Dear , In 2015, I was homeless and living on the street near VOCAL-NY’s office. I grew up in the neighborhood and my family was still in public housing nearby. I’d been in and out of prison for decades, my drug use was chaotic, and I didn’t have much hope. One day, someone told me about VOCAL-NY. They said you could go there and use the bathroom. It may not seem like much, but when you’re homeless a safe place to clean up is important. I started to hang out at VOCAL-NY more regularly and appreciated how comfortable I felt. For the first time, in a long time, I felt like I could finally work on myself and become the person I wanted to be. I signed up for a training program which taught people like me how to be outreach workers. I graduated from the program and was hired to be a part-time peer educator. My job was to bring people syringes, naloxone, and other supplies to keep them alive, healthy, and safe. In 2018, I was hired as a full-time outreach worker. Now, I train and supervise new peer educators, many of whom started just like me. I never could have imagined my life turning out like this. I have my own apartment for me and my son, and I’m proud to come to work every day to give back to my community. I’m sharing my story, because I want you to know that we aren’t exaggerating when we say our work is life-saving. I know this because it saved mine. And now that we've been forced out of our long-time office space by real estate developers, it is crucial that we have your support to keep our mission alive. Please consider making a donation to #VOCALforever -- our capital campaign to build a new home for justice, compassion, and love. Organizations like ours deserve a permanent home in this city, and with your help we can make that a reality. With gratitude, - Jeff
If you have any questions or would like to learn more about how you can support our capital campaign, please contact Jessica Brown, Director of Development at jessica@vocal-ny.org.You can learn more about our capital campaign and vision for our new space at www.vocal-ny.org/forever |