In this issue…
Join Us Tomorrow for a Virtual Panel: Opportunities to Pivot – Advocating for Future Needs After COVID-19
#COVIDBehindBars Update: CT & NY
Take Action to Save Lives: #FreeThemNow
Join Us Tomorrow for a Virtual Panel: Opportunities to Pivot – Advocating for Future Needs After COVID-19
Join us alongside Community Catalyst and other thought partners tomorrow, May 1, from 4:00-5:30 PM EDT, for a fruitful conversation, Opportunities to Pivot: Advocating for Future Needs After COVID-19. During this Zoom call, we’ll explore the shifts being made and ongoing challenges in the context of COVID-19, related explicitly to accessing housing and healthcare (including MAT); shifts to harm reduction practices; decarceration; and more. As many municipalities and states move to provide immediate supports for some vulnerable populations, how do we make these interventions — like providing housing for decarceration — “stick” after we emerge from this crisis?
Call participants will include community leaders, organizers, advocates, harm reductionists, case managers, allied researchers, and more. We’ll be joined by a great group of speakers who will share lessons from the pivots they’ve made and answer some questions you may have during the COVID-19 pandemic about this work. We hope you’ll join us!
Register here and view speaker bios here.
#COVIDBehindBars Update: CT & NY
COVID-19 is spreading rapidly in jails and prisons across CT and NY. We’re pushing Governor Lamont in CT and Governor Cuomo in NY to release people immediately to save lives and mitigate the impact of the virus. Here’s the latest:
Connecticut | Confirmed DOC cases of COVID-19: 417
Connecticut Advocates Worried About Youth in Adult System ‘Vulnerable’ to COVID-19
New York City | Confirmed DOC cases of COVID-19: 378
COVID-Sick at Rikers on $1 Bail — and a Parole Violation
New York State | Confirmed DOC cases of COVID-19: 343
Legal group wants Cuomo to release 40 more prisoners over coronavirus fears
Take Action to Save Lives: #FreeThemNow
Please take action now using our online tool to demand Governor Cuomo and legislative leaders take immediate action to release people incarcerated in New York jails and prisons. Please take a few minutes to call, email, and tweet Governor Cuomo and your elected officials and tell them: #FreeThemNOW. In the face of the COVID-19, pandemic, free people from jails and prisons now to save lives!
Check out our new COVID-19 artwork by Justseeds artist, Josh MacPhee, and please share our tweet so Governor Cuomo and lawmakers in New York hear as many voices as possible!
Please be safe out there and take care of each other. Keep practicing social distancing, wash your hands, and check in on your neighbors. If you want to get involved, learn more about our work, or just connect, please don’t hesitate to reach out – we’re online and on socials via @katalcenter.
