Welcome to FOCUS Churches! For more than 50 years, FOCUS has created a community called to be a collective voice - and a helping hand - for those in need. FOCUS serves hungry bodies and souls through its feeding programs. The Breakfast Club provides more than 18,000 meals year round and helps connect guests with much-needed services such as housing. The Interfaith Food Pantry located at Emmanuel Baptist Church and the Food Pantry at First Church in Albany offer emergency food supplies to families and individuals. And with each meal FOCUS serves a helping of hospitality. FOCUS also gives voice to critical issues of hunger and homelessness and joins with other organizations to raise awareness of the impacts and needs of those living in poverty.
Our Mission: FOCUS IS SIX COVENANT CHURCHES, FOUR FAITH AFFILIATES, AND TWO FAITH PARTNERS, DOING TOGETHER WHAT WE CANNOT DO ALONE. UNITED IN A COMMON CALLING TO RESPOND TO OUR NEIGHBOR'S NEEDS IN THE CITY OF ALBANY AND BEYOND, AS GOD'S SERVANT PEOPLE IN A BROKEN AND HURTING WORLD.
Our Mission: FOCUS IS SIX COVENANT CHURCHES, FOUR FAITH AFFILIATES, AND TWO FAITH PARTNERS, DOING TOGETHER WHAT WE CANNOT DO ALONE. UNITED IN A COMMON CALLING TO RESPOND TO OUR NEIGHBOR'S NEEDS IN THE CITY OF ALBANY AND BEYOND, AS GOD'S SERVANT PEOPLE IN A BROKEN AND HURTING WORLD.
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During our Summer Appeal we are seeking contributions to help us serve our food insecure neighbors in downtown Albany. Can you assist us as a donor or volunteer? To donate online, please click here. Thanks so much!
Raising Voices for Food Security
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FOCUS Churches visited the Capitol with other partners through The Alliance for a Hunger Free New York. Our statewide alliance is requesting $75 million for HPNAP and $75 million in Nourish NY funds in the 2024-25 NYS Budget. FOCUS uses HPNAP funds to support our Interfaith Food Pantry and Breakfast Club in downtown Albany. The newly formed FOCUS Food Network uses Nourish NY funds to distribute NY-grown food among ten other food pantries in rural and urban areas of Albany County.
Nancy Horan, Joe Paparone and Fred Boehrer of FOCUS participated in the January 10th Capitol visit.
We are grateful for The Alliance leadership team for organizing a great day. Special thanks to Wells Wellington for overseeing the Westminster Fellowship Hall transforming from our Breakfast Club into a gathering for food justice.
Nancy Horan, Joe Paparone and Fred Boehrer of FOCUS participated in the January 10th Capitol visit.
We are grateful for The Alliance leadership team for organizing a great day. Special thanks to Wells Wellington for overseeing the Westminster Fellowship Hall transforming from our Breakfast Club into a gathering for food justice.
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FOCUS appreciates our Muslim Soup Kitchen Project (MSKP) friends. Thanks to the Al-Hidaya Center of Latham, 50 delicious dinners were distributed to families visiting our FOCUS Interfaith Food Pantry in downtown Albany. Thank you MSKP!
Brooks BBQ Fundraiser for FOCUS
Thank you for supporting our drive-thru chicken dinner fundraiser. We appreciate our many volunteers and wonderful hosts at Delmar Reformed Church. This annual event supports our FOCUS Interfaith Food Pantry and FOCUS Breakfast Club.
FOCUS staff are recognized
FOCUS appreciates Lorraine Houk and Fred Boehrer being recognized by The Food Pantries for the Capital District.
Lorraine Houk is the recipient of the 2024 Sister Mary Coons Award, which recognizes an individual who represents leadership in the community; selflessness; and a desire to love, help, and support community members. Lorraine has been involved with food pantries for over 20 years, as former Board President at The Food Pantries, and currently as the FOCUS Churches of Albany Food Pantry Director.
Fred Boehrer, FOCUS Executive Director, received the 2024 Dinnie Shanley Award with Renata Gwozdz (Commission on Economic Opportunity) Sara Adams (Trinity Alliance). Fred, Renata and Sara formed the Nourish NY Dream Team. By strategizing, learning from each other, and sharing resources, the Nourish NY Dream Team created a network of 30 emergency feeding programs to provide fresh, local and culturally sensitive food to our neighbors in Albany and Rensselaer Counties. FOCUS appreciates our partnership with The Food Pantries for the Capital District.
Fred Boehrer, FOCUS Executive Director, received the 2024 Dinnie Shanley Award with Renata Gwozdz (Commission on Economic Opportunity) Sara Adams (Trinity Alliance). Fred, Renata and Sara formed the Nourish NY Dream Team. By strategizing, learning from each other, and sharing resources, the Nourish NY Dream Team created a network of 30 emergency feeding programs to provide fresh, local and culturally sensitive food to our neighbors in Albany and Rensselaer Counties. FOCUS appreciates our partnership with The Food Pantries for the Capital District.
Photo: Lorraine Houk receives her award from Natasha Pernicka, Executive Director of The Food Pantries for the Capital District.
Our FOCUS Staff wishes everyone a Healthy & Happy Summer!
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FOCUS Breakfast Program: Service with a Smile
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FOCUS Food Pantry helping 40% more guests |
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All are welcomed at our FOCUS Breakfast Club, where we are serving double the amount of meals compared with one year ago. We offer lavish hospitality and serve with a smile.
Might you like to volunteer or make a donation to help us keep up with the costs of feeding so many people three mornings a week? To volunteer, contact Belinda Quaye at: [email protected] To make a secure online donation, please click focuschurches.net/donate.html Thanks! |
Since emergency EBT benefits (“food stamps”) were cut on March 1, we have been serving more guests than usual at our FOCUS Food Pantry.
Compared with a year ago, we are serving 40% more households. Might you like to volunteer or make a donation to help us keep up with the costs of distributing groceries five days a week? (We are open Mondays through Fridays, 10am to 12:30pm.) |
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FOCUS BREAKFAST CLUB AND INTERFAITH FOOD PANTRY Hot egg sandwiches, coffee and more! Join us 7 AM - 8:30 AM every Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday at Westminster Presbyterian Church, 262 State Street. All are welcome! Local community organizations are here to serve our guests with information about housing, healthcare and job training. The FOCUS Interfaith Food Pantry is open five days a week (Mondays through Fridays) from 10 AM - 12:45 PM. It is located at Emmanuel Baptist Church, 275 State Street. To place an order, please call: 518-443-0460, ext. 1. The First Church in Albany Food Pantry is open Mondays and Wednesdays, 9 AM - 11:30 AM at 110 North Pearl Street. For more information, please call First Church office: 518- 463-4449 |
A MESSAGE FROM FOCUS CHURCHES OF ALBANY
BLACK LIVES MATTER
The FOCUS Churches of Albany affirms without equivocation the statement that ”Black Lives Matter.” We proclaim that all people are made in the image of God and are of inherent value. In our desire to dismantle systemic racism, we support the Black Lives Matter movement.
There is a giant BLACK LIVES MATTER sign painted on Lark Street. Perhaps you’ve seen it. It's quite impressive. It was commissioned by "In Our Own Voices" whose offices are on that block of Lark. We had seen reports about this kind of street painting in other cities, but hadn't anticipated such a thing right here in Albany. In any case, it's an important message even though it's shocking that it should need to be said. Our lives have all been turned upside-down in recent months by a new physical disease: COVID 19. It’s been disruptive and reorienting in ways we never anticipated. But we’ve also been reminded that it’s not the only issue we need to face as a national and world society. In recent weeks we’ve been reminded of that much older spiritual and emotional disease: racism. The violent deaths of Amaud Arbery, Breonna Taylor, and George Floyd were the final straw for many and the occasion for protests and demonstrations here and abroad. “Black Lives Matter” has been the rallying cry.
These words have become the slogan of the movement for racial equality in recent years and a reminder of the unequal treatment people have received and still receive. They remind us that some lives seem to be valued less than others. That is hard to hear and know and harder still for some to be on the receiving end of. Some people have tried to distract from that difficult reality by arguing that "all lives matter". Of course, they do. It should go without saying and usually does. The fact that anyone feels they have to make that statement as a reminder should resound in all our ears and chasten us. Black lives matter! It's not an argument. It's a statement, a challenge and a calling for everyone to hear and live up to. It's a call to be a respectful and caring community. It's a call to be a good neighbor. Lark Street in Albany is now host to a reminder of the values we espouse. Let's all live up to and into those values together.
Kathy Donley, Past President
FOCUS Board of Directors.