Building grassroots power to address the root causes of HIV/AIDS and hepatitis C, including homelessness and poverty. (photo by Brian Palmer)
Drug policies rooted in human rights, public health and social justice. (photo by Julie Turkewitz)
Fighting to end mass incarceration, biased policing and new Jim Crow policies. (photo by Rob Bell)
Putting people first through voter-owned elections and a new economy that works for all.
“A home is, you know, sort of like air and water; I think it’s just one of those things that you need to survive as a human being…the four walls that you can call your own that no one can take away from you…” State lawmakers could prevent homelessness for thousands of people living with [...]
Read moreRally Calls For Passage of Community Safety Act to Protect Condom Promotion & Syringe Exchange Efforts Tell the NYPD to End the War on Public Health – Condoms & Clean Needles Aren’t Crimes! The NYPD’s stop and frisk practices are putting New Yorkers at risk for HIV and other health problems, according to a coalition [...]
Read moreOver 200,000 New Yorkers are living with the hepatitis C virus and most do not know their status even though new medications can cure most people with chronic infection. In response to this neglected and urgent health issue, the largest hepatitis C legislative awareness day yet was held in Albany on March 13th with participation from [...]
Read moreJoin us Tuesday, March 5th to demand corporate tax dodger Verizon pay their fair share and help stop devastating budget cuts. Automatic across-the-board budget cuts called sequestration are about to take effect because Speaker Boehner and the Tea Party decided to protect Wall Street and the wealthiest 1% instead of poor and working families. Some of the loudest [...]
Read moreBloomberg seeks to halt pot jail time By BREANNA EDWARDS | 2/14/13 New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg announced today in his State of the City Address that marijuana possession will no longer lead to a night in jail. The policy, proposed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo in his State of the State address early last [...]
Read moreFix The Debt Protest Draws Activists, Inflatable Pig WASHINGTON — More than 100 union members and progressive activists marched to a Capitol Hill hotel Wednesday to protest a meeting of corporate chiefs, lobbyists and former elected officials involved in the Campaign to Fix the Debt. “Today we’re here to protest against the Fix the Debt committee,” said Bobby Tolbert, a board member [...]
Read moreJanuary 31, 2013 VOCAL-NY HIV/AIDS Housing Network Analysis Of Mayor Bloomberg’s Preliminary FY14 Budget Contact: Jason Walker, HIV/AIDS Housing Network Coordinator, jason at vocal-ny.org (Read the full budget analysis here.) On January 29th, Mayor Bloomberg released a preliminary $70.1 billion budget for fiscal year 2014, which starts on July 1st. This is the start of what’s [...]
Read more(VOCAL-NY helped draft this open letter to local and national officials calling for a fair and equitable rebuilding after Hurricane Sandy.) January 3, 2013 New York State and the New York metro region have been hit by two major tropical storms in the past two years. In October, Hurricane Sandy devastated parts of downstate New [...]
Read moreDrug addicts considered in New York’s Medicaid reforms [Copied below is an excerpt - read the full article here] Written by Jessica Alaimo | December 2, 2012 To help identify cost savings, a team appointed by Gov. Andrew Cuomo has identified populations who could be helped with changes to the program while savings are [...]
Read moreMarch 5th, 2013 Sequester Backlash Begins: Vulnerable NYers Protest Outside Verizon HQ NYC Residents Soon to be Hardest Hit By Cuts Demand Wealthy, Corporations Pay Their Fair Share New York, NY: The backlash against Sequester cuts has begun in NYC, with dozens of vulnerable New Yorkers protesting upcoming cuts in the early afternoon of Tuesday, [...]
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