by Thomas Breen It’s always difficult to say goodbye to friends.  Robby was a familiar face with us at DESK.  He was a positive force in the room, showering our chef with compliments, and bringing smiles to those around him.  Robby’s memory shouldn’t be defined by his mental health, but if we can find a path forward from this tragedy, …

By Donna Golden, Ph.D. February 2019 – Donna Golden has been volunteering with DESK for over 15 years, but she is best known as the organizer of an amazing group of Veterans who volunteer at our weekly Food Pantry.  On January 26, 2019, Donna received DESK’s Chris Carbone Memorial Service Award, given to a supporter who has made a substantial …

Earlier this fall, our Executive Director, Steve Werlin, had the pleasure of sitting down with Kim Hart, Susan Harris, and Wanda Perez from the New Haven Chapter of Witnesses to Hunger.  Witnesses to Hunger is an advocacy group made up of those who have experienced or are currently experiencing food insecurity.   Steve: What is Witnesses to Hunger? Susan: It’s …

by Kaitlyn Spear DESK prides itself on offering an internship program that fosters up-and-coming leaders in our community and in the social services sector. This past summer, we were very fortunate to have hosted Kaitlyn Spear, a rising senior at the University of New Haven. Kaitlyn worked exceedingly hard over the summer, often under some very difficult (and hot) conditions. …

By Marina Marmolejo In the spring of 2018, DESK partnered with the Yale School of Public Health’s Practice-based Community Health Research Practicum.  The goal was to measure DESK’s nutritional standards against both national best-practices and client-choice, i.e., what our Guests want, and then to make recommendations on how we can improve what we do.  What the students learned though, extended …

By Kaitlyn Sabin Katie Sabin graduated from Yale College this May.  For the past four years, she volunteered with the Yale Hunger Heroes (now known as “Yale Community Kitchen”), a group that serves in partnership with Downtown Evening Soup Kitchen.  As one of the Hunger Heroes Coordinators, Katie has also served as an ex officio Honorary Board Member at DESK, …

By Stephan Sveshnikov As a way to way to highlight DESK’s guests and their stories, we’ve invited Yale undergraduate students to interview some of our folks at dinner and contribute short essays based on those interactions.  Our hope is not only to emphasize the human complexities behind hunger, poverty, and homelessness, but also to encourage two-way conversations between people who …