Food Bank for New York City

There are approximately four million New Yorkers who experience difficulty affording food — an astounding number and one that continues to increase as the donated food supply drops to an all-time low and food costs skyrocket. To address this issue, the Food Bank for New York City procures and distributes food to a network of approximately 1,000 food assistance programs citywide, including places like Yorkville Common Pantry.

City Harvest

Now serving New York City for more than 25 years, City Harvest is the world's first food rescue organization, dedicated to feeding the city's hungry men, women, and children. This year, City Harvest will collect 26 million pounds of excess food from all segments of the food industry, including restaurants, grocers, corporate cafeterias, manufacturers, and farms. This food is then delivered free of charge to more than 600 community food programs throughout New York City using a fleet of trucks and bikes as well as volunteers on foot. Yorkville Common Pantry receives donations every week from City Harvest.

Go Green East Harlem!

A project started by Manhattan’s Borough President, Scott Stringer, Go Green East Harlem! is a collaborative community-based initiative aimed at breaking the pattern of harmful environmental conditions that have been part of East Harlem’s history for decades, while serving as a model for other environmentally beleaguered neighborhoods.

Mt. Sinai Medical Center

Yorkville Common Pantry partners with Mt. Sinai for seasonal flu shots and health workshops. During the summer of 2009, YCP partnered with Mt. Sinai to provide more access to fresh produce by providing vouchers for fresh fruit and vegetables at the Mt. Sinai Greenmarket.

Katchkie Farms/ Great Performances

Katchkie Farms is a year-round organic farming operation owned by the renowned catering firm, Great Performances, founded by Liz Neumark.   A first for the catering industry, Katchkie Farm supports sustainable agriculture and is located in Columbia County, New York.   In addition to supplying Great Performances with fresh produce for special events, Katchkie Farm has a strong commitment to philanthropy, donating 5% of its annual harvest to selected non-profit hunger organizations, including the Yorkville Common Pantry.

New York City Coalition Against Hunger (NYCCAH)

The New York City Coalition Against Hunger represents the more than 1,200 nonprofit soup kitchens and food pantries like Yorkville Common Pantry in New York City and the more than 1.3 million low-income New Yorkers who are forced to use them. The Coalition works to meet the immediate food needs of low-income New Yorkers and enact innovative solutions to help them move "beyond the soup kitchen" to self-sufficiency. NYCCAH keeps Yorkville Common Pantry connected to other agencies in the anti-hunger community, and educated on current hunger policy and related advocacy activities. YCP also works with NYCCAH on the POS project to provide our clients with greater access to Food Stamps.

East Side Homeless Network

The Yorkville Common Pantry, Lenox Hill Neighborhood House, and Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter, the three leading providers of services to single homeless adults on the Upper East Side and East Harlem, joined together to create the East Side Homeless Network (ESHN). The Network is a collaborative effort to improve and expand access to services for homeless community members. ESHN’s primary goal is to create a seamless network of services and foster collaboration so that the lead agencies are better able to serve the homeless.

ESHN clients are eligible for the wide array of services all three agencies offer. These include:

• 1) Food
• 2) Shelter
• 3) Clothing
• 4) Case management
• 5) Referrals
• 6) Street outreach
• 7) Permanent and transitional housing
• 8) Vocational services
• 9) Food pantry
• 10) Meal programs

Through increased communication about each agency's services, missions, philosophies and goals, we find common ground from which we can work together more effectively. The network offers staff development trainings for all three ESHN agencies and community education trainings for affiliates and sponsors. ESHN ensures that clients receive the best and most appropriate services and eliminates duplicate services. Homeless men and women receive comprehensive assistance to help them move off the streets and, with supportive services, into transitional housing and eventually permanent homes.

Human Services Consortium of East Harlem

Yorkville Common Pantry belongs to the Human Service Consortium of East Harlem, which has been active since 1979. As a member of this group, Yorkville Common Pantry shares resources and makes referrals with 32 agencies in the neighborhood.

Communities IMPACT Diabetes Center

The Communities IMPACT (Inspired and Motivated to Prevent And ConTrol) Diabetes Center as a national Center of Excellence in the Elimination of Disparities (CEED). The IMPACT Diabetes Center, in collaboration with the Mount Sinai School of Medicine, Union Settlement Association, and North General Hospital, is an initiative led by community residents and representatives from community and faith-based organizations, like the Yorkville Common Pantry, that have united to understand the needs of the community to help people better prevent and control diabetes.

Feeding America

As the nation's largest domestic hunger-relief organization, Feeding America solicits surplus food and grocery products to distribute through a nationwide network of over 200 food banks and to local food pantries like Yorkville Common Pantry.

Urban Justice Center

The Urban Justice Center serves New York City's most vulnerable residents through a combination of direct legal service, systemic advocacy, community education and political organizing. The Center often defends the rights of people who are overlooked or turned away by other organizations. The UJC provides free legal counsel each week to Yorkville Common Pantry’s clients through it’s Homelessness Outreach and Prevention Project.

Settlement Health

Settlement Health´s mission is to provide East Harlem/El Barrio with high quality, comprehensive, accessible and culturally sensitive preventive and primary care services, and to coordinate the other levels of health care that are necessary. Settlement Health currently provides Yorkville Common Pantry’s clients with free HIV/STD screenings.

Harlem United

Harlem United integrates socially and economically disenfranchised people into a healthy and healing community. They provide HIV testing and medical care to Yorkville Common Pantry’s clients.

Project for Psychiatric Outreach to the Homeless (PPOH)

PPOH works in 50 programs throughout New York City providing psychiatric evaluation, treatment, education and technical assistance that both serves consumers directly and helps our partner programs to more effectively serve their mentally ill consumers. PPOH psychiatrists become part of each program’s service delivery team to ensure the full integration of their work with other services. Each week psychiatrists from PPOH visit Yorkville Common Pantry to complete psychiatric assessments and provide counseling as needed.

Keep On Track Program/Cardiovascular Disease Prevention and Control Program

YCP volunteers run a ‘Keep on Track (KOT)’ program on site, in conjunction with The NYC Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.  KOT is a volunteer run blood pressure monitoring program designed to provide a reliable and convenient place for community members to check and monitor their blood pressure and support for participants in getting high blood pressure under control.   These programs are located in neighborhoods where the rates of early death from heart attack and stroke are disproportionately high.

NYC Financial Network Action Consortium (NYCfNAC)

The New York City Financial Network Action Consortium was established to address the drastic loss of banking services in New York City's low-income communities. The Consortium asserts the right of every low-income person to be able to save, borrow, invest, accumulate assets and be knowledgeable consumers of financial services as a means to economic opportunity and community development. Accordingly, NYCfNAC promotes their ability to gain access to affordable, convenient and comprehensive financial services and credit by building a network of the city's leading community development credit unions. Representatives from NYCfNAC visit Yorkville Common Pantry each year during tax season to help our clients fill out their tax forms.

Sodexo

Sodexo, Inc. is the leading provider of integrated food and facilities management services in the U.S., Canada, and Mexico, serving 10 million customers in 6,000 locations every day. Sodexo is committed to fighting hunger, and partners with YCP to donate prepared food all year long, including the holiday season.

Animal Relief Fund for New York City (ARF)

The Animal Relief Fund's goal is to keep pets with their families and reduce the number of abandoned dogs and cats. They accomplish this by distributing pet food to local food pantries, like Yorkville Common Pantry, which serve New York families in need.