The address says 2450 Grand Concourse, but the public will find the entrance to the new, second location of the nonprofit, Part of the Solution (POTS), just a few steps from the eastside exit of the B and D subway station at Fordham Road on East 188th Street. The official opening was originally scheduled for June 8 but was rescheduled to June 29 following the issuance of an air quality advisory by health officials when the skies over NYC turned a deep orange due to residue from the Canadian wildfires.

The three-week delay did not dampen the spirits of POTS’ staff, however, who attended the event along with the nonprofit’s leadership team, and Assemblyman George Alvarez (A.D. 78), whose new constituency office, as reported, is located a few doors down from POT’s original location on Webster Avenue on the border of Bedford Park and Fordham Manor.

“I know that fighting food insecurity is not easy,” Alvarez said on the day, while paying tribute to the work of POTS’ staff. “Having an organization like POTS in the community and having individuals like you that fight to allow people to have food on the table is something that our community loves, and something that I really feel passionate about, and that’s why I’m here today.”

POTS describes itself as an organization offering “a mosaic of services which come together to create a pathway forward for all who seek help.” The services offered are indeed comprehensive. They range from addressing immediate needs, including a hot shower and access to medical and dental services, to food security, to more long-term needs like applying for public benefits and a legal clinic.

According to a recent POTS press release about the new location, the additional space at Grand Concourse will house POTS’ legal clinic, as well as the development, finance, and communications departments. As reported, POTS has been around since 1982, serving the Bronx community originally as a soup kitchen. Since then, it has continued to add other services to help people get back on their feet after economic or personal challenges. The organization celebrated its 40^th anniversary in 2022, as as reported.

The search for the second location started before the COVID-19 pandemic hit and according to POTS officials, it was later hampered by it. Ideally, they wanted a space that was within walking distance of their location at 2759 Webster Avenue, just north of East 197^th Street. Christina Hanson, executive director of POTS, spoke with Norwood News after the ribbon-cutting ceremony and explained how the final decision was made.

“We ultimately chose this location [on Grand Concourse] because it has its own entrance,” she said. “We couldn’t beat the location because it’s on top of the entrance to the B/D subway train, so that would expand the community that we could have access to in The Bronx. We wanted to be here for a while; we have a 15-year lease.”

The new location also has more space for computer and job training services, what Hanson describes as POTS’ “long-term stability program.” She said that the location on Webster “is 15,000 square feet and this one [on Grand Concourse] is 11,000.”

Josef Aguilar is associate director of long-term stability services at POTS. He has worked there for eight years, oversees the mentoring team, and supervises the case management team, among other duties. He gave Norwood News a tour of the new space and spoke enthusiastically about future training programs there. “Food security is something we’ve been doing for decades,” he said.  “POTS has been growing to really address the needs of an individual and their family in a holistic way.”

He continued, “But now, with this phase, we’re actually going to be able to have the [job] trainings [here]. Computer literacy, financial coaching… anything that is going to make them become more stable.” Aguilar added that the space will “allow us to expand our partnerships as well.”

The HOPE Program, an organization that specializes in job training, skills development, adult education, industry certifications and placement services, is partnering with POTS to provide another avenue to self-sufficiency. Ana Chapman is the chief program officer at The HOPE Program and sees a natural fit between the two organizations. “We serve the same population… and we do a very exhaustive intake process so that we can kind of glean, ‘Is this person job ready?’” she said.

Chapman continued, “If not, what can we do? Does this person need childcare?  Does this person have other needs that we need to meet? Here, POTS has all the bells and whistles that we consider so important to the students that we serve, so those that are here, are receiving not just the workforce development training, not just employment services, but they’re getting everything that POTS has to offer.”

With a background in family and singles’ shelters, Christina Guzman started working at POTS in April as a stability service manager. Still based at the Webster Avenue location, she will be spending some of her time at the new space when it starts offering vocational training. She spoke about the future of POTS in glowing terms. “This location represents the future for POTS,” Guzman said.  “It takes us from where we welcome the clients that may come in [at] the dignity and wellness level, because they’re homeless and they need a shower, to actually letting them secure food stability, and eventually transitioning them to secure vocational training and then employment.”

For more information on the services offered by POTS, residents can visit their website at https://potsbronx.org/english/ or call (718) 220-4892.

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Welcome to the Norwood News, a bi-weekly community newspaper that primarily serves the northwest Bronx communities of Norwood, Bedford Park, Fordham and University Heights. Through our Breaking Bronx blog, we focus on news and information for those neighborhoods, but aim to cover as much Bronx-related news as possible. Founded in 1988 by Mosholu Preservation Corporation, a not-for-profit affiliate of Montefiore Medical Center, the Norwood News began as a monthly and grew to a bi-weekly in 1994. In September 2003 the paper expanded to cover University Heights and now covers all the neighborhoods of Community District 7. The Norwood News exists to foster communication among citizens and organizations and to be a tool for neighborhood development efforts. The Norwood News runs the Bronx Youth Journalism Heard, a journalism training program for Bronx high school students. As you navigate this website, please let us know if you discover any glitches or if you have any suggestions. We’d love to hear from you. You can send e-mails to norwoodnews@norwoodnews.org or call us anytime (718) 324-4998.