Father's Heart Ministry

FHM served 701 people the morning
of Saturday June 19.

Alphabet City ministry embraces community
Reporting and photography by Timothy M. Meinch

New York City--The Father's Heart Church sold its pews to make room for the poor more than ten years ago.

Now, at least 700 individuals from the homeless, elderly and working-poor community line the sidewalks of Eleventh Street in Alphabet City every Saturday, waiting outside the Father's Heart Ministry (FHM).

“It wasn't like we sat down and came up with this plan. The plan evolved,” said Pastor Chuck Vedral, founder of FHM, which began in 1997. “We started in our house with 12 people.”

FHM began with Pastor Vedral, his wife Carol and a handful of others offering prayer in the streets of Manhattan. But today, the Vedrals, one other pastoral couple and about 90 volunteers are feeding more than 700 people every Saturday, in addition to offering multiple other free services throughout the week.

Over the past two years, the number of individuals coming to FHM's soup kitchen and food pantry has doubled.

“It was really the recession that brought to us more of the working poor and even people who you would look at and say, 'They don't have a hunger need.' But they're spending all their money just on rent and getting a roof over their head and they need food assistance,” 66-year-old Vedral said.

Only 20 percent of those who attend the Saturday-morning feeding program are actually homeless, Vedral said. The elderly make up 50 percent and the working poor the other 30 percent of the guests, all of which receive an all-you-can-eat hot brunch and a large grocery bag of fresh produce and dried and canned goods.

The ministry also meets community needs beyond hunger.
“We have social workers on the platform and once a month we have lawyers on the platform. At 10:30 A.M. those who want English as a second language go upstairs,” Vedral said.

FHM maintains a vision of restoring and changing lives through unconditional love, forgiveness, acceptance and commitment, reflecting the core character values of the Father's heart, according to those who run the ministry.

“Their mission is to provide a way in which the under served can become self sufficient,” said Kelly Kurlbaum, a regular volunteer who runs the food pantry with her husband Ryan. “They do more than just feed the hungry, they help them build the confidence to move away from dependency.”

The pastors can list many names of individuals, such as Judy, Nick and Halloween, who regularly came to FHM for food and soon overcome substance abuse and addiction, successfully entered the work force and were reconciled to their families under the support of the ministry.

“It is an amazing thing to see someone who was once in the line on Saturday morning come full circle and come back to serve those in the line.” said Ryan Kurlbaum, an architect in the city.

The leaders said none of this would be possible without the volunteered help and support of the community. People truly embraced the ministry after events of Sept. Eleventh, when FHM spontaneously became an emergency service site inside the frozen zone in lower Manhattan, where no one could enter or leave.

“Food would come to the barricades and they'd say, 'Where should we bring it?' and the police would say to take it to Father's Heart,” Vedral said.

During the two weeks following the terrorist attacks, FHM was open 24-hours a day, designated an official FEMA site and served 10,000 extra people, including firefighters and emergency crews. They also gave away more than 100,000 free Bibles within a couple days, realizing the significant need in the area.

Recently, FHM has been shaped into a sort of alternative community center, offering free events and educational services throughout the week. Programs and class topics include gang prevention, parenting, anger management, self defense and nutrition.

Every Tuesday night, approximately 100 children and families come to FHM for Kids Zone, where they eat dinner together, play games and participate in various educational programs.

The ice cream shop Alphabet Scoop is the ministry's second biggest project, after the Saturday morning feeding program, bringing direct sustainability and jobs to the community and “Changing lives one scoop at a time,” according to the shop's slogan.

“Alphabet Scoop is a teen mentor program which teaches teens job skills by running an Alphabet City Ice Cream shop,” Ryan Kurlbaum said.

In 2008, a group of NYU business students ran with the vision for Alphabet Scoop and successfully pitched it to Macy's, who funded and performed a facelift on the building and business model.

Vedral said many young people have since moved from the Alphabet Scoop program and received jobs elsewhere in the community. One teenage boy received a scholarship and went on to study filmmaking at a university in Boston, reflecting the ultimate goal and vision of FHM.

“The ministry will achieve its goal when there is no need for the ministry,” 28-year-old Ryan Kurlbaum said, who has volunteered at FHM for two years.

But until then, the need is still great within the ministry. Pastors Chuck and his wife Carol run FHM with pastors Marian and Perry Hutchins as the only four staff members, dependent on the volunteered support of the community, which comes from both secular and faith-based individuals and organizations, according to Pastor Vedral.

Volunteers handout bags of dried food and canned goods at FHM

Freegans on the move

Freegans display their findings out-
side a grocery store on 6th Ave.

One man's trash is a freegan's treasure, or at least dinner
Reporting and photography by Timothy M. Meinch

New York City--Every other Monday night, around 9:30 p.m., an eclectic group of frugal, environmentally-conscious New Yorkers gather in Manhattan and hit the streets with their cause: urban dumpster diving.

“My entire outfit, with the exception of my shoes and socks, is from a dumpster. All this was free,” said Annie Deng, wearing a like-new Ralph Lauren dress, black leggings and a blouse. “I don't have a credit card and the last time I used my checking account was for taxes last year.”

Deng, 22, is one of the organizers of New York City's largest group supporting freeganism, Freegan.info. The group promotes resourceful action and consciousness against the tendencies of consumerism and capitalism in the United States.

One of freeganism's defining practices is dumpster diving for food, which is the freegan's way of taking advantage of what they consider to be the flawed system of capitalism, while exposing its shortcomings.

“I had no idea that people throw away food in such quantities,” freegan Marsha Hinds said at a freegan get together in Harlem, remembering her first impressions after joining the Freegan.info group for trash tours.

The group's biweekly meeting consists of organizing communal feasts, preparing for a monthly free market, sharing and discussing literature and planning the next trash tour.

Immediately following, the group welcomes and informs newcomers with a Freeganism 101 session, a 30-minute question and answer meeting for anyone interested in the movement, before setting out on the trash tour. Deng said newcomers must learn proper dumpster-diving etiquette: always retie trash bags, don't rip bags, keep tidy and promote community by sharing all salvaged goods.

“Then we have a trash tour where we go around the neighborhood and shift the locations around the city and explore different stores and then look at the trash.”

During each tour, the organizer chooses one prime location, such as a Gristede's or C-Town supermarket, to make a display on the sidewalk. Then, the organizer or guest speaker gives a speech, reminding the group of their cause, before dividing up the food.

The display draws passersby, most of which are intrigued by the sight of about 20 people picking through trash on the street. Those interested in the movement receive a flier, with information about freeganism and the effects of excessive consumption and waste.

“I've been a trash picker for years,” 46-year-old Hinds said, referring to her dumpster-salvaged wardrobe, furniture and books in the '80s. “I just went on my own.”

She said Freegan.info introduced her to the phenomena of salvaging food and now she is hooked.

“I haven't had to buy eggs for six months now,” Hinds said, then paused and listed other foods she no longer buys because of the mass supply in the trash, “Milk, butter, meat, sausages, chicken and produce.”

Freegans say many stores throw away food just because the expiration date is approaching or the item is slightly damaged or bruised. Nevertheless, on every tour they find quality items that are perfectly good and make no sense to throw away.

Deng said she no longer pays for any groceries and has been salvaging food for two or three years, without ever getting sick.

“What's the difference between that same food sitting in a black bag on the curb than that food two hours ago sitting in the store. It's probably like 20 meters away and now it's in an extra layer of protection,” said Deng, an international studies student at the City College of New York.

For Deng, being freegan simply means being intentional and conscientious about consumption, waste and its dangerous affects.

“If you declare yourself a freegan, it's not like being a vegetarian or vegan and you really need to stick to it,” she said. “It's basically just using the resources you can tap into and to try to focus on your needs instead of your wants and not be misled and used by advertisers trying to make money.”

The group says there is no special creed or fixed rules a freegan must live by, but simply embrace an intentional lifestyle that makes proactive decisions for the good of humanity and the planet.

“Free food is just one aspect,” she said. “Are you conscious of how your spending is affecting the world? If you are, then totally you're a freegan, even if you don't go to dumpster for your food.”

Some of Deng's most memorable finds include a pearl necklace, silk scarves, lots of books, plants, notebooks, functioning electronics such as printers and computers, furniture and a bag of Couture clothing, including a black dress with the tags still on it.

When Deng organized and directed the last Freegan.info trash tour, Monday, June 21, she salvaged a mahi-mahi fillet..

“I think my diet has diversified so much more since I've been getting my food out of the trash. When you buy your own food, you eat what you know, so you're less likely to explore and to buy the really expensive stuff. I mean, I would have never purchased a mahi-mahi fillet if I had to spend money on it,” she said.

The social networking site, Meetup.com, currently lists 19 official dumpster-diving groups promoting the freegan lifestyle around the United States, with more than 3,400 active members. The 862-member NYC Freegan Meetup is the second largest of these groups worldwide, behind Frugal Vegas, representing 1,091 members.

For more information on freeganism in NYC, go to www.freegan.info online or visit www.meetup.com/dumpsterdiving-4 to join the group at their next meeting and trash tour

Freegans rummage through trash bags outside Jefferson Market on 6th Ave

sold

"Sold" will be performed again dur-
ing Freedom Week in NYC this Sept.

A brothel visits Lafayette Street
by Timothy M. Meinch

New York City--Dirty sheets hung from the ceiling, illuminated by industrial lighting within four black walls of Studio 440 Thursday and Friday night. Director Tessa Hauptman and the Off 8th Collective convincingly converted the Black Box Theater into a brothel.

The production is Hauptman's adaptation of the novel “Sold,” by acclaimed author and journalist Patricia McCormick. The story is based on McCormick's extensive interviews and field experience with women who were trafficked and sold in brothels in Nepal. It reveals the life stories of many women throughout the globe, more than the general public is aware.

“Thinking about a women being sold into slavery and being raped repeatedly everyday, I don't think people think about that and they don't know it's going on,” said Hauptman, a fine arts graduate of Adelphi University.

The fictional novel tells the story of Lakshmi, a character who embodies the horrors of sex trafficking as revealed in McCormick's research, while the theatrical production tells her story through five different female characters with emotive monologues, creating an interpersonal viewing experience for the audience.

“The whole idea is that you walk into a brothel when you come into the space,” Hauptman said of the unique Black Box Theater setup. “You're kind of put into this place you never knew existed before now.”

“Sold” merges the positions of audience and players by scattering chairs throughout the entire room, facing different directions. Attendees do not sit with their friends, or anyone for that matter, but become a part of the brothel, where the characters wander about and even engage with the viewers.

“I think that it makes (the audience) very uncomfortable, in a good way,” Hauptman said. “The audience is very immersed in it.”

The 26-year-old director said the purpose of “Sold” is to educate people about the issue, then motivate them to do research and use their skills to fight it. With a social justice issue so emotional and personal, art plays a significant role in the fight, according to activists.

“This could not be done without the arts,”said Deirdre Mars, New York State Director of the Not For Sale Campaign (NFSC), a nonprofit that educates and equips people to confront sex trafficking.

All of the proceeds from the two sold out showings went directly to NFSC, which set up an information table at the event. A wine and cheese information session also followed both performances, where multiple nonprofits and relief groups answered questions and shared activism opportunities with the attendees. Groups represented included the Nomi Network, the New York City Urban Project and NFSC.

“It's going from a place of not knowing anything, to a place of knowing so much that you might be overwhelmed, to a place of turning that into action,” Hauptman said of the structure of the evening.

Hauptman and the Off 8th Collective, comprised of Adelphi University alumni, first debuted “Sold” at their university and have since performed it multiple times throughout the city. They currently plan to show the production every day of Freedom week in September, a week dedicated to human trafficking awareness and advocacy in New York City.

“It is a human story of people who are complex and going through incredibly intense experiences and without the arts, it's hard to really convey,” Mars said. “We want to help everybody be empowered to use their own existing skills and resources to help slavery.”

Attendees learned about the Not For

sale campaign and other nonprofits at

tables after the performance.

Tessa Hauptman directed "Sold" in Studio 440's Black Box Theater