Caroline Blanton
3:39:03
Good afternoon Chair Williams and committee members.
3:39:06
My name is Caroline Blanton and I am a clinician at the New York Anti Violence Project or AVP.
3:39:13
I appreciate the opportunity to testify today and I want to thank the council for your continued support of AVP's work as the only organization in New York City that provides LGBTQ plus specific victim services.
3:39:26
For over forty years AVP has offered free and confidential mental health counseling, advocacy, and legal services to LGBTQ plus and HIV affected survivors of violence as well as operating in a twenty four hour crisis hotline.
3:39:40
Right now AVP's clients are under attack.
3:39:43
The current administration is explicitly targeting the communities that AVP serves and the federal funding that we receive.
3:39:51
Amidst rising hate violence, political polarization, economic instability, and social isolation, our clients are struggling to find hope for the future.
3:40:00
Where do you turn when those in power question your right to exist?
3:40:03
For many of our clients, the answer is AVP.
3:40:07
I received an email recently from a former client of mine, a 59 year old transgender woman who sought counseling at AVP after experiencing hate violence last summer.
3:40:16
When we first met, she could barely leave her house due to the severity of her PTSD symptoms.
3:40:22
Over the next six months, we worked together in weekly counseling sessions to process the trauma she experienced and restore her sense of inner safety in a world that is increasingly unsafe for her.
3:40:33
She told me early on that her lifelong dream was to take a cross country train trip.
3:40:38
When we ended counseling in December, she resolved to embark on that trip before the current administration came into office.
3:40:44
A month later, I had the joy of reading an email from her with photos from her journey and a few words I'd like to share with you all today.
3:40:53
Caroline, you can take some hope for me today.
3:40:56
I took a solo trip as a transgender woman across the country and back.
3:41:00
I haven't enjoyed myself that much in years.
3:41:03
This world is not safe but I'm glad you're in it.
3:41:06
I'm strong today and you helped me so much to get back to this place.
3:41:10
I'm very grateful.
3:41:12
Committee members, I'm asking you today to give AVP the gift of saying yes, of telling a caller on our hotline that we can help them, that our services are available and free and not going anywhere despite the instability all around us.
3:41:27
We can't do that without each of you and your ongoing support.
3:41:31
Increasing the city funding AVP receives will serve as a powerful line of defense to ensure that AVP can continue providing the life saving services our clients so deeply need and deserve.
3:41:42
Thank you for listening to my testimony today.
