VOCAL-NY on LinkedIn: VOCAL-NY Slams Court Decision to Halt CityFHEPS Expansion; Supports Appeal… (2024)

We're excited to share details about ourGala for Healthy & Just Communities, which will be heldSeptember 19, 6:30-10:30 PM, at Roulette Intermedium in Downtown Brooklyn. VOCAL-NY is celebrating our 25th anniversary, and we invite you to join the celebration by supporting our work to build power among low-income people affected by HIV/AIDS, the drug war, mass incarceration, and homelessness in order to create healthy and just communities, as a sponsor of the gala. Find out more at https://gala.vocal-ny.org/The gala will bring together over 400 supporters, partners, allies, members, leaders, and participants, as well as elected officials and media, to honor community leadership – including this year’s recipients of our Justice, Compassion & Love Awards. We will celebrate the resilience and power of our movement and communities in an inspiring and fun event with hors d’oeuvres, desserts, drinks, dancing, and awards presentation.Your contribution supports our work, including: our harm reduction services and drop-in center for low-income community members who use drugs and our neighbors experiencing homelessness; our movement of low-income people who are fighting for systemic change to end the AIDS epidemic, the war on drugs, mass incarceration, and homelessness.Over the last 25 years, we have saved and improved the lives of hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers through grassroots policy advocacy.#nyc #brooklyn #gala #community #communityorganizing #fundraiser #HIV #AIDS #druguse #warondrugs #homelessness #housing #incarceration #massincarceration #VOCALNYgala #VOCALNY25

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Our sister organization, VOCAL-KY is continuing their Summer of Organizing: yesterday, they held their first No More Drug War Kentucky Town Hall in Hopkinsville, Kentucky. It was a powerful event, with conversation and plans to take action to improve things for our family, our friends, and our communities, to heal Kentucky. Find out below how you can join them in taking action to reduce overdose, incarceration, and homelessness.• Attend upcoming No More Drug War Town Halls, and invite your networks and neighbors to join you: -- August 29 at Pikeville Public Library, 126 Lee Avenue, Pikeville KY 41501, 5-7 PM-- September 24 at The New Day Recovery Center, 19 Wainscott Avenue, Winchester KY 40391, 5-7 PM• Donate to fund VOCAL-KY’s movement.• Follow VOCAL-KY on social media: Facebook, X/Twitter, Instagram.• Spread the word about VOCAL-KY to your networks.• Sign up to receive emails from VOCAL-KY.https://lnkd.in/g-hedHcU#NoMoreDrugWarKY #Kentucky #communityorganizing #overdose #opioidepidemic #incarceration #warondrugs #homelessness #housing #NoMoreDrugWar #NoMoreDrugWarKentucky

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After 25 years of building power to end HIV/AIDS, thedrug war, mass incarceration, and homelessness,VOCAL-NY,along with our sister organizationsVOCAL-KY andVOCAL-TX,are proud to announce the launch of VOCAL-US (https://vocal-us.org/)!To build national power, VOCAL needs a national voice. VOCAL-US will give our chapters and leaders an opportunity to weigh in on issues affecting the entire country. It will be a home to build power and a political voice for people directly impacted by HIV/AIDS, the drug war, mass incarceration, and homelessness nationwide. VOCAL-US will draw from the power of our state chapters inNew York,Kentucky, andTexas, and give our members a platform to engage in federal advocacy. Our work feels more important than ever. At this crucial time, we are committed to building on our 25 years of successful community organizing to build a powerful base of leaders to win a new path forward for urban, suburban, and rural communities across the country. VOCAL-US will create space for people who are directly impacted by our issues to collaborate and collectively organize. We will create more opportunities for our members from different states to come together to learn, organize, and advocate for change at the national level (like we did for therally at the Supreme Court on the Johnson v. Grants Pass case - https://lnkd.in/egDmQyjT).As we take this powerful step forward, we hold in our hearts those VOCAL leaders we have lost. We honor them by fighting to heal our nation and so that one day, no one will lose loved ones to AIDS, overdose, incarceration, or homelessness. You can join with us to fight for systemic change rooted in justice, compassion, and love, byjoining our email list, following us onTwitterandInstagram, or making adonation.https://lnkd.in/e2UGPy5Zhttps://lnkd.in/etfZUEjYhttps://lnkd.in/eRHYgGiYhttps://lnkd.in/ehVE8NHJ#communityorganizing #HIV #AIDS #overdose #opioidepidemic #incarceration #massincarceration #homelessness #justice

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Thank you to PIX 11 for featuring our Services team earlier this month. We are proud to offer no-cost, stigma-free services to our low-income community members who use drugs. As a state-licensed Syringe Exchange Program, we are proud to be rooted in harm reduction and the needs of our community. Our Drop-In Center offers services such as showers, laundry, phone banks, wellness groups, a clothing closet, harm reduction supplies, and more. https://lnkd.in/dV3XtV85

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What We are Reading: https://lnkd.in/eHVb7243VOCAL-NY, along with allies, worked hard to pass improvements to CityFHEPS. It is important to center the needs of directly impacted people when advocating for policy change. VOCAL-NY is proud to be led by directly impacted people and to fight for policies that can improve and save lives.

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VOCAL-NY holds a monthly membership assembly to introduce potential new members to the organization and strengthen our community of existing members. At VOCAL-NY, we aim to build power amongst low-income people affected by HIV/AIDS, the drug war, mass incarceration, and homelessness in order to create healthy and just communities. These meetings focus on empowering our members through political education. We believe in policy informed and led by people directly impacted by our core issues, and we work with our unions on issue identification to focus on the needs of our community. We use this space to continue sharpening our ability to understand and advance politics of love & compassion. #newyork #communityorganizing #nyc #warondrugs #HIV #AIDS #homelessness #incarceration

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This week, the National Alliance to End Homelessness held its annual conference. We are proud to have had our very own Jawanza James Williams featured on the "Building a Movement" panel alongside Tina Tchen from The Obama Foundation and Evan Wolfson from Freedom to Marry. The panel was moderated by Alliance CEO Ann Oliva. Check out the full panel below! https://lnkd.in/epnQg_aR

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We are hiringa base-building organizer who will focus on our work to end mass incarceration, workingon New York City and New York State campaigns. This position is based in NYC. Additional details are at the link below. Apply to join our team! Or share with your networks!

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As David Sandman of New York Health Foundation highlighted, syringe service programs are an important part of HIV prevention.VOCAL-NY operates a syringe service program at our location in the Gowanus neighborhood and through outreach in additional neighborhoods in Brooklyn. We have been committed to ending the AIDS epidemic since our founding in 1999 as the NYC AIDS Housing Network.We are building a movement of low-income people dedicated to ending the AIDS epidemic, the war on drugs, homelessness, and mass incarceration. Learn more about our direct services and our community organizing work at https://vocal-ny.org#HIVprevention #AIDS #syringeserviceprograms #SSP #Brooklyn #NewYork #NYChttps://lnkd.in/e3qZFU9g

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