Teachers at PA 143 in Queens Open "Cubs Boutique" To Offer Free Food, Clothes and Household Items To Parents and Kids in Need

 

photo: Gwynne Hogan

Creative thinking and a lot of heart at PS143 Louis Armstrong in Corona Queens has brought to NYC the "Cubs Boutique", a place where parents in need can get food, clothes and household items for free.

Great work, PS 143 teachers!

Now let's see this in every school. There are families throughout NYC in every school who are needy, and could use support without judgment.

Betsy Combier, Editor

betsy.combier@gmail.com

Editor, ADVOCATZ.com

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Facing surge in homeless students, teachers in Queens open a store offering free food and items

By 

Gwynne Hogan

Published Nov 28, 2022 at 5:01 a.m.

2 comments

Inside a Queens elementary school, teachers and staff have converted a recreation area into the "Cubs Boutique” — a free store where parents and kids can find everything from clothing and food, to household items.

The idea was born of necessity at P.S. 143 Louis Armstrong in Corona, which saw a dramatic influx in the number of students living in temporary housing this school year, largely driven by the arrival of families seeking asylum in the United States.

The school serves about 1,500 students and roughly 400 of them live in temporary housing such as city shelters and hotels, said Principal Justine Lucas.

Just within this academic year, the school enrolled nearly 100 new students who were living in temporary housing, more than any other school in the city, according to data collected by project Open Arms, an interagency effort to connect children of asylum seekers to public schools.

Early in the school year, teachers began noticing immense need from their new community members. They observed multiple siblings sharing one winter jacket, a mother who was using a shopping cart as a stroller, and children wearing sandals to school in frigid temperatures.

They’d been addressing little emergencies like these with a piecemeal approach, but by late September, they had another idea: to create a store where "parents have dignity and feel really proud to come in and select items,” Lucas said.

Teachers and staff man the store after school and during their free periods, sorting through donated goods.

“Coming from immigrant parents myself, I actually know the struggles that these families can go through,” said bilingual speech therapist Michelle Escobar, who said it’s been a rewarding experience to volunteer at the store.

The boutique is just one way teachers and staff aim to meet the needs of the community. They also keep the school open for four hours on Saturdays for a special literacy program and offer classes to parents on mindfulness, yoga and how to better help their kids with work they might take home.

Rachel Pauta, a reading specialist, said P.S. 143 has an important role to fill as a family’s first experience of school: “We have to make it memorable. We have to make it meaningful,” she said. “We have to make it helpful.”

Lucas said the effort has had a significant impact: “It's really a beautiful thing to see what this labor of love accomplishes."

Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson Says Immigrants' Tent City in Her Borough Is 'Not Suitable'

 

New York City Mayor Eric Adams (left) and Bronx Borough President Vanessa Gibson (right) 
(New York Daily News)

NYC Mayor Adams’ migrant tent camp plan panned by Bronx BP Vanessa Gibson: ‘Not the ideal location’

By Chris Sommerfeldt, NY Daily News, September 26, 2022

Mayor Adams’ plan to house hundreds of Latin American migrants in tents in a Bronx parking lot drew skepticism Monday from the Boogie Down’s borough president, who charged that the site is not suitable for several reasons.

Borough President Vanessa Gibson said she’s concerned that the parking lot at Orchard Beach is prone to flooding — a fact that could become especially problematic as hurricane season picks up. Gibson also said access to public transit is notoriously poor at the remote beach, with no nearby subway connections and scant bus service.

Still, Gibson affirmed she won’t stand in the way of the camp, which is expected to house upward of 1,000 migrants at a time.

“While this is not the ideal location and we have raised reasonable concerns, my team and I are working with the Adams administration to ensure that any site designated for our borough has wraparound services,” she said in a statement.

These services must be provided in a dignified, humane, quality and safe space that does not do further harm nor add burden to clients and families. Under these emergency circumstances, we will work together with the administration in a balanced and strategic manner to ensure the Bronx is not overburdened.”

The Federal Emergency Management Agency considers the entire Orchard Beach parking lot a “special flood hazard area.” The city also lists the parking lot as a Zone 1 hurricane evacuation area, meaning it’s especially vulnerable to dangerous flooding during storms.

Adams administration officials have not addressed the weather-related vulnerabilities of the site. They have said the city plans to provide a shuttle bus service for migrants to be able to come and go from the tent facilities as they please.

An Adams spokeswoman would not comment directly on Gibson’s statement, but said 50 sites across all five boroughs were evaluated before the administration set its sights on Orchard Beach.

A past example of what the inside of a Humanitarian Emergency Response and Relief Center will look like that would only shelter single adults, according to the mayor's office. Families would be sheltered in a humanitarian relief center with a different setup. (NYC Mayor's Office)

The Orchard Beach location is expected to house only single adults, and will be operational within a few weeks, according to City Hall. The administration has said it’s going to open at least one more tent facility for migrant families.

Gibson’s critique comes as the city’s homeless shelter system remains overburdened by a recent influx f South and Central American migrants.

As of Thursday, more than 13,000 migrants fleeing violence and economic turmoil in their home countries had arrived in the city after crossing the Mexican border, hoping to apply for asylum. Hundreds more are coming every week, according to data from Adams’ administration. On Thursday night, 58,152 people slept in city shelters — more than 10,000 of them migrants, the data show.

Many of the desperate travelers were sent to New York by Republican Texas Gov. Greg Abbott, who has turned the crisis on the southern border into a political cudgel against Democratic immigration policies.

The waves of migrants have brought city shelters to the brink of collapse, and the Orchard Beach encampment is an effort by Adams to alleviate pressure on the system.

The City Council’s Immigration Committee is set to hold an oversight hearing Friday on the administration’s response to the crisis. A Council source said the hearing is expected to feature testimony from Zach Iscol, Adams’ emergency management commissioner, who will have a leading role in building and maintaining the migrant tent centers.

According to Adams, the tents will serve as intake centers, meaning migrants should not have to stay there longer than 96 hours before being provided shelter beds or other permanent housing.

But advocates for the homeless have suggested the tent plan may run afoul of the local right-to-shelter law, which requires the city to provide anyone who needs it a “safe and adequate” place to stay.

In her statement, Gibson also made reference to the shelter law — which the Adams administration already likely violated on two separate occasions this summer.

“As our city has seen an increase in asylum seekers, it is important for us to share in this emergency crisis and ensure that we are all doing our part to assist,” she said. “The City of New York is a right-to-shelter city and is legally required to provide temporary housing to those who enter our shelter system.”