Catholic Charities Community Health & Wellness Services and Office of Mission recently hit the streets once again to provide the homeless community with basic necessities via our Brown Bag Homeless Outreach Project. Our teams visited the Presentation of the Blessed Virgin Mary Church’s Grab and Go Soup Kitchen in Queens. We were able to serve guests from the Jamaica Armory 101, Providence House for Formerly Incarcerated Women, SCO Family Shelter and two additional mens shelters. Guests received hot meals, kindly provided by the St. John’s University Vincentian Outreach Group, non-perishable food, masks and a $25 TD Bank gift card.
From February to present, we have served over 1,100 individuals with grab and go bags, containing non-perishable food, clothing, masks and gift cards. We are so grateful to be helping our struggling neighbors throughout Brooklyn and Queens.
Since the pandemic began, Catholic Charities Brooklyn and Queens has witnessed a 1,000 percent increase in food requests and has provided much-needed food packages and services at 49 Catholic Charities parish-based food pantries. In total, the agency distributed over $3.4 million in food assistance in 2020. In addition, Catholic Charities witnessed a 37 percent increase in clients in 2020, and continued to deliver mental health counseling, housing services, family services and early childhood education. For additional information, visit our website at www.ccbq.org.