“There’s no such thing as us and them. There’s no them. It’s all us.” This is one of the things that the JEVA (Justice Education, Volunteers, and Advocacy) department tells volunteers during the introduction to our work at St. Anthony’s. One of the most profound things that our volunteers experience is the reality of the common humanity among all people, regardless of income, disability status, or age.  Every time I think about this phrase, I am reminded of a story that I’ve heard many times …

It was around 1910 when his parents decided to come to America. They knew that their future in southern Italy was bleak. All they had ever known was poverty. Neither his mother nor his father could read or write Italian, and neither could speak English. Yet, when they heard of an American textile company that could offer employment, they decided to leave everything they’d ever known to come to the United States. It’s impossible to know whether they realized that they’d never see Italy or their parents again. They probably didn’t allow themselves to think about such things — they realized that the best chance for their family’s survival depended on their ability to make the 2-week long sea voyage from Italy to New York. As the date of their voyage drew closer, they surely, as they had many times during past uncertainty and strife, they prayed to St. Anthony for help, strength, and comfort.

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The primary goal of the Dining Room is to provide sustenance for our hungry guests in and environment of dignity and respect.  In doing this we are able to provide a welcoming community, friendly ears to listen, and referrals to other services in St. Anthony Foundation’s network of care.  Our ability to serve every guest in the Dining Room is made greater by truly understanding them and their specific needs.

More than one third of our guests rely on the meals served in the Dining Room as their only source of food each day; many must decide between paying for rent or even for medicine before budgeting for food. We understand that people with food insecurities need to reach satiety in their main meal of the day, to accomplish that a meal with 20% fat is advised.

Beef and other meats are critical to our guests.  The concentrated protein helps prevent the cravings that lead guests to spend what little money they may have on fast food or convenience store items high in saturated and trans fats. All of these foods can cause further harm to our guests’ health when eaten on a regular basis, leading to obesity and related diseases, like diabetes.

The homeless and low-income population we serve also need a supplemental diet that focuses on prevention and other special needs such as wound healing, vision impairment and bone health. To ensure that the Dining Room is providing meals that best meet these needs, St. Anthony’s invited a Registered Dietitian to conduct a nutritional assessment of our food. The results indicated that the Dining Room’s menu provides excellent sources of macro and micronutrients, reflecting home cooked meals rather than processed foods. Meals also contain higher nutritional value, not only when compared to the alternatives found in our neighborhood, such as fast food and inexpensive convenience store snacks, but also when compared to other food service agencies.

The study showed Vitamins E, A and K at “good” levels. To raise that rating to “excellent” the Dining Room immediately doubled the amount of spinach and carrots cooked in meals, and has also added more meals with tuna to increase Omega-3 intake. Meals are now being cooked with vegetable oil rather than margarine, which immediately decreases trans fats 15%, with a long term goal of completely eliminating trans fats by 2010.

If you tell Barbara Coleman that there is a bill coming up in Congress that relates to poverty or hunger, her first response is, “When do we go? I need to talk to those people.”

As a formerly homeless woman who has fought many battles with poverty, hunger, and homelessness, Barbara felt that the story of her survival fell on deaf ears at many of the places she turned to for help. But she knew that her story was representative of so many around her — people who were struggling to piece together enough food to eat for a day, a safe place to sleep for the night, or medical care when they become ill. In working with St. Anthony’s Advocacy Program, Barbara has learned that her story is important for policy makers and other advocates to hear.

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