BETHLEHEM, Pa. – The menu is simple: a soup-and-salad lunch.
“The reason for that is for you to sit in humility a little bit and sort of think about what other people may have or have not,” said John Marc Rittle, New Bethany’s Executive Director.
Since the pandemic, Rittle says the need has doubled.
“We’re seeing more people who are what you might say, the ‘working class.’ We see more people with jobs and homes coming in for help just to subsidize their budget because the cost-of-living is really unbearable,” he said.
That means the nonprofit needs more funding and resources to keep up with demand. This isn’t just a fundraiser for New Bethany Inc. It’s about bringing more partners to the table to better serve the community.
“You can’t get stable just through food,” said Rittle. You also need other resources, so we’re highlighting some of our health partners in the community.”
They held a panel discussion to explore the connection between mental health access and overall well-being.
“Being able to work with organizations like New Bethany, and understand crisis, and meeting people at that ground level, and then support them through the process, allows us to come in and provide the support services of keeping them on track for the other things that they’re building for their life,” said Kevin Greene, Chief Growth Officer of Preventative Mental Health.
“We are what we eat, and we have patients coming into our facility, and they have a new chronic condition diagnosis like diabetes and can’t access all the food and lifestyle to be able to improve their outcomes; all that will impact their physical and mental health,” said Veronica Gonzalez, CEO of Valley Health Partners Community Health.
As Rittle said, it all starts with a meal.
“You come in for food, and then you have community partners who come in and help out with services that New Bethany doesn’t necessarily do, so that’s why your physical health resources, street medicine teams, outreach teams will all come into Bethany because that’s where people are gathered.”