These NYers Have Given 28K Life-Supporting Backpacks To Homeless

NEW YORK CITY — It's hard to miss them. Backpacks of every color sit in a massive pile in a rented U-Haul van, stuffed with individually packed Ziplocs containing socks, hygiene and first aid kits, water, toothpaste, sunblock, pens and paper, beef jerky, nutrition bars and tuna.

A business card tucked inside every front pocket reads: "Backpacks for the Street: Bringing Dignity and Compassion to the Homeless."

By now the vehicle, its driver Jeffrey Newman and the volunteers who distribute backpacks for Newman and his husband and business partner, Jayson Conner, are well known sights for those they serve: people who are experiencing homelessness and poverty on the streets of New York City.

Backpacks for the Street is a program set up by their nonprofit group, Together Helping Others.

"It was just something organic," said Newman, 53. "We had been helping the homeless for 10 years and we were getting more and more involved."

"You know that commercial on TV, like Sarah McLachlan singing about the dog?," said Conner, 44. "I was like, 'Can you imagine what would happen if people donate $19 a month for a homeless person?' Don't get me wrong. I want to see animals getting help. But why can't we do that for people in the streets?"

Now three-and-a-half years old, Backpacks for the Street has provided an invaluable service for people experiencing homelessness. Patch caught up with the founders, volunteers and several individuals experiencing homelessness in New York City to share their stories.

"It's not far from Park Avenue to park bench"

Navy veteran Edward Martinez, 36, tries to not miss a day where Backpacks on the Street is handing out supplies. Martinez, born in New York City, served seven years in the Navy. A travesty struck several years ago, causing an unforgiving domino effect on his life.

"I was never homeless," said Martinez. "And I always worked. I was never rich, but I was all right. But I got hit by a drunk driver in 2016. I didn't get no help."

For the past 13 months, Martinez said he's been slowly getting back on his feet after the incident, with a surgery scheduled for this month.

While the towels, soap and clothes he receives from Backpacks for the Streets provide relief, what Martinez said he truly needs is "an apartment and employment for somebody with one eye, one ear and a broken back."

He's been working towards that dream by applying for jobs at delis and thinks maybe he could one day get back his former job working for UPS.

"I'm trying to fix my teeth up. I try to stay clean. I have an email now. I have an ID. So I try to apply for places to work," said Martinez, who had been hauling around a torn backpack until he got his replacement on a recent Sunday afternoon.

During that Sunday, around 170 backpacks were distributed near Chinatown. Many who made their ways to the U-Haul driven by Newman are individuals both Newman and Conner are familiar with — they've seen them over many months.

"The idea is not to give it out as fast as we can," said Newman. "But to give it to the right people."

Another person who made their way to the U-Haul that day was Amanda Camia. Originally from Staten Island, 31-year-old Camia has been living on the streets off and on for roughly eight years— two of those in Florida and the rest in New York City. Her story on the streets, like many others experiencing homelessness, started with the death of a family member followed by a downward spiral.

When Camia's father died, she was utterly devastated.

"I lost it; I signed myself into the psych ward for two months and I wasn't paying my rent," said Camia. "I lost my business. Well, I sold half of it. And the half that I had left, I lost. I just never picked myself back up out of the hole that I dug myself. So for eight years, I'm still in the hole."

She's been battling drug addiction for a while now. But she's desperately seeking help.

"I want to go to rehab," said Camia. "But the problem is my backpack was stolen about two months ago and everything was in it—my social [security card], my birth certificate. So right now, I have nothing."

Camia said a woman recently approached her at Washington Square Park about the New Haven Shelter and how to apply. It was described as a different type of shelter than what Camia is used to experiencing.

"There's no curfew. You could stay out until three days. You have your own room, you share a bathroom with the floor that you're on. A lot cleaner, different kinds of people are in there, meaning not a lot of drug addicts are in there," Camia said she was told.

"You're allowed a counselor. They send you to job appointments if you need to. So you have somebody that's in your corner, that's going to help you because sometimes I get lazy and I don't follow through, so you have somebody on your back. Sometimes I need that. And with somebody drug testing me, I know if I really liked the place, I know that I'll try my best to stay clean."

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Volunteer Stephen Lee, originally from Australia, has lived in New York City for 20 years. A resident of west Manhattan and longtime soup kitchen volunteer, Lee is well acquainted with people living on the streets.

"When COVID came out, I was out on the streets and it was just the homeless people," said Lee. "I'll walk around town with my dog and they all recognize my dog. So everyone comes up and says hello. It's been nice to sort of keep my finger on the pulse and see what's going on, especially in this area."

For decades, the homeless population has taken refuge in subway and underground rail tunnels on the west side of Manhattan near Penn Station, the area now partly taken over by Hudson Yards, The Guardian reported in 2019.

Lee, who works in the recovery field, pointed to the potential that rehabilitation, needle exchange programs and community service could have on people on the streets. He noted how other initiatives just aren't cutting it.

"You can't just put a population into a hotel and expect that they're gone," said Lee. "It's basically about rehabilitation, for sure. There's so many different programs within that. There could be so many health services that aren't utilized. I think the police just sort of wipe it aside without using their tools."

Recently, Patch reported on a protest organized to provide housing for many such individuals experiencing homelessness in Hudson Yards. Demonstrators carried slogans stating, "House the Homeless, Not Millionaires."

Many, like Lee, who work around people experiencing homelessness know how quickly people's situations can change, especially with public health and economic crises brought on by COVID.

"I'm a big believer in 'It's not far from Park Avenue to park bench,'" said Lee.

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It wasn't Joe Antonetti's first time working around people who are unhoused, but it is in New York City. A Seattle arrival who moved during the pandemic, Antonetti noticed Backpacks for the Street continuing to provide service as other businesses were closed. He volunteered to help in February – and has seen homelessness get worse since.

"It's weird; there's a lot of infrastructure," said Antonetti. "But the problem is so much worse that it just kinda ends up being a weird mess."

As Newman made his rounds at a nearby park on Delancey and Forsyth Streets that day, a man pointed to Newman and told his pal, “That’s the guy right there, that’s the guy. You always do good for me, man.”

Before leaving for his next location, he promised a man he'd bring size 9.5 shoes for him. After he bade farewell to his volunteers, Newman jetted off in his U-Haul to distribute some more backpacks.

Catching Up With The Guys That 'Do Good'

Before there was Backpacks for the Street, there was Newman and Conner’s nonprofit, Together Helping Others, which they launched in January 2018 before incorporating in May. Backpacks for the Street was a program started in March 2018 and, since then, they've distributed more than 28,000 backpacks—averaging around 300 backpacks a week—at the cost of roughly $30 a backpack.

More than 21,000 of them have been handed out since COVID first arrived in the city.

"You can get an idea of what I've had to raise in the 15 months since COVID," said Newman.

Together Helping Others was born out of a late night conversation between the pair just after Newman turned 50.

"We just felt like we weren't doing enough to make a difference that would be here long after we were both gone from this world," said Newman.

Newman and Conner met through an acquaintance just after Conner arrived to New York City in 2003. "He was an aloof party kid, who I came to learn was homeless," said Newman.

Newman, a former senior editor for ABC News and Out Magazine who launched the magazine's website, had set his sights on climbing the corporate ladder.

“I wanted to make money and be a rising star of the world," said Newman. "Then 9/11 happened, and my priorities changed."

Conner had Newman's back as a friend, which unexpectedly took a romantic turn after Newman’s partner died unexpectedly in October 2004 and exactly one week later, Newman landed in the ER, near-death.

"The doctors actually gave me about 12 hours to live and had my parents fly in," said Newman. "I asked Jayson to take care of my dog and cats while I was in the hospital. And when I came home three weeks later from the hospital, Jayson had moved himself in.

"What I said to him at the time was, 'I don’t need you to work. I don’t need you to worry about rent. What I want you to do is figure out who you are and what your passion is and what it is you want to do with your life. I want to see you off the street and on your feet.”

While it seemed a risk, the two soon started their nonprofit—to serve people experiencing homelessness and poverty—as business partners.

"I quit everything so I could devote 60 hours a week to doing it," said Newman. "The one caveat I had was that I would do this, but not take any salary for the first 18 months to two years. So Jayson picked up extra shifts at work and we used our savings to pay the rent and keep food on the table to make this dream a reality."

With some further donations from friends, Backpacks for the Street launched with 75 backpacks. These days, funding comes in the form of corporate support from companies like Columbia Property Trust, as well as grants from philanthropy groups like Broadway Cares/Equity Fights AIDS and TJX Foundation.

While Patch previously reported that fewer New Yorkers live on the streets, in parks and along the subways compared to last January, the numbers remain high.

The Bowery Mission, a Christian rescue group known for its soup kitchen and men's shelter, reported that nearly one in every 106 New Yorkers is unhoused—nearly 80,000 individuals including children.

53,199 New Yorkers slept in shelters in the month of April, according to Coalition for the Homeless, a nonprofit advocacy group based in New York that's been tracking these numbers since 1983—save for a few gaps in data here and there.

"Now with the shelter hotel program ending, and more and more people feeling unsafe in shelters, I think we are going on see a significant increase in unsheltered New Yorkers," said Newman.

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Let's Talk Logistics

Pre-COVID, Backpacks for the Street spent time distributing around East Flatbush, Columbus Circle and Grand Central Station. But the pandemic changed everything, causing many of the people they used to distribute to scatter without a trace.

"We went and got a van and our world changed," said Newman. "Suddenly we went from staying within a confined area to operating throughout all the boroughs. Some days it’s four boroughs at one time. We would go from the Bronx down to lower Manhattan over to Brooklyn and into Queens."

Newman said the Lower East Side also continues to experience great need. There, the group assists around 200 people. The group has continued to distribute around East 125th in Harlem, the Bronx and at Penn Station, particularly at night or in challenging weather.

"We try to incorporate early morning runs because it’s the way to get the folks who take shelter in subways, alcoves and under office building awnings before they have to move at 4 or 5 a.m. to avoid the workers," said Newman. "Early hours are also the times you can find some of the homeless youth that tend to be less visible during the day."

Backpacks for the Street typically goes on six to nine outings a week. There are days during the winter that they are out almost every night giving out hot food and winter apparel.

Behind the scenes is a well-oiled machine run by volunteers.

Newman and Conner organize volunteers to prepare backpacks in the hallway of a storage unit complex in Jamaica, Queens. The goal is to prep 300 backpacks a week.

“We’re kinda like VIPs at Dollar Tree," said Conner, who oversees the prep and coordinates massive purchases from local stores every week.

When the pandemic settled in New York City, Conner said he couldn't stomach all of the devastating news. He retreated to the group's storage sheds and packaged up to 100 backpacks by himself for six months, "like an ostrich with my head in the sand for 12 hours," Conner said.

When volunteers were able to safely return within health guidelines, Conner, who also works at Sarabeth's restaurant in the Upper West Side, was grateful to finally let his sore body rest.

On a recent Wednesday afternoon, roughly ten volunteers assembled in a corner section of a U-Haul building in the Jamaica neighborhood of Queens. The conversation was light, as people familiarized with one another while stuffing backpacks with basic necessities.

When volunteer Joshua Davis was furloughed, he found more time to commit to a cause that personally impacted him in the past.

"For seven years of my life, I was homeless," said Davis. "I'd just bounce around houses experiencing homelessness. This is something that I would have wanted growing up."

Davis, who graduated Dartmouth College in 2018 and plans to return home to Los Angeles to pursue a law degree, wants people to know that people experiencing homelessness are having a hard time, but at one point, may have been just as successful as the next person.

The past 10 months Davis has spent prepping and distributing backpacks has sparked an idea.

"I haven't told Jeffrey or Jayson this, but I would love to take this concept wherever I go and help them branch out," said Davis. "They just inspire me to do that so maybe like a 'Backpacks for LA.'"

Former investment banker Todd Weatherford, a volunteer with Backpacks for the Street for almost two years, no longer believes the stereotypes about people experiencing homelessness.

"I'm unemployed right now," said Weatherford. "We're all just that far from being on the streets, especially in this setting.

"In the past, I used to walk by people on the street, homeless, and just kind of turn away and [Newman and Conner] told me how that really hurts them. So now I try to say hello and do things like that."

As part of the program, Conner, who intimately understands homelessness because of his past struggles with it, tells volunteers to never use the word "homeless" because of the feelings he used to get when Conner was experiencing homelessness himself.

"It's such a charged word," agreed Newman.

"We say 'people who live on the street' because Jayson used to live on the street and he always felt painful when someone called him [homeless]," said volunteer Kris Kashtanova, who started volunteering a little over a year ago when they made face masks to distribute to people on the streets.

"I wished I could help homeless people, but I couldn't approach them; I didn't know what to say," said Kashtanova. When I started volunteering, Jeffrey and Jayson taught me how to approach. So I learned a lot of social skills."

Volunteer and Hells Kitchen resident Richard Cramer has become familiar with certain characters experiencing homelessness in his neighborhood, like a musician who lived in a stairwell.

"There's a guy in Hell's Kitchen who had an amp and he would play an electric guitar," said Cramer.

"...He lived in a stairwell to a building and I always knew he was there. Then in those days that he's not there, the question is where is he? What happened?"

The Hells Kitchen neighborhood, where Cramer has lived for 15 years, has been accommodating shelters for thousands of people experiencing homelessness.

"It's mental health, period," said Cramer. "The people who are on the streets, by and large, have a health issue that is untreated."

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"Just One Part A Bigger Plan"

Backpacks are just one part of a bigger plan to help reintegrate people experiencing homelessness into society, said the group.

"We need to make programs that are effective and accessible," said Newman. "There is a percentage of people experiencing homelessness that need to have mental health care and will certainly benefit from recovery programs for substances."

"Our goal is to make a system where we can go sit down with a person and put their information in," added Conner. "It brings up everything we can get for them. That's our system we're trying to create. And that's what we want to leave after we're gone."

Backpacks for the Street would also like to eventually coordinate haircuts and showers for people on the streets, but pointed to "red tape and a lot of money" needed as barriers, so itmight take awhile before those goals become a reality.

In the meantime, many people experiencing homelessness are looking for help in receiving their stimulus checks, finding housing and applying for jobs, which Newman and Conner have been answering calls about.

"We need to really get this issue out there and humanize them," said Newman. "I truly believe that when we give someone who is unsheltered the tools and opportunity, and you mentor them and show them that someone believes in them, it can change their life."

Share any updates, corrections and ideas with the reporter at sarahbelle.lin@patch.com

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