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Jersey City HHS seeks OK to continue summer food program and provide Hoboken site under grant
Summary
The Health & Human Services Food & Nutrition division asked council to renew memoranda of understanding with local congregate meal sites and to authorize a summer food site arrangement with the Hoboken Boys & Girls Club, financed via state-administered USDA grant funding; staff said the Hoboken site has been part of prior awards and would not require additional municipal funds.
The city’s Health and Human Services Food & Nutrition office presented four agreements March 23 to renew congregate senior meal sites and to expand summer food service coverage.
Director Cohen told council the agreements are renewals of longstanding MOUs that set expectations for site operations, staffing, meal minimums and food‑safety compliance. One MOU covers a Paco site for congregate senior meals; another mirrors the same terms with Grace Church. Cohen said the memoranda were written to clarify responsibilities on both sides and to ensure compliance with grant rules.
Cohen also described a separate MOU with the Hoboken Boys & Girls Club that would add a Hoboken site to Jersey City’s summer food service program. He said that arrangement has been in place for the last three years, that the site expansion is included in the city’s initial grant award calculation, and that there is no additional cost to Jersey City because the site is covered by the USDA‑funded grant as administered by the state. Council members asked whether adding a Hoboken site would affect Jersey City’s competitive standing for transitional aid or other programs; Cohen said the state reviews the entire application and approves the applicant’s planned sites.
Councilmembers asked for practical details — how many children were served at the Hoboken site last year (Cohen estimated about 50), whether other senior buildings could request service (Grandview Apartments was raised), and which state agency is the ultimate grant funder (USDA through the state). Cohen said the grant cycles run on an October 1–September 30 schedule and the program is typically amended in late August to reconcile site counts.
Next steps: council will take up the MOUs in its public meeting packet; HHS offered to provide updated site lists and ridership/participation numbers on request.
