Likewise, during state budget negotiations, NYS Senate Republicans were also determined to stop Rest of State (ROS) Enhanced Rental Assistance for people living with HIV, and prevent the Governor from adding additional money for Hepatitis C elimination.
So for two solid weeks, Housing Works targeted half a dozen key NYS representative with daily phone calls to demand that our NY elected officials protect Health Homes in the final NY State budget and pass a budget with provisions included for statewide rental assistance and funding for Hep C programs. And on March 26, we mobilized three buses of our community members and allies to travel to Albany to make that same demand in person. Thanks to those amazing efforts, over 160 of our Housing Works staff, clients, volunteers, and allies took over 38 offices at the New York State Capitol, some more than once; extracted verbal commitments from three New York State Senators—Lanza, Valesky, and Hamilton—and even chased Senator Avella down a hallway. Because of these relentless efforts, both the Governor’s office and the NYS Assembly took strong stands on our behalf. The results in the budget that moved forward speak for themselves: The budget included only very small cuts to Health Home that will likely have no impact on Housing Works’ program, passage of the ROS Enhanced Rental Assistance language, and a $5 Million new appropriation for Hepatitis C elimination. On top of that, we won $450K in new money for LGBT health and social services. We are pleased to call that a win on the NY State front!
—Mikola De Roo, rider and VP of Advocacy Communications and Marketing at Housing Works
