CONTACT
Mariah McGough, Mariah@vocal-ky.org, 203-470-9979
NEW: VOCAL-KY LAUNCHES IN LOUISVILLE TO BRING CARE & COMPASSION TO KENTUCKY
Learn More About VOCAL-KY’s Mission and Vision Here
LOUISVILLE, K.Y. — Today, following a preview of work to come in the Courier Journal this morning, VOCAL-KY is proud to announce the start of work in Louisville to end the AIDS epidemic, the war on drugs, mass incarceration, and homelessness, by building the power of directly impacted people. With a team led by former-mayoral candidate, Shameka Parrish-Wright, VOCAL-KY will call for policy changes in Louisville and across Kentucky to save and improve lives, tackle the homeless crisis, provide care instead of incarceration, and build power among low-income, directly impacted individuals on these intersecting issues.
“Every one of Kentucky’s 120 counties are hurting,” said Shameka Parrish-Wright, Director of VOCAL-KY. “Urban, rural and suburban communities are plagued with staggering overdose deaths, rising homelessness, and criminalization instead of care. VOCAL-KY is here to build the political power of those with lived experience, so they can win transformational changes that will save and improve the lives of all Kentuckians. The people of Kentucky need to be heard and have leaders that will listen at every level, and that’s what we’re here to do.”
WATCH THE VOCAL-KY TEAM DISCUSS THEIR WORK HERE
BACKGROUND:
Voices of Community Activists and Leaders (VOCAL-NY) is the sister organization of VOCAL-KY, and has been working to create healthy and just communities for more than 20 years across the state of New York. Through community organizing and building power amongst the most marginalized communities in New York, VOCAL-NY made our core issues – ending AIDS, the drug war, mass incarceration and homelessness – core progressive issues in the state.
VOCAL is ready for powerful expansion at a critical moment for our nation, and VOCAL-KY will be the next chapter in our collective story. White supremacists are challenging and working to overturn democratic processes at state and federal levels. Brutal divisions threaten the ability of any party to implement policies to heal communities torn by overdose, HIV, homelessness, incarceration, and the COVID-19 pandemic. VOCAL is prepared to build powerful state-based organizations aligned in a single national approach, thus driving transformative local change that reverberates across the country.