September 6, 2009, The New York Times — There are a few things about Richard R. Buery Jr. that made him a novel choice to lead the Children’s Aid Society. He is 37, almost 30 years younger than the man he will replace. He is the first black person to run Children’s Aid. And he has spent much of his professional life building organizations from scratch, not taking over established ones with venerable, 150-year-old reputations.
Julie Bosman
Until November, Lisa Traina had a classic New York glamour job: organizing private parties in the Art Deco opulence of the Rainbow Room. Now she spends 10-hour shifts walking down gritty sidewalks trying to persuade homeless people to go to the Bowery Mission for food and shelter.
Once a crutch for the most needy, food pantries have responded to the deepening recession by opening their doors to what Rosemary Gilmartin, who runs the Interfaith Food Pantry here, described as “the next layer of people” — a rapidly expanding roster of child-care workers, nurse’s aides, real estate agents and secretaries facing a financial crisis for the first time.
