By Nykeba Corinaldi, Bond Flatiron Community Developer
This has been a fabulous holiday season, filled with festive outfits, aromatic aromas, and vibrantly lit decorations.
Despite the excitement, it’s important to think of the many families experiencing financial hardship and homelessness. In October 2017, 62,963 homeless people, including 15,689 homeless families with 23,707 homeless children, are sleeping each night in the New York City municipal shelter system. As the temperatures grow colder and the lights glow through the night, I wanted to find ways to positively empower others through my ability to give. After sharing thoughts with the entire Bond Collective team, we united over the same desire to support others as 2017 comes to an end and the new year began.
The Bond Collective team and I decided to create our own tradition of positively impacting communities through donating time, talent, and/or treasure. Our vision served as the blueprint of our Bond Gives Back Initiative.
While researching various opportunities to give, we encountered members of our own Bond Collective communities, that expressed interest in finding opportunities to give back. Their compassion inspired me to share the research I found, as well as create a personal plan of action for ways that I can support the diverse needs of our communities in the New York City area.
Overall, it was disheartening to learn how homelessness in New York City has reached the highest levels since the Great Depression of the 1930s and that the primary cause of homelessness, particularly among families, is lack of affordable housing. “Homelessness is a trauma we need to treat,” CEO of Win NYC. All in all, we found hope in knowing that this is our city and there’s so much power in joining forces to help support our fellow New Yorkers.
In honor of creating a lasting impact on our communities, I’ve selected organizations and opportunities to give back to and share our Bond Gives Back Initiative below!
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Win NYC – Win is the largest provider of shelter and supportive housing for homeless families in NYC. Win provides safe housing, critical services, and groundbreaking programs to help homeless women and their children rebuild their lives and break the cycle of homelessness.
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Food Bank for New York City – Did you know we need 800 volunteers every week at Food Bank NYC? Volunteers are vital to the work Food Bank does throughout the five boroughs. Whether it is repacking food for our network, serving breakfast to seniors, or helping prepare meals for the community, you can make a difference many ways. We’re having a special Food Drive partnership with Food Bank for New York and accepting donations at our Bond Flatiron location!
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The Grand Central Food Program (GCFP) was founded in 1985 the day after a homeless woman died of starvation in Grand Central Terminal. Since then, the program has grown to become the largest mobile soup kitchen in America.
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City Meals on Wheels – Serving homebound elderly New Yorkers since 1981. Providing a lifeline of nourishment, as well as greeting cards that can serve as a simple reminder that someone cares about you. For their meal recipients, it can mean much more. Citymeals works with students, community and corporate groups all over the city to craft handmade cards that brighten the lives of isolated older New Yorkers.
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Volunteers of America – Since Volunteers of America-Greater New York was founded in 1896, we have relied on community support to help us expand our services and enrich the lives of our clients. While our programs are staffed by full-time professionals, we do have many opportunities for individuals and corporate groups to donate their time and talent to help those in need.
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Safe Horizon – Safe Horizon envisions a society free of family and community violence. Our mission is to provide support, prevent violence, and promote justice for victims of crime and abuse, their families and communities. We offer assistance to victims that includes shelter, advocacy, counseling, legal services and more. Our programs and services touch the lives of more than 250,000 children, adults and families throughout New York City each year.
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City Harvest – Dish out the love to a fellow New Yorkers. Whether you have experience in teaching and nutrition, are interested in working with local farmers, or simply want to give back to your community, your passion and time are important resources in the fight against hunger.
This year, Bond Collective is partnered with Win, in support of their mission to break the cycle of homelessness for New York’s children and their families. Together with our communities, Bond Collective spread the magic of the Holidays by donating toys to Win families and children. Reach out to someone from Bond Collective’s community team to find out how we got involved and keep an eye out for our Second Annual Bond Gives Back Initiative!
Join the creativity and innovation today.
INTERESTED IN JOINING THE DYNAMIC COMMUNITY MEMBERS FEATURED IN THIS BLOG SERIES? COME IN FOR A PERSONALIZED TOUR OF ANY OF OUR BOND COLLECTIVE LOCATIONS TODAY.
FOCUS ON YOUR DREAM, AND WE’LL HANDLE THE REST.