God’s Love at Northern Dispensary – A Grand Opening with a Grand Vision

It was an honor to be surrounded by elected officials, local businesses, friends, supporters, volunteers, and colleagues as we expand to this building, in addition to our beloved Michael Kors headquarters in SoHo. We thank Neil, Marika, and Elijah Bender, and William Gottlieb Real Estate for their generosity and for helping God’s Love feel at home in our new space. We are excited to begin a new chapter in this building and carry on the site’s legacy as place to “Heal the Sick”.

As we gathered in the West Village to celebrate the opening, we reflected on how God’s Love began, 37 years ago, at the height of the AIDS pandemic. At a time of great fear and stigma, we showed up for New Yorkers in need – many of whom lived in this very neighborhood. As an organization, we applied all that we learned from those early, painful years and now serve people living with more than 200+ diagnoses including: cancer, Alzheimer’s disease, renal failure, heart disease, advanced diabetes, and HIV.

When COVID hit, we continued to show up, through another pandemic rife with fear and isolation. In the first weekend when everything in the City shut down, we received 3,500 phone calls for help. At its height, we had a 30% increase in demand. Without hesitation, our staff and volunteers stepped up to ensure we we never missed a single delivery day.

Over the past two years we have not rested on our laurels. We have not only survived, but we have thrived. Last year, we cooked, packaged, and home-delivered more than 2.8 million meals, an agency record. We accomplished all of this without ever having a waiting list and without a single cost to our clients.

As we have experienced this phenomenal growth, we have added more staff to support the increased number of clients we serve – and that’s what brings us to Northern Dispensary. There are many wonderful aspects about this new space from its unique, triangular shape, to its historic presence in the West Village, to its mandate since its inception as a place to “Heal the Sick”.

We are dedicated to fulfilling this “Heal the Sick” mandate with our medically tailored meals and our belief that “food is medicine.” God’s Love will use the Northern Dispensary to grow our program and give staff members more space to accomplish their critical work. Our program team – Nutrition Services, Client Services, and Healthcare Partners – will be in this special space, making personal connections with our neighbors in need who depend on God’s Love for nourishment, hope, respect and love.

Our sincerest gratitude to our talented staff, volunteers, donors, supporters, and neighbors. A deeply profound thank you to Neil, Marika, and Elijah Bender and their counsel Doug Eisenberg, and Umer Naseem who have led the William Gottlieb team working on-site. Thank you to Senator Brad Holyman, Assemblymember Deborah Glick, City Council Member Erik Bottcher, Community Board 2, the Landmarks Preservation Commission, and Suzanne Poli for her donated art.

 

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