Meet our Staff
- Becky Abrams, MSW , Director, Squirrel Hill Community Food Pantry
- Tanya Bielski-Braham, Squirrel Hill Community Food Pantry Coordinator
- Claire Burbea, LCSW, Social Service and Critical Needs Coordinator
- Jim Simeone, Squirrel Hill Community Food Pantry Aide
Becky Abrams, MSW
Director, Squirrel Hill Community Food Pantry
Becky Abrams is the director of the Squirrel Hill Community Food Pantry. As director, she is responsible for overseeing day-to-day operations, forming community partnerships, conducting outreach and special programs, soliciting funding and food sources. Becky also administers the SOS Pittsburgh program at JF&CS.
Prior to joining JF&CS, Becky was the manager of corporate support for the Pittsburgh Symphony Orchestra and former grant writer for the Greater Pittsburgh Community Food Bank. In addition, she has experience working in program administration, development and volunteer management in non-profit organizations.
Becky holds a master's in social work in administration, social policy & planning from the University of Pittsburgh, School of Social Work and a bachelor's in communication and psychology from Chatham University.
Tanya Bielski-Braham
Squirrel Hill Community Food Pantry Coordinator
Tanya Bielski-Braham is the coordinator at the Squirrel Hill Community Food Pantry. Her duties include organizing food drives, managing volunteers, conducting outreach programs with the community and managing Food Pantry operations.
Prior to joining the Food Pantry, Tanya was the sales coordinator at Right by Nature in the Strip District and was a food buyer at Dean & Deluca, an international gourmet market. In New York, she was also a volunteer for City Harvest, teaching nutrition and culinary classes to food insecure populations in Manhattan and the Bronx. Before becoming involved in the food world, Tanya was a journalist in New York City and Washington, D.C.
Tanya is originally from West Chester, PA, but lived in Brooklyn, New York, before moving to Pittsburgh. She earned her bachelor's in journalism from the University of Missouri-Columbia and graduated from the Natural Gourmet Institute, a health supportive culinary school, in New York City.
Claire Burbea, LCSW
Social Service and Critical Needs Coordinator
Claire Burbea is a licensed clinical social worker. She works with clients facing multiple barriers to self-sufficiency, helping them to get through whatever immediate crises they are experiencing and working with them to ensure their long-term well-being. She conducts assessments of client needs, develops solutions and provides coordination, referral and support services.
Prior to joining the staff at the Squirrel Hill Community Food Pantry, Claire worked with parent agency JF&CS’s older adults department, where she provided care coordination, psychotherapy, intergenerational programming and facilitated a number of support groups.
For the past several years, Claire also has been a field advisor for the University of Pittsburgh School of Social Work, providing training and supervision to a number of graduate students interested in geriatric social work.
Her formal education includes a bachelor's in English literature and education from the Hebrew University, Jerusalem, Israel, a master's in educational counseling from San Jose State College and a master's of social work from the University of Pittsburgh, School of Social Work.
Jim Simeone
Squirrel Hill Community Food Pantry Aide
Jim Simeone is an invaluable "jack-of-all-trades" for the Squirrel Hill Community Food Pantry. He is responsible for the general custodial duties and unloading, sorting and distribution of stock and donations at the pantry.
