The Bowery Mission - Flagship Campus NY 10002

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Just because you are the best of the worse, that doesnt make you good. That what the Bowery makes me think. So here are some warnings for anyone thinking about receiving their services: 1. Be extremely careful with any food that you eat there, especially with anything that is bread based or made at a bakery.(Expired Bread, Hard As Rocks Stale Bagels, old pastries are constant). The amount of times that I have seen people getting stomach problems after eating there is huge. Try to get whatever has been actually cooked. They know about these but they dont care. 2. If you are staying at the Lafayette Campus, DO NOT. drink water from the Water Fountain. That entire area near the court district has been designated as Legionares Disease spot. The water is not filtered. LD is a super serious thing around there. Drinking fountain water is banned at many of those buildings but not at the good old Bowery. Gastroenteritis is not cool. 3. If you decide to get enrolled in a program they will play little tricks such as putting you through a bio-psycho-social interview where they will ask you personal questions with the goal of connecting you with some of your traumas to dismantle your ego and present themselves as your route to salvation. After that they will play the good guy salvation poetry and offer you either a long term program full of curfew and restrictions or a short term program (if you have a job) that will require that you agree to some sort of financial restrictions of your salary in order to put your money in some sort of savings account. You will find about manynof the restrictions once you have already wasted a lot of your time. This is done tactically because they know that if they explain the restrictions beforehand you will not even start the process. 4. Do not fall for their "Jesus Poetry". Shelters can be a productive business and adding a religious component works in favor of their institutional goals and their IRS status. There is a "Chapel Service" when you stay overnight there that although in sync with their Jesus Poetry, it will give you the opportunity to decrease the amoun of in-floor time in the Congregated Floors. Less time in those rooms means less potential altercations with other people that staying in a room designed for 36 people where they put up to 60 people. That being said there are many legit churches nearby that you can visit that have interesting programs. Do your research. Presbyterian churches tend to be honorable and some Catholic Churches have programs that follow a more cohrerent moral standard outside of a corporate mentality.f you practice religions such as Islam or Hinduism or any variation of Budhism, there are temples nearby too. 5. Remember that it is a low barrier shelter. There will be pool of people with different backgrounds, some of them will be bad (in some cases you may encounter extrmely evil people) but there are also good people going throug a rough time. Choose your interactions wisely. 6. The frontline staff are not your enemies. They are usually good people with their own set of circumstances trying to make a living. They have a lot of knowledge. Ironically, some of the security guards have more tactical knowledge about services and strategies to survive than the social workers. I hope this helps someone.

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Lucía Soto

I volunteered for a breakfast shift as i was visiting new york and it was a really nice experience, signing up was easy and they explained everything at arrival. Other volunteers were really nice and there was security in case there was any trouble (there was not). It was an easy way to contribute to this community.

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Roberto Pereyra

Best place for free food due to being surrounded quality area.