In the heat of the 2001 Mayoral election,
The Partnership for the Homeless hosted a citywide Eumenical Forum on
Ending Homelessness.
Advocacy:
Grassroots action to end homelessness
Advocacy is a mainstay of The Partnership’s efforts to help homeless New Yorkers obtain housing, entitlements, medical care, and many other critical services. And in the face of a record-breaking rise in homelessness, The Partnership is intensifying its public-policy activities and grassroots action campaigns.
Homeless Action Network: Grassroots Organizing
The Homeless Action
Network mobilizes Partnership volunteers and members in grassroots campaigns
to win concrete improvements in the lives of homeless New Yorkers. Through the
Network, our volunteers and concerned citizens throughout the city are mobilized
to attend rallies and marches, participate in letter-writing campaigns, help
register homeless people to vote, and support the efforts of citywide coalitions
to press for policies and programs that address the root causes of homelessness.
Public Policy Advocacy
To give The Partnership and the homeless New Yorkers we
represent a greater voice in public policy decisions, senior staff members regularly
provide expert testimony to government agencies and legislative committees.
The Partnership reaches out to the media, sharing our expertise and opinions
in news articles and in op eds and letters published in the New York Times,
Daily News, Newsday, and other newspapers. We also host candidate
forums to educate voters, focusing on how candidates plan to address homeless
issues.
|
In the heat of the 2001 Mayoral election,
The Partnership for the Homeless hosted a citywide Eumenical Forum on
Ending Homelessness. |
Legal Advocacy
As The Partnership addresses systemic issues, we are increasing our efforts to help individual homeless people. Among these activities, experienced attorneys work with families at the Family Resource Center, with older adults at Peter’s Place and with clients at HIV/AIDS Services & Prevention Program. They handle a broad range of civil legal issues and work with clients to obtain such benefits as SSI for disabilities, Medicaid, childcare, and Social Security. The legal staff also helps remove barriers to employment and assists families with domestic violence and family reunification.
Funded by a grant from the Social Security Administration, the HOPE (Homeless Outreach Programs Evaluation) Program helps chronically homeless individuals apply for Social Security Disability and/or Supplemental Security Income benefits. Our benefits specialist provides one-on-one assistance filing out applications, makes and accompanies individuals to appointments, makes referrals for treatment, contacts current and past medical or psychiatric providers, and acts as a liaison between the client and Social Security Administration.
Our legal staff helps protect the rights of homeless individuals. We advocated successfully to ensure that confidentiality rights are protected and appropriate medical and housing standards are provided for homeless New Yorkers with HIV/AIDS. The Partnership filed an amicus brief in support of the Fifth Avenue Presbyterian Church, which is fighting city efforts to roust people sleeping on the church steps, and we have supported numerous other legal actions on behalf of homeless New Yorkers.