Community Voices Heard Power Inc.

CVH Power (a 501c4 organization) was created by the low-income leadership of Community Voices Heard (a 501c3 organization) as the next step in working to create a more progressive New York City and New York State. CVH Power is working to make New York State a model of democratic participation and progressive policies and programs that will improve the lives of poor and working class families across the state and be a model for the rest of the country.

CVH Power’s issues include those that affect low-income families and their communities. We will fight for the maintenance and expansion of the social safety net; for the preservation and improvement of public and affordable housing options; for the creation of living wage jobs and the workforce development system to help people access these; for equity in the tax structure and shifted governmental spending priorities so that critical programs are sustained; and more!

CVH Power’s sister organization, Community Voices Heard was founded by a small group of mothers on welfare in 1996. It has won a jobs program that put over 20,000 welfare recipients to work in living wage jobs, won resources and improvements in public housing, and has mobilized over 18,000 voters. When CVH leaders and members decided to enter political work, it was not only to change the nature of politics in New York State, but also to utilize additional tools to achieve our organizational mission. CVH Power is a strategic partner to our c3, and likewise our c3 work is a critical foundation out of which to build CVH Power’s political work. Our strategies and theories of change straddle both organizations.