For Immediate Release
April 8, 2017
Contact: Jason Cianciotto I 347-703-3865 I jcianciotto@harlemunited.org
New York, NY — The FY18 New York State budget agreement announced last night by Governor Andrew M. Cuomo, Senate Majority Leader John Flanagan, Senate Independent Democratic Conference Leader Jeffrey Klein, and Assembly Speaker Carl Heastie includes provisions that are critical to providing hope, health, and healing to New Yorkers most in need.
The following is a statement from Jacquelyn Kilmer, Esq., Chief Executive Officer of Harlem United.
“For nearly three decades, Harlem United has changed lives by helping marginalized communities throughout New York City improve their health and well-being through compassionate, client-centered care. I want to thank Governor Andrew M. Cuomo and Assembly and Senate leadership for not leaving the communities we serve behind in the FY18 state budget. Our communities need safe, affordable, and stable housing, and this budget includes $2.5 billion to support it. Our communities are among those hardest hit by the opioid epidemic, and this budget provides $200 million to fight it. Our communities need access to safe, high quality public education, and this budget includes a record $25.8 billion for schools.
“The communities we serve continually fight the syndemics of socio-economic injustice, racism, homophobia, transphobia, and destructive interactions with the criminal justice system from a very young age. This is why it is so critical that this budget includes “Raise the Age,” removing New York from the list of only two states in the nation that automatically process 16- and 17-year-olds as adults in the criminal justice system. Now, young people who commit non-violent crimes will receive the intervention and evidence-based treatment they need. This is not only compassionate and just, but also will help prevent cycles of homelessness, substance use, and poor health that can last a lifetime.”
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ABOUT HARLEM UNITED
For nearly three decades, Harlem United has changed lives by helping marginalized communities improve their health and well-being through compassionate, client-centered care. From our roots, planted in the basement of a church in Harlem at the height of the AIDS crisis, we’ve grown into a full-fledged, community-based healthcare and housing provider. Across the decades, our founding ethic has remained the same: Harlem United is a family, and no matter what we’re here to help. www.harlemunited.org
