In the first session, Helen Strom discusses her experiences with the early days of the COVID-19 pandemic and her career in organizing and advocacy of homelessness and welfare causes in New York City. Some dimensions include her family's background in activism, connections through Occupy Wall Street, early COVID preparations, and the activities of the Safety Net Activists and Urban Justice Center.
Topics addressed in the second session include work-life balance and cultivating relationships, a campaign to place unhoused people in the Doxie Hotel, the activities of the Homeless Can't Stay Home Coalition, activities of the Department of Homeless Services, and a direct action at the house of Commissioner Steve Banks.
In the third session, Strom revisits earlier topics with an analytical lens. She looks at how the COVID-19 pandemic presented a moment of opportunity, but the organization around homeless causes was not strong enough to sufficiently seize the moment to their advantage. She considers how her advocacy work shifted over the pandemic. She also speaks about the power of direct action, connections with other movements for benefits, the concurrent activism of the Black Lives Matter movement, and the Eric Adams administration. She discusses the surge of anti-homeless sweeps by the police with COVID-19 as a pretext
Community activists; COVID-19 Pandemic, 2020-; COVID-19 (Disease)--Social Aspects; Epidemics--Social Aspects; Social distancing (Public health); Homeless persons--New York (State); Shelters for the homeless--New York (State); Direct action; Work-life balance; Strom, Helen, 1988-; New York (N.Y.). Department of Homeless Services
Format
oral histories
Genre
Interviews
Date
2022
Physical Description
96 pages
Note (Biographical)
Originally from Maryland, Helen Strom grew up in a Jewish family that was passionate about justice and organizing. Strom moved to New York City in 2011 during the Occupy Wall Street movement. She works as the homeless and benefits director for the Saf ety Net Project at the Urban Justice Center
Note
Interviewed by Lynn Lewis on May 3 and September 12, 2020 and August 22, 2022
Note (Provenance)
Helen Strom, Gift, transferred from Columbia Center for Oral History Research 2023