(PHOTO: The HOPE team and its volunteers. Contributed.)
Giving Rye is a feature series highlighting non-profits and community groups in and around the City of Rye. Today meet Sylvia Hamer of HOPE Community Services.
Your Name: Sylvia B. Hamer
Name of your organization: HOPE Community Services, Inc.
Your role: Executive Director
MyRye.com: Tell us your organization’s mission
Hamer: At HOPE (Help Our People Eat) Community Services, our mission is to help bring comfort, compassion, and stability to neighbors facing hunger, homelessness, and hardship in New Rochelle and Southern Westchester. As a non-sectarian nonprofit, we provide food, help locate housing, offer essential support, and run programs that nurture and empower children—helping families rebuild their lives with dignity and hope. Every day, HOPE stands as a community lifeline—nourishing bodies, empowering futures, and reminding those in need that they are never alone.
How long have you operated in or around Rye?
Hamer: HOPE has operated in New Rochelle, and surrounding areas since 1984.
What programming or work is the organization best known for?
Hamer:
- Emergency Food Services: HOPE is best known for its emergency food programs, which expanded dramatically during the pandemic to meet unprecedented community need—and remain essential as demand continues at high levels.
- Comprehensive Community Support: Beyond food, HOPE provides housing assistance, afterschool programs, summer enrichment, child hunger initiatives, and a homeless day program, while hosting community-centered events that celebrate and uplift neighbors.
- Innovative, One-of-a-Kind Programs: HOPE is home to unique initiatives such as Westchester County’s only Kosher Pantry and Showers of HOPE, a mobile shower program offering individuals experiencing homelessness a safe, dignified way to meet basic hygiene needs.
- Serving Thousands: Each year, HOPE supports nearly 5,000 people, including 1,500 families, making the organization an indispensable lifeline for the community now more than ever.
Looking forward to 2026, what will be your top initiatives?
Hamer:
- A New Home for HOPE: HOPE is transforming its future with a renovation of our new facility—a space designed to better serve our community for decades to come. The project will feature an expanded self-select pantry, a welcoming community dining room, a fully equipped kitchen, a versatile conference room, outdoor greenspace, and a public lactation room, among many other enhancements. With a projected cost of $6 million, this capital campaign will create a state-of-the-art home that embodies our mission of dignity, compassion, and hope for every neighbor we serve.
- Expanded Self-Select Community Food Pantry: HOPE is building a supersized, fully accessible self-select food pantry designed to meet the evolving needs of our community. The new pantry will include a large walk-in freezer, ample storage, volunteer workspaces, and comfortable client areas—allowing families to choose their own foods with dignity and independence. By expanding our self-select model, we will increase food access, reduce waste, and offer every visitor a respectful, supermarket-style shopping experience that restores choice, control, and hope.
Tell us about the population you serve and how they can get involved with your programming and services.
Hamer: HOPE helps the most vulnerable populations with:
- Helping Our People Eat (HOPE)
- Locating and maintaining safe and affordable housing
- Providing ongoing case management that offers these individuals the opportunity to be heard and supported
- A Self-Sufficiency Program that helps low-income individuals find jobs while teaching them how to solve problems and access critical services
- Essential give outs such as backpacks, school supplies and books before the school year begins, Thanksgiving pantry items and turkeys in November, holiday toys in December, winter coats and accessories, essential as well as pampering items for moms on Mother’s Day, to name a few.
- Citizenship Classes
- Immigration Services
- Referral Services for social service providers
- City of New Rochelle Tenant-Based Rental Assistance for the Homeless, in partnership with the City of New Rochelle.
- Children’s programming
Are you a 501(c)(3) non-profit with tax exempt status?
Hamer: Yes
Looking back across 2025, what were your organization’s top achievements?
Hamer:
- As of mid-October 2025, HOPE distributed 14,986 bags of food or 434,594 meals through its food pantry; distributed 44,200 meals via the Kosher Program and served 100,000 meals in its soup kitchen.
- HOPE continued its investment in the well-being of the youth in the New Rochelle community by expanding programming that supports them. HOPE4KIDS offered a variety of programming designed around child wellness. These programs provided enrichment opportunities and services that kids and their families would not otherwise have. The goal of HOPE4KIDS is to influence and improve mental health, academics, socialization, self-esteem, and nutrition through a variety of programs.
How can local residents support your organization?
Hamer: You can make a real difference in the lives of neighbors struggling with hunger, homelessness, and hardship. Support HOPE through a financial donation—whether to our capital campaign, general operating fund, or a specific program—so we can continue providing vital services and expand our impact. Volunteers are the heartbeat of HOPE. Join us through weekly volunteer opportunities, helping directly in our food pantry, community kitchen, children’s programs, or community events. Opportunities are easy to explore and sign up for via our volunteer portal.
We also invite you to experience HOPE firsthand at our 2026 Annual Gala, where you can celebrate the year’s accomplishments, meet the people whose lives you’ve touched, and help drive our mission forward. Every contribution—of time, talent, or treasure—brings hope, dignity, and opportunity to the community.
What local Rye residents and area businesses have been the longest, steadiest supporters of your organization?
Hamer: Rye Residents Help Bring HOPE to Life
HOPE flourishes thanks to the generosity and dedication of Rye residents, whose support touches lives every day. Board members Brian Koh and Amanda Timchak help guide the organization’s mission with vision and care, while Natalie Auerbach created HOPE’s afterschool and summer enrichment programs, giving children a safe and inspiring place to grow. Amanda also helps collect essential baby items from local families, ensuring new parents can start with dignity. Rye volunteers bring joy and community to beloved events like the Mother’s Day celebration and Thanksgiving-themed breakfast, serving hundreds of HOPE clients with warmth, care, and a sense of belonging.
Local schools, including Rye Middle School and Midland Elementary School, educate students about food insecurity while collecting donations, and the Rye Library contributes books to our back-to-school program. Countless residents volunteer at give-out events, in our community kitchen, and pantry distributions.
HOPE is supported by elected officials such Congressman George Latimer, New York State Assemblyman Steve Otis, and Westchester County Legislator Catherine Parker. Together, Rye’s families, volunteers, and leaders are helping HOPE nourish bodies, restore dignity, and bring hope to thousands in our community.
Tell us about you:
How long have you been in your current role?
Hamer: I have been serving as Executive Director of HOPE since May 2023. Before stepping into this role, I spent over two years as director of programming and community engagement, where I led initiatives to expand services and strengthen community partnerships. My connection to HOPE began even earlier, as a volunteer for more than 18 months, which gave me firsthand experience with the organization’s mission and the communities we serve.
Is the role full time or part time? Paid or volunteer?
Hamer: This role is a paid full-time position
How would your friends and family describe you in one word?
Hamer: Determined
Where did you grow up?
Hamer: New Rochelle, NY
What principles guide you when you have to make a difficult decision?
Hamer: When facing difficult decisions, I am guided by compassion and the mission of HOPE, always considering how my choices will affect the people we serve. I balance empathy with thoughtful analysis, seeking solutions that are fair, responsible, and aligned with our values.
Can you share a time when failure taught you more than success ever could?
Hamer: Early in my role as director of programming, we launched a new initiative that didn’t reach the families we had hoped to serve. While it felt like a failure at the time, it taught me the value of adapting quickly, embracing creative solutions, and turning setbacks into stronger, more effective programs. That experience showed me that challenges often lead to greater impact than success ever could.
What excites you most about the future—for yourself or for the world?
Hamer: What excites me most about the future is the possibility of creating a world where everyone has access to basic needs, opportunity, and “HOPE.” I am energized by the chance to build programs and communities that lift people out of hardship, empower children to thrive, and strengthen the bonds that hold us together. On a personal level, I look forward to continuing to grow as a leader who can make a meaningful difference in the lives of those who need it most. Knowing that each small action can create lasting change fills me with hope and purpose.
Where do you live and how many years have you lived there?
Hamer: New Rochelle, NY
Thanks Sylvia!
Learn More:
