Miguel Vizcaino, is in jeans. For Poles, the cheerful atmosphere of the Latino church seems a little odd. They are a bit shy and linger in the back of the church, even though the food is given first to those who sit in the front rows.
Ages of the hungry
"There are more than 100,000 hungry people in New York and the situation of approximately 1.5 million is uncertain, which means they are either hungry or living on the verge of hunger,” said Joel Berg, executive director of the New York City Coalition Against Hunger. Immigrants are the fastest growing group to take advantage of food programs for the poor; among them are children and the elderly.
Bronislawa L., who is 75 years old, has been in the United States for 28 years. In Poland, she worked as a nurse; here she works cleaning medical clinics. A few years ago she broke her leg and last year she underwent a mastectomy. Due to osteoporosis and joint problems she has to wear an orthopedic shoe. "I really need help; I am sick. I receive a disability pension, but after I pay $300 for rent plus utilities, I have no money left for food," said Bronislawa with tears in her eyes. She receives food stamps, but for $70 a month she cannot afford much.
According to data from the Food Bank for New York City - Food for Survival, elderly people need the most help – over 300,000 senior citizens use food distribution services. "Retirement pensions are very low,” said Bozena Nowak from Polonians Organized to Minister to Our Community, Inc. (P.O.M.O.C.), a Polish organization working in Maspeth, New York. "If they receive $650 including SSI [Supplemental Security Income], and they need to pay $400 to $500 for rent, there is not much left to survive on. Additional food and food stamps become very useful."
Wiktoria M. is 81 years old and has lived in the United States for 29 years. Her monthly pension is $420. At her age she can no longer work. "I pay $600 for rent so I make extra money by subletting a room to two ladies. I go for dinner to Centrum Polsko-Slowianskie [The Polish &Slavic Center], and I get some dry goods and drinks from the church in Williamsburg. Thanks to those two organizations I manage somehow.”
Both women are legally in the United States, which enables them to receive food stamps of up to $140 per person. The Williamsburg church, however, feeds mostly undocumented immigrants who don’t qualify for city or federal help. Here at least they can receive help in the form of food.
One portion for two
The largest recipients of government food aid are churches like Pastor Vizcaino’s and welfare organizations, which distribute it in local communities.
The food pantry started when Naomi Basset, Vizcaino’s 33-year-old daughter, came to visit her family in Brooklyn. “I saw a man taking food out of the garbage. This image haunted me," Naomi remembers. "Why in a city where so much food is being wasted, should people have to look for it in garbage cans?” Indeed, restaurants, hotels and catering companies give unused food to organizations like United Way, City Harvest and the Food Bank for New York City - Food for Survival, which then distribute it to churches.
Naomi receives more and more food from all of them to help the growing number of needy at her church. "The news spread by word-of-mouth. Now, every Saturday we have 200 to 300 people coming by," said Naomi. “People from all ethnic groups and all different religions come.”
Is there enough?
"Unfortunately not," Naomi admitted. "We try to give something to everyone who comes to our church. When I truly have nothing left, I apologize and ask them to come back the following Saturday. I believe as many as 90 percent of the people living in Brooklyn have insufficient amount of food on their tables.”
"We also do not have enough food," says Bozena Nowak, a social worker at P.O.M.O.C., who receives food from Food Bank for New York City. "Although our packages with canned goods, fruits, vegetables, rice, macaroni, oil, milk, cereal are given away three times a week, one family can receive help only once in two months. We give away packages with food to 140 to 150 families each month."
There are so many hungry people in New York that the existing 1,300 food programs do not supply enough food for everyone. "Sometimes we have to divide portions and make them smaller so that more people can receive help," said Berg.
The working hungry
According to the Food Bank for New York City, approximately 10 percent of those who use food distribution programs are people who have a job. Seventy-five percent of people who work fulltime and make less than $8.10 per hour live in poverty. More than 600,000 New Yorkers earn between $5.15 and $10 per hour, according to the Community Service Society of New York. The monthly income of a person who works 40 hours a week for $5.15 an hour is $824.
The unemployed also make their way to Naomi's kitchen. "I do not have a job," said 49-year-old Danuta K., who has been in this country for two years. "I used to clean a lady’s house, but she died. Since then I can't find anything. Employment agencies require English fluency and are looking for young people. Nobody wants to hire me, but I have to survive somehow," said Danuta, who has been in the United States for couple of years.
Barbara R., 49, has been in the United States only a year and takes care of an elderly person. "In Poland I worked in a cigarette warehouse and made 600 zlotys (roughly $150). After I paid my bills and was left with 50zl ($12) per month,” she said. Barbara came to the United States to help her family in Poland and sends them money regularly. "I make $400 a week, which is equal to three months work in Poland. I do not pay rent since I live with the person I work for. I take food for myself to save some money, or I give it to those who need it more than I do.”
Swallowing pride
But not everyone wants to admit that they are hungry and for Poles it is particularly difficult. "Why would I admit publicly that I have to ask my in laws to receive us for dinner?" said Kasia, 34. Her one-bedroom apartment in Greenpoint, where she lives with her husband and a 10-month-old son, is neat and tidy, with plants and family photos on top of Ikea furniture. One does not see poverty, but their money is gone as soon as they pay their bills and rent. "One salary for three people is not much," said Kasia, whose husband Konrad is the only one who has a job. She receives help from the Supplemental Food Program for Women, Infants and Children, but she said she would be too embarrassed to go to a place where food is given away in bags, or where there is soup served to the poor.
Berg confirms that others share similar feelings. "We interviewed many people in the Polish community in Greenpoint and we know that hunger is a serious problem there. Before Poles can overcome it, they need to overcome the problem of pride first," Berg claimed. He also emphasized that a decent meal during the day is crucial for men who work in construction and for women who clean—the two most common occupations for Poles.
Common denominator
"In my opinion, 9/11 played a great role in the fact that the number of hungry New Yorkers is growing. Since then the number of people who come here for food increased by 300 percent,” said Naomi.
"The September attacks certainly added to the current state of affairs,” Berg agreed. "It was an important factor in the growing number of hungry people, but the problem existed before.” Berg said the most common cause of hunger in New York is unemployment and the fact that hundreds of thousands work for minimum wage. "People work two, three jobs and can not provide enough food for their families," said Berg. "Not to mention senior citizens, who spend a lot of money on medication, or those with little education. It is also extremely hard for the mentally challenged and handicapped.”
Grazyna G. a single mother with two handicapped sons, who has lived in the United States for 18 years, agreed. Twenty-seven-year-old Rafal is mentally retarded and 14-year-old Elvis suffers from a speech impediment. “The three of us receive $1,180 from SSI. Our rent is $500. Neither my sons nor myself are able to work, for who would take care of them?" Grazyna usually receives two bags of food from Naomi. "Sometimes there is a can of peas, sometimes oil, butter, rice or macaroni. It really helps," she said.
"Anyone can come here. We do not check if they work, how much they earn or if they are legally in the United States. All we care about is whether they are hungry," said Naomi.
The full list of places where free food can be obtained is available at the following toll free numbers 1 866-888-8777 (Hunger Hotline) or 311.
This article was written as part of IPA-New York’s Ethnic Press Fellowship.
