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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Janet Jackson, Representative of Coalition for the Homeless Client Advisory Group
2:05:44
ยท
143 sec
Janet Jackson, a former shelter resident for 10 years, testifies about ongoing food quality issues in NYC shelters. She highlights problems with food storage, preparation, and the lack of accommodation for special dietary needs, emphasizing that these issues have persisted for a decade with no improvement.
- Describes specific issues such as inadequate microwaves, unsafe food storage practices, and overcooked meals
- Emphasizes the struggle for those with medical conditions to receive appropriate meals, despite having doctor's letters for reasonable accommodations
- Calls for accountability and real change in shelter food services, stating that the current situation is "killing people today"
Janet Jackson
2:05:44
Good afternoon.
2:05:45
Good morning everyone.
2:05:47
My name is Janet Jackson and I'm here today to speak about the serious issues of the food inequality in New York City shelters.
2:05:55
I lived in the shelters for approximately ten years and had to deal with lots of issues with the food.
2:06:01
Thankfully I'm out of the shelter, but I'm here to speak on behalf of my experience and on behalf of members of the coalition for the homeless client advisory group.
2:06:12
The fact is that all the food issues that I experienced over the total of ten years of being in and out of the shelters still exist today.
2:06:21
The problems I hear are the same problems I had and I'm hearing the same thing from other people today.
2:06:29
Nothing has changed, nothing in ten years.
2:06:33
I lived in several shelters, all of them have food issues.
2:06:37
At one shelter there was only one microwave for the whole building to heat up their food.
2:06:42
When I worked at night, I had to choose between going hungry or eating cold, unrefrigerated, left out, saved food from early in the day.
2:06:52
At other shelters, staff leave frozen food sitting out on the tables all day, which is unsafe.
2:06:58
People got sick from this food because it wasn't properly stored.
2:07:02
Too often food was so overcooked that it was barely edible and the coalition provided a picture of the microwave food that were laying on the side that's from being overcooked.
2:07:17
But this is nothing that compare to the problem faced by people who have special dietary needs or medical conditions.
2:07:24
People including myself go through all the work of getting a doctor's letter so they can get reasonable accommodation request granted, but that's when the real struggle begins.
2:07:36
Shelter ignore reasonable accommodations for medically necessary diet.
2:07:42
I suffer from diabetes, kidney disease, and cardiac disease.
2:07:46
I needed a special diet, they didn't provide it, I asked, they didn't provide it and it's not just me, there's a strong lack of accountability and shelters and killing people today.
2:07:59
There's no fresh food, no healthy food, and nothing has changed.
2:08:05
It's time for a real change.
2:08:07
Thank you for letting me speak.