U.S : VOCAL-NY Guide to Your Week !

 

 

 

Guide to Your Week for VOCAL-NY Members

Upcoming Events This Week

Monday 10/26 @ 11AM : We will be supporting the Katal Center for their rally at Governor Cuomo’s office on reform for parole violations and the Less is More Act. For more information on the bill, click here. Where : Third Ave & 41st Street, Manhattan. Travel : 4,5,6,7 train to 42nd Street -- Grand Central. Register : Here. Tuesday 10/27 @ 11AM : We will be rallying again at Governor Cuomo’s office to demand the immediate release from prison of people medically vulnerable to COVID19. There is a new outbreak at Elmira prison, read about it here.Where : Third Ave & 41st Street, Manhattan. Travel : 4,5,6,7 train to 42nd Street--Grand Central Register : Here. Tuesday, 10/27 @ 12PM : Join us for Tuesday at 12PM for House the Homeless at Hudson Yards, a housing rally in support of Intro 146. Location: "The Vessel", 34th Street between 10th and 11th Avenues. Contact : Celina : 347-309-6621 | celina@vocal-ny.org Tuesday, 10/27 @ 6PM : Defund Police Webinar : Why We Say Defund. Join us and our allies at Citizen Action to learn more about why we use the language "Defund", to learn more about the defund movement locally in Albany and on a statewide & national level, learn more about Executive Order #203, and how you can get involved ! Where : Online (Zoom). RSVP : Click here to join us ! FB Event : Click here. Contact : Luke 917-702-8781 / Luke@vocal-ny.org. Wednesday 10/28 @ 1PM : We will be protesting the Manhattan DA Cy Vance for his punitive and racist prosecutions working to shift the narrative about his legacy. Where : 100 Centre Street. Travel : 4,5,6 train to Brooklyn Bridge--City Hall Register :Here Wednesday 10/28 @ 5PM : Civil Rights Town Hall on ZOOM. Register : Here.  Thursday, 10/29 @ 8AM : Join us as we protest to demand access to take-home bottles of methadone for the clients at Carlos Pagan Recovery Center, who have been forced to risk their lives nearly every day to access their life saving medication during a pandemic. It is time to show OASAS that they must do more to regulate clinics like Carlos Pagan to ensure that vulnerable New Yorkers can safely access their medication. People who use methadone deserve #TakeHomes2StayHome ! Where : Gather at the corner of Court Street & Garnet Street Contact : Biz, 413.406.8838 / biz@vocal-ny.org.  Thursday, 10/29 @ 4PM : Join us for the monthly VOCAL-NY Homelessness Union Assembly. Come build & engage in deep political power & education that changes the narratives and outcomes of those currently and formerly experiencing homelessness in NYC. On the agenda : Hotels & WiFi for Homeless NYers, Electoral Politics. Register :RSVP & JOIN CALL. Meeting ID : 846 0449 6467 Dial-in : +16465588656, Code : 846 0449 6467# Contact : Celina: 347-309-6621 | celina@vocal-ny.org Thursday, 10/29 @ 5:30 PM : Albany Speaks Out ! The Community Responds. We invite all community members throughout Albany and beyond to join us for a public forum to share testimonies and community-derived recommendations for necessary police reforms in Albany. Where : Ten Broeck Triangle (St. Joseph's Park) Albany, NY. RSVP :Click here to join us! Testimony Form :Please Click here to submit your experience(s) with APD and/or recommendations for necessary changes in policing. Contact : Luke 917-702-8781 / Luke@vocal-ny.org. Ongoing : Sign our Homeless Union Petition to demand Wi-Fi for Homeless (#Wifi4Homeless) New Yorkers : Click here. Contact: Celina, 347.309.6621/celina@vocal-ny.org Sign our petition to demand safe and consistent access to methadone for vulnerable New Yorkers : https://bit.ly/MethadoneAccessNow. Contact : Biz, 413.406.8838 / biz@vocal-ny.org

Week in Review

Our work was covered in Spectrum News and Filter Magazine : Spectrum News: Capital Tonight- Advocates Say More Funding Is Needed For Treatment Services “This is a deadly move by the governor,” Jasmine Budnella of VOCAL-NY explained. "Overdoses are skyrocketing across the whole entire state,” Budnella said. “Providers are doing the best that they can with what they have, and to bog down a system and destabilize a whole entire network of people where stability is so important to saving their lives, it is disruptive and it is deadly.” Filter: “What Delivery Service?”—New Yorkers Left Risking Their Lives to Get Methadone "Every day, vulnerable New Yorkers are being forced to choose between accessing their lifesaving medication, or protecting themselves and their loved ones from COVID-19." Article written by Drug Policy Organizer Biz Berthy, Filter: Inside the CDC Data That Confirm the Pandemic Is Driving Up Overdose Deaths Arash Diba, a harm reduction director for VOCAL-NY, agreed that the CDC data illustrate what he described as a “fatal recipe.” “COVID-19 closed our drop-in centers, which was for some people the only social tether to safety and a welcoming community,” Diba told Filter. “When people would come in for needles, they would want to hang around. Now, more people are using alone, not having their safer spaces where they used before.”

What We're Reading

YouTube: [Town Hall] Vouchers to No Where: How Source of Income Discrimination Happens and the Policies That Can Fix It Esquire: The Least Livable Body in America's Most Livable City Pittsburgh has been hyped as our most livable city—if you’re white, that is. My mom’s story—how she lived, and how she died—offers proof that if you’re a Black woman, it’s one of the worst cities in America. Harvard Law Review: Envisioning Abolition Democracy

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