Community in Action: Plainfield Nonprofit Fights Hunger as Holiday Need Surges
Iris House loses federal HIV-prevention funding while demand at food pantry grows ahead of Thanksgiving
Families line up outside Iris House in Plainfield ahead of the monthly food market and holiday turkey giveaway. (The Central Jerseyan)
November 23, 2025
The Fresh Food Market is held on the third Thursday of every month at Iris House in Plainfield. This one was expected to be busier because of the holiday turkey-and-chicken giveaway. Sure enough, the line stretched down the block from the old white mansion on West 8th Street well before the market opened. Families waited with strollers and rolling carts, bundled against the autumn chill.
Volunteers hustled in and out of a large garage, readying donations. There were pallets of frozen turkeys and chickens, onions, yams, cans of cranberry sauce, boxed stuffing, and more destined for Thanksgiving tables. This year, however, organizers said they didn’t have as much to hand out as they had hoped.
Iris House is fighting on multiple fronts. The organization, which focuses primarily on HIV awareness and prevention, lost its federal funding in September. Adding insult to injury, high food prices are limiting how much they can provide to a community with growing needs. The result is a nonprofit stretched to its limits, fighting hunger and a public-health setback at the same time.
A few spots back in the line outside the food market stood Alicia, an immigrant mother who comes to the Iris House market every month. Organizers say 90 percent of the people who attend the Fresh Food Market are Spanish speaking immigrants.
Alicia said many people in the immigrant community are too afraid to leave their homes due to the ongoing immigration raids in New Jersey and across the country. The food market is one of the few places they still feel safe, said staff member Brenda Flores.
“For women, for family, for individuals, this is a place where they can knock on the door and we’ll be there for them,” said Flores, who has been working at Iris House for nine years.
The food line, she said, reflects a community that is “in between,” trying to work but also afraid to risk it.
Alicia said her family’s income has dropped sharply this fall, with less work available for her and her husband in the autumn and winter. Her daughter’s factory job has also reduced hours.
“She gets called sometimes, and other times not at all,” Alicia said.
For her family, the monthly bag of onions, yams, and apples from Iris House isn’t extra. It’s the difference between having fruits and vegetables on the table or going without.
Inside the distribution area, Flores stood in her navy blue Iris House hoodie, answering questions from families and handing out tickets. Larger families got red tickets for turkey, and smaller families got yellow tickets for chicken.
Brenda Flores stands outside the Iris House building in Plainfield during the monthly Fresh Food Market. Flores is in her tenth year at the nonprofit. (The Central Jerseyan)
Volunteers prepare vegetables and canned food for families during the Fresh Food Market in Plainfield. (The Central Jerseyan)
Some families told Flores they didn’t receive a turkey or a chicken, and she returned to the food area with them to act as a translator and sort out what was missing.
In addition to families and immigrants, Iris House serves seniors like Sharon Taylor, who relies on the pantry to stretch her fixed income.
Taylor said she receives $1,100 a month in Social Security, but her rent is $1,600.
“I put a thousand to my rent, a hundred to my bus card, and after that, I’m broke,” she said.
She said she’s grateful for her Social Security but is frustrated with the high cost of living.
“Economically, to live today in this country, I don’t care if you’re black, rich, poor, whatever, it’s crazy. The rent is too high,” she said.
For her, Iris House has become one of several places she relies on for help, as supplies dwindle at each location.
“I didn’t expect my life to turn out this way, but it is what it is.”
While volunteers worked the food tables, Executive Director Ingrid Floyd moved between stations in a bright orange hoodie that reads, “Keeping It 100, Tested & Safe.” Iris House’s main focus is on HIV prevention and testing.
Iris House Executive Director Ingrid Floyd stands outside the organization’s mobile testing van during the monthly food market in Plainfield. (The Central Jerseyan)
Boxes of frozen turkeys and chickens await distribution at Iris House’s Thanksgiving Fresh Food Market in Plainfield. (The Central Jerseyan)
Floyd said the fresh food market not only feeds the community, it gives residents a chance to connect with the group’s other services.
Iris House expected a bigger turnout at the food market this month for the Thanksgiving giveaway, but rising food prices have made it harder to stretch their purchasing budget.
“Turkeys are a lot more expensive than they’ve been in the past,” Floyd said. “We know the need is still there.”
But the strain at the food market is only part of the challenge. Iris House lost its federal funding on September 1, eliminating the grant that supported its HIV-prevention and youth education programs at local schools. Floyd said the cut came without warning and was tied to a shift in priorities in Washington.
“Now, the funding we had for our youth-based programs is gone,” she said, “and that’s really where there is a true need because there are so many youth in the community where we see high rates of sexually transmitted infections.”
The loss has forced the organization to scale back programming in Plainfield, which Floyd said faces some of the state’s highest HIV rates. She said Iris House has continued meeting with local schools and is offering lessons and workshops “in kind,” meaning staff are volunteering their own time to keep the programs alive.
“The important thing is for people to continue to be aware of their HIV status because people think HIV has gone away,” she said.
As the last families reached the front of the food line, volunteers were crossing more items off the whiteboard. Floyd said the team would stay put until every remaining bag and box was gone.
It’s the same approach they’ve taken with their HIV-prevention work: scaling back where they must, filling gaps with donated hours, and holding firm to the programs Plainfield relies on.
For Iris House, the growing food lines and the loss of federal funding aren’t separate crises. They’re a single strain running through a community that needs more help than ever. As Floyd put it, the mission doesn’t stop just because the money does. The staff will show up again on December 1 for World AIDS Day, and again at next month’s food market, trying to meet rising need with whatever resources they can pull together.
Iris House needs volunteers to help meet the needs created by the loss of federal funding. Those interested in helping you should fill out this form and email it to Bridgette Davis at [email protected]. Donors can find more information on the organization’s website.