1 Day, 3 Pivots: Neighbors Feed Neighbors

As temperatures swooped below freezing, New Haveners delivered sustenance to their neighbors: bags of prepared beef and potatoes for seniors in West Hills, groceries for hungry families in the Hill, Mystic cheese and locally produced honey for farmers market shoppers in Wooster Square.

Those three separate efforts took place Saturday, illustrating the different ways grassroots New Haveners are working to keep neighbors healthy during a pandemic.

West Hills: Home Cooking

On Harper Avenue, Alder Honda Smith and neighbor Danny Singleton started cooking early Saturday morning, preparing enough food to deliver to 47 households in Ward 30, which includes West Hills and West Rock. The home-cooked comfort meals were delivered to the doors of large families in need and homebound seniors.

In March Smith began dedicating her weekends to cooking for needy households confronting food insecurity in the pandemic.

Saturday’s menu included meat loaf, corn, mashed potatoes, and a dinner roll. In addition Smith made banana pudding, bungalow cake topped with fresh fruit, and banana cream cheese cake for dessert.

The effort required 40 pounds of ground beef, eight bags of corn, and 15 pounds of potatoes. By 2 p.m the cooking was finished. Smith, Danny Singleton, and Andrea Daniels-Singleton gloved up and the trio plated the meals in delivery boxes. When possible the trio makes extra dishes to also serve the seniors’ caregivers and hotel staff.

Virginia McClure, 92, received a still-warm meal Saturday and thanked Singleton for delivering it. McClure has lived in West Hills for more than 50 years; she has been living alone since her husband’s death in 2004. Since the pandemic began, McClure has not able to spend much time her family in person but talks to them daily over the phone, she said. Her kids rotate schedules to pick up groceries for her each week, some coming from Meriden to do so. ​“Now with all this food, they don’t have to buy as much for me,” she said.

When family members visit, they often stay at a distance in the drive way to keep her safe. McClure said she sometimes freezes the meals to enjoy during the week.

To fund the meals, Smith and the Singletons pay out of pocket. Smith taps in her Board of Alders monthly stipend, a monthly donation from Faith Tabernacle Body Of Christ, and money collected from a Go Fund Me campaign. A former Hillhouse classmate also brought Honda a new set of pots and pans to continue servicing the community.

“I feed my community what I eat: same high-quality ingredients and comfort meals,” Smith said.

Smith was motivated to start cooking the weekend meals after seeing her neighbors struggle to feed their families hot and healthy meals during the pandemic. ​“People are having to grocery shop at corner stores,” she said. In March, a senior told Smith she had resorted to eating dog food. It was all she could afford.

Smith began reaching out on social media and went door-to-door to neighbors to ask what kind of help they needed if any. Since the start more and more residents have been reaching out to Smith to get on the weekend meal distribution list. ​“I don’t turn anyone away. I refuse to let my community starve no matter how much it costs me,” she said.

Meals delivered to families living in the ward’s hotels included to-go plates marked with a ​“K” on the top, for kids.

Former Ward 30 Democratic Committee Co-Chair Cassandra Lang received a delivery Saturday from current Co-Chair Iva Johnson for her mother and her on Victory Drive. ​“This is economical and delicious,” she said.

Ten meals were delivered to The Regal Inn, seven meals to The Best Way Inn, and 17 to the New Haven Inn. Hotel staff made calls to the listed residents to pick up the meals in the lobby.

(To donate to this weekly meal giveaway, call (203) 802‑0122.)

Wooster Square:

Meanwhile, CitySeed hosted a weekly winters farmers market in the parking lot of Conte West Hills School. Wooster Square neighbors bundled up in the cold to get fresh and locally produced food at the walk-through market.

CitySeed introduced its socially distanced walk-through markets in July after operating on a drive-through basis in response to the pandemic. At the start of the summer shoppers would pre-order from the vendors online and drive through the market to pick up their orders. The newly launched walk-through market at Conte offers more accessibility to shoppers and the original farmers market experience, said CitySeed farmers market Manager Alyssa Gant.

Lauren Trujillo picked up her must-haves at the market Saturday with her daughter: Mystic cheese and fresh bread from SONO baking. She also couldn’t help but pick up honey and fresh eggs from Sugar Maple Farms while shopping.

Trujillo relies on the farmers market for some of her weekly groceries. ​“Its a win win. We can get fresh food while supporting those struggling,” she said.

CitySeed doubles Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program’s (SNAP) EBT benefits dollar for dollar on purchases of fresh fruits and vegetables. It also offers Farmers Market Nutrition Program Coupons.

“This pandemic has made New Haven a food desert,” said Gant. ​“Now especially everyone should have access to healthy food.”

Fourteen vendors joined the market Saturday. Shoppers wore masks and were encouraged to ​“shop efficiently and leave the market space in a timely fashion.”

Ashna Gupta, 22, Minh Vu, 22, and Olivia Mooney, 23, made their weekly trip to the market Saturday to pick up warm beverages from the Jitter Bus and their favorite pastries from SONO Baking. The trio try to make a trip to the markets each week to support local businesses and safely enjoy outdoors.

The Hill: Haven’s & Trader Joe’s

Meanwhile, out of the police substation on Howard Avenue, New Haven Inner City Enrichment Center (NICE) distributed about 60 grocery bags to Hill residents at a monthly food pantry. This month NICE received fresh donations from Haven’s Harvest and products from Trader Joe’s.

“If we weren’t here, we don’t know if anyone else would be for the Hill,” said NICE Director Jamilah Rasheed.

In order to avoid having people wait in the cold in unsafe lines before the pantry opened, NICE gave residents each a number ticket to leave and return with to pick up quickly when the pantry opened. On the last Saturday of every month NICE distributes food to those in need from 11 a.m to 1 p.m.

The grocery bags included fresh produce like potatoes and carrots, rolls of toilet tissues, chicken, and healthy non perishables.

At the start of the month NICE hosted a sponsor a family clothing drive. Extra coats that were donated were offered for free on a coat rack and table outside of the substation during the Saturday pantry for residents to take. 

Volunteers helped to pre-package the groceries Friday and distribute them during the Saturday pantry.

“We’re just doing our part for our community,” said board member Zafirah Worthy.

To learn more about the project and make a donation, click here.