NYCCAH – New York City Coalition Against Hunger

Specialties

The New York City Coalition Against Hunger (NYCCAH) is the voice for the city’s more than 1,200 soup kitchens and food pantries and the more than 1.4 million New Yorkers who can’t afford enough food.

History

Established in 1983.

By the early 1980s, hunger in New York City had become unbearably severe. Religious organizations and charitable agencies had long served their neighborhoods in relative isolation; despite the heroic efforts of these groups, their ad hoc approach had inherent limitations. Many began to realize that soup kitchens here and there could relieve, but not end, the problem of hunger in New York City.

Community leaders concluded that the best way to tackle hunger in the city was with a unified organization that helped emergency food providers and pushed for long-​term solutions. In this spirit, the New York City Coalition Against Hunger was born.

The Coalition’s original mission was to «coordinate the activities of the emergency food providers in the city so that issues can be identified, prioritized and addressed effectively.» The aims have expanded and evolved, but food access for all New Yorkers has always remained the Coalition’s animating goal.

Meet the Manager

Joel B.

Manager

Joel Berg is a nationally recognized leader in the fields of hunger and food security, national and community service, and technical assistance provision to faith-​based and community organizations. He is also author of the book All You Can Eat: How Hungry is America?, and a Visiting Fellow at the Center for American Progress.

Before NYCCAH, Berg served 2 years as USDA coordinator of community food security, a new position, in which he created and implemented the first-​ever federal initiative to better enable faith-​based and other nonprofit groups to fight hunger, bolster food security, and help low-​income Americans move from poverty to self-​sufficiency.

At USDA, Joel served as coordinator of food recovery, acting director of public affairs & press secretary. From 1989 to 1993, he served as a policy analyst for the Progressive Policy Institute and staff member for the President-​elect Bill Clinton’s transition team.