Author: arm-admin

Answering the Call

Posted on by arm-admin
It's one thing to hear the latest unemployment rate on the news or read stories about the devastation caused by the coronavirus. It's another thing entirely to hear firsthand from hundreds of neighbors struggling to make ends meet. For Arm In Arm staff members serving as the first point of contact for people in need of help, that experience has been both challenging and rewarding. “I am ove...
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Cecilia’s Story

Posted on by arm-admin
“One of the things I love about our Princeton community is the diversity,” said Cecilia Avila, coordinator of Arm In Arm’s Princeton pantry. “But it is hard to see some people being hurt by this crisis more than others. Our undocumented neighbors are especially hurting right now.”  While most people experiencing the pain of layoffs and furloughs resulting from COVID-19 have the opportunity to a...
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William’s Story

Posted on by arm-admin
I’m used to being in the trenches. I’m used to interfacing with the clientele up close and personal. Now everything is so spread apart and so far distanced. I mainly deal with the homeless population and those that are underserved. With social distancing, I barely see anyone. Very seldom do I get a call, because most of the clientele I deal with don’t have access to telecommunications or they woul...
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Luis’ Story

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It was late March, and Arm In Arm was in the midst of launching 100% mobile delivery due to the growing COVID-19 crisis. Bullet shots rang out as I drove away from our pantry. I said a silent prayer in a time when many may be questioning a higher power. I said it anyway, because I know from personal experience that bullets have no name and  those shots can be fatal. It’s been a few weeks si...
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Shariq’s Story

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Shariq surveys the volunteers packing bags on a Wednesday morning. He checks on their stock of each food item, hauling bulk trays of canned corn, plastic wrapped bins of peanut butter, and noisy boxes of dry pasta up from storage. He refills supplies for each volunteer, and then he reorganizes bags piled high with groceries, counting out the total of each stack. The next day, still wearing ...
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Homeless Doesn’t Have To Be Hopeless

Posted on by arm-admin
“220…216…214….Where is 212?” I asked myself out loud. I had one delivery left, but the houses and numbers seemed to stop and then disappear. Where was 212? I pulled over into a parking lot to regroup. The dry cleaners attached to the lot looked abandoned, but as I took in my surroundings, I was surprised to realize 8 other cars were parked nearby. Suddenly, a man popped out of one of the...
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What Separates Us, Unites Us

Posted on by arm-admin
When we pulled up, the house looked dark inside. A few moments later, my son Mack and I were standing in front of the home; in our rubber-gloved hands were bags of food. Earlier in the week, Arm In Arm staff had called families to arrange grocery deliveries. Volunteers had filled bags bursting at the seams with canned fruits and veggies, cereal, peanut butter, pasta, meat, and more. That mornin...
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A Note from Executive Director David Fox

Posted on by arm-admin
Greetings! I am grateful to be serving as the new Executive Director of Arm In Arm. As staff member Cecilia said while training me in our pantry, “It is our great blessing to be able to serve others.” Having spent 20 years collectively at Covenant House, the largest private program for homeless youth in the world, and Bonnie Brae, a residential school and treatment center in Bernards Township, ...
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Our New Year’s Resolution

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Every day, around 100 shoppers come through Arm In Arm’s doors and leave with three days’ worth of food for their families. Carrying all those groceries requires a lot of bags. In order to better serve our clients and reduce our environmental footprint, we are setting a goal to distribute 50 percent fewer single-use plastic bags in 2020! Does that mean we are distributing less food? Just the op...
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Staff Spotlight: Erykah

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Erykah, an Army veteran, joins Arm In Arm as our Community Outreach Worker and Cookwell Program Assistant. As part of our team, she engages community members experiencing homelessness in accessing resources and conducts life skills groups for citizens reentering society. Erykah comes to us with an extensive background working with developmentally disabled, at-risk youth and post-incarcerated p...
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