Low-Income Community Leaders from 6 Grassroots Networks Offer Testimony on Impact of Recovery Act

Grassroots Groups to Urge Timothy Gilchrist, Chair of NYS Recovery & Reinvestment Cabinet,to "Walk in Their Shoes" for a Better Understanding of the Needs of All New York Communities

NEW YORK, NY (03/23/2010)(readMedia)--

WHAT: Grassroots leaders will offer testimonials about how the Recovery Act (stimulus) has -- and has not -- met the needs of their communities. The leaders are members of the New York Stimulus Alliance, a statewide network of base-building organizing groups and their resource allies, which has called on the Chair of the Governor's Recovery and Reinvestment Cabinet, Timothy Gilchrist, to "walk a day in our shoes" by participating in a statewide listening tour with the groups to better understand the needs of all of New York's communities and the need for greater public accountability and transparency for stimulus and other public funding. The Alliance plans to visit the office of Mr. Gilchrist with a vivid reminder of the urgency of the economic challenges facing all New Yorkers.

WHEN & WHERE: March 24, 2010, 10:30am - LCA Press Room, 130 LOB, Albany, NY

WHY: The groups are convening in Albany to share with each other their experiences with the Recovery Act that recently marked one year since its passage, to build and develop strategies for working together, and to present specific requests to policymakers in Albany. While positive steps have been taken -- notably the new 'Green Zone' in Buffalo -- significant work remains to ensure that all of New York's communities benefit from public investments like the Recovery Act.

WHO: Statewide alliance of grassroots organizations, networks and researchers dedicated to ensuring transparent and equitable stimulus and public spending that rebuilds our state. Grassroots groups: Alliance of Communities Transforming Syracuse (ACTS), A Regional Initiative Supporting Empowerment (ARISE), Common Cause/New York, Community Voices Heard (CVH), Gamaliel NY, Good Old Lower East Side (GOLES), Make the Road NY, National People's Action New York, Niagara Organizing Alliance for Hope (NOAH), NYC AIDS Housing Network (NYCAHN), NY Immigration Coalition (NYIC), NW Bronx Community & Clergy Coalition (NWBCCC), People United for Sustainable Housing (PUSH-Buffalo), Syracuse United Neighbors (SUN), & VOICE-Buffalo. Policy and resource allies: Advancement Project, Center for Social Inclusion, Kirwan Institute, and The Opportunity Agenda.