VOCAL-NY

Eric Adams refusal to follow CityFHEPS laws means more people will be evicted and stuck in shelters on his watch. We support the appeal by Legal Aid Society and New York City City Council to keep New Yorkers in their homes and get them out of shelters! We need CityFHEPS NOW! #HomesCantWait

We won't solve New York's statewide homelessness crisis with tickets and fines. Our State government has to fully support localities in guaranteeing access to services and housing for homeless New Yorkers.

The public has to know the costs associated with failed homeless sweeps, the lack of services & housing people are connected to, & the frequency of these sweeps. NYC needs to end the sweeps & house our neighbors!

On September 19th, members and leaders of VOCAL-NY's Homelessness Union held a rally to call on New York City Council to pass our public bathroom bills package. If passed, NYC can build 4,000 public bathrooms throughout the city and get us to 1 public restroom per 2,000 residents instead of the current ratio of 1 public bathroom per 7,820 residents. More importantly, homeless New Yorkers will have more options to perform essential bodily functions and hopefully will no longer be met with criminal summonses or public urination tickets.

STATEMENT: "What the police did was a reckless disregard for human life, " VOCAL-NY Civil Rights Union member-leader D'Juan Collins following NYPD shooting in the NYC subway on Sunday. NYC needs sustained divestment from policing-centric responses and investment in communities. Read VOCAL-NY’s full statement! https://lnkd.in/ev2KcqvY

We are so grateful to our partners, allies, and neighbors who are providing generous support to our fight for systemic change to end the AIDS epidemic, the war on drugs, mass incarceration, and homelessness. We are honored to have more than 35 sponsors for tonight's Gala for Healthy & Just Communities! You can join them at Roulette Intermedium in Downtown Brooklyn, at 6:30 PM. Online ticket sales are available until noon at https://lnkd.in/eAqGVtmw and tickets will be available at the door. Builder Sponsors include: MetroPlusHealth Moonshot Strategies Fighter Sponsors include: Coalition for the Homeless, Inc. Communications Workers of America District 1 Drug Policy Alliance Kate Linker and Bernard Tschumi Grassroots Sponsors include: The Action Lab The Ali Forney Center Amida Care Brooklyn Defenders Callen-Lorde Community Health Center CONBUD NY Good Grades Housing Works JustLeadershipUSA Montefiore Health System National Homelessness Law Center North Star Fund SeshNYC Supportive Housing Network of New York Tom Gilroy Anonymous In-kind Sponsors include: Barrow's Intense Ginger Liqueur Black Cat Wines Brooklyn Flow Harlem Shake Park Slope Just a Nibble NYC Threes Brewing Two Boots Park Slope Contributors include: Empire State Indivisible Evergreen Health Malkin & Ross Palante Technology Cooperative Progressive Technology Project Riders Alliance

VOCAL-NY leaders traveled to D.C. along with leaders from other VOCAL-US chapters on the 30th anniversary of the 1994 Crime Bill, legislation that ushered in an era of State violence against Black, brown, and poor communities across the United States, to call for the divestment from jails, prisons, and policing. It was a primary vehicle of mass incarceration and a purveyor of dehumanizing drug war propaganda with immeasurable consequence.

Cleaning out your closet? We'd love your clothes for our participants! At our drop-in center, we have a Free Store Clothing Closet. But we are running LOW on clothes! We're accepting men's fall/winter clothing donations, tshirts, sneakers, belts, pants & winter accessories!

Access to public restrooms makes for healthier and cleaner communities, as long as we prioritize their maintenance. We must develop an intentional plan to build an equitable public bathroom infrastructure that addresses the needs of all New Yorkers. https://lnkd.in/eziCBsSx

We are proud of the work of our Users Unions in demanding life saving drug policy, investment in harm reduction, and Overdose Prevention Centers. In honor of International Overdose Awareness Day, check out this article by our Director of Organizing and Campaigns, Jawanza Williams. https://lnkd.in/ejceSbee