From 2021 to 2022, the number of New Yorkers living in poverty increased from 1.5 million to 2 million, about 500,000 more people living in poverty than the previous year. The overall poverty rate increased from 18% to 23%.
In 2022, 25% of New York City children, or about 420,000 people, will live in poverty, the highest rate since 2015.
According to a January 2024 state Department of Health report, “nearly one in four New York State adults (24.9%) experience food insecurity,” with the three New York City counties with the highest rates of food insecurity statewide: the Bronx, Queens and Kings.
These are just three examples of disturbing facts: New Yorkers need our help now more than ever.
Through our powerful social service networks, the Metropolitan Council on Jewish Poverty, Catholic Charities and the Hispanic Federation have seen this happen in action.
By way of background, we are no stranger to responding to needs in times of crisis. The Metropolitan Jewish Council on Poverty, Catholic Charities and the Hispanic Federation have long been leaders in providing services during difficult times. Over the past 20 years alone, we have helped New Yorkers weather 9/11, the Great Recession, Hurricane Sandy and a pandemic. Our organizations have always been on the front lines, serving the needs of our neighbors.
Our dedicated staff and volunteers have a proven track record of providing culturally competent, quality services, from affordable housing to crisis intervention, domestic violence support, benefits enrollment, vocational counseling and much more.
And with more than 200 years of combined service and helping more than 1 million New Yorkers each year, we’re seeing something never before seen: record numbers of people reaching out to us for assistance with their most basic needs, especially food. As New Yorkers, we know our neighborhoods and communities, and we know we are best placed to meet their needs.
Those who suffer from food insecurity are people just like us: hardworking families who say they can’t afford basic necessities, school teachers and nurses, seniors on fixed incomes left behind as rents continue to soar, and ordinary New Yorkers struggling to pay their bills.
These include ordinary people struggling with rising food costs and forced to make the difficult decision between not eating or paying fixed expenses like rent.
Thankfully, past experience has provided a solution.
During the pandemic, as need increased and uncertainty grew, New York City wisely established a special emergency food fund, allowing for the dedication of additional resources to deliver targeted assistance to hard-to-reach and historically underserved communities.
This funding has enabled us to deploy necessary resources to programs that promote increased access through areas with limited food pantries and social service infrastructure, religious or culturally sensitive food communities that are often excluded from traditional emergency food systems, and the use of innovative models that lead to efficient and productive emergency food systems.
This effort benefited communities in each City Council district, and indeed all communities. The funding had an immediate impact; it leveled the playing field, reduced access barriers for New Yorkers, and directly infused needed food and funding to those doing the important work of helping New Yorkers in need. But most importantly, it fed New Yorkers in need.
Our organization, and hundreds of others, saw the value of this funding firsthand, and our clients, who represent the diversity of our city, spoke of the benefits of not having to go to a food pantry, of having access to food that meets their family’s needs, and of feeling recognized and supported by others. This funding not only provided a lifeline, it enhanced our service delivery in ways that will forever shape how the emergency food system operates.
Working with community groups and local partners, we know how to get food to hungry New Yorkers. Now we need the government to contribute. With budget negotiations looming, we are pleading with the City Council and Mayor to allocate an additional $20 million to ensure people have the food they need.
No one in New York City should have to worry about where their next meal is coming from, which is why we need money for food.
Greenfield is CEO of the Metropolitan Jewish Poverty Council. Rosenberg is executive director of the New York Catholic Community Relations Council. Miranda is president and CEO of the Hispanic Federation.
