Homeward NYC participates in Up All Night for #JustPay

June 22, 2023

On June 21 night and into June 22 morning, 2023…

Leaders from over 50 nonprofits (including Homeward NYC’s Chief Executive Officer Jeannette Ruffins) stayed up all night for #JustPay outside City Hall.

Homeward NYC CEO Jeannette Ruffins holds a sign with "Day or night, we're here for the #JustPay fight!" She's surrounded by other nonprofit leaders also sitting outside in folding chairs outside City Hall in the evening.
Homeward NYC CEO Jeannette Ruffins and other nonprofit leaders are Up All Night for #JustPay for their human services workers
A crowd of nonprofit leaders outside holding signs that read: "Day or night, we're here for the #JustPay fight!" and "Up all night for #JustPay" and "Nonprofit leaders just can't sleep without #JustPay for our workers." and "We're the sector that never sleeps, in the city that never sleeps. #JustPay our workers."
Sign on a chair “Nonprofit leaders just can’t sleep without #JustPay for our workers.”
A crowd of nonprofit leaders outside City Hall at night
A crowd of nonprofit leaders outside City Hall at night in lawn chairs and sleeping bags
Michelle Jackson, Executive Director of the Human Services Council, being interviewed by PIX 11 in the early morning hours about why nonprofit leaders are Up All Night for #JustPay for their human services workers
Homeward NYC CEO Jeannette Ruffins is Up All Night in the rain with 50 other nonprofit leaders in support of #JustPay for human services workers

Nonprofit leaders have been losing sleep because the City budget doesn’t include a 6.5% cost of living adjustment and a multi-year deal for human services workers.

The action was organized by the Human Services Council, a coalition organization of which Homeward NYC is a member. Councilmembers Tiffany Caban, Lincoln Restler, and Althea Stevens joined to show support for human services workers.

PIX11 News interviewed nonprofit leaders, and Frederick Shack (CEO of Urban Pathways) explained why nonprofit leaders were up all night.

The next morning, United Neighborhood Houses held a rally at City Hall to demand Just Pay. City Council Speaker Adrienne Adams spoke at the rally and put out a statement in support of Just Pay.

Nonprofit service providers under City contract (like Homeward NYC) provide the vast majority of the homeless services and social services needed by the most vulnerable New Yorkers.

Yet, while other City departments received a cost-of-living increase, human services nonprofits did not.

This discrepancy hits our dedicated workforce hard—80% of the human services workers in NYC are persons of color. 60% qualify for at least one form of government assistance.

For years, City and State budgets have been balanced on the backs of low-income neighborhoods and BIPOC communities. This practice has resulted in poverty-level wages for human services workers, who are predominantly women and people of color.

#JustPay is committed to ending the government exploitation of human services workers by demanding sector employees under contract with the New York City and State be paid fair wages for their labor.

Learn more about the Just Pay Campaign at www.justpayny.org

Video from PIX11 News

Update from the Human Services Council on 6/29/23: “No COLA for Human Service Workers…Again”