DELIVERIES
of the stay-at-home order reported
poor communication, a
lack of coordination, and lowquality
meals. Some seniors
who signed up for the program
never received meals at all, according
to Scott Short, CEO of
RiseBoro Community Partnerships,
a home-delivered meal
provider that operates out of
Bushwick.
“The quality of the meals
that they were getting was really
below the standards of
what we fi nd acceptable,” said
Short.
The shortcomings of the
citywide program have exacerbated
demand among the
smaller community programs,
according to the head of Rise-
Boro, who has seen a nearly 30
percent increase in deliveries
since the pandemic began. The
program currently services
about 1,800 people, Short said
— a combination of both new
clients, and those who are not
receiving their deliveries from
the city.
Despite the increased demand,
programs like RiseBoro
and the Bay Ridge Center are
operating with the same fl at
level of funding from the city as
in pre-pandemic times, and are
COURIER L 10 IFE, MAY 15-21, 2020
pushing for emergency funding
from the Department of Aging.
The Bay Ridge Center has
had to hire more staff, add an
additional delivery route, and
purchase more food than usual,
according to Fliedner. Scott
says RiseBoro, which is also
increasing its food production
and providing its workers with
time-and-a-half hazard pay,
will only be able to operate at
its current rate without emergency
funding until the end of
its fi scal year on June 30.
“We’re basically fronting it
and hoping that the city does
the right thing and reimburses
us,” Scott said. “We’re putting
our own fi nances on the line to
do what we think is the right
thing for these essential workers.”
While they await funds,
meal providers are refl ecting
on their relationship with the
city — something, Scott said,
has been problematic for years
before the pandemic. Contractors
have not received increased
funding per-meal in close to a
decade, the program director
said, all the while expenses for
food, fuel, and labor have gone
up, resulting in most providers
losing money on their city contracts.
“I think COVID has helped
shine a light on this problem,”
Scott said. “But it’s really a
more endemic problem that
goes back years.”
CASH GRANTS
“We tried to fi nd out
where there was a need that
wasn’t being met through
other efforts,” she said. “We
knew we wanted to focus
on some of the most vulnerable
members of the larger
community, the people who
helped make our restaurants,
shops, salons and
other businesses such wonderful
places.”
The Cobble Hill nonprofi t
Arab-American Family Support
Center, which focuses
on providing services for immigrants
and refugees, will
administer the funds to applicants
who qualify.
The generous program
will be funded by the Brooklyn
Heights Association,
which received over $10,000
in donations from philanthropic
neighbors within the
fi rst three hours of announcing
their effort on May 7, according
to the civic guru,
who was awed by locals’ giving
spirit.
“It’s really amazing, I’m
really excited and grateful,”
she said.
Like in many parts of the
borough, the neighborhood’s
commercial corridors, such
as the usually-bustling Montague
Street, have been eerily
quiet since the COVID-19 outbreak
hit the city, according
to Birnback — making her
worry about the livelihoods
of the missing workers.
“It’s very quiet,” she said.
“Montague Street just feels
like a ghost town, it feels very
odd.”
People looking to make a
tax-deductible donation can
do so via the civic association’s
website. For more information
about the fund and
who qualifi es, the BHA set up
a Frequently Asked Questions
page.
Those wishing to apply for
a grant or refer an applicant
for relief can contact Kerry Sesil
at the Arab-American Family
Support Center at kerry@
aafscny.org or call (718) 643–
8000.
Workers prepare food to be delivered. RiseBoro Community Partnerships
A food delivery worker.
REUTERS/Eduardo Munoz
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