Grantee Profile

Movement Leadership Grants: VOCAL

Voices of Community Activists & Leaders (VOCAL) is a statewide grassroots organization that aims to empower low-income people who are living with and affected by HIV/AIDS, drug use and incarceration. VOCAL NY accomplishes this through community organizing, leadership development, participatory research, public education and direct action including press conferences, marches and demostrations. In 2010, they had three major legislative victories: expanding syringe access, ending prison-based gerrymandering and establishing affordable housing protection for thousands of low-income people with HIV/AIDS at risk of homelessness. For the peer training component, VOCAL will prioritize developing a donor base for fundraising and using grassroots media more effectively.