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PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Jeanette Estima, Director of Policy and Advocacy at Citymeals on Wheels
5:45:24
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Jeanette Estima from Citymeals on Wheels testified about their emergency meals program and the persistent food insecurity among homebound older New Yorkers. She requested funding renewal and support for innovative pilot programs to address food insecurity more effectively.
- Citymeals delivered nearly 273,000 emergency meals across all five boroughs in FY24.
- 60% of home-delivered meal recipients are food insecure, with 65% living on $15,000 or less annually.
- Citymeals is piloting new programs like the breakfast box and mobile grocery program to provide more food in new ways.
- They requested $500,000 renewal for emergency meals and an additional $200,000 for pilot programs.
- Urged the council to pass Intro 770, requiring the city's home-delivered meals program to provide one meal 365 days a year, estimated to cost about $20,700,000.
Jeanette Estima
5:45:24
Thank you.
5:45:25
Deputy speaker Ayala, thanks for the opportunity to testify today.
5:45:30
My name is Jeanette Estima and I'm the director of policy and advocacy for city meals on wheels.
5:45:35
We're grateful to the council for its support of our emergency meals program, which provides food to homebound older New Yorkers during local and citywide emergencies.
5:45:44
In FY24 with your support, city meals delivered nearly 273,000 emergency meals across all five boroughs.
5:45:52
But there is an underlying persistent emergency experienced by home delivered meals recipients, sixty percent of whom are food insecure despite the one meal they receive.
5:46:03
It is simply not enough, and their access to food is very limited due to mobility challenges and financial barriers, with sixty five percent of them living on $15,000 a year or less.
5:46:15
The city's home delivered meals program is a critical part of its anti hunger infrastructure, but it's not enough to truly address food insecurity.
5:46:23
This will require expanding the program and the creation of new programs that bring food directly to homebound older adults.
5:46:30
And that's why City Meals has piloted several new programs that provide more food in new ways.
5:46:35
The breakfast box is essentially a second meal program, currently serving 2,000 people across the city, which we hope to double next year.
5:46:43
And our mobile grocery program brings monthly bags of food directly to homebound older adults.
5:46:48
You mentioned earlier the lack of food pantries in The Bronx and the lack of a food infrastructure in that area, and, you know, this is one of the reasons why these pilot programs are so critical as they are able to do what currently the infrastructure is not there to do.
5:47:05
So, we respectfully request renewal of the 500,000 that we received for emergency meals, last year, and we ask for an additional 200,000 to support these innovative pilot programs.
5:47:18
And finally, we urge the council to pass intro seven seventy, which would require the city's home delivered meals program to provide one meal three hundred and sixty five days a year estimated to cost about $20,700,000.
5:47:31
Thank you.