Adams to Deliver Plant-Based Meals to Seniors
Borough President Eric Adams, in partnership with The Campaign Against Hunger, will help distribute plant-based meal replacement shakes to vulnerable seniors and local residents suffering from worsening food insecurity, made possible through a 20,000-meal donation from Kate Farms today.
The pandemic has increased the need for quality nutrition in Brooklyn, particularly for people of color who are more likely to die from the 2019 novel coronavirus than other races, as well as live with co-morbidities as a result of poor nutrition or long-term malnutrition. Kate Farms generally serves the medical and health care markets but is donating $1 million of its meal replacement shakes to organizations across the country with the ability to serve quickly and directly those who are most at-risk, including The Campaign Against Hunger in Brooklyn.
The event is slated for 9:40 a.m. today April 14, at the Campaign Against Hunger office, 2010 Fulton Street in Bed-Stuy.
Senator Persaud Delivers Food to Penn Wortman Residents
State Senator Roxanne Persaud (D-Canarsie, East New York, Brownsville, Mill Basin, Sheepshead Bay, Bergen Beach, Marine Park, Flatlands, Mill Island, Georgetown, Ocean Hill and Starrett City) along with staff, delivered 400 boxes of food to the residents of the Penn Wortman Houses this past Thursday.
“During times of crisis, our community’s most vulnerable are often hit the hardest,” said Persaud “ensuring healthy food is available is imperative for New Yorkers to maintain their personal health and nourishment during these times. I am glad to join my colleagues and staff bringing direct assistance to hundreds of Brooklyn families in need.”
Through a coordinated effort from Persaud’s office, Campaign Against Hunger, Borough President Eric Adams, and NYCHA, hundreds of residents were given boxes of food outside the Penn Wortman Neighborhood Center to help them maintain healthy nourishment during this coronavirus pandemic.
Sen. Persaud will again provide food distribution on Thursday, April 16, 2020 at 12:30 PM in the Penn Wortman Neighborhood Center parking lot.
Lander on the Next Phase of Coronavirus
City Councilmember Brad Lander (D-Park Slope, Windsor Terrace, Kensington, Gowanus) spoke in a routine newsletter yesterday on moving on to the next phase of coronavirus, and what that possibly looks like.
“First, we must put in place a coordinated plan for testing and tracing, or we will not be ready to move beyond the current phase, even if cases continue to decline. Currently, we are nowhere close to where we need to be on testing. To begin reopening, we’ll need either a super-massive scale of testing (Paul Romer has called for testing everyone every 14 days), or we’ll need to combine large-scale testing with invasive contract-tracing technology, which raises hard questions about feasibility, surveillance, and enforcement.
Next, we need a lot more space to quarantine people who test positive or have been in contact with someone who has. People living in crowded apartments, homeless shelters, and in our city’s jails need places to safely isolate. The City has begun making some hotel rooms available for that, but we are going to need more, on the order of tens of thousands of hotel rooms, and rapid efforts to get affordable housing ready as soon as possible to accommodate the need.
Finally, many seniors and people who are immunocompromised will likely need to continue to isolate for this very long time. It will take a huge and creative effort to provide not only food and medicine and supplies but also social contact and activities to make it livable and tolerable. We’re continuing to work on this effort with Heights & Hills and Greenwich House; we’ll have more to report on that soon.
It’s a long and hard road ahead, and we will only make it through shared sacrifice, effective governance, and social solidarity. But the work we’ve done together to bend the curve shows we’re capable of it,” wrote Lander.
Myrie Launches Thank You Letter’s for Essential Workers and More
State Senator Zellnor Myrie (D-Brownsville, Crown Heights, East Flatbush, Gowanus, Park Slope, Prospect Heights, Prospect Lefferts Gardens, South Slope, Sunset Park) emailed updates on coronavirus and launched a letter-writing campaign to thank health care and essential workers.
“Whether you or a family member received assistance or you simply want to thank the heroes in our community for keeping us safe, please share a thank you note here and we will make sure it is delivered to our local sites. We’ll also feature some of the letters on our social media (only if you give us your permission),” wrote Myrie.
Other Updates:
Cases and Losses
- The state now has about 195,000 confirmed cases and just over 10,000 deaths. We saw more days of significant losses of life on Easter Sunday, with 671 deaths.
Hospitalizations Flattening:
- In a piece of good news, the number of hospitalizations is continuing to flatten. This could mean that we are at the apex of the demand for care or that the apex is a plateau that will continue for some time. We have also seen the rates of ICU admissions and intubations go down.
Schools:
- Mayor de Blasio announced that the city plans to keep schools closed for the remainder of the school year, though the Governor quickly challenged the decision. The two leaders disagree on who has the final say, but for now, we recommend that parents prepare for the shutdown to continue through the school year.
Inter-State Task Force:
- Governor Cuomo announced a task force made up of neighboring northeastern states to come up with a regional plan for addressing the crisis and how to safely manage the eventual transition back to normal. It will include New Jersey, Connecticut, New York, Pennsylvania, Delaware, and Rhode Island.
Masks:
- The state has ordered that all essential workers need to wear face coverings and requires that employers provide face coverings to workers. The city is also distributing masks to anyone who needs one.
Antibody Testing:
- The governor signed an executive order over the weekend that will expand antibody testing. This type of testing is conducted on people who have already had the novel coronavirus and have recovered and could help allow people to return to work sooner and treat those who are suffering from the virus.
Unemployment:
- After planned maintenance on Thursday, the new unemployment system is now available. The DOL urges New Yorkers to use the new online system (labor.ny.gov), which can handle most applications from start to finish, and reduce the number of New Yorkers who must speak to a claims specialist on the phone. Here is some guidance on using the system: IF YOU HAVE BEGUN BUT NOT YET COMPLETED FILING a claim, DOL advises that their claims specialists will call applicants to complete their claims; applicants should stay close to their phones, expect a call from any number/ blocked number, and be ready to answer calls. IF YOU HAVE NOT YET FILED a claim, labor.ny.gov will direct you to the new, streamlined system. These instructions apply to all workers who may be eligible for unemployment benefits, including those not traditionally covered by these benefits. When workers’ claims are approved they will receive benefits backdated to their first day of unemployment.
