Name: Otis Skinner

Social Justice Group: Food insecurity in NYC (B)

Date of Fieldwork: January 17, 2025

Name of Organization and person (people) with whom you met and their title(s):BJ Neal

What I did and what I learned about my topic, activism, social justice work or civil and human rights work from this fieldwork:

On January 17th, 2025, my group mates and I were able to borrow Nathan’s office to interview BJ Neal, Director of Guest Services at City Relief.
Our interview with BJ was very helpful and interesting. It was cool to hear from him about his experience with food insecurity and homelessness. He told us about the difficulties there are when reaching out and asking for help as somebody who is struggling. He told us how it is hard to swallow your pride and reach out for help. His organization works with trying to help people in the long run by working with them over the years and helping them with more long-term solutions for problems in the world. BJ Neal was very helpful in giving us a look into food-insecure people’s shoes. Due to the fact that he has been homeless, he was able to give us great insight into the thought process and struggle when you are not able to know where your next meal will come from and if there will be one at all.
Overall, our interview with BJ was very helpful. He offered us fieldwork opportunities and some good resources for food insecurity. His story made me very inspired to try and combat food insecurity in New York.