A simple sculpture of three people that sits in an upstairs office at Part of the Solution Inc. (POTS) food pantry in the Bedford Park section of The Bronx probably best illustrates the everyday work the nonprofit organization has carried out over 40 years to help countless Bronxites and other New Yorkers. It depicts two people on an elevated surface holding a rope. Further down the side of the sculpture, another person is seen hanging onto the rope and being hoisted to the top by the first two people.

 

The scene essentially shows the lifesaving effect any one person can have on the outcome of another who may be in need. On Monday, Sept. 15, State Sen. Gustavo Rivera (S.D. 33) presented a check of $60,000 to POTS, located at 2759 Webster Avenue, to help the organization further that mission on a greater scale.

POTS describes itself as an organization offering “a mosaic of services which come together to create a pathway forward for all who seek help.” Many of the organization’s clients are undomiciled and though shelter / housing is not among the services offered, other vital services which address the immediate needs of its clients include food, the availability of hot showers, access to medical and dental services, and more long-term needs like a legal clinic and help with applying for public benefits.

 

As reported, in 2022, after fulfilling an even greater purpose amid the COVID-19 pandemic, when food insecurity was acknowledged as being an even bigger problem than it is under “normal” circumstances, the organization marked 40 years serving the public. The following year, on June 29, POTS opened a second location at 2450 Grand Concourse in the Fordham Heights section of The Bronx.

The senator spoke with staff and executive director of POTS, Christina Hanson, during a tour of the building which includes a bright, welcoming reception area, meeting rooms, a dining hall, office space, food storage space, including cold rooms packed with fresh vegetables and other foods, among other features.

 

Presenting the $60,000 check to Hanson to support the “management and substance abuse counseling services” through POTS’ Dignity and Wellness program, Rivera said, “My team has built our partnership with POTS since my early years as a State senator and countless constituents have benefitted from it. POTS’ comprehensive services, from meeting immediate needs to supporting long term stability, are critical given our borough’s intersecting challenges. It is my hope that the funding I secured will expand these services to reach more people in our neighborhood. I want to thank Executive Director Christina Hanson and her entire team for their advocacy and dedication to serving the Bronx.”

According to POTS, and as reported, in 1982, it opened its doors in The Bronx with the mission to fight some of the most challenging obstacles of the times, homelessness and the AIDS pandemic. Since then, its representatives say it has continued to pave its trailblazing path by offering a wide array of services to help Bronxites in need become self-sufficient. In 2024, POTS provided over 3,000,000 meals through their pantry and lunch service, and served over 15,000 households.

The senator said the funding for the nonprofit’s Dignity and Wellness program, one of POTS’ three programmatic pillars, will further support the program’s services. These include a mailroom, a hot shower, haircuts, access to medical and dental services, as well as substance abuse counseling services. Rivera said he understands that in an effort to fight the substance use crisis in The Bronx, it’s critical to rely on trusted community partners that he said have a direct impact on the community.

For her part, Hanson said, “We are deeply grateful to Senator Rivera for securing these critical funds for POTS. Our unhoused clients are in desperate need of support that extends beyond our essential wellness program. More than a shower and a haircut, these funds will allow us to help the most vulnerable of our clients have a chance at building more stable and hopeful lives. This partnership strengthens our ability to be here for our community, today and for the future.”

 

Speaking with the senator at the event broadly on discussions around the undomiciled community, Hanson said in part, “I like to think people want to get soft beds. I like to think people want to talk about, ‘Oh my God, there’s this problem of homelessness,’ this problem of people.” She added, “We’re actually solving a problem here every day. We’re giving you a place to go, access to a shower, fresh clothes, and solutions. It’s slow. I mean, I always want it to be faster than it is, but you move at the speed of humanity, right?”

Rivera agreed, noting the cumulative challenges faced by POTS, saying, “There’s a lot of these folks who have consistent problems for many, many years. This provides them a little bit of stability while they still breathe and figure out what the next step is. I’m very thankful for these folks [at POTS]. It’s one of the first organizations that I met when I started working in the Senate. I was elected 2010, so in 2011, I remember they had just done some remodeling or something. They just moved into this building. One of the first things that I did in my official capacity of getting state agencies to be more effective and more responsive was… they were in the middle of figuring out how to get the clinic downstairs to open.”

 

Rivera said POTS was having some issues with the Department of Health. He said he realized it was one of the things he could help with and called the Department of State and pushed for the opening and it happened. “Since then, it’s been a pretty consistent thing. I’m very glad that anything I can do to continue that, so they can continue.”

 

The senator talked about the prior older building where POTS were previously based where “they stacked like files all the way up to the literal ceiling, and then they had to move” to the new premises. “They moved over here and they left that unused for a while, and eventually,  they were able to get the money to actually do the expansion to do the entrance that they did on the side.” He said otherwise deliveries had to come through another entrance while food service was underway. “They’ve continued to just transform themselves and continuously serve the folks that are very vulnerable, so I’m incredibly thankful,” he said.

 

Norwood News asked Hanson about the make up of the clients they serve. “We serve anybody who comes to our doors,” Hanson said. “That’s our thing. You walk in here, we will help you and we reflect the local community in a lot of ways. All of our staff are bilingual, so we do tend to serve a very high percentage of people who are bilingual, English-Spanish, because of that. We serve the gamut of ages, of housing situations, of mental health, just anybody who needs help, we’re here for them.”

 

Asked if there was a specific reason why POTS don’t provide accommodation. “It’s really hard and expensive. A couple of years ago, like 2014, when we did our last like big strategic plan, we asked clients, ‘What is it that we don’t do that you need?'” She said the two things that came up were housing and employment. “Really moving the needle on housing in New York City requires just an enormous amount of resources,” she said.

 

Hanson added, “So, we chose to go in the direction of helping more with employment and various types of training. So, hopefully, some people learning will be enough that they can afford that housing. Housing is critical. The cost of housing in The Bronx is one of the major reasons why people come to us. They’re coming to us for food. It’s because they’re using those funds to pay their rent, and so policies around affordable housing are critical. But we decided it just wasn’t within our capabilities.”

 

Norwood News also spoke to Hanson about POTS’ operations and staffing. “In the summer, we have SYEP [summer youth employment program],” she said. “Since the pandemic, it has been harder to get more volunteers, so we’re always looking for recruiting and getting people in the door.”

 

She continued, “All together, we can be the solution, but each of us has to do what we can, and our volunteers do every day. We’re lucky to have a lot of people who have been coming here for many years, and one of the things that personally find so impactful about POTS is that a lot of the time you’ll see volunteers who were clients. So they felt so impacted, and so changed, and affected in a positive way by POTS that once they got to a place where they had more stability, they wanted to come back.”

Hanson said she saw this often. “To me, that just speaks volumes about POTS, and the way that people feel treated when they come here.”
On the addiction counseling services, she said, “I want to say it was like 239 so far this year that have been provided downstairs in dignity and wellness [with such services]. That is for, I want to say like, 166 people. So, sometimes you need more than one session but then we have, I want to say, 30 or 40 confirmed referrals.”

 

Hanson said while they also give referrals, they don’t always follow through. “But 33 confirmed referrals for detox, for mental health support, for outpatient support, for substance abuse recovery, so we do [that also]. We’re seeing more and more of that, and that is a huge part of what the senator is supporting.”

 

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