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A mother’s fight against hunger leads to path to help others Jillian Beety was worried. A single mother, she had recently suffered the loss of her own mother, an unforeseen tragedy that forced her to reside in a shelter with her young daughter. Despite working throughout her pregnancy, she couldn’t afford the skyrocketing cost of rent, food, and other essentials as inflation gripped post-pandemic New York City. It was the threat of hunger that first brought her to St. John’s Bread & Life in Brooklyn, where she discovered more than just a food pantry—she found a community that cared.
Jillian knows firsthand how a single financial shock—an unexpected expense like job loss or the death of a loved one—can send families into crisis. Nearly half of families with children in NYC experience food hardship, and nearly three out of four food pantry users report experiencing financial setbacks, making resources like the ones St. John’s offers more critical than ever. That’s why Robin Hood is committed to fighting food insecurity on multiple fronts—by funding organizations like St. John’s Bread & Life, increasing access to government benefits, and advocating for policy reforms to expand assistance programs. In 2024, Robin Hood invested $2.7 million to combat hunger, helping distribute over 32 million pounds of food to 337,000 New Yorkers. Since 1988, these efforts have provided 82 million meals to families in need. But food is just one piece of the puzzle. Robin Hood also helps enroll New Yorkers in essential benefits like WIC, housing support, income assistance, and health care programs— because when families have stability, they can focus on building a better future.
While its mission is to serve food-insecure communities in Brooklyn and Queens, at St. John’s, Sister Caroline Tweedy leads a mission that goes beyond providing food, dedicated to restoring dignity and stability for New Yorkers in crisis. Every month, 16,000 families rely on their pantry, a number that has quadrupled since the pandemic. “We thought the numbers would go down after COVID, but they’ve only gone up,” Sister Caroline notes. “The cost of living keeps rising, but the safety net keeps shrinking. Thanks to Robin Hood’s investments, we can meet this growing demand, ensuring New Yorkers don’t have to choose between paying rent and feeding their families.” For Jillian, something as simple as fresh green grapes signaled hope. What started as a weekly visit to the pantry soon turned into a deeper connection—staff encouraged her to volunteer, and now she dedicates four days a week to helping others in need. “You don’t know every- body’s situation when they come to a pantry or shelter,” she says. “People assume someone’s fine just because they look fine, but that’s not always the case.” New York’s hunger crisis is deeply intertwined with other challenges: housing instability, the rising cost of living, and difficulty accessing government benefits.
COMMUNITY SPOTLIGHT
“You don’t know everybody’s situation when they come to a pantry or shelter. People assume someone’s fine just because they look fine, but that’s not always the case.” — Jillian Beety
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