Bloomberg’s Budget Would Increase Homelessness and Block Access to Housing, Food Stamps & Medicaid for People With HIV/AIDS Mayor Bloomberg’s preliminary FY12 budget proposal fails to restore funding for housing, healthcare and nutrition services for homeless and low-income people living with HIV/AIDS. The City Council approved one-time funding last year for critical programs within the [...]

By Bobby Tolbert, Member, Board of Directors, VOCAL New York Posted: February 10, 2011 06:00 PM (Robert “Bobby” Tolbert is a member of VOCAL New York’s Board of Directors and has been a longtime activist for social justice. He has been HIV-positive since 1995, was formerly homeless in the NYC shelter system, and has worked [...]

VOCAL-NY members travelled to Albany on January 5th to send a message that low-income New Yorkers affected by drug use, HIV/AIDS and incarceration are not special interests to be ignored or demonized during the recession. We highlighted three campaigns around health, housing and civil rights, while pushing for progressive taxation to address New York’s historic [...]