PUBLIC TESTIMONY
Testimony by Galloway, Advocacy Manager at The Ali Forney Center
5:43:11
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170 sec
Galloway, the Advocacy Manager at The Ali Forney Center, testified about the critical need for the B-HEARD program for LGBTQIA+ youth experiencing homelessness and mental health crises. They highlighted the challenges faced by their clients and the importance of appropriate crisis response without police involvement.
- The Ali Forney Center's drop-in center moved from Harlem to Midtown, where B-HEARD is not available, causing issues with emergency response.
- EMS reportedly refused to respond without police presence, which goes against the center's harm reduction model.
- Galloway emphasized the need for more peer support and specialized mental health providers in crisis response teams.
Galloway
5:43:11
Cool.
5:43:11
Thank you.
5:43:12
Powerful testimonies today.
5:43:14
I really hope the NYPD and the mayor can hear some of this, but just Thank you, Shirley, for sticking it out with us.
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I'm Galloway.
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They them.
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I'm the advocacy manager at the Aleforney Center.
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And, you know, this is the reason I'm here is we are here to talk about the be heard program.
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And it's critical need for the clients that we serve at the Aliforni Center.
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And for those that are unfamiliar, we serve on how's LGBTQIA plus youth throughout the city and oftentimes beyond that But the one of the big things that our youth are facing is mental health crisis.
5:43:51
And what we know what's been said today is it pairs very much with the housing crisis.
5:43:57
And because they're experiencing complex traumas, marginalizations, and emotional distress, we're not able to start to meet some of those needs that they have.
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So I really wanna talk about because so much brilliance has been said today, I wanna talk about the reality of what be heard is happening for the telephony center clients and the staff.
5:44:16
So when the telephony center, when the drop in center, which are drop in center, what it does is it's the main welcoming hub for folks get connected to our services.
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And again, housing services are plethora from education, mental health, making sure folks are connected to job placements, but ultimately housing.
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So when they come to this drop in center, it used to be located in Harlem where be heard was dispatched to.
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We saw some really helpful and successful, like, support with be heard, but now our drop in center moved to Midtown.
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So no longer be heard comes.
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So therefore, we cannot utilize those services.
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And what's happening right now is we've been in this location for a year.
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And we started to notice this pattern like EMS were starting to take longer and longer and longer.
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And as of last week, EMS told us they refused to come unless they come with the cops.
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And not only is that or not okay, but that goes against our harm reduction model because one of the few runaway and homeless youth providers that refuses to call the cops.
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We found it is not helpful.
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It has been spoken here today when people are mental health crises and when they're triggered.
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Being around somebody that has a weapon that is just projecting onto you does not help.
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It causes further harm and therefore escalates the situation.
5:45:29
We need more peers.
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We need more mental health providers that are specialized in this, such as social workers and folks like that to be there.
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So just wanna highlight that because it's something that staff and myself were really confused.
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Like, why are EMS telling us they can't come unless the cops come?
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And we won't be heard to be expanded back to all of our housing sites, but especially our drop in center in Midtown.
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So fully support the expansion, the funding, and thank you again for being here.
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And we wanna continue our collaboration support, so let me know any questions you have.
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Thank you.
