“If people are showing up, we’re feeding them…everybody deserves to eat well and there’s no exceptions.” -Galyn Murphy-Stanley
Meet ICC Executive Director, Galyn Murphy-Stanley!
Galyn, a Syracuse native, born and raised in the Wescott Nation area, is the proud Executive Director of the Interfaith Community Collective (ICC), a community and emergency services space where they aim to see every Central New Yorker warm, fed, safe, and thriving. Raised in a large family that was highly engaged in social justice, advocacy, education, and food systems work, she now continues to live out her passions through several community programs and initiatives. At an early age, she was marked by the inequities in food access and hunger she witnessed her peers experience as a student in the Syracuse City School District. Today, as a wife, mother, educator, and community leader, her infectious zeal and care for others continues to drive her to address inequities through collaboration with community members, colleagues, and family, to mitigate access barriers, remove stigma, and transform the way people think about poverty, food insecurity, and neighbors who are impacted by those experiences. Galyn has been with ICC for 11 years.
Team Recognition: Galyn holds a philosophy of shared leadership and collaboration. Program ideas and decisions are approached collectively and intentionally, so all staff and guests have a smooth and meaningful experience when visiting or engaging with ICC.
“We have a very robust, very smart, very active group of about 125 volunteers who are tried and true! I am so grateful to them every day because for a long time I was doing this by myself. My volunteers have a world of life experiences that they bring to the table… They know what works and what doesn’t. There’s no follow the leader here.”
Memorable Moment with Neighbors: One cold winter day, a family of five who were facing transitional homelessness– “bed-surfing” from one place to another, visited ICC and were able to receive nutritious foods, winter clothing and outerwear, and experience a moment of genuine kindness. One of the children left the visit excited to have a new hot pink, sparkly puffer jacket from ICC’s clothing closet to keep her warm through the winter. Galyn shares this about the experience: “They were thrilled! She was like the prom queen that day. She was completely delighted with herself… I went outside and I’m standing in the snow with my big work coat on and she just does this pirouette and [says], “I am so warm, I love my new coat! Thank you!” And she grabbed me around my belly.”
Unique Program Attributes: The Interfaith Community Collective began as a project of four faith houses in Syracuse that pooled together their ideas, resources, and volunteers to help provide supportive resources to their community. The very foundation of their program was built on collective action and purpose-driven collaboration, fueling their mission to achieve equity and social justice for all. The ICC team work closely with local city farmers to financially support the urban farming sector and ensure their neighbors have access to nutritionally dense, culturally appropriate, locally grown food. Beyond food distribution, ICC functions as a teaching site for students across Syracuse University, SUNY Upstate Medical University, SUNY ESF, and the Syracuse City School District.
Recent Win: Galyn and her team recently celebrated their first full year as their own non-profit organization! (In previous years, ICC functioned as a program sponsored by the University United Methodist Church, which is the primary location programs and services were and still are provided).
Future Plans: The Interfaith Community Collective is currently voting on a name change! They are hoping the new name will help emphasize their work and clearly communicate their unique program identity.
Words of Encouragement: “There is no advantage to siloing yourself. You have to have the courage to let people arrive with other ideas on how to serve the community and how to include those [ideas] in a way that empowers the guest, the program, or even yourself.”
To learn more and keep up with their program, visit Interfaith Community Collective.
