VOCAL-Kentucky

VOCAL-Kentucky We fight for systemic change rooted in justice, compassion, and love.

VOCAL-KY is building a movement of low-income people dedicated to ending the AIDS epidemic, the war on drugs, mass incarceration, and homelessness across the country.

08/19/2026

Black Philanthropy Month reminds us that giving has always lived in our communities.

Before philanthropy had a title, Black people were feeding each other, housing each other, healing each other, bailing each other out, raising each other’s children, and keeping each other alive.

As we approach International Overdose Awareness Day, we honor that same legacy of care.
Harm reduction is community care.
Narcan access is community care.
Safe housing, healthcare, and dignity for people who use drugs is community care.

This month, we remember those we’ve lost, fight for those still here, and recommit to investing in life.

Black philanthropy is not just charity. It is survival. It is love in action. It is us choosing us.

Join us for our August membership meeting TOMORROW at 4!! It’s gonna take ALL of us.
08/19/2026

Join us for our August membership meeting TOMORROW at 4!! It’s gonna take ALL of us.

08/18/2026

In 2013, nine-year-old Armelle Bondonga arrived in the United States with her family, seeking safety and asylum. She spent her childhood in Maine before moving to Kentucky in 2020, where she completed high school at Waggener—leaving behind a legacy as a vibrant, selfless, and deeply beloved student leader.

​Armelle poured her heart into Louisville, dedicating endless hours to community service and lifting up everyone around her. After earning her associate degree, she fell in love with Terrance Bradshaw, a U.S. citizen. Together, they built a life rooted in love and welcomed their precious son, Benir.

​On Wednesday, what should have been a joyful milestone—their final green card interview—turned into an absolute nightmare. Without warning, Armelle was arrested and detained by ICE right in front of her family. She remains trapped in detention in Jeffersonville, Indiana, brutally torn from her home and family in Louisville, ripped away from her 19-month-old baby who needs his mother.

Armelle's absence is being felt by her family and a community that adores her. If you want to help, please donate to the fund created by NAI to support her legal representation and her family https://www.zeffy.com/en-US/donation-form/donate-to-the-habeas-fund

Her attorneys Hishem Alsalman and Arianit Osmani are working diligently. Thank you to Nima Kulkarni for all the coordination and to Ryan Davis, her former teacher, for ringing the alarm. Please help us get our girl home to her family.

Kentucky has always had a tradition of Black community care.Long before foundations and large institutions, our communit...
08/07/2026

Kentucky has always had a tradition of Black community care.

Long before foundations and large institutions, our communities created their own systems of support; neighbors helping neighbors, churches opening their doors, families sharing resources, and organizers fighting for a better future.

Black philanthropy is more than giving money. It is giving time. Sharing knowledge. Protecting our people. Building power.

This Black August and Black Philanthropy Month, we honor the generations before us who showed us that liberation has always been a collective effort.

📦 What piece of Kentucky Black history deserves to be remembered?

07/18/2026

The ordinance temporarily blocks new data centers larger than 100,000 square feet, along with campuses made up of multiple buildings that total more than 100,000 square feet. Read more: https://bit.ly/4flLqhY

Last night, we gathered for another powerful VOCAL-KY membership meeting, and I left feeling hopeful and energized about...
07/16/2026

Last night, we gathered for another powerful VOCAL-KY membership meeting, and I left feeling hopeful and energized about the work ahead.

As a membership-led organization, we believe our members should shape our direction. That means we consistently check in, listen, and make sure our work stays rooted in our mission, values, and goals. I believe organizations begin to experience mission drift when they spend more time chasing what funders want than helping funders understand and invest in what communities know actually works.

At VOCAL-KY.ORG, our staff, members, leaders, and allies are directly impacted by one or more of our four organizing pillars: ending mass incarceration, ending homelessness, ending HIV/AIDS, and ending the failed drug war. These issues are connected, and so are the solutions.

Whether you're in Louisville, Lexington, Frankfort, or a rural Kentucky community, people are struggling with housing insecurity, mental health challenges, substance use, and barriers to healthcare. The conditions may look different depending on the neighborhood, the time of day, or the weather emergency, the need is real everywhere. As we often say, the lines may separate us, but the issues unite us.

Kentucky is a slow-turn place. We have so much to be proud of, but when systems fail to evolve, our communities pay the price. That's why every summer we commit to a Summer of Organizing! A season of listening, learning, taking action, and building power alongside our local, state, and national partners.

At last night's meeting, we planned for our upcoming International Overdose Awareness Day event on August 31, discussed ways to strengthen our organizing, and celebrated the continued growth of our work across the Commonwealth. We're expanding in Lexington & Frankfort and will soon be hiring a new organizer in the Lexington area.

If you believe in people-powered change, we invite you to join us. All of our meetings are hybrid, so you can participate from anywhere in Kentucky.

Visit vocal-ky.org to become a member, volunteer, donate, or stay connected.

Thank you to all those that help sustain our work.

In solidarity,

SLPW

Real conversations save lives.Smoking, va**ng, and harm reduction affect families and communities across Kentucky. Wheth...
07/13/2026

Real conversations save lives.

Smoking, va**ng, and harm reduction affect families and communities across Kentucky. Whether you smoke, v**e, support someone who does, work in public health, or simply want to learn more, this training is for you.

Join us for a full day of community education led by Danielle Walker of the Community Education Group. We'll discuss to***co and ni****ne, menthol products, harm reduction strategies, and how we can improve health equity through education, compassion, and evidence-based solutions. Free food, soft drinks and door prizes included.

📅 Wednesday, July 15 🕙 10:00 AM – 6:00 PM 📍 VOCAL-KY Office 723 S. Brook Street Louisville, KY 40202

At VOCAL-KY, we believe people deserve access to accurate information, respect, and resources not stigma or shame.

Bring a friend, ask questions, and be part of the conversation. Together, we can build healthier communities.

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Louisville, KY

Telephone

+15028301372

Website

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