Vision Urbana Food Pantry

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Since 2000, Vision Urbana’s mission to develop healthy and strong families is realized through our partnerships with local NYCHA tenant associations and one partnership in particular, the Seward Park Development Tenant Association located on 66 Essex Street New York, NY 10002, a development that is among one of the poorest communities within the 1.7 mile long CB3 District (41.% of total households live below $24,999 annual income). VU has been working with the Seward Park tenants, largely Latino with a growing Asian population, for over a decade in addressing their main issues which includes lack of services for their seniors, the need for additional food resources and access to healthy living and nutritional training as a greater number of seniors on fixed incomes are dealing with chronic diseases such as Diabetes, High Blood Pressure, Heart Disease and Asthma (the Seward Park development was one of the NYCHA sites reported as having lead removal equipment and hazard tents propped open in the children’s playground located in front of the development, highlighting the poor living conditions which have impacted the health of residents). As a local and faithful CBO partner, Vision Urbana has committed weekly and monthly health services free to residents which include a chronic disease self-management series, weekly senior health & wellness programming, and senior monthly healthy living forums to empower and better manage their health.

However, in regards to hunger relief, VU realized that seniors just did not have sufficient access to food, often having to take public transportation with their heavy carriages to reach the nearest food pantry. As a result, VU decided to work with the tenants to create the Seward Park development’s first ever food pantry program on site at 66 Essex Street alongside their staunch advocate and late TA President Carmen Orta, also a Latino senior citizen who has served as resident for more than 35 years. Collectively engaging the help of local City Council member Margaret Chin, Chair of the Council on Aging Committee, the food pantry received approval from the NYC Food Collaborative and from NYCHA headquarters within two months of the request and launched in April 2018, coinciding with the approval of the Foodbank for NYC Seed Grant award that developed VU's senior nutrition education program at our senior center program located at 175 Delancey Street in partnership with the Grand Street Settlement.

Visit our website at visionurbana.org and (646) 626-9748.

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