Community Access strives to build community and health justice through activities centered on growing, cooking, and crafting with food—and through offering a range of activities that promote gathering in community, self-care, and mental health wellness. Throughout the year, we offer opportunities for tenants, participants, and staff to grow healthy food at our program sites around town and to prepare and enjoy meals, social time, fitness activities, fun, and more!
In a city where food inequity and hunger create so many dangers and harms for hundreds of thousands of individuals and families with children every day – this work we are doing is vitally needed to help address the serious food shortages that people face by providing access to nutrient-dense, affordable, and culturally appropriate food for all. Our food-centered and other health and wellness work represent so much in people’s lives: friendships, storytelling, and togetherness.
Community Access has several micro-urban agriculture growing spaces at sites around town – ranging from small containers to large growing beds – plus a production farm at our building at 172nd Street in the Bronx.
We partner with Grow NYC to offer CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) food distribution to tenants who are interested in regularly receiving – free of charge – locally-sourced, fresh food and ingredients. Each month, tenants who sign up for this program receive free bags of seasonal fresh produce, grains, eggs, herbs, dry goods, mushrooms, and fruit.
Many tenants also access Health Bucks, a supplemental budget from SNAP benefits that offers coupons with bonus dollars to purchase produce and herbs at local farmers markets.
Staff and tenants at all of our buildings gather together throughout the year and during holidays for meals, social time, and DIY activities like how to handmade soaps and candles using herbs and essential oils and how to make environmentally-friend household cleaning products.
We regularly distribute potted plants and herbs to tenants as gifts for their apartments, and we run “Love Your Home” workshops to engage people in using green products to help our homes look and smell good.
Our mind, body, and movement offerings are many varied around town, from hosting a June Wellness Month with a calendar of activities, to chair yoga, Zoomba, meditation, cycling, and walking groups.
HEALTHY FOOD
We distribute locally-sourced fresh fruits at housing sites around town throughout the year.
GROWING
From planters to raised beds, tenants and staff have many opportunities to grow fresh food together.
HARVEST FESTIVAL
Our harvest events include many activities: from workshops and community meals to DIY crafting and gathering in community.
