Community Voices Heard

On January 29, 2008 a group of CVH members and staff from all three chapters traveled to Albany for the State Legislature's budget hearing on affordable housing. Three CVH members from each of our chapter testified before a panel of State Senators and Assembly Members about how funding for public and low-income housing could impact their lives and their communities. Ann Valdez, a CVH member from Brooklyn, testified on the need for the state to fund public housing. Yusuf Belford, a CVH member from Newburgh, spoke about homelessness and the need for good quality affordable housing for low-income people. Valerie Pearson, a CVH member from Yonkers, talked about redevelopment plans for her neighborhood that are threatening to displace public housing and low-income residents.