{"id":778546,"date":"2026-05-07T01:38:35","date_gmt":"2026-05-07T01:38:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/778546\/"},"modified":"2026-05-07T01:38:35","modified_gmt":"2026-05-07T01:38:35","slug":"moms-living-in-nyc-shelters-get-a-helping-hand-for-mothers-day","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/778546\/","title":{"rendered":"Moms living in NYC shelters get a helping hand for Mother\u2019s Day"},"content":{"rendered":"

Quadaisha Brown gave birth to a baby named Ronald about three weeks ago, but unlike most mothers, she didn\u2019t head back \u201chome.\u201d She headed back to a shelter, operated by Win, where she lives with three children, one of a large number of mothers who greet Mother\u2019s Day in shelters.<\/p>\n

Brown on Tuesday, however, experienced Mother\u2019s Day a little early in the form of a Mother\u2019s Day Baby Shower with a wide range of items donated by Amazon, which partnered with Win to donate at one shelter in each borough.<\/p>\n

\u201cAny holiday is a hard day to be in shelter,\u201d said Win CEO and President Christine Quinn, who has led that organization for a decade after serving as City Council speaker for eight years and in the Council for 12 years until 2012. \u201cYou\u2019re in there because you\u2019ve been evicted, you\u2019re short on resources. You\u2019re in a situation where you lost your housing and you\u2019re in a real state of transition and at times chaos.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mothers in shelters said Mother\u2019s Day matters, in particular, as a personal holiday focusing on an important part of their lives.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s important to celebrate being a mom. It\u2019s a very hard job,\u201d said the mother of a three and four-year-old. \u201cYou have to show up every day, even when you\u2019re tired, even when you\u2019re scared, even when you\u2019re sick.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"Quadaisha<\/a>Quadaisha BrownPhoto by Claude Solnik<\/p>\n

She stood near one child wearing a shirt saying \u201cI\u2019m not average\u201d and another watching a YouTube video on an iPad. \u201cHe\u2019s very independent,\u201d she said. \u201cHe knows how to work it very well.\u201d<\/p>\n

While Christmas and some other holidays have long inspired donations, Mother\u2019s Day only now is beginning to attract more donors.\u00a0\n<\/p>\n

Amazon picked up the tab for \u201cnewborn necessities,\u201d including strollers, pack-and-plays, diapers, and other everyday items for mothers at a giveaway at a Manhattan shelter on Thursday with other donations city-wide to follow.<\/p>\n

\u201cThe strollers, diapers and wipes, you can never have too much of those,\u201d Brown said. \u201cThe baby pillow, the socks, everything they have. The playpens are helpful, a lot of resources that you would have to spend money on.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amazon already donates to Win, which operates 16 shelters and over 450 units of supportive housing, as well as other organizations, but this year added Mother\u2019s Day.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe actually do a lot of giveaways where we supply things at different points of the year,\u201d said Angela Pinsky, head of community engagement for Amazon New York. \u201cBack to school is a big one. Turkeys for Thanksgiving. The holiday toy drive. We wanted to do a larger-scale event around Mother\u2019s Day.\u201d<\/p>\n

Amazon donates items from facilities such as fulfillment centers to Win and other groups. \u201cThings that can\u2019t be sold, because packaging was damaged,\u201d Pinsky said. \u201cIf it\u2019s still good, but we can\u2019t sell it, we\u2019ll donate it locally where possible.\u201d<\/p>\n

Giving back<\/strong><\/p>\n

While Amazon made donations, other companies are helping around this holiday. StubHub on Thursday at a Brooklyn shelter is giving away tickets to a New York Liberty game in June. A very different event is in the works for a Coney Island shelter on May 14.<\/p>\n

\u201cPeople will be there to do nails, makeup. We\u2019ll have photographers to take pictures,\u201d Quinn said. \u201cOne of the things we pride ourselves on is creating events that are hopeful and joyous.\u201d<\/p>\n

Mothers said events are a big plus at family shelters that can improve life, providing something to look forward to as well as entertainment and assistance.
\n\"(L-R)<\/a>(L-R) Wendy Hewlett, chief of staff for Assemblymember Eddie Gibbs, and Win President and CEO Christine QuinnPhoto by Claude Solnik\n<\/p>\n

\u201cI like these events they do for kids and parents,\u201d said a single mom in shelters since August with children ages three and four. \u201cRecently, they did one for the Children\u2019s Museum. All the kids came downstairs. They gave them toys, played games.\u201d<\/p>\n

Volunteers such as Rudy Cazare, owner of Cazar Logistics, an Amazon delivery service provider, donate time. Representatives of Assemblymember Eddie Gibbs also attended.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe do a lot of community work,\u201d Cazare said. \u201cMy ops manager and I volunteered our time to support the cause.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

No home for the holidays<\/strong><\/p>\n

While homelessness is a crisis, there is a big crisis within a crisis when it comes to mothers and children in shelters. Homeless for the holidays is a fact for many thousands of New Yorkers.<\/p>\n

Win, the city\u2019s largest provider of shelter and permanent supportive housing for homeless families, houses 7,000 people a night, including a staggering half who are children and 70% families with children.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cFor families with children, it\u2019s eviction and the affordability crisis,\u201d Quinn added. \u201cThey\u2019re not able to find apartments they can afford or sustain the rent, and domestic violence.\u201d<\/p>\n

\"\"<\/a>Mothers were able to stock up on supplies for their babies. Photo by Claude Solnik<\/p>\n

More than 90% of homeless families in shelters are headed by single mothers and 80% of mothers in shelters have experienced domestic violence, she said. People are only allowed to stay in domestic violence shelters for 180 days, after which they can be transferred to other shelters.<\/p>\n

\u201cIt\u2019s overwhelming,\u201d said one mother who was a victim of domestic violence. \u201cI was comfortable at the first one, but I had to move for safety reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n

People on average stay about 11 months in Win shelters, where the average age of a child is five, and 8 percent live with a second parent.\n<\/p>\n

Each year, approximately 4,000 babies are born in New York City homeless shelters, and about 750 women become pregnant in shelters.\u00a0 In 2025, Win served 909 children under the age of 2, and 174 pregnant individuals entered a Win shelter.\u00a0<\/p>\n

Inflation\u00a0<\/strong><\/p>\n

Inflation has impacted mothers and families who have one or more children and often no significant other to help. A mother, age 28, with a five-month-old and a baby nearly two years old, who moved to a shelter after living with her father, said any help matters.<\/p>\n

\u201cLittle stuff,\u201d she said. \u201cIt\u2019s getting expensive, diapers and wipes.\u201d\n<\/p>\n

Brown said she was a tenant in a three-family Staten Island house for eight years, with help from housing vouchers, before finding herself in a shelter.\n<\/p>\n

\u201cUsually, I\u2019m the household that all the children come to,\u201d she said. \u201cMy children are well-behaved. I\u2019m usually cooking for everybody\u2019s children after church.\u201d<\/p>\n

A 28-year-old mother said she has simple plans for Mother\u2019s Day. \u201cNothing,\u201d she said. \u201cI\u2019m just going to sleep.\u201d
\n\"\"<\/a>Photo by Claude Solnik\n<\/p>\n

Brown doesn\u2019t simply look at herself as in a shelter, but \u201cI look at myself as safe.\u201d She plans to go to church and then a buffet on Mother\u2019s Day.\u00a0<\/p>\n

\u201cMother\u2019s Day is a happy day,\u201d said the mother of a three and four-year-old. \u201cI want to go to brunch. I hope I can get something together with my friends.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n

She recently finished training as a security guard and hopes to be hired. Brown recently finished a culinary training program for Hot Bread Kitchen, a nonprofit.<\/p>\n

\u201cI\u2019m looking forward to working in the culinary field,\u201d Brown said. \u201cThey partner with a few restaurants.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"Quadaisha Brown gave birth to a baby named Ronald about three weeks ago, but unlike most mothers, she…\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":778547,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":"","_share_on_mastodon":"0"},"categories":[5122],"tags":[5229,65345,303557,318854,405,403,5226,5225,5228,5227,4757,24672,318855,44532,67,586,132,5230,68,2969],"class_list":["post-778546","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-new-york","tag-america","tag-mothers","tag-mothers-day","tag-mothers-in-shelters","tag-new-york","tag-new-york-city","tag-newyork","tag-newyorkcity","tag-ny","tag-nyc","tag-parenting","tag-pm-newsletter","tag-shelter-parents","tag-supplies","tag-united-states","tag-united-states-of-america","tag-unitedstates","tag-unitedstatesofamerica","tag-us","tag-usa"],"share_on_mastodon":{"url":"https:\/\/pubeurope.com\/@us\/116530741806282739","error":""},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778546","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=778546"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/778546\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/778547"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=778546"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=778546"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.europesays.com\/us\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=778546"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}