Today we’d like to introduce you to Sandra Lorena Aleman-Nijjar.
Sandra, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
I am from El Salvador. I immigrated to the United States when I was ten years old. My maternal grandparents were compelled to send me to United States fleeing the horrors of the civil war my country was going through in the eighties.
Yes, I planted the little seed; East Boston Community Soup Kitchen and with the collaboration and support from an amazing small group of neighbors, together, we watered this little seed and together we built this great initiative.
This is certainly a team effort. Granted, one person can’t build this type of effort all alone.
For several years, I had thought about setting up a space like a soup kitchen in East Boston. In fact, several years back, I had expressed this desire via email to some of my fellow No Eastie Casino friends, and also, I had posted my idea on Facebook. But I had not had the time to actually work on it until the early spring of 2016, when I became unemployed by the Department of Unemployment Assistance (DUA). I thought, well I think this is the time for me to work on this idea, because up to that time it was just that, an idea.
From a very young age, I was taught by my maternal grandparents to help those in need without expecting anything in return. So, I have done this since I can remember. Just about every day, I help someone in one way or another no matter where I am. Particularly, each time I walk by a homeless or residentially challenged neighbor, in my neighborhood or anywhere else, my heart aches. I see them and I can’t imagine being in their predicament, especially here in New England during the winter season. Consequently, I have had the desire to do something to help them. I noticed that each Thursday a van comes to central square East Boston to feed our homeless year-round. Even on cold and snowy days they come out to feed them, and the people stand in line and eat outside in the cold. Seeing that, I thought, why can’t our residentially challenged and food insecure neighbors have a space that is indoors in a warm, welcoming and dignified environment, where they can feel safe and comfortable, to enjoy a nice hot, healthy meal? So, for a while I had this inner anxiety to do something about it, especially when I walk by homeless men, who are mostly middle aged; and I have noticed that this is a growing population in our community of East Boston.
So, I first spoke with my husband about what I wanted to do. I then reached out to Rev. Britta Carlson Meiers, Lydia Edwards, and John Ribeiro. Having had their support, I went ahead and organized a community meeting with folks in my neighborhood that I knew well, and felt that they would be keen on hearing me out.
So I wrote my proposal, and organized our very first meeting on June 25, 2016 at Our Saviour Lutheran Church at 28 Paris Street, East Boston. After that first meeting, where I had over twenty attendees, only about ten of them continued to meet with us every week on Saturday afternoons.
As time went on, some folks left the group and new ones joined, like Lisa Melara and Juliet Pyles, who came in and continued the planning with us and met with us weekly. Our group basically dropped down to our original group that I had initial reached out to; consistently we have been a very small group of about seven of us. But from the start, we were dedicated and determined to help our neighbors. Three months later, on September 14th of 2016, we opened up for the first time to serve warm, healthy meals. Currently we provide three meals. Breakfast is from 9:00 a.m. until 11:00 a.m., lunch is from 12:00 Noon until 2:00 p.m., and dinner is from 4:30 p.m. until about 6:00 p.m., although we never deny a meal to whoever comes in hungry in-between meals.
When we first launched our soup kitchen on September 14, 2016, we anticipated having only about 15 to 20 people come in on our very first day of operation. But, we ended up having about 70 people from all walks of life come together in one inclusive space, which was welcoming to all. Now, a year and a half later, and here we are running strong and striving and serving our people; and consistently we serve over 150 in a day. Our soup kitchen serves those of a mixed income, and it’s a diverse space where we create community. We are open every single Tuesday, we never cancel our Tuesdays’ pre-planned schedules, no matter what. Having been through so much, I’ve learned that God works in wondrous ways.
I was laid off and I took advantage to getting this goal done during the five months that I was laid off to do something about helping our most vulnerable neighbors. Then, a couple of months later I was called to go back to my old job at DUA, except that this time I went back as a seasonal employee. I went back in and they allowed me to take every Tuesday off to serve the kitchen. Seriously, God definitely has a funny way of using us, doesn’t he?!
Nonetheless, I am humbled by the outpouring of support by so many in our community and from surrounding communities. This initiative wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for all the hard work and team collaboration from my team of organizers that stayed with me from the start, namely, Rev. Britta Carlson, Lydia Edwards, Lisa Melara, Juliet Pyles, John Ribeiro Jr., Baljinder Nijjar and also a few additional strong amazing team members who have joined our effort and have been working very hard with us organizing, namely, Joanna Cataldo, Kannan Thiruvengadam, Blake Shetler, Sam Albertson, Susan Lachman, Steve Snyder, and Bryan Schnittjer; not to mention the outpouring of support we receive from the amazing volunteers of all capacities and all ethnicities, who come in to give their all every single week.
It’s amazing the incredible support we have received, and continue to receive, from local business donors and from surrounding communities, and I will name a few: such as, Zumix, Channel Fish, Empower East Boston, East Boston Neighborhood Health Center, Longhorn Steakhouse in Reading, Fresh Truck, Panera Bread, Sammy Carlo’s Catering, Angela’s Cafe, La Hacienda Restaurant, El Pueblo Viejo, Ruggiero Family Memorial Home, Piers Park Sailing Center, Boston Public Market, Spinelli’s Catering, Kayem Hot Dogs, Shaw’s Super Market, and many, many more. It truly shows the caring community that we are.
In our soup kitchen we provide our guests with fresh healthy meals, and we also connect them with basic services, such as health care, detox centers, community hours, haircuts, clean clothes, dental care, housing services, and more.
My dream is that we become a 501c3 long lasting nonprofit organization where we have our own building and, together as a community, create a space in East Boston where our local and also from surrounding communities homeless can come spend the night, particularly on the cold winter nights such as the cold spell we have just endured.
We also would like to continue to help our most vulnerable folks to have a better quality of life, get sober, and eventually get back onto their feet, and back into the workforce so they can contribute back into society in a productive manner, and ultimately stop living on the streets. With just over a year of existence, we have already been able to help a few of our guests accomplish this goal. With the support of the caring and concerned citizens, someday we will be able to do more and accomplish the dream of rehabilitating and ending homelessness in our community of East Boston.
Overall, has it been relatively smooth? If not, what were some of the struggles along the way?
It has been a challenge to have food donations in a more consistent manner. Our space we use in the Lutheran church is not wheelchair accessible so it is difficult for folks who are wheelchair bound to be able to go into the soup kitchen space and be part of our community. We have a tiny and outdated kitchen that is not up to code and the sink is small which makes it difficult to wash the dishes, particularly the large pans.
Any shoutouts? Who else deserves credit in this story – who has played a meaningful role?
Without a doubt, this initiative wouldn’t be possible if it weren’t for all the hard work and team collaboration I have had from my team of organizers that stayed with me from the very start, namely, Rev. Britta Carlson, Lydia Edwards, Lisa Melara, John Ribeiro Jr., and Baljinder Nijjar. I am very grateful to my family, also, for giving me so much support and for being patient with me.
I am personally extremely grateful to Zumix for having agreed to be our fiscal agent from the very start of the formation of my soup kitchen. Madeleine, the founder, and Nancy the assistant, have been by our side since Britta and I reached out to them. Zumix is a 501c3 organization; and therefore, through them we can receive money donations. They handle all funds donated to us, and then donors are provided with a tax ID number which they use to report on their taxes. This has been an incredible help to us.
We are the tiny group that stuck together; and a bit later, others came in to continue the ground work and formation of this great initiative, such as Juliet Pyles, Joanna Cataldo, Kannan Thiruvengadam. Louis Silvestro came in on our opening day on September 14, 2016, and brought in lots of food donations; and he also helped serve. Ever since then he has been by our side giving us support of all kinds, such as food, buying us appliances, and arranging trash pickup for us on the very next morning, and much more.
Now, we and a few additional strong amazing team members who have joined our effort, have been working very hard with our organizing. They are, namely, Blake Shelter, Sam Albertson, Susan Lachman, Steve Snyder, and Bryan Schnittjer; not to mention the outpouring of support we receive every week from various amazing volunteers of all capacities and all ethnicities, who come in to give their all every single week, and many local businesses that have continuously donated delicious and generous amounts of food. Zumix, Channel Fish, and La Famiglia DiGiorgio’s have been my number one supporters in providing me consistently with food, and all other needs. They give so much and do so much that sometimes I worry that they will get burned out and stop helping me out.
Contact Info:
- Address: 28 Paris street East Boston MA 0218
- Website: http://www.ebkitchen.org/
- Email: ebcsk.info@gmail.com
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