Founded in 1997, MWIRD is a faith-based, community service organization, committed to working in the areas of hunger relief, health education, inter-faith work, and the transitional needs of new immigrants. They are located in a community where the ethnic composition is now approximately 59 percent Hispanic, 37 percent African-American, 3 percent Asian-American, 1 percent Other, and where approximately 46 percent of the families with children under eighteen live below the poverty level. To provide effective services, MWRID works collaboratively with city, borough, and state agencies, as well as nonprofit and grassroots organizations. The organization initially began by establishing and operating a food pantry at the Islamic Sunna wal Jam’ah (Mount Hope Mosque) in the Bronx, distributing halal food to a needy population of immigrants, primarily West African, most of whom are Muslims. Interactions with the pantry’s clientele, which consists primarily of women and children, led to awareness on the part of the pantry’s founder of their transitional needs. This understanding was the catalyst for establishing an organization that provides services to low-income families in the Bronx. Because of later demographic shifts, the populations MWIRD now serves include Hispanics, African-Americans, and Asians. Their collaborative partners for the pantry are the African Islamic Center, America’s Second Harvest, City Harvest, the Food Bank for New York City, New York Women’s Foundation, New York Community Trust, New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene-Office of Minority Health and the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies.
Website: www.mwird.org
