0:00

So Pharaoh, welcome to the show. Thank you so much for having me today.

0:04

It's amazing that we're finally able to reconnect again. The lockdown has been a crazy period. So fair looking back over the spirit of lockdown in New York City. How do you find the work that you did where New York cares? I mean, you interact a lot with the people directly in need of support, like the homeless people, they reach out to you. And you have done a tremendous amount of work with me. Okay. So when you look back, what are your feelings and thoughts about the spirit?

0:30

Well, let's say I knew the work has definitely evolved. But the essence of what we're doing remains the same. And that is ensuring that people in need have access to the service that is important to them. First and foremost food. As we know a lot of New Yorkers experienced food insecurity. So during this time of lockdown, the work has definitely evolved. But the essence of what we continue to do has remained the same and that is ensuring that everyone has access to the basic needs first and foremost food. And especially during this critical time, many New Yorkers continue to experience to insecurities. And so that's where we come in as volunteers as nonprofit organizations, to make sure that people have access to a warm meal every day. That makes a huge difference in people's ability to survive this very difficult situation that we all find ourselves in.

1:25

Mm hmm. What are some of the touching stories that you can share with us from this period?

1:29

Sure, well, touching stories, countless stories fall under that category. But I would say I'm in all of our volunteers, our volunteers who are willing to show up day in and day out even concerns about their own health, their own families that they're so willing to show up for others to pack meals. Like over these couple of months, we've been able to distribute nearly 2 million meals to people in need and that takes a village To be able to put on that type of production day in and day out. And, again, I'm just so grateful that people are still willing to show up and show up for others in this very meaningful way.

2:13

And how has the world changed in the past few weeks now that we are out of the lockdown and businesses are opening up? How do you see a change? Or what kind of change Are you seeing? In terms of voluntary work?

2:27

The change is very slow because we're technically still living in a pandemic. And we still have to be very cautious about the way we're providing these services, even though they're vital services. We're still practicing social distancing. And so in the past, people would be able to go to a soup kitchen for example, and sit down and enjoy a meal. We're right now we're still engaged in to go services meaning that all volunteers are are packing the meals and people able to come Pick them up, then go home and enjoy the meal that way. So not too much has changed because again, we're being overly cautious because we want to make sure that our volunteers are safe, and that the people that we're serving also safe,

3:16

right? You mentioned the soup kitchen. What other services do you provide?

3:20

Well, important need are able to come into these various soup kitchens are still operating, but they're operating in a different way. They're able to come and pick up the grocery items that they need. They're able to come and pick up cooked meals that they can then take home with them.

3:38

Interesting. And you said you have served over 2 million meals so far. Yes, yes. That's great.

3:44

That is exciting. It's exciting to know that you have the ability to do this. And that will be supported not just by the city, but also private citizens who want to get involved who want to contribute, whether it's their time or making money. Monetary contributions, there are so many different ways to be a part of this process.

4:05

Fair, how do you provide the food, other outlets? are using public sites where you go out and deliver food or do people come to your offices or outlets to pick it up?

4:14

Okay, well, there are several different outlets throughout the city where people could come and pick up meals. But in addition to that, because as we know, not everyone can come to pick up a meal. And so our volunteers are also delivering food to those who are not able to come to a site.

4:34

Okay, so how do people reach out to you and request do they call you?

4:39

Well, if we've made it so simple for people to get involved, they can actually go to New York cares.org and they'll be able to very easily sign up to become a volunteer. And once they do that, you'll see all of the different opportunities are available, so depending on where they're located in the city, They can choose a site that's convenient for them.

5:03

Mm hmm. Okay,

5:05

that's definitely very useful. Moving on, you're also working with the Lupus Foundation. Tell me more about that.

5:11

Yes, well, I've been involved with the Lupus Foundation for many years now. And I reached out to the Lupus Foundation when I was diagnosed with lupus many years ago. And they were such a great source of support for me and understanding what lupus is as an illness, and also to be able to advocate for myself as a patient with lupus. And over the years again, I was just so involved with organization and they provided me an opportunity to give back to those who are newly diagnosed who don't know how they go to manage with this condition. And about seven years ago, I launched a support group meeting in the city for for those living with lupus and their families to be able to come into a safe space to share about your experience and also to get support So COVID has definitely impacted our meetings we used to be able to meet in person at the NYU Llangollen center. But now we're meeting virtually, because of that we've actually been able to grow as a group, because the meetings have become more accessible to people, not just people in New York, but I'm getting inquiries from people all over the country who want to participate in our meetings. And because we're virtual, they're able to do that. So my partnership with the Lupus Foundation has been quite rewarding over the years, not just for myself as a person living with lupus, but really as an advocate for the

6:36

community. That's interesting. I know you also are an advocate for foster kids. Tell me that story. Well, many people

6:43

don't know but in the foster care system, you know, when a child is neglected or abused, they're often assigned a lot of an attorney who advocates on the epitaph they also have a caseworker. But about 43 years ago, a family judge Recognize that he needed more information in order to be able to make decisions on behalf of these children. And so he launched an organization called Court Appointed Special advocates. Now we're all volunteers and all role is to really assess the case in speak to all parties involved, and to be able to make recommendations to the judge that are really in the best interest of the child. And this is something that I've been doing for the last few years working with the Hudson County Casa group. And that too, has been a rewarding experience, you know, working with young, vulnerable children, who can really use as many advocates as we can muster for them because these children come from very challenging backgrounds, and oftentimes just not used to, to having a lot of people in the corner. And so right now, I have each of the cases touch your heart. And this time too, has impacted our ability to connect with, with with our clients I call the kids that we work with, because everything is virtual now, so four times weren't able to visit in person. But I'm so glad that I think ease up a little bit. I've been able to resume in person visits with my clients just checking in on them because this is a tough situation to be in for adults. Can you imagine how the kids are adapting to the situation and just checking in making sure that they have access to all the services that they need? For example, our kids are in virtual learning. Not every child has a computer at home. And so for one of my clients, I had to recommend to the judge to make sure that that child had access to a computer to allow him to be able to log in easily from home to be able to get the schoolwork done.

8:56

Wow. Very you work for children. You advocate For lupus patients, you're also working with the homeless to provide them food. That's amazing. When you're not doing any of this, what do you do?

9:09

I feel like being of service is a big part of my life advocacy work is a central part of my life. And so there's no separation for me, between the volunteer work and what I do, because it all centers around advocacy. And I work with a lot of different organizations for whom, you know, that is the mission. And so I'm happy to be a Board Certified patient advocate, and just ensuring that patients understand their rights, when they're in the medical, when they go for medical care. And if they don't, they have someone that it can reach out to support them in that. So that's the bulk of what I do outside of all of these other projects.

9:52

That's amazing. Now, you mentioned how listeners can volunteer for neon cares, how can they get involved or is there an avenue for that? To get involved with foster children are concerned, how do we draw or create awareness around this area of work?

10:06

Oh, absolutely. Well, every major city has a cost the organization, for example, New York has one New Jersey has one all over the country. So if someone is interested in advocating on behalf of children in foster care system, they can simply do a Google search for Casa Casa nearby, and they'll be able to find a location. Could you say that again? Casa? Oh, sure. The acronym is casa, but it stands for Court Appointed Special advocates. Now, not each volunteer would have to go through an extensive training process, because yes, we're volunteers but we're also trained in this area. So you have to go through a training process and a vigorous background check as well because we have to register with the state You're in since you're working with children. And so once you do that, you'll be able to get a sign in case there are so many cases, so many children in need. So of course, the more volunteers we have, the more children we can really serve in these, again, very difficult situations.

11:17

That's good to know. Very, you've also spoken at the United Nations, why don't you share a bit more about that?

11:24

Well, a few years ago, I was asked to be on a panel at the United Nations when they were unveiling the report on global volunteerism. And I had an opportunity to share the volunteer perspective on this panel, and to really shed a light on what it's like to be a volunteer and the impact that we get to have and this was such a great experience. Because as a volunteer myself, I got to see the global impact because a lot of times we hear about problems whether it's in our own neighborhoods or somewhere else around the world. world. And the conversation centers around Well, what is the government going to do about this? What is the policy change as needed for this? But as volunteers, we really get to be a part of that conversation. It's not always about what the government is going to do. Sometimes it's a matter of, well, what are the citizens willing to do to support their communities to help their fellow man in need in difficult situation. And so the chance to really highlight the work that I've been doing in these various organizations, and to really give a call to action to the governments that were represented at this conference, to really support these nonprofits so that we can engage even more citizens and creating a solution that's appropriate for their particular community. Thank you so much for the work. You do Farah,

12:53

you're doing a lot to spread awareness. So thank you so much for that. It's been an honor having you here and hearing the stories. The different stories that you shared with us I'm sure our listeners will enjoy a lot and take away a lot from your conversation. So thank you once again for coming on heroes of New York. Thank you

13:10

for having me.