Community Voices Heard

CVH, DC 37 Join Campaign to Organize Parks Workers

Submitted by talia on Thu, 2008-12-11 17:33. AFSCME District Council 37 has been a long-standing ally of CVH. The two organizations are a part of Friends of NYC Park Workers Organizing Committee, which is working to build public support for an organizing drive of parks workers. DC 37 recently chronicled the efforts of the organizing committee, which is currently chaired by CVH Executive Director Sondra Youdelman.

Beyond Statistics: CVH Members call on Newburgh City Officials to Address Poverty Head-On

Submitted by jenny on Tue, 2008-12-09 18:55.

On Tuesday, December 9th, the Census Bureau released statistics from the American Communities Survey that were compiled for areas with less than 65,000 residents.  

CVH members held a holiday-themed press conference to announce the poverty statistics and call on City Officials to stop ignoring the widespread poverty that they and their families live through every day.  Their message was: you can't ignore poverty anymore!

CVH Gets Press Coverage About "Missing the Mark" Report Release

Submitted by talia on Fri, 2008-11-14 17:39. Community Voices Heard's new report, Missing the Mark, about NYC's failing Back to Work welfare-to-work job readiness and job search program got quite a bit of press coverage.  The Daily News mentioned the report in an article on problematic city employment programs.  Radio pieces were done by WNYC, WBAI, WFUV and WWRL.  The Gotham Gazette listed the report in their Eye-Opener.  And, we're expecting more coverage to come.  Attached is some of the coverage for those interested in reading it.

Impact Unknown: The CEO's Poverty Fighting Efforts

Submitted by sondra on Wed, 2008-11-05 17:15. After a recent individual meeting with the Director of Mayor Bloomberg's Center for Economic Opportunity (CEO), Veronica White, CVH members went to attend and participate in a City Council sponsored oversight hearing on the CEO.  CVH members have often been the only community group working to keep the Mayor's anti-poverty initiative hub accountable to low-income New Yorkers.  While all are happy that the city is trying to address some of the critical issues of poverty in NYC, little in terms of concrete results and evaluation have yet to be reported about their attempts and whether o

The Term Limits Hearings

Submitted by sondra on Sat, 2008-10-18 12:26. Community Voices Heard members Agnes Rivera and Dolores Quintero stuck around the New York City term limits hearing for hours in order to represent the organization's "let the people vote" stance.  Their testimony was mentioned in the New York Times' City Room online coverage.  Attached here are the pieces of the coverage that mentioned their perspective.

What the Other Half Thinks

Submitted by sondra on Wed, 2008-10-15 19:34. CVH Board Member Yvonne Shields is quoted in this article about what some low-income people, organizations and advocates in New York City feel about Mayor Michael Bloomberg's recent push to serve another term.  "The things that affect me most have not been a high priority on his list," said Ms. Shields.  CVH members will make individual choices about whether or not to vote for Michael Bloomberg should he run again, but membership feel that whether or not he should even be able to run again should be a collective public decision - let the people vote!

Shenia Rudolf on The Brian Leher Show

Submitted by dominique on Wed, 2008-10-15 15:47. As part of Brian Lehrer's 30 issues in 30 days. CVH leader Shenia Rudolf appeared on the Brian Lehrer show to discuss issues facing low-income Americans and how a lot of these issues are ignored in mainstream politics.   Click here to listen to Shenia's appearance.

City Limits Article: Comptroller Releases Audit on WeCARE Program and CVH Continues to Fight for Monitoring of HRA's Contracts

Submitted by alexa on Wed, 2008-09-10 13:33.

An audit released recently by the office of NYC Comptroller, William Thompson, supports the findings of Community Voices Heard's 2007 report "Failure to Comply: The Disconnect between Design and Implementation in HRA's WeCARE program." Similar CVH's research findings, the Comptroller's audit found that the WeCARE program is not being adequately monitored, public money is not being effectively spent and disabled clients are not getting the services that they need.

CVH's Wins Against Giuliani Recalled

Submitted by michelle on Tue, 2008-09-09 15:58.

CVH ally John Raskin, Director of Organizing for Housing Conservation Coordinators, recently called into WNYC Radio's Brian Lehrer Show, to  discuss the remarks made by former NYC Mayor Giuliani (as well as Sarah Palin) at the Republican National Convention that belittled community organizing.  Raskin, in responding to Giuliani's mocking of community organizing, cited the work of Community Voices Heard's members in going against Giuliani's policy of unpaid workfare and winning paid Transitional Jobs for people transitioning off of public assistance.  Listen 

Public Housing Residents Accuse NYCHA and 3 Levels of Government of Neglect of Public Housing

Submitted by sondra on Fri, 2008-08-29 12:24. CVH's lunchtime vigil in memory of Jacob Neuman called upon the NYC Housing Authority (NYCHA) and the three levels of government (city, state, and federal) to be held accountable for their neglect.  A number of different news outlets (NY Daily News, WNYC, Epoch Times, and NY1) covered the vigil.  Attached is some of the coverage.