By Zach Williams
New York Nonprofit Media
Political uncertainty at the federal level led many New York nonprofits to become more political in 2017. A looming state budget deficit and cuts to federal social services programs will likely keep up the pressure on nonprofits to maintain their public visibility as they fight for critical funding. But nonprofit leaders from across the state say such issues were only part of the story.
A dozen of them submitted lessons learned and predictions for the upcoming year. Their causes are varied – fighting homelessness, domestic violence, illness, poverty, gentrification and drug abuse – but they all shared a commitment to grow this upcoming year.
Peter Provet is president of Odyssey House in New York City.
Drug abuse is an equal opportunity destroyer. We cannot let the stigma of addiction continue to stand in the way of combating a public health crisis. The escalation of opioid-related deaths in New York is no different from what is happening in communities across America that are also reeling from this tragic epidemic. The death rate now totals more than 60,000 a year and is predicted to climb even higher in 2018. Wherever people are misusing opioids, synthetic or heroin, the results are the same: preventable, premature deaths.
Now is the time for the country to come together, demand the federal government officially declare the opioid epidemic a “national emergency,” and give states the resources they need to address it on the local level, so 2018 is the year we turn the tide on this epidemic.
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