Trinity's Services And Food for the Homeless

What Trinity's Services And Food for the Homeless does

Trinity's Services And Food for the Homeless (SAFH) is an independent 501(c)(3) non-profit organization founded in 1984 in New York City's East Village, operating from a single location at 602 E. 9th Street. The organization's primary mission is providing hunger relief to food-insecure individuals and families in NYC through two core programs: a daily walk-in soup kitchen serving to-go lunches Monday-Friday 11am-12pm, and an appointment-based food pantry providing three days of groceries (fresh produce, shelf-stable items) Monday-Friday 12:30pm-1:30pm. SAFH also operates a referral center connecting guests to social services across all five NYC boroughs (Medicaid/Medicare sign-ups, SNAP screenings, legal aid, HIV/AIDS testing, flu shots, winter coat distribution), a College Student Pantry serving NYC college and graduate students twice monthly, and a Youth Hostel accommodating service-trip groups at $30 per person per night. All core food services are provided free of charge with no registration, documentation, or eligibility requirements, and the organization maintains an explicit non-discrimination policy.

SAFH has no proprietary technology; operations rely on standard non-profit infrastructure including the third-party Plentiful platform for appointment scheduling (SMS and mobile app), Network for Good and PayPal for donation processing, and a multilingual website (English, Spanish, Chinese). The organization participates in the federal TEFAP (The Emergency Food Assistance Program) and is programmatically affiliated with Trinity Lower East Side Lutheran Parish while remaining separately incorporated with its own board of directors. Staff consists of an Executive Director (Alex Lawrence, since 2014), a Kitchen Director (Dolores Rodriguez, 14+ years), an Inventory Specialist (William Rosa), and one additional staff member — a lean team supporting ~200,000 meals served annually.

The revenue model is entirely donation-based: individual contributions, corporate and foundation grants, Donor Advised Fund gifts, and hostel donations. No fee-for-service or commercial revenue exists. Marketing is community-led via word-of-mouth, referrals through the parish network, and limited social media presence (primarily for the College Student Pantry sub-program). Governance is provided by a four-person Board of Directors (Simon Burce, Chris Homburger, William Kroeze, Will Horowitz).

Name

Trinity's Services And Food for the Homeless

Legal name

Trinity's Services And Food for the Homeless

Website

http://safhnyc.org

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Trinity's Services And Food for the Homeless (SAFH) is a 501(c)(3) non-profit founded in 1984 in NYC's East Village, operating a daily soup kitchen, food pantry, referral center, college student pantry, and youth hostel serving approximately 200,000 meals annually to food-insecure individuals free of charge.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Supply Chain, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: Tax-deductible donations from individuals supporting daily operations of soup kitchen and food pantry serving approximately 200,000 meals annually.
2. Corporate and Foundation Grants: Corporate donations and organizational grants; organization holds 501(c)3 status with Federal Tax ID 13-3401340.
3. Donor Advised Fund (DAF) Gifts: Accepts gifts through Donor Advised Funds for planned charitable giving.
4. Youth Hostel Per-Person Nightly Donation: Requests $30 per person per night donation from youth groups staying at the hostel to cover operational costs.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

SAFH operates a daily soup kitchen providing to-go hot lunches (Monday-Friday 11am-12pm) and a client-choice food pantry distributing pre-packed groceries containing fresh produce and shelf-stable items sufficient for three days (Monday-Friday 12:30pm-1:30pm), serving approximately 200,000 meals annually to anyone in need without registration, documentation, or discrimination requirements.

Product overview

Trinity's Services And Food for the Homeless (SAFH) is a non-profit organization providing food security services in New York City's East Village. The core offerings consist of a Soup Kitchen serving daily to-go lunches and a Food Pantry providing monthly grocery bags, supported by a Referral Center connecting guests to social services. Additional programs include a Youth Hostel for service trip groups and a dedicated College Student Pantry for NYC students. All services operate Monday through Friday with no eligibility requirements or discrimination.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Brands

• College Student Pantry: A food pantry program for college and graduate students in NYC. Open 1st and 3rd Wednesdays of each month 4:00-7:00pm.

Products and services

• Soup Kitchen Daily to-go hot lunch service open Monday through Friday from 11am-12pm to anyone in need, serving over 1,000 meals per week. No registration, requirements, documentation, or discrimination of any kind. Currently operating in take-out mode.
• Food Pantry Client-choice food pantry open Monday through Friday from 12:30pm-1:30pm, providing pre-packed groceries containing fresh fruits, vegetables, and shelf-stable items sufficient for three days. Visits limited to once per calendar month, with appointments scheduled via the Plentiful app or SMS.
• Referral Center

Quantifiable outcome

• 200,000 meals served annually
• +2 more outcomes

Named customers3 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration3 records

Partnerships

Four partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• PlentifulcoreTechnology or IntegrationPartnership with Plentiful to provide appointment scheduling for food pantry guests. Appointments can be made via text message (text SAFH to 726-879) or mobile app (available for Android and iPhone). This enables efficient guest management and reduces wait times.
• Trinity Lower East Side Lutheran ParishcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerProgrammatically connected organization sharing mission alignment. SAFH is separately incorporated with its own board and finances but maintains close programmatic ties. Provides pastoral contact (Pr. Will) for youth hostel inquiries.
• Network for GoodminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorOnline donation platform used for processing charitable contributions. SAFH Federal Tax ID 13-3401340 linked for tax-exempt donations. Previously used for recurring payment management.
• TEFAP (The Emergency Food Assistance Program)coreOthersFederal emergency food assistance program. SAFH distributes food purchased with TEFAP funds. Recipients must certify TEFAP eligibility requirements.

Scale indicators4 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Broad incumbents

• Food Bank for New York City: The largest hunger-relief organization in NYC, distributing food through a network of pantries and soup kitchens including community-based operators like SAFH. Directly comparable mission and beneficiary base, though at significantly larger scale.
• City Harvest: NYC's largest food rescue organization, sourcing surplus food and distributing to pantries and soup kitchens. Operates in the same hunger-relief category as SAFH with overlapping food-distribution supply chain relationships.
• Feeding America: National hunger-relief umbrella organization supporting a network of food banks that supply local pantries like SAFH. Not a direct competitor but a comparable hunger-relief organization and potential upstream supply-chain partner.

Direct peers

• Holy Apostles Soup Kitchen: Operates one of NYC's largest emergency soup kitchens in Chelsea, serving hundreds of thousands of meals annually to food-insecure New Yorkers. Closest direct comparable to SAFH in service model, target population, and operating scale.
• Bowery Mission: NYC faith-based nonprofit serving homeless and hungry individuals in the East Village / Lower East Side area. Overlapping geographic catchment and similar soup-kitchen-plus-shelter service model to SAFH.
• Coalition for the Homeless: NYC advocacy and direct-service organization for homeless individuals, including food programs. Comparable beneficiary base and service-delivery approach, though with stronger policy-advocacy angle.
• Project Renewal: NYC nonprofit providing food, shelter, and social services to homeless and low-income individuals. Comparable wraparound service model (meals plus referrals to Medicaid, housing, etc.) directly parallel to SAFH's referral center.
• NYC Rescue Mission: Faith-based NYC organization serving homeless individuals with meals, shelter, and recovery programs. Directly comparable service mix and beneficiary population to SAFH's soup kitchen operations.
• CAMBA: Brooklyn-based social services nonprofit offering food assistance, housing, and family support. Comparable multi-service community model serving low-income and homeless New Yorkers.

Others

• Catholic Charities of New York:

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/collegestudentpantry
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/trinity-s-services-and-food-for-the-homeless

Compliance2 records

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles8 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Trinity's Services And Food for the Homeless