A Reason to Have Faith

Many years ago, through an unfortunate set of circumstances, Faith Fraser found herself locked out of her apartment for a night. She went to a nearby church and slept on the floor of a conference room. That night she decided to make sure those without a home were taken care of.  

Already active in St. James’ Church on the Upper East Side, she began leading a Friday night free meal program for homeless neighbors and others suffering from food insecurity. She became more familiar with Neighborhood Coalition for Shelter through fellow St. James’ parishioner and NCS Board Member Jan Golann in 2017 and has been a champion of Street Sheets ever since, making sure our pocket-sized neighborhood resource guides are available to people who need information about where to access a free meal, connect with emergency housing, take a shower, and more.  

When the pandemic hit New York City in March, Faith wanted to make sure that our Upper East Side residents were being fed. Many of them rely on free meal programs for lunch and dinner, and while St. James’ has temporarily suspended their program, Faith connected us with the  meal programs at Unitarian Church of All Souls and Church of the Epiphany’s  Carter Burden Luncheon Club.  

She has been going to each of their weekly meal programs, which have been converted into brown bag meal giveaways so as to maintain social distancing. She picks up meals and delivers them to the NCS Residence to ensure our tenants have food.  

Not stopping there, she connected us to Janette Gautier who heads the dinner program at Epiphany. Janette is involved with a group of volunteers making masks for their homeless neighbors. In May, Faith brought each resident a new mask.  

"Since the beginning of the pandemic, Faith has gone above and beyond to make sure our tenants receive meals several times a week -- even delivering them herself! We are so thankful for neighbors like Faith who truly embody the idea that homelessness is the responsibility of the entire community,” said NCS Executive Director Ann Shalof. 

A few years ago, when Council Member Ben Kallos started ETHOS, the Eastside Taskforce for Homeless Outreach and Services, he knew he needed Faith as a member. "Faith Fraser is every good elected official's dream constituent," said Member Ben Kallos. "She is helpful, dedicated, and most importantly well informed. When I started ETHOS years ago, I knew it would only be successful if we had great partners like Ms. Fraser. Whether it is her help with ETHOS related issues or her recent work getting face masks to residents, Faith is always there and my office is very grateful to have her as a partner." 

“During the pandemic, I’ve gotten much more involved with NCS because I’m physically there. I’ve been inspired that people are still preparing and thinking about the NCS residents,” said Faith. “The churches can’t invite them in right now but they can send food. I’ve loved getting to spend time going to NCS and meeting some of the residents there. They know me now, say hi to me. I love that I’m expanding their idea of how many people care about them.” 

Thank you, Faith!  

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