Rochester-Monroe Anti-Poverty Initiative

RMAPI was honored to host RuthAnne Visnauskas, Commissioner and CEO of New York State Homes and Community Renewal, for an executive budget briefing. We were excited to share the work RMAPI and our coalition partners have been doing in the Rochester community and learn about how New York State is enabling upward mobility for all residents.

RMAPI was proud to join hundreds of advocates, legislators, students, and community leaders from across the state at the New York State Capitol for a powerful rally urging state leaders to prioritize child poverty reduction in the upcoming budget. We held meetings with elected officials from all corners of New York urging them to adopt the Child Poverty Reduction Advisory Council’s (CPRAC) recommendations, which include expanding tax credits for families, strengthening safety net programs, and increasing access to affordable housing. Help make your voices heard by signing up for RMAPI's advocacy alerts: https://lnkd.in/ggC8CurW

Make your voice heard! Tell Congress to oppose any cuts to school meals. Congress is considering billions of dollars in cuts to the National School Lunch Program and School Breakfast Program. We need your help in urging Congress to protect these critical programs! The two key proposals would have devastating impacts on New York students, schools, and communities: -Cut the Community Eligibility Provision (CEP) by increasing the eligibility threshold from the current 25% to 60%, which would make more than 1,800 New York schools, serving more than 900,000 students, no longer eligible to offer free meals to all students through CEP. --Require all families applying to submit detailed household income documentation before being approved for free or reduced-price meals. Currently, schools without CEP are required to verify 3% of applications, this proposal will require verification of 100% of applications. Click here to make your voice heard and oppose these damaging cuts: https://lnkd.in/ePpU987a

RMAPI and the New York Can End Child Poverty Coalition will be traveling to the New York State Capitol on March 5 for a rally to address poverty in our community and across our state. We will be mobilizing our entire collective -- including leaders of other anti-poverty organizations along with community members -- to advocate for measures that address poverty and promote upward mobility. We will be highlighting the critical issues facing our community and supporting policies that support families and reduce child poverty. Register here: https://lnkd.in/gfqMCgX4

Congratulations to RMAPI Executive Director Aqua Y. Porter on being named to the Rochester Business Journal's Power 100 list for the fifth time -- every year since the list was first introduced in 2021. The honor is well-deserved and we are proud of the leadership you've shown in focusing our community on spreading upward mobility from poverty. Here are Aqua's thoughts on the role the entire community can play in RMAPI's success: "The Greater Rochester community is key to our success, as RMAPI unites stakeholders to drive systemic change. We depend on the community aligning with and accepting responsibility for transforming systems. By working across public, private, nonprofit, government, and education sectors, we can dismantle barriers so an individual’s ZIP codes don’t dictate success. Addressing disparities in housing, education, jobs, and health care is critical. Together, we must confront structural racism and ensure upward mobility, making equity not just a goal, but a shared responsibility."

Make your voice heard! There is a very important voting registration deadline coming up on February 14. In New York's party system, voters MUST be registered to a political party in order to vote in that party's primaries. If you are not registered to vote, or registered with no party affiliation, you will not be able to vote in June primaries. Here’s a list of easy-to-use websites for you to vote with confidence: - Register to vote → vote.gov - Check my registration → https://lnkd.in/eNZ32r7 - Know my voting rights → https://lnkd.in/g_w_gxYT - See what’s on my ballot → https://lnkd.in/eDZq9-fS

“When our children face hunger, instability, and lack of opportunity, it impacts the entire community—today and for generations to come. We must commit to ensuring every child has the resources they need to thrive: adequate cash assistance, nutritious meals, quality education, and safe and affordable housing. By taking action now, we can break the cycle of poverty and build a future where every child has a fair chance to succeed,” – Assemblymember Maritza Davila RMAPI was excited to join dozens of other advocacy groups at the Rally to End Child Poverty in Albany. We strongly support recommendations from the Child Poverty Reduction Advisory Council (CPRAC) that would reduce our state's child poverty by 50% by 2031.

RMAPI held our annual Legislative Breakfast, gathering more than 100 people to discuss actions we are collectively taking to enable upward mobility in the Rochester community. RMAPI has passed our 2025 Policy Agenda with priorities around housing, income & benefits, child care, healthy equity, and criminalization, exploitation & predatory practices. To learn more and sign up for advocacy alerts, click here: https://lnkd.in/gCmTN979

Over the past 50 years, New York's laws have resulted in increasingly harsh sentences — with no opportunity for judges to review and reconsider individual cases. It’s time for a Second Look. Tell your legislators to stand with #CommunitiesNotCages: bit.ly/CNCNY

RMAPI celebrates Black History Month and pledges to continue centering racial equity in all we do. Racial disparities in Rochester are stark and pervasive. Our work centers racial equity by declaring that racial equity is achieved when race is no longer a determinant of life outcomes. This will mean measuring and evaluating the outcomes of our work with a racialized lens. We will only achieve this outcome when all members of our community, individuals and institutions, come together to demand change to the systems that create and perpetuate structural racism.