“Bowls Of Hope” Arrive At Casa Otoñal

Casa Otoñal Housing Corporation received 160 ​“Bowls of Hope” to help feed its seniors hot and healthy lunches for a week.

The delivery came on Friday courtesy of The Greek Olive, which is partnering with the national Plating Change Program to feed the hungry in New Haven during the pandemic.

The senior apartment complex on Sylvan Avenue in the Hill received its second of four planned weekly drop-offs on Friday. The program served all 40 of the complex’s registered seniors in need of food assistance.

When the pandemic hit New Haven, Casa Otoñal closed down its cafeteria. It then surveyed residents in need of food assistance and began catering daily hot lunches from local restaurants and delivering them to its 40 registered residents’ doors Mondays through Fridays.

On Friday the residents received 16-ounce individually packed bowls of rice, chicken and vegetables.

Mother and daughter Carmen and Brenda Rivera live together at the complex. The pair picked up their meals Friday from the community area and thanked the staff for ​“the blessed food.”

The Riveras live on a tight budget at Casa Otoñal. During the pandemic, Carmen said, she started cooking more to save money. ​“This is a lot of help,” Brenda said.

After picking up their meals Friday, Carmen said she plans to note down what ingredients the bowl of hope has so she can replicate the recipe herself. The daily meals from Casa Otoñal have inspired Carmen. ​“My cooking is more healthy now because this tells me the ingredients to use,” Carmen said.

The Riveras both got vaccinated for Covid-19 at Casa Otoñal and said the process went smoothly for them. ​“We has no side effects or nothing,” Brenda said. Once the two get their second dose of the vaccine, they plan to visit their family and Brenda’s first grandchild in Florida and Puerto Rico.

Since the start of the pandemic, Carmen and her neighbors have begun cooking meals for each other whenever possible to help.

Casa Otonal CEO Elmer Rivera Bello invited residents to pick up their meals in the first floor community area to get exercise and get the residents back in the habit of coming down to the cafeteria. Rivera Bello hopes to reopen the cafeteria and community room once state capacity restrictions are lifted.

Roberto Soto has been a resident at Casa Otonal for six years. As he picked up his lunch Friday, he remarked that ​“it’s a blessing we’re here and not in all these places with long food lines.” Soto also got his first vaccination shot at Casa Otoñal and is looking to schedule his next soon.

After the pick-ups slowed down, Administrative Assistant Nicole Morales and Community Outreach Coordinator Millie Gomez made deliveries to residents’ doors. When residents opened the door to Gomez their faces lit up. Some thanked her with small gifts of appreciation like a granola bar.

Gomez has made all of the door-to-door deliveries since the pandemic started. In the beginning the program started with 15 – 20 residents registered. Now it is serving 40 daily.

Jouan Gutierrez has lived for more than 10 years at Casa Otoñal. Gutierrez thanked the staff for blessing him with the daily lunches. ​“I will never forget this,” he said.

During the pandemic Gutierrez has gained a new interest in eating healthfully, he said. ​“It [the food] makes me feel good during the bad times,” he said. ​“I can still cook for myself but nothing like this.”