Longtime Nonprofit Needs Help Creating A New Home In Brooklyn

BROOKLYN, NY — A local nonprofit is hoping the New Yorkers it has served for more than two decades can help it create a new home in Brooklyn.

VOCAL-NY, started by AIDS activists in 1999, has launched a fundraiser to turn a warehouse on Douglass Street into its permanent headquarters after the organization was forced to move from the Fourth Avenue building it called home.

"As Brooklyn rapidly gentrifies, our long-time office space on 4th Avenue was sold to developers and will be replaced with luxury condos. After close to 20 years, we will be forced to move," the organization writes. "But we are seizing this moment to secure ourselves a larger space and permanent home only blocks away from where we are today."

The new space will require about $1.1 million in renovations to complete VOCAL's vision of a headquarters double the size of its current offices, according to the organization.

On top of office and meeting space, the new 6,000-square-foot space will include showers, laundry and bathrooms for homeless participants, medical services for those who use drugs, two kitchens for healthy, hot meals, a computer lab, a library and solar panels on the roof, according to the organization.

"Many of our participants do not seek services in traditional settings because of stigma and shame," they wrote. "We are proud to offer our community the care and compassion they truly deserve."

The fundraiser will also help VOCAL's plan to purchase the building.

Through a lease-to-own agreement for the Douglass Street space, funding from the Brooklyn Borough President and a campaign to restore City Council funding, the nonprofit will be able to purchase the space for $4 million.

The fundraiser will cover the additional $1.2 million needed to pay off the mortgage.

"Your support will put us on a path towards ownership and give VOCAL-NY the financial freedom and stability to continue our mission for decades to come," they wrote. "Organizations like ours deserve a permanent place in New York City — with your generous support we can make that happen."

Find out more here.