With another lawyer on staff, we’ll now be able to do more for our clients, such as “Jane” who’s case I’ve told you about in recent posts. Owen’s place on our staff comes through our new partnership with Graffiti Ministries, which has been serving New Yorkers since the 1970s, with programs in Manhattan and the Bronx. Expanding now to Brooklyn, Graffiti’s latest project will offer free legal services, as well as GED training, and other programs, in the Brownsville neighborhood.

When Graffiti asked us to partner with them in establishing their new program, we gladly agreed to join their efforts. Brooklyn Jubilee will join Graffiti in helping to establish a program to provide free legal services at partner venues in Brownsville. Owen will split his time between Graffiti’s new sites, and Brooklyn Jubilee’s current sites. Welcome aboard, Owen!

Sandhya Reju Boyd, Director

While advice on healthy eating is abundant (and, sometimes, conflicting), there is little tailored to West Indian cuisine. How do we tap into existing knowledge in the community and come up with recipes for meals that are healthy, nutritious and affordable?

We set out to answer that question in three groups, which included Brooklyn Church of the Redeemer attendees, as well as, Brooklyn Jubilee staff, volunteers and clients. The professional chef in the house, Lauren Pilgrim, had laid out the ingredients and prepped three recipes –rice and peas (beans); sweet potato and vegetable curry; and Jamaican slaw–for us to make.

Also at hand were Leisa Bryant, a dietician, and Michelle Pink, a family nurse practitioner, to offer their expertise on nutrition and health. However, it was evident that the non-professionals knew more than a thing or two about cooking and eating well!

More than just prescriptive, the recipe handouts and nutrition guides served as prompts for exchanging knowledge. As they chopped, measured and stirred, participants shared their own cooking stories, demonstrating that there are a myriad ways of personalizing dishes–such as varying the mixture of spices (a great taste substitute for salt) in the curry to one’s taste.

At one point, a debate ensued on whether it was better to go with the high calorie content of real mayonnaise or the fat-free “fake stuff” kind in the slaw. The real stuff won out, although there were strong proponents for using olive oil and lemon juice as healthier substitutes.

The teenage participants, accompanying their mothers, also displayed a general ease in the kitchen, whether cultivated from helping out at home or from restaurant work experience. A couple of them showed some really decent knife skills, which were further sharpened that morning. Here is Chef Pilgrim imparting a handy tip on how to avoid accidents on the cutting board: curl and tuck the fingertips of the hand that’s holding the vegetable steady, using your knuckles instead to guide the blade, like this:

After a morning of learning, sharing and making, participants were able to take home a healthy meal of their own making. Addressing immediate and long term needs, the first Cooking Club meeting was an encouraging start to a ministry that hopes to build on the knowledge of the community it aims to serve.

—  Fiona Lee

Kristin, therefore, brings a wealth of expertise and a heart for service to the table. The Brooklyn Jubilee board position is an almost perfect marriage of her pastoral experiences in college ministry and big picture, organizational and policy issues — particularly with regard to the healthcare needs of low-income populations.

Kristin thrives on working with clients, “I have been able to work with and for people who have experienced significant poverty and oppression,” she says, “and to be a part of them finding the voice they need to make a change in their lives. It’s amazing to see God’s vision of the world more clearly, and to work for justice, and I’m thrilled to be able to do more of that through my involvement with Brooklyn Jubilee.”

Much of Kristin’s experience has been in a setting where medical care is directly tied to housing, nutrition and public benefits — as well as emotional and spiritual health. These holistic connections are ones Brooklyn Jubilee sees as crucial, and is pursuing with its new healthcare ministry. Welcome aboard, Kristin! We’re excited to have you.

It’s been twelve years since I sat for this exam, and even though I’d already passed one bar exam in another state the previous year, I still remember it as the physically and mentally grueling test of strength that it is. Did I mention that it’s 12 hours of written examination, over two days? By the end of it, your writing hand is going numb.

This morning I think particularly of Owen Field, a young man whose only professional desire is to serve low-income Brooklynites in East New York. The  neighborhood is one facing many challenges, but blessed with a wealth of committed church families, a number of whom are signed on already to support Owen in his future ministry. Brooklyn Jubilee, too, intends to support Owen in whatever ways God will allow us to. Please pray Owen today and Wednesday. Pray  that he will have a clear mind, a calm heart, and the sheer physical endurance needed to get through the next two days of the bar exam. Please also  pray for Graffiti Ministries, which is sending Owen to East New York, and for our continued efforts to find ways to support Owen’s future service in that neighborhood.

Sandhya Reju Boyd, Director

Sandhya Reju Boyd, Director

In June 2006 Brooklyn Jubilee was little more than an idea shared by a few people in Park Slope Today, people from all over New York City (and some from further afield) are volunteering with us, supporting us and praying for us and our fellow Brooklynites.

I am grateful for our many dedicated service partners throughout the borough, who have graciously accepted us into their communities to serve in their food pantries, soup kitchens, and community centers, and who encourage us in manifold ways. I am grateful, too, for the many volunteers who have given generously of their time to offer social service and legal advice to so many Brooklynites. Out of grace and humility they have served their neighbors with hospitality, compassion, and love.

Board members past and present have given their time, prayed for our well-being, shared their wisdom and cheered us on – I give thanks for them. We have never suffered for any lack of funds and continue to enjoy God’s blessing in very tangible ways. I am extremely grateful for our amazing staff members. We have grown from a staff of one, to six truly talented people who share just a portion of their time ‑ but all of their talent ‑ to further the vision for a more just Brooklyn. I offer thanks too, for the promise of new ways to serve, through our upcoming healthcare ministry, for those who cheer us on, and make sacrifices to further the vision of a healthier Brooklyn. But most of all, I am grateful for a loving God who weeps in Brooklyn’s sorrows, and celebrates her many joys, giving us the privilege to join him in fellowship as we serve him through the ministry of Brooklyn Jubilee.

Sandhya Reju Boyd, Director

At our most recent visit to a local adult education facility, the Arab American Friendship Center, I spoke about food stamps eligibility. The room was packed with women, mostly mothers, mostly Arabic-speaking, many of whom are struggling to make ends meet for their families with minimal employment income. These are the people who can be helped the most by the food stamps program, people making not enough to support their families, but too much for more extensive government assistance. And yet food stamps are very underutilized in New York and around the country. Linguistic barriers make it even harder for these families to access the support that is available for them.

After my lecture, I spoke with one woman whose family of five is trying to get by on her husband’s income of just $20,000 per year. After about 15 minutes, we were able to tell her that they could get an additional $600 each month in food stamps to feed their family. That’s over $7000 per year — an effective 30% increase in their income. Needless to say, she was pretty happy. It’s moments like these that bring me a lot of joy, and pride in the ministry of Brooklyn Jubilee.

Sandhya Reju Boyd, Director

Sandhya Reju Boyd, Director

What first got you interested in serving with Brooklyn Jubilee?

As a Christian, it’s important to me that I give my time to and use my abilities for people who are in need.  Brooklyn Jubilee presented an opportunity for me to use my knowledge and skills as an attorney to help people in my community who might not otherwise have access to legal assistance, information about their rights and the benefits they’re entitled to, or help in solving a problem.

What are your impressions of the clients that Brooklyn Jubilee serves?

For the past several months, I’ve been working with another attorney volunteer to coordinate the monthly legal clinic at the Helping Hands Food Pantry at St. Augustine’s Church in Park Slope.  I really like working at the same location consistently, seeing the same faces, and getting to know a regular group of clients and volunteers.

But I still never know what problem or situation a person will need help with on any particular day.  Some of the clients appear to be managing alright for themselves with the help of the food pantry, but maybe they’re having landlord problems or want to know how they can correct an error in their public benefits.  Others are in more precarious situations with urgent needs for help with rent or utilities, for example. And from time to time we see someone who faces a truly dire situation—those are of course the difficult times when, despite all the help we do provide, there may be a limit to what we can do because of factors beyond our control. In every case, though, our clients are so grateful that we are there to listen and help them figure out the steps they can take to solve their problem.

Why are you motivated to serve in this new role as a member of Brooklyn Jubilee’s board? What are your hopes and goals in this new role?

The more I volunteered, the more I came to believe in Brooklyn Jubilee’s mission and care about its work. This summer, Sandhya Boyd approached me about joining the board and I jumped at the chance to get involved in a new way. I look forward to learning getting to know the organization better, and working with the board to develop programs that will make a difference in the lives of Brooklyn’s most vulnerable residents.

What would you like to see more of, or what new things would you like to see happen with Brooklyn Jubilee over the next year?

I’m especially excited to learn more about the opportunity for Brooklyn Jubilee to be involved in providing free medical clinics to people in Brooklyn who don’t have little or no access to health care.  The lack of affordable health care for low income residents in some Brooklyn communities is more than just an unfortunate or unfair situation; the statistics about its effects, in terms of chronic health problems and mortality rates, for example, are really alarming. I’m hopeful that Brooklyn Jubilee can play a role in addressing this problem.

~Sandhya

This blog will aim to encourage and challenge us with  thoughts from the Bible on questions of social justice, stories from of the ministry of Brooklyn Jubilee, and other issues affecting the life of low-income New Yorkers. We hope you’ll join in the discussion and help us develop an active network of supporters, advocates, and  others with food for thought on complex and critical issues.