We are so excited to start our very own blog! There are so many great things happening everyday that we would love to update you with! So finally!!! We present to you our Hear the Hungry BLOG!
Being that this is our first post, lets give you some background as to who we are and what we do.
We are Hear the Hungry, an oral history non-profit organization founded in New York City by Rebecca Pokryska and Grace Zinnel. Rebecca goes to BMCC and Grace goes to Hunter College.
Our mission is to collect stories of people who are experiencing hunger and then use those stories to spread awareness and create change. Hunger could mean anything from hunger for food, to hunger for a more humane society. By addressing specific issues one at a time, we will make a big impact on hunger throughout the world. For each issue that we tackle, we want to collect as many appropriate stories as possible, and then culminate our research with a documentary highlighting the most powerful and riveting stories. We also envision opening an archive that would be a mecca for research on hunger issues throughout the world and would house all of our audio, video, and written testimonies.
Through an advocacy group, we plan on making big policy changes by presenting these stories to legislatures. We are also in the process of putting together a mentor program for all of the people we speak with. This program will empower the people we interact with to stand up and make a difference for the situation they are facing. It will also act as a networking program for them to help each other get through the tough times.
Right now we are focusing on Homelessness and Hunger in NYC. We are working with Holy Apostle's Soup Kitchen on 28th Street and 9th Ave, the 2nd largest soup kitchen in the world. Check them out at http://www.holyapostlesnyc.org/haskhome.htm We are also working with the men's shelter at 5th Avenue Presbyterian Church. They house 12 homeless men at a time for about 6 months at a time and set them up with a program to get them housing. http://www.fapc.org/serve/our-city/shelter-for-the-homeless So far we have collected over 20 audio and video testimonies. We are still chugging along collecting stories every week. Check out our video! It's a collection of some of the highlights of 3 interviews we have collected. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=up09v6Hli5E
We also just started a new program called Hear the Hungry Rounds where we go around the Upper East Side on Tuesday nights to visit some of our homeless friends and bring them food, water, and other necessities. All are welcome. It's a way to get people involved. We have been getting a lot of inquiries as to what people could do so for right now. While we set up other programs that will eventually need volunteers, this is an opportunity to get involved and experience something many people have never experienced before.
We have been meeting with some awesome lawyers who have been helping us get connected with producers and have been great advisors. We have been building an amazing board of mentors and peers.
Some groups we have been looking at are the Kind Campaign. They are an awesome organization that was started by two girls in LA that is working to combat girl on girl bullying! They are making great strides and using documentary to make a difference! Take a look http://www.kindcampaign.com/
The Welfare Rights Initiative at Hunter College is also a great organization that implements leadership training into their mission to create justice in the New York State Welfare Policy. Our mentor program was inspired by the Community Leadership class WRI teaches. They're website does not do them justice and is a bit outdated but take a look at their mission and google some of their accomplishments. http://www.wri-ny.org/
Wow! What a first post! Well I guess that's it for now! I'm sure tomorrow will bring much more amazing news! Off to the Shelter for tonight and then the Soup Kitchen in the am. Meet us there! They can always use volunteers!
Have an awesome day! Until next time,
HTH :o)
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