Welfare, Jobs & Workforce Development

Members of CVH who receive public assistance and low wage workers are fighting for improvements in the workforce and welfare systems in New York City and State and to end the public sector sweatshop dead-end, unpaid Work Experience Program (WEP). We want the New York City and State governments to move welfare recipients into living wage jobs, improve employment services programs, and invest in career ladder training programs that reflect the needs of the market. To accomplish this we have shared our findings and stories with the Human Resources Administration (HRA) about their Back to Work, Job Training Participant (JTP), and WeCare programs in order to improve them. We believe that through the creation of paid transitional job tracks low income people will gain meaningful job skills and a pathway to permanent employment. We demand a series of policies and programs across city and state agencies that are not just band aid solutions to poverty. Through this campaign, we engage pertinent city and state agencies on an ongoing basis, including HRA, the Commission for Economic Opportunity (CEO) and the state Office of Temporary and Disability Assistance (OTOA). Low income people must be included in the implementation and evaluation of sustainable poverty prevention initiatives. Our long-standing work in NYC is now being bolstered by our new members in Westchester, Dutchess and Orange Counties.

Public Housing Campaign

CVH’s public housing campaign has been fighting to save and improve public housing in New York City since 2006. The New York City Housing Authority (NYCHA) operates 343 developments of public housing throughout the five boroughs and is home to 5.1% of the city’s population. However, public housing is in a state of financial crisis. NYCHA has been operating with a $225 million deficit, which is causing conditions in public housing to deteriorate and services for the residents to be cut. Further, NYCHA is attempting to balance its budget on the backs of its residents through rent and fee increases and further cuts in services. CVH’s public housing campaign has been focusing on securing funds from our elected officials at all levels- city, state and federal- to ensure the stability of NYCHA for its low to moderate income residents. Leaders in the public housing campaign helped fight to secure $120 million from New York City in the 2006 budget, and fought to secure an additional $3.5 million from New York State in the 2007 budget, which was the first year since 1998 that the State has given public housing any operating funds.

Sustainable Communities Campaign

The Sustainable Communities Campaign goal is to ensure that long-time residents of Harlem are able to continue to reside in, assist in defining, and actively participate in, critical decision-making processes in their communities as they evolve. The project will be bring together low- and moderate income people and aim to address all issues that affect the community such as housing, workforce development, job creation, and anything that is essential of a vibrant and thriving community.