Nonprofit Talk: Supporting families during every stage of incarceration and reunification
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Sister Teresa Fitzgerald, CSJ is the founder and executive director at Hour Children. Photos courtesy of Hour Children
By Sister Teresa Fitzgerald, CSJ, as told to the Eagle
Sister Teresa Fitzgerald, CSJ is the founder and executive director at Hour Children, which is based in Long Island City.
Since establishing its first home in 1986, Hour Children has become a leading provider of prison- and community-based family services to support women and children affected by incarceration. Through supportive housing, mental health services, prison programming, the Hour Working Women Program, children and teen programming, the Hour Community Food Pantry, and thrift stores, the organization supports women during every stage of their incarceration — from separation to reunification.
We are now about six months since the pandemic essentially shut down most of New York City. How has your organization adapted during this time?
Since the onset of COVID-19, Hour Children has shifted to mostly remote work, with the exception of Hour Community Food Pantry. Our food pantry has provided crucial needs to our community in western Queens during the pandemic. As an organization, we have learned to adapt to the ways of Zoom, holding our staff, board, and client meetings electronically. As a very person-to-person and close-knit office, Hour Children had to pivot many of our day-to-day office norms. As of early July, we have started to welcome staff and mothers back into the office. We have also had to adjust schedules and office set up, in order to protect our staff and adhere to CDC guidelines.
How are you now adjusted in serving your clients?
Hour Children has had to step up to support our communities in the prisons, Queens, and the women and families in our supportive housing. Prior to the virus, our pantry had about 225 visitors per week. Since the beginning of March, we have seen that number increase to approximately 800 per week. In order to meet this need and carry out social distancing, we have shifted to pre-packaged food baskets. Hour Teen Scene and Hour Working Women Program have been carrying out online workshops.
Our mental health services team has also been able to carry out teletherapy sessions in order to continue supporting the women and their children. While many details of our services have changed, our support to our families has not. Our families have been resilient in the face the pandemic and have continued to be active and successful in our new remote programming.
What, if any, new services or programs have you launched in response to the pandemic?
In response to the pandemic, we have implemented an emergency food delivery service and campaign to support our communities on the inside and outside. In response to the growing need and limited access to food during COVID-19, our Program Coordinator Kellie Phelan created a grocery delivery service. This service was set up in order to provide food to people who were unable to go out and travel. In conjunction with the Prison Relations Advisory Committee to the Town of Bedford, we formed "Operation Neighborhood” in order to provide relief to the women at Bedford Hills and Taconic Correctional Facilities. Through this campaign, we were able to provide items that their families may not have been able to provide to them during this economically difficult time.
As you look the remaining part of 2020, what are your expectations and hopes?
Hour Children is hoping to create more robust remote programming for Hour Working Women Program and Hour Teen Scene. We are looking forward to getting back into the prisons soon to facilitate visitation and to also continue our prison-based programming. We are also hoping to further develop an afterschool program for children as the new school year begins. We understand that childcare is very difficult and important during the pandemic, and we want to be able to support the families in the fall and beyond.
What types of support do you most need support now?
We always welcome volunteers for our programs- whether that is translating pieces of writing or acting as a translator on the pantry line to providing mentorship to one of our women. Online partnerships for Hour Working Women Program or Hour Teen Scene are always very valuable to provide classes and support to our participants during this remote period. We are also looking for internship opportunities with local businesses for Hour Working Women Program. And finally, we are always very grateful for monetary and food donations. We have also been encouraging people to give to our “Operation Neighborhood” campaign to directly support women on the inside, and to give to our August 2020 Amazon Wish List to support our various programs’ needs.
What do you think the future holds for your sector as a result of the pandemic?
We have seen an increased need for basic support in our community for items such as food, clothing, and hygiene supplies. Much of the critical support that Hour Community Food Pantry continues to meet has remained steady since March. Because of this, we expect to be fulfilling much larger requests in the future and expanding our outreach. While we hope that this demand declines, we understand that this is an ongoing need and one that we are committed to responding to in order to provide for the community in western Queens.
Learn more at hourchildren.org.
