Resources
Receivership of Rikers: Keeping Our Eyes on the Prize
August 9, 2023
Rikers Island has been a hotbed for humanitarian violations for decades. Every year for the past decade, at least 10 people have died as a result of conditions on Rikers...
2023 Sign-on Letter Supporting the Safer Consumption Services Act (SCSA)
May 10, 2023
We write to you as 73 organizations working on the front lines of New York State’s heart-wrenching overdose crisis. The overdose crisis is a kitchen-table issue that affects every corner...
VOCAL-NY 2022 ANNUAL REPORT
April 13, 2023
We entered 2022 riding the highs of the previous year, our most successful New YorkState legislative session ever. We knew we had our work cut out for us. Stateand city...
How to Talk About Overdose prevention centers: Questions & Answers to Guide Community Conversations
March 8, 2023
Overdose Prevention Centers (OPCs) – also known as safer injecting facilities or safer consumption spaces – are controlled health care settings where people can safely use pre-obtained drugs under clinical...
2023: Roadmap to Ending Homelessness & Winning Permanent Housing in New York City
February 15, 2023
Within Mayor Eric Adam’s first year in office, he has failed to aggressively address the crisis of homelessness that the administration inherited. The Mayor has failed to provide the people...
2023: Roadmap to Housing in New York State
February 1, 2023
After 30 years of rampant displacement, gentrification, and commodification of our state's communities, the housing and homelessness crisis has never been worse. Rents across our state are at an all-time...
2023 Roadmap to a Caring and Compassionate City: Ending Homelessness, the Drug War, the HIV/AIDS Epidemic, and Mass Incarceration in NYC
January 26, 2023
People living in New York City deserve to caring & compassionate local government. VOCAL-NY released the following platform of demands for the New York City Council to adopt and make...
2023-2024 New York State Legislative Platform
January 6, 2023
The disruption to the social fabric caused by COVID-19, exacerbated by a failed government response that left over 1 million people dead and a social service safety net in even...
2023-2024 New York State Budget Platform
January 6, 2023
The continued harm from criminalization, incarceration, and the legacy of former Governor Cuomo’s austerity have resulted in a historic number of New Yorkers dying from preventable overdoses, record high homelessness,...
NYC Jails Decarceration Demands
November 1, 2022
Every person remanded to Rikers Island faces the potential of a death sentence. This year has now surpassed 2021 in the number of deaths on Rikers Island – an alarming...
