When New Yorkers in central Queens need help keeping food on the table, the Pomonok Houses Residents Association steps in.

“What we’re hoping to do is save people a little bit more money in their pockets by bringing fresh fruits and vegetables so that they can take that money and they can spend it elsewhere,” Residents Association president Tamika Williams-Moore said.

What You Need To Know

  • Tamika Williams-Moore's team feeds 200 people each week

  • They run a food distribution at the Pomonok Houses

  • Williams-Moore has also locked down a number of investments for upgrades to her NYCHA complex

Williams-Moore started volunteering sporadically with her mother when she moved to the Pomonok Houses as a teenager.

“My mom always had a sense of community inside of her,” Williams-Moore said. “And she always did things in the community, helped people.”

Williams-Moore began arranging food distributions during the fall of 2020.

“People had gotten laid off their jobs,” she said. “People were forced to take COVID vaccines, which they didn’t want to do, which ultimately took away their employment. And so they had problems feeding their families.”

That giveaway lasted into the following year. Her team resumed the distributions earlier this spring.

“These things are becoming increasingly expensive. And the amount of funding that people have to buy these things is not increasing,” Tameek Williams, Williams-Moore’s son, said. He oversees the giveaways and delivers the food to other communities in the borough.

Williams-Moore’s mom, who got her into volunteering all those years ago, pitches in too.

“Tamika makes me feel proud of her because she cares a lot about people. She sticks to the gun,” Linda McDonald said. “She helps anyone who’s in need.”

When Williams-Moore isn’t feeding her neighbors, she advocates for improvements in her neighborhood. She’s secured money for the renovation of the Pomonok Houses’ barbecue area, basketball courts and more.

“It actually says that people care and people are invested in the community,” Williams-Moore said.

The work reflects Williams-Moore’s compassion and drive for her neighborhood. 

“We’re just trying to spread the love across the Queens spectrum,” she said.

For nourishing her community, Tamika Williams-Moore is our New Yorker of the Week.