FPWA Holds Advocacy Day in Albany

 

(New York, NY) – On February 24, the Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies held an Advocacy Day at the New York State Capitol in Albany, meeting with more than 50 legislators in the State Senate and Assembly to rally around key policy issues including funding for the $15 dollar minimum wage for human service workers.

Members of FPWA led a series of meetings with State elected officials, calling for them to make economic equity and upward mobility a priority to move toward Building a City of Equal Opportunity. The issues of focus included the living wage, worker cooperatives and the human services budget such as funding for foster youth, seniors and early childhood education.

FPWA is currently leading the #15andFunding campaign along with the Fiscal Policy Institute (FPI) and the Human Services Council (HSC) to advocate for a statewide $15 per hour minimum wage for all low-wage workers, and to ensure that the call for an increased wage includes funding for state and city contracted nonprofit human services workers.

“Advocacy Day is an important time for champions of equal opportunity to join together to raise awareness about key budget issues,” said Wayne Ho, Chief Strategy and Program Officer at FPWA. “Ultimately, we felt that the day enabled us to hold many productive discussions around the items that we feel are critical to improving equal opportunity in New York.”

 

“A state-funded $15 dollar minimum wage for human service workers will help ensure that these workers can continue to fulfill the important duties that they do every day,” said Jennifer Jones Austin, Executive Director and CEO of FPWA.  “For this reason, we are calling upon the State to support the living wage and bolster economic opportunity across New York.”

 

The Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies (FPWA) is an anti-poverty, policy and advocacy nonprofit with a membership network of nearly 200 human services and faith-based organizations. Each year, through its network of member agencies, FPWA reaches close to 1.5 million New Yorkers of all ages, ethnicities, and denominations. FPWA strives to build a city of equal opportunity that reduces poverty, promotes upward mobility, and creates shared prosperity for all New Yorkers.  

 

Visit www.fpwa.org for more information.  

 

Source:  Federation of Protestant Welfare Agencies