The past six months have been unprecedented to say the least. Like everybody else, our agency and the communities we serve have faced numerous challenges. However, in keeping with the spirit of reciprocity that defines the settlement house model, we came together to respond to the needs of our most vulnerable neighbors, and it was truly a rewarding experience.
Early in the crisis when food insecurity emerged as a major concern, Riis worked with the NYC Office of the Food Czar to launch food distributions in the Queensbridge and Ravenswood Houses and began distributing prepackaged meals four days a week across the two sites and making home deliveries to the elderly and the disabled. With the support of the Center for Court Innovation, the Mayor’s Office of Criminal Justice, and GrowNYC, we were also able to coordinate a special weekly distribution of local, farm fresh products. On average, each week we distributed 10,000 meals and over 1,000 protective masks.
The distributions and deliveries would not have been possible were it not for the tireless efforts of a core group of Riis staff members, as well as volunteers from NYC Cares, LIC Support, and the local community—all of whom showed up week in and week out to help ensure that no one went hungry during the crisis. While there are too many names to list here, we are deeply indebted to each and every one of them for their tireless service. We are also enormously grateful to funders like the New York Community Trust, Barker Welfare Foundation, New York Women’s Foundation, and the Teagle Foundation, as well as a number of corporate and individual donors who helped to sustain Riis and our COVID-relief efforts these past six months.
As fall fast approaches, our staff are now working hard to prepare for what will no doubt be a unique and challenging program year. Our Riis Academy staff are preparing to resume in-person after school programming at our seven sites, and this year Riis Settlement will partner in the Learning Bridges program, hosting students on their remote learning days at our Queensbridge and Ravenswood community centers. Our Immigrant Services program will facilitate its fall semester of ESOL and citizenship preparation classes fully online, and our Senior Services program will continue to expand its virtual offerings to keep our seniors engaged and socially connected.
While we don’t expect the next few months to be easy, we know that our staff and community will continue to work together to lift each other up and make a positive impact during this challenging period.
