The Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) provides food assistance for nearly 1.8 million low-income individuals in New York. This national program helps families and individuals supplement the cost of their diet with nutritious foods. TCAH assists individuals and families with applying for SNAP benefits.  In the past three years, we have infused the local economy with more than $5,000,000 of SNAP dollars and income tax refunds.

Disaster Relief
TCAH’s latest enterprise is the Fresh Vibes Market. Thanks to the overwhelming generosity of the Brooklyn Borough President’s Office, we were able to purchase a custom RV to help us more easily serve individuals and families in need across the New York metropolitan area. It is our goal to use this vehicle to impart knowledge, change behaviors, and provide access to nutritious food to those who are currently isolated by geographic, socioeconomic, and personal barriers to our services.

This brand new unit is equipped with a mobile classroom, a benefits access area, produce storage bins, as well as a cooktop and refrigerated areas for the storage of prepared foods. This allows us to offer a wide variety of services in a single stop, including one-on-one benefits counseling, tax preparation and filing, SNAP screenings, fitness classes, nutrition workshops, cooking demos, as well as fresh produce and other healthful foods. The Fresh Vibes Market also serves as a low-priced farmers’ market stocked with fruits and vegetables grown at our own Urban Agro-Ecological Centers.

With the new Fresh Vibes Market vehicle, we expect to continue making progress in fighting obesity, diabetes, hypertension, heart disease, and other chronic diet-preventable illnesses, just as we have been doing for the past 20 years.

In 2012, Hurricane Sandy hit the East Coast and left a path of devastation in its wake. The TCAH team was an important “first responder” in the Rockaways, providing emergency food, clothing and hygiene supplies to those affected. It didn’t take long for us to fully understand the extent of the damages, not only to homes and families in Brooklyn and Queens, but also in the broader New York City metropolitan area.

Since Sandy, we have made mobility a priority of our food distribution services, establishing our first Mobile Pantry shortly after the storm hit..our mobile pantry has grown, and we distributed approximately 1.34 million meals in 2017. Each week, the Mobile Pantry sets out to Brooklyn, Queens, and the Bronx to meet the need of families across New York City. Our Mobile Pantry acts as a TCAH satellite site, with expanded mobile capabilities, including free tax preparation and SNAP benefit outreach, in addition to food distribution.

TCAH operates one of New York City’s largest emergency food pantries. Open five days per week. our SuperPantry provides the community with access to fresh produce, whole grains, lean proteins, and new clothes, all at no cost to our clients. Based on the USDA My Plate Campaign, our pantry is organized according to food groups, with the goal of providing our clients with all the essential elements to a complete and nutritious diet.

At TCAH, our clients are family, and we do everything we can to make sure their voices are heard in everything we do.  The supermarket-style setup of the SuperPantry means that shoppers use a cart and are free to select the items they prefer. Our dedication to the client experience inspired us to adopt this model rather than provide a pre-bagged package of food. Our shoppers leave with all of the essential elements to a complete and nutritious diet and their dignity.