As New York state continues to suffer with the most COVID-19 cases in the country, and New York City remains a concentrated hotspot, the grass-roots organization, Vocal-NY, is stepping up to meet the needs particularly of the city’s homeless population during this time of crisis. Vocal-NY, which stands for the Voices of Community Activists & Leaders, has a broad mission across the state to help low-income residents who are affected by HIV/Aids, hHepatitis C, the war on drugs, homelessness, and mass incarceration. Currently, their mission to help the city’s homeless population has never been more dire, and Vocal-NY has stepped up its efforts with staff and volunteers to observe and put pressure on the government.
In an interview with the housing campaign coordinator for the organization, Joseph Loonam, we discussed the action needed to help aid New York’s homeless population. Asked how the pandemic has affected the services provided for the homeless, Loonam stated, “When the shutdown started, there was an immediate reduction of services across the board. Recently, we’ve had the city step up to provide food: there are 400 food distribution sights around the city and two sites where people can take a shower.”
Loonam , a Brooklyn native, goes on to say that their advocacy work has been crucial to implement these sites, and the organization continues to be concerned about the impact the pandemic has had on the Department of Housing services as well as the potential budget cuts that may impact the future of these services. Given the reduction of services due to the pandemic, when asked how the pandemic has affected the organization’s course of action, Joseph stated, “We did a 180 on a lot of demands… there was an immediate switch from long-term to short-term. We have long-term advocated for permanent housing for every single person in the city and state of New York. We in general don’t think the DHS should put people into hotel rooms rather than put them into somewhere permanent to live, but at this moment we have to rehouse a lot of people very rapidly in order to social distance.”
According to Vocal and the mayor’s office, New York City’s homeless population is approximately 61,000, with around 4,000 sleeping in the street, subway, or other public areas each night. With the subways being closed for cleaning during the night and the streets unsafe for social distancing during this public health crisis, Vocal-NY has extended its mission to make sure that 30,000 hotel rooms are opened for the homeless population of New York City immediately.
Vocal-NY has formed a coalition of different groups around the city who have worked closely with impacted people to combine efforts to pressure the mayor of New York City, Bill DeBlasio, to open up these hotel rooms. While Mayor DeBlasio has opened up a few thousand so far, the coalition has pushed for the mayor to open up more rooms at a much faster pace through pushing legislation by the city council as well as creating a petition and gofundme campaign.
When asked if Governor Cuomo and Mayor DeBlasio are doing enough to help aid the homeless during this pandemic, Joseph responded emphatically, “No, they’re not doing enough…specifically the mayor of New York City. He can open up 30,000 hotel rooms right away to allow people to socially distance and he has not done that. I think that the Governor also has a lot of good options to open up hotels, dormitories, and other places where you can socially distance but neither of them have done enough to end the increase of homelessness which has gone up dramatically since the start of this crisis nor have they done enough to house people who are already in shelters or on the street.”
When asked about ways in which ordinary New Yorkers, including students, can help aid Vocal-NY’s effort to support the homeless during this crisis, Loonam directed attention to homelesscantstayhome.org, which is a website where Vocal-NY is recording information and daily updates about New York City’s homeless population during the pandemic. This website is also where Vocal-NY’s petition can be signed for the mayor to open up 30,000 hotel rooms, and has a link to their gofundme campaign where New Yorkers can help achieve its goal to raise $100,000 to protect homeless people from Covid-19.
At the end of our interview, Loonam emphasized, “There are a lot of bad things happening, and we have to make sure it is captured. This is a very historic moment and I think it is important that we observe as much as possible.”
With support and ambition, Vocal-NY has been able to accomplish a great deal for the homeless population of New York City, and they will continue to fight to prioritize their well-being during this crisis. Loonam concluded by capturing the organization’s mission and message during this pandemic, stating, “We are proud of moving the conversation as much as we have thus far and our coalition has started a gofundme to house New Yorkers as a way to put pressure on the mayor and say this is something that is possible, this is a service that people will take, and there are ways to keep people safe and well-served in a situation where they can also distance from one another and prioritize their health.”
