A Mission Over 5 Decades Strong

Founded over 50 years ago, CHiPS is a soup kitchen, food pantry, and shelter for women with young children. Our building is on 4th Avenue, right between Park Slope and Gowanus in Brooklyn. Our mission is two fold: to ameliorate food insecurity and homelessness in New York City. With our soup kitchen and food pantry open six days a week, CHiPS  serves as a beacon of hope to thousands of our friends and neighbors in need, and our success comes from people like you. Our supporters and volunteers keep the doors open, the meals hot, and the food plenty. 

Our History

CHiPS was founded in 1971 by members of the St. Francis Xavier Church, who were inspired by the spirit of the Vatican II Council and the Biblical story of the Good Samaritan. It was the first Catholic, non-profit agency for those experiencing homelessness and food insecurity in Park Slope. In its first few years, CHiPS offered free coffee, sandwiches, medical consultations, and legal assistance every evening out of a small Park Slope storefront. 

In 1976, CHiPS moved its operations to our current four-story brownstone located at 200 Fourth Avenue and began to build out its services. Once the facility was outfitted with community donations and painted by volunteers, CHiPS began operating full-time, providing healthy, hot meals to anyone who came through the doors. An early ally, the Park Slope Food Co-op was one of the first local grocery stores to donate food regularly. CHiPS now receives regular donations from around businesses in the area. As the hours of service expanded, CHiPS turned to groups like the NYC Food Bank, United Way of NYC, and the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) for increased support and funding.  

The CHiPS building was built in the late 1800’s. In 2004, the Groundswell Mural Organization commissioned a mural on the building’s south side. “I Deal, I Dream, I Do” was painted by a team of female artists.

In the 1980s, the soup kitchen was staffed entirely by volunteers. The Franciscan Sisters of the Poor were active in their volunteer duties, and Sister Pauline and Sister Mary were both instrumental in managing the kitchen in its early days. By the mid-1980s, the soup kitchen was feeding upwards of 150 people each day. Around this time, CHiPS joined the Partnership for the Homeless and hosted 12 to 14 houseless individuals each night, transforming the dining room into a place to sleep by replacing fold up tables and seats with cots.

In 1988, CHiPS was awarded a grant for the purchase of the brownstone it had then been operating out of for 17 years. Local Councilman and current City Comptroller Brad Lander was instrumental in obtaining the grant. Roughly ten years later, the Franciscan Sisters of the Poor started the Frances Residence. Named after their founder, Mother Frances Schervier, the Frances Residence is a private temporary residence program for mothers and their infants and toddlers in need of shelter and support services. This marked the shift from providing short-term housing for homeless men to our current focus on facilitating independence in young women facing housing insecurity. 

Today, CHiPS still values and relies on the support  from all of our volunteers. With a food justice focus, we address symptoms of health and income inequality facing the Brooklyn community and single mothers by breaking down barriers to healthy living for BIPOC in order to dismantle systemic oppression.

Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI) at CHiPS

As part of CHiPS’ mission of reducing food and housing insecurity in New York City, we are committed to being an inclusive, anti-racist organization that actively advances the voices of those we serve. We accomplish this through direct action,  as well as strategic planning which focuses on broadening the demographic composition of our Board of Directors, Staff and Volunteers, to capture multiple perspectives and lived experiences.  One of the foremost goals of our programming is to reduce social inequities throughout New York City.  

Working For All CHiPS Guests and Residents

CHiPS is committed to providing services that move everyone closer to food and housing security, personal safety and well-being, and equal opportunity.  As the populations that we serve and the neighborhoods in which we operate evolve, so must we in order to remain lock-step with the needs of the community, as well as to actively work against the forces of racial, gender-based, and economic inequality.  We recognize that in order to truly serve all, we need to lead with equity to provide a safe space for ideas, partnerships, and viewpoints which uplift the voices of our guests and residents, and assure that our services are informed and relevant. 

The Importance of DE&I at CHiPS

Centering diversity, equity and inclusion in our organization is vital for many reasons. We recognize our country’s history of colonialism, racism and gender inequality, and we intentionally hire staff, elect Directors, and engage volunteers with diverse backgrounds, perspectives and capabilities. This fosters innovation, helps us remain relevant, and ensures the efficacy of our programming. It also prevents stagnation and better prepares us for inevitable change, allowing us to be nimble, forward-thinking and adaptable.

Centering our organization around diversity, equity and inclusion is vital for many reasons.  We intentionally hire staff, elect Directors, and engage volunteers with diverse backgrounds, perspectives and capabilities in order to foster innovation, remain relevant, and ensure the efficacy of our programming. This diversity prevents stagnation and better prepares us for inevitable change, allowing us to be nimble, forward-thinking and adaptable because it frees us from the institutional chains of racism, patriarchy and colonialism.

DE&I Goals at CHiPS

We aspire to move to be an organization that more accurately reflects the populations it serves. Transparency and accountability are key to advancing representation, so it is important to set goals and continually review our progress towards their achievement.  

We commit to having DE&I training become part of our on-boarding process for all Directors, staff and volunteers by the end of 2025.  

Additionally, by 2030 we aim to have:

  • at least 50% of our Board of Directors, 
  • at least 75% of our Senior Management, 
  • at least 50% of our entire Staff, and 
  • at least 25% of our Volunteer Population, 

identify as black, indigenous, people of color, or underrepresented minorities.

We invite you to join us on this important journey.