Who We Are

Our Mission

Voices Of Community Activists & Leaders (VOCAL-NY) is a statewide grassroots membership organization that builds power among low-income people affected by HIV/AIDS, the drug war, mass incarceration, and homelessness in order to create healthy and just communities. We accomplish this through community organizing, leadership development, advocacy, direct services, participatory research and direct action.

Our Vision

VOCAL-NY is building a movement of low-income people dedicated to ending the AIDS epidemic, the war on drugs, mass incarceration, and homelessness. We fight for systemic change rooted in justice, compassion, and love. We approach this work with a firm belief in reducing harm and ending stigma, and the knowledge that the issues impacting our communities are driven by institutional oppression, not personal failings. Our campaigns have saved or improved the lives of hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers across the state.

Our Model

Our model of movement building draws inspiration from three traditions:

Traditional community-based organizing

Direct-action AIDS activism

Black-led social movements for racial justice

Our History

1999

NYC AIDS Housing Network (NYCAHN) is founded by Joe Bostic, Joe Capestany, and Jennifer Flynn. Our first campaigns included housing and support for those living with HIV/AIDS, Expanded Syringe Access Program (ESAP) legislation, and the “Parolee Human Rights Project.” NYCAHN would later become VOCAL-NY.

1999

2003

Joe Capestany, one of the three founders of the organization, dies at the age of 48 after fighting AIDS for years.

JEN & JOE C. AT POWER ACADEMY GRADUATION, 2001

2003

2004

Joe Bostic, one of the three founders of the organization, dies at the age of 51 after fighting AIDS and hepatitis C for years.

2004

2008

VOCAL-NY Users Union was a project started by Louie Jones to organize drug users. Louie, a long-time leader and former staff of NYCAHN, brings VOCAL-NY Users Union to NYCAHN.

2008

2009

NYCAHN transitions from an Expanded Syringe Access Program (ESAP) to official Syringe Exchange Program (SEP)

2009

2010

NYCAHN changes name and becomes VOCAL-NY.

2010

2014

VOCAL-NY continues to grow — more staff are hired, including a civil rights organizer and political director. We also launched our 501c4 VOCAL Action Fund, allowing us to become more involved in state and local elections.

2014

2016

VOCAL-NY launches our Homeless Union and hires our first Care Coordinator to connect people living with Hep C with the treatment they need.

2016

2017

VOCAL-NY hires its first upstate campaigner, opening the door for the development of our Buffalo, Syracuse, and Rochester chapters.

2017

2019

VOCAL-NY hires our first full time staff member in Albany, opening the door for the Albany, Hudson Valley, and Westchester chapters to develop. VOCAL-NY also partners with Mount Sinai on the Hep C program to lay groundwork for medical services.

2019

2021

Amid the pandemic, VOCAL-NY has its most successful legislative session yet. Each union sees at least one policy priority passed and enacted in the state of New York.

2021

Our Team

Board

Linda Beal
Board Member
Pedro Benitez
Board Member
Marilyn Reyes
Board Member
Nathlyn Flowers Adesegun
Board Member
Jovada Senhouse
Board Member
Wayne Starks
Board Member
Hiawatha Collins
Board Member
Reginald Brown
Board Member

In The News

Democracy Now!: Rights Advocates to NYC Mayor Adams: You Can’t Arrest Your Way Out of Housing & Mental Health Crisis

AMNY: Lawmakers, parents and student march in Brooklyn to demand permanent housing provided to homeless students

Jezebel: A District Attorney Campaigned on Freeing a Domestic Violence Victim. He’s Now Prosecuting Her.Jezebel:

Amsterdam News: For VOCAL-NY’s User Union, the fight for overdose prevention sites is personal

AMNY: Vouch for the future: Homeless demand mayor make housing vouchers more effective

City Limits: New York’s Legislative Session Ends, With Mixed Results on Housing. Here’s What Passed & What Didn’t

New York Daily News: N.Y.’s wrongfully convicted need a true path to justice

New York Daily News: Majority of New Yorkers support package of bills to end wrongful convictions

CBS NY: New York lawmakers struggle with bail reform as part of budget negotiations

Times Union: ‘It’s hard to argue with lives saved.’ As overdoses soar, calls for prevention centers grow

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