“The Fortune Society applauds Governor Hochul for responding to our state’s mental health and gun violence crisis with community-based solutions. For far too long, we have watched as those suffering from mental illness have been incarcerated instead of directed toward treatment.

We need to reverse this approach and view this as a public health crisis. We are at a moment in our state’s and nation’s history when all must devote resources to build up communities, provide preventative resources, and ultimately end the cycle of mass incarceration.

We thank the Governor and also credit Mayor Adams for recognizing these challenges in his recent anti-violence plan. These are major steps forward to addressing this crisis.

The Fortune Society looks forward to collaborating with the Governor’s office and the Mayor’s team to target the root causes of violence and mass incarceration by addressing poverty, lack of economic opportunity, homelessness, and their disproportionate impacts on marginalized communities.

Our vision, our hope, is that in doing so, we can create a safer, more equitable, and more fair city and state, for all New Yorkers.”