Jawonio has opened a new food pantry on its New City campus, offering support to both its workforce and the individuals they serve. The pantry, named Helping Employees and Individuals Access Resources Together — or HEART — was created to help direct support professionals and the people in their care who may be struggling with food insecurity.

The pantry is supported through a grant provided by The Mother Cabrini Health Foundation and New York State Industries for the Disabled, Inc.

The pantry was bustling on Thursday as dozens of people stopped by, including Eric, who was picking up food for his household.

"It works out that I can grab a couple of things that we might need at home. So it works out perfect," he said.

Katherine, a direct support professional and instructor with Jawonio, was packing bags for individuals she works with who use wheelchairs.

"Things are very challenging these days. And so this really does help with filling in some of the gaps where there might be some food insecurities with certain people," she said.

Jawonio CEO Randi Rios-Castro said the pantry is a response to the financial strain many staff members face.

"Many of our staff work overtime. They still struggle with paying for food. Paying for their rent. So this is just our way of kind of trying to help them where we can," she said.

News 12 learned the pantry was made possible through a $120,000 grant. It is a 12‑month pilot program aimed at gathering data to demonstrate the need for similar efforts statewide.

"We're collecting data and we think for about a 12-month period of time we will be able to go back to the state, and to other entities to make sure that they understand the need for this kind of work," said NYSID CEO Maureen O’Brien.

The HEART pantry is operated by volunteers as well as individuals with disabilities who are gaining workforce skills through the pre-vocational program.

Jawonio says the pantry will be open twice a month for employees and their clients.