Housing is a Human Right! LGBT Youth Services Center Threatened
NYC budget cuts threaten the entire budget of the Ali Forney Day Center. The Ali Forney Center provides services to lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender youth facing homelessness.
“Ali Forney was a homeless queer teen who was forced to live on the streets of New York during the 1990s. Ali was dedicated to the safety of other homeless queer youth; he was a committed HIV prevention worker, and aggressively advocated that the NYPD investigate a series of murders of the homeless queer youth he had befriended. Ali was an inspiration to those who knew him. In December of 1997, Ali was murdered on the streets. His tragic death called attention to the atrocious conditions for homeless LGBT youth in New York. Ali’s murderer has never been identified.” (http://www.aliforneycenter.org/about.html)
LGBT people continue fight a war against oblivion. We fight a war against forces that threaten our human rights, our existence and our growth as human beings. Low income LGBT people and LGBT people of color are particularly vulnerable to homelessness.
While Wall Street greed is given a free pass by the government, the services our community relies on are threatened. On whose back will the Wall Street bail-out fall? What happens when we can no longer wait on the breadline quietly, patiently, and politely because they are removing us from the breadline? Our community must respond quickly and decisively. We must demand that government guarantee funding for services our community needs. We must understand that we have human rights and that the government must uphold our human rights if it is to have any legitimacy. We must build a city where the people command and the government obeys.
Right now you can take a few minutes to visit the ACTION ALERT at the link below and send a message to Mayor Bloomberg to restore funding for this vital service agency. Our community cannot solely work for justice by reacting to injustice. We must be proactive. After you send a message to Mayor Bloomberg to restore funding for this vital service agency, learn about your human rights and the over one hundred organizations working to make New York City a Human Rights City by visiting the New York City Human Rights Initiative at http://www.nychri.org/ or http://www.nychri.blogspot.com/ to read Pauline Park’s blog entry “LGBT Rights as Human Rights.”
(cut and paste into your browser)
https://app.e2ma.net/app/view:CampaignPublic/id:9073.1437258257/rid:241e…
or call, fax or mail the mayor a letter at:
Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg
City Hall
New York, NY 10007
PHONE 311 (or 212-NEW-YORK outside NYC) FAX (212) 788-2460
Sample Letter:
Dear Mayor Bloomberg:
I am writing this to request your assistance in preventing the defunding of the Ali Forney Center’s drop-in Services to homeless LGBT youth. The New York City Department of Health and Mental Hygiene has announced that in 2009 it will cease allocating HOPWA funds to the drop-in services of the Ali Forney Center, resulting in the defunding of New York City’s only drop-in center for homeless LGBT youth. The closure of this program would create a terrible service gap for homeless LGBT youths and would put their lives at risk.
Of particular concern is the loss of HIV prevention, testing and treatment that would result from the center’s closure. As recent studies have indicated that HIV is spreading most rapidly in Black and Latino men who have sex with men under the age of 30, the loss of the comprehensive and innovative HIV services at AFC’s drop-in center would be catastrophic.
Please see to it that the HOPWA funds are restored, or that new funding is put in place to ensure the continuation of these invaluable services to the homeless LGBT youth of our City.
Thank you.
