North Brooklyn to welcome ‘Angelmobile’

Neighbors Helping Neighbors group to serve hot meals

June 27, 2017 By Paula Katinas Brooklyn Daily Eagle

The “Angelmobile” van will serve hot meals and help people with housing, employment and other issues. Photo courtesy of North Brooklyn Neighbors Helping Neighbors

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Residents of Greenpoint, Williamsburg and other communities will be getting help right on the street, thanks to the North Brooklyn Neighbors Helping Neighbors, a newly formed nonprofit organization which will deliver hot meals every day via a mobile soup kitchen called the “Angelmobile.”

The Angelmobile will make its debut at a ceremony to kickoff the new initiative on Wednesday, June 28, on the waterfront at Kent Avenue and North 10th Street at 5:30 p.m. Assemblymember Joseph Lentol and Councilmember Stephen Levin are among the officials who have been invited to the event.

The Angelmobile is a specially build R-V equipped with a kitchen, food storage facilities, office space and outdoor awnings. It has the capacity to serve up to 800 meals a day and will provide assistance to residents in need of housing, employment, counseling and help overcoming substance abuse.

The North Brooklyn Neighbors Helping Neighbors Coalition is working with the support of the Episcopal Ministries of Long Island to bring the street service to the community.

“I continually urge congregations to be bold and creative in reaching beyond church walls to serve people in ways that matter right where they are, as they are. This project does that, so I am very pleased to support it,” Bishop Lawrence C. Provenzano of the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island said in a statement.

Locally, the partnership will be headed by the two co-founders of North Brooklyn Neighbors Helping Neighbors, the Rev. John Merz, vicar of the Episcopal Church of the Ascension in Greenpoint, and Neil Sheehan, executive vice president of the substance abuse treatment agency, Outreach.

The two formed the coalition and enlisted more than 65 religious, civic, social service and business groups to participate in the endeavor.

“We looked at the neighborhood and saw gentrification causing friction among residents to the detriment of all,” Sheehan stated. “Our goal is to engage people to work together across physical and social boundaries to serve and advocate for the needs of the most vulnerable.”

Funding for the project has been provided by longtime Greenpoint community leaders Elaine and Norm Brodsky, and by a bequest left to the Episcopal Diocese of Long Island.

The Angelmobile recently arrived in New York after a cross-country trek from its manufacturing plant in Riverside, California.

The R-V has Wi-Fi and features a private community engagement office with two desks and has room for eight people in its internal waiting area.

Externally, the Angelmobile has awnings on its left and right sides for food service and a waiting area. There is a 72-inch weatherproof video screen on the driver’s side for advertising and public announcements.

To volunteer, make a donation or request a visit by the Angelmobile, email [email protected].