Policy & Advocacy
Trinity Church Wall Street has a long history of advocating for social justice issues that align with our core values. Our community, in partnership with our grantees, clergy, and advocacy partners, is committed to achieving specific policy goals in key areas to improve the lives of our neighbors and fellow New Yorkers.
Housing & Homelessness
Trinity’s housing and homelessness policy priorities align with our Housing and Homelessness Strategic Initiative, and include advocating for:
- Ensuring easy and timely access to rental assistance for households impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic
- Evidence-based solutions to prevent and address family and youth homelessness such as:
- A statewide rent subsidy program
- Expanding eviction prevention and aftercare services
- Providing rapid rehousing for survivors of domestic violence
- Production of more extremely affordable housing and increased City and State funding for supportive housing by implementing the recommendations outlined in the 2020 United for Housing Coalition’s report, of which Trinity is a member
Racial Justice
Trinity’s racial justice policy priorities align with our Racial Justice Strategic Initiative, which is focused on ending mass incarceration by:
- Supporting sentencing reform
- Reforming New York State’s parole system
- Supporting legislation that provides post-conviction relief
- Ensuring the closure of the Rikers Island jail complex
- Shutting down pipelines to the criminal legal system, including dismantling the school- and immigration-to-prison pipelines.
- Using public health first responders for mental health emergencies
- Scaling community-defined public safety initiatives
- Increasing community investments, particularly in housing, mental health, and violence interruption
Reentry for the Formerly Incarcerated
Trinity has organized a coalition of faith communities to advocate for reform of New York City’s reentry system, Faith Communities for Just Reentry. Its policy priorities are to:
- Ensure health and safety for incarcerated individuals released from New York City jails by providing identification upon release, effectively transitioning people’s healthcare from incarceration to their community and access to COVID-19 testing and vaccination
- Increase access to stable and affordable public and private housing for justice-involved individuals and their families
- Develop a coordinated, unified reentry system that holds all of City government accountable for the well-being of formerly incarcerated New Yorkers
Food Insecurity
Trinity has provided emergency food directly and through partnerships with community-based organizations. These efforts have informed our advocacy to:
- Expand and enhance the emergency food system by boosting the capacity and efficiency of food pantries and soup kitchens to distribute more food, particularly fresh produce and other healthy food options
- Address the needs of food workers and small food businesses, make food supply chains more efficient and resilient, and ensure that the City’s food is produced, distributed, and disposed of sustainably
Climate Justice
Climate change is one of the highest priority concerns for the Trinity Youth community and will continue to be a defining issue for their generation. As such, we support:
- A youth-led movement for climate justice, with a particular focus on the intersection of climate justice with racial justice, housing, homelessness, and immigration
Media Coverage
Click through to read more.New York Daily News
New York Daily News
Testimony to City Council
Supporting policies to decarcerate city jails
including by establishing a “Local Conditional Release Commission.”
Addressing the crisis in Rikers Island jails
Including both testimony and policy recommendations
On improving conditions for women in city jails
Policy recommendations
Supporting reforms to New York’s Reentry System
and other housing policy solutions
Supporting the Fair Chance for Housing Act
Trinity on behalf of the Faith Communities for Just Reentry coalition