With its motto of “People Helping People,” Pronto of Long Island is dedicated to empowering individuals and families through programs that address basic needs and promote long-term self-sufficiency.
Fighting hunger, empowering communities and providing hope through food, clothing, education and advocacy align perfectly with the philosophy of Pronto’s new president and CEO Keith Scott.
Since his teenage years, Scott has worked in the human services field and has dedicated his career to serving his community.
“I think it’s really important to be able to give back and leave the world in a better place,” says Scott, adding that this is the one field that adds the most value to society.
Calling Pronto “an amazing organization that’s been around for 56 years,” Scott notes that the organization currently serves more than 100,000 Long Islanders per year.
“I want to really expand Pronto to be at the core of helping anyone who’s in poverty,” Scott says. “We’re Pronto of Long Island for a reason. There’s a misconception that Pronto is just serving the Islip area, but that’s not true. We have clients coming for services from Elmont to Montauk. I really want to make sure we continue to be a beacon of hope for any Long Islanders in need.”
Just like its very name, Pronto aims to serve people — immediately.
“We’re here for you when you need it,” Scott says. “We don’t turn anyone away. When we’re open, we’re serving.”
MANY WAYS TO SERVE A GROWING NEED
Pronto of Long Island serves Long Islanders through its food pantry and thrift center, as well as through workforce development and acting as a community resource — all at its Bay Shore headquarters.
Largely supported by Long Island Cares and Island Harvest, the food pantry warehouse is accessible 9 a.m. to 2 p.m., Monday to Friday and Saturday, 9 a.m. to 12 p.m.
“One hundred thousand people come through our doors for the food pantry alone,” says Scott. “We have a newer program through a grant that for some families we deliver, if insurance eligible. But I would say that for 99% of those coming to us, we do things in-house.”
The organization recently applied and awaits approval for a grant to create a Pronto on-the-go model: a mobile unit to reach those with transportation barriers.
At the thrift center, people can pick up clothing, household items and furniture.
“We have legal workshops going on,” Scott says. “Suffolk County comes every other week and does Shots for Tots, vaccinations, and provides other essential services.”
The organization maintains close connections to housing partners and local hospitals, like Northwell, which provides on-site resource tables and vaccinations.
“We have Healthfirst as one of our partners on-site as well,” Scott says. “They help enroll the underinsured or uninsured individuals to make sure they have health insurance.”
For many people, Medicare and Medicaid can be extremely difficult to navigate.
“There are senior citizens who have done tremendous things in this society and it’s still difficult to navigate, because the system is very confusing,” he says. “And we’re here to mitigate some of that confusion.”
As part of its workforce development, Pronto provides resume building, job skill training and job placement.
“We work with multiple community partners to help place individuals in jobs and help to develop their resumes,” Scott says. “We have a program that employs over 20 at-risk youth during the summer to help them gain job skills as well, with the idea of helping them gain permanent employment.”
A partnership with Urban League of Long Island helps train senior citizens who are struggling to get back into the workforce.
“So really, we’re providing the full spectrum of services to help people get out of poverty and stay out of poverty.”
A HUB FOR RESOURCES
Pronto of Long Island functions as a traditional community based entity, notes Scott.
“If someone needs something and we don’t have it, we have a connection to someone that does,” Scott says. “If there’s a need in the community and someone comes here, we’re not going to turn them away.”
In addition to providing direct services, Pronto functions as a resource hub.
“If someone needs anything, whether it’s access to housing, whether it’s clothing, food, jobs, access to healthcare, we are the conduit that gets people where they need to go,” says Scott, noting that over 90% of Pronto’s staff are bilingual.
Scott’s goal is to grow these services to reach more people on Long Island
“How great is it to have a service that if you don’t know where to go you have a trusted entity you can go to?” Scott says. “And we’re one of the older nonprofits on Long Island.”
As the need for services has grown over the years, so has the organization.
“Pronto started in the basement of a religious organization,” Scott says. “And it has grown from a storefront to a house, to a 10,000-square-foot building. And now we’re looking to grow even more. We’re at capacity in our building and we’re looking for ways to expand.”
This past Earth Day, Pronto launched a new partnership with All Deposit Redemption Center, a recycling plant in Brentwood, that collects and recycles bottles from Northwell Health, then donates the 5 cents per bottle to the organization.
“It helps bring in a little more funding to buy food,” Scott says. “It’s good for the environment and it feeds people. So, it’s a win-win for everybody.”
For the large immigrant population in the area, Pronto hosts citizenship classes and weekly English classes.
“All our services are free: We don’t charge any of our community members for our services, and we’re able to do that due to our very generous partners,” Scott says. “Through our incredible staff, we’re able to make miracles happen every day. Our staff continually goes above and beyond to ensure our community has the resources they need.”
COMING FULL CIRCLE
On any given day, there are at least two dozen volunteers on site, many of whom once came to the organization because they themselves needed it.
“Pronto helped them get on their feet and now they come back to donate or volunteer,” Scott says.
One of their staffers came through as a Department of Labor use worker.
“We ended up hiring her full time and now she helps others get jobs,” he says.
As he looks forward to Ponto’s annual holiday toy drive, Scott notes that much of the nonprofit’s funding comes from private donors, the Mother Cabrini Foundation, and other foundations.
“Pronto is here for anybody,” he says. “We have over 3% of Long Island coming through our doors. Our administrative overhead is very, very small: a razor thin margin of 96 cents per dollar going directly to our clients. We are really the epitome of an old school nonprofit. You come here, you see we’re all hands on deck. We’re all serving the community. And we’re here to get people out of poverty and do whatever we can to help them stay out of it.”
Pronto of Long Island is located at 128 Pine Aire Dr., Bay Shore, 631-231-8290; prontolongisland.org
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