Despite the gloomy rain on Thursday, April 18, there were sunny smiles abound as Housing Works accepted a $300,000 check from Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield and cut the ribbon on their newest community health center in East Harlem.
The new site at 145 E. 125th Street will be the second in Harlem for the NYC-based nonprofit which has been providing comprehensive services to homeless and low-income New Yorkers since 1990. What started as a response to the HIV/AIDS crisis in New York City has grown into an expensive practice providing basic medical care, housing, food, psychiatric care as well as thrift shops and bookstores.
“We imagine a world where no matter who you are, where you come from, or what challenges you face, absolutely everyone has access to the resources and care that they need,” said Lisa Thompson, M.D., plan performance medical director for Anthem who has donated $11 million across the city in the last year alone, according to Thompson. As a doctor and resident of East Harlem, she is hopeful that this money will help benefit her neighborhood. “The work that will be done here is going to uplift and support our thriving community,” Thompson added.
The $300,000 will help Housing Works to provide a host of medical care and basic needs for the East Harlem community with a special focus on expanding their “Food is Medicine” program – an initiative developed in 2023 by the Department of Health and Human Services. With the exception of some lone street vendors and the Whole Foods on 125th Street selling produce at inaccessible prices, anyone walking through East Harlem can see the lack of fresh food available.
Currently, 38% of the East Harlem population lives below the poverty line and according to the Hunter College NYC Food Policy Center, nearly 25% of residents in East Harlem suffer from food insecurity.
“Through this award — we’ll be able to serve over a thousand patients with food over the next few years,” said Jessica Diamond, Housing Work’s executive director of community healthcare. “They’ll be able to use a very seamless digital platform and app to not only select their healthy food, but we’ll be able to offer a much greater variety of food.”
Via the Tangelo app, which accepts the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP), clients of Housing Works can have 24 boxes of food a year delivered to their home on a bi-weekly basis and can cater those foods to meet their dietary needs.
“Sometimes the pantry hands you a bag of food and it’s like — what about food allergies? Food sensitivities? Food preference” Christopher Joseph, the executive director of EngageWell IPA (Independent Physician Association), told amNY Metro. The IPA works in tandem with Housing Works as a fiduciary.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, there was a widespread shutdown of several facilities which caused a spike in the need for mental health care, food pantries, substance abuse treatment and more. A digital app like Tangelo helps people get the food they need despite the obstacles, whether it be due to a natural disaster or personal immobility. And health centers like Housing Works help individuals where they are and addresses a complete understanding of barriers, from homelessness to hunger to healthcare because these issues do not exist independent of each other, according to Diamond, the center’s executive director.
“To hear you talk about this comprehensive vision for care — what I can tell is that you are addressing what I see as some of the biggest challenges in public health in New York City coming out of COVID,” said Manhattan borough president, Mark Levine.
The facility at 145 E. 125th Street is spread across three floors and has its own multi-cubicle administrative office, several medical rooms, including one for “people of size” which has larger chairs and examining tables, an employee’s lounge, several “all gender” restrooms and even a coffee machine for clients in the waiting room. The building has several south-facing windows letting in plenty of sunlight and aims to open their doors to the public in need by early June.
