The work we do isn’t glamorous, and it certainly isn’t easy. But it hits close to home for all of us, and support and encouragement individuals and the community is always appreciated. Thank you Kathryn for your energy and willingness to volunteer during your last semester of your undergraduate career. We’re so happy to have you on board. And as always, if anyone is interested in joining the cause, send on over an email info@thespaceattompkins.org.
Or check out what we do on the streets:
The Space at Tompkins Fundraiser!
Meet The Space at Tompkins, a grassroots harm reduction organization that has been working with the transient homeless community around the East Village for the past two and a half years. We’re an all volunteer staff and this meet and greet fundraiser is meant to introduce the East Village community to the work we’ve been doing and also get some people we work with replacement identification.
During times of homelessness, many people have their personal identification lost or stolen, and the process to replace it is arduous and expensive. We’ve started this identification replacement service because something as simple as having a state ID can open doors to health care access, detox, job placement, housing, and the list goes on. A New York State ID costs $9, and we usually need to replace people’s birth certificates in order to get their NYS IDs. The whole process takes many man hours and costs roughly $40 a person.
Check out our website for more information www.thespaceattompkins.org, and any form of contribution (we love in-kind donations) is greatly appreciated. Check out our IndieGoGo campaign (www.indiegogo.com/thespaceidproject) if you can’t make it on April 17th and want to contribute to this project directly. All money goes to replacing IDs (no overhead, no salaries).
We look forward to meeting you! – Andréa Stella, Executive Director
If you know your social security number and are a US citizen, we can get you New York State Medicaid without having to go into the Medicaid office. We’re working directly through a provider and most applications are approved in under a month. Please contact Andréa at andrea@thespaceattompkins.org or 718.213.5206 if you think you might be eligible for New York State Medicaid and would like to apply.
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There was a meeting this afternoon at the Drug Policy Alliance with different agencies and community members who are interested in getting the Good Samaritan 911 law publicly recognized. VOCAL‘s Jeremy Saunders headed up most of the meeting, and the blog title came from part of the talk today. Essentially we’re trying to raise awareness of this new law that should make it easier for individuals to call 911 and report an overdose without needing to worry about legal ramifications when the authorities show up. I’ve been drowning a bit finishing my Master’s, and it was a real breath of fresh air to see so many important members of the harm reduction community come together today, right before the holidays, to start putting an action plan together. I’ve been stuck in this super academic bubble for the past few weeks and feel like I’ve forgotten that it’s even possible for important information to be given back to the communities who need it most. More information to come in the New Year about getting the Good Samaritan law.
Fred Wright from VOCAL (Voices of Community Activists & Leaders) stopped by The Space today to discuss some of the work VOCAL is currently doing. Of the many fights they’re fighting, there is a march against police brutality happening NOW at Zuccotti Park. Last Friday a VOCAL member was assaulted by police while at Occupy Wall Street, here’s the article. Check out VOCAL’s twitter (@vocalnewyork) and FB page to stay up to date on their actions. We all signed off to join direct actions with VOCAL, as long as they’ll bail us out if we get arrested.
Update on the ID scene: we’re all volunteers here at The Space, so what better form of thank you than a giant ribeye from a person we helped get a replacement New York State ID? He’s currently working at a Kosher butcher in Williamsburg, and thought it would be a nice gesture. Well it was!
Now we’ll have to have a BBQ or I’ll have to learn how to cook.
