Directory of Local Organizations

ACR Health is a not-for-profit, community-based organization providing a range of support services to individuals with chronic diseases, including HIV/AIDS, diabetes, heart disease, obesity, asthma, substance use disorders, and serious mental illnesses, with the goal of positive health outcomes.

ACR Health provides a wide variety of targeted prevention and sexual health services to individuals, from youth through adulthood, as well as to community groups and organizations, with the goal of informed and responsible decision making.

Alternatives to Violence Project works to empower participants to find creative solutions to conflict by developing skills in building healthy relationships through good communication, cooperation and conflict transformation.

Offers three-day experiential workshops at three levels: the Basic, the Advanced and the Training for Facilitators.

ArtRage Gallery is an arts space that focuses on art with social justice and environmental themes. The vision of the gallery is to share the transformative power of the arts with the community, to provide exhibition opportunities to local artists, and to use art to give voice to and share stories from historically underrepresented communities. We are committed to breaking down the art world’s boundaries about who is welcome. We believe that everyone has the right to art and that art is essential to building an open, just world.

#BlackLivesMatter was created in 2012 after Trayvon Martin’s murderer, George Zimmerman, was acquitted for his crime, and dead 17-year old Trayvon was posthumously placed on trial for his own murder. Rooted in the experiences of Black people in this country who actively resist our dehumanization, #BlackLivesMatter is a call to action and a response to the virulent anti-Black racism that permeates our society. Black Lives Matter is a unique contribution that goes beyond extrajudicial killings of Black people by police and vigilantes.

Building a world where everyone has what they need to thrive.

The Center for Community Alternatives (CCA), founded in 1981, is a leader in community-based alternatives to incarceration and policy advocacy to reduce reliance on incarceration. We provide direct services to communities in New York City, Syracuse, and Rochester, engaging approximately 3,500 youth and adults annually who would otherwise be incarcerated.

Services include gender-based substance treatment and recovery communities, sentence mitigation, court advocacy, workforce readiness, civic restoration services, emergency/transitional housing, student advocacy, violence prevention, and youth mentoring as well as afterschool programming and career exploration for justice-involved youth. The majority of our participants are Black or Latino/a and come from poor or low-income communities.

The mission of CNY Pride is to serve the Central New York lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender (LGBT) community and their allies.
Our annual Pride Parade and Festival, along with similar events throughout the year, provides a forum to celebrate and affirm individual sexual and gender identity, to commemorate our community's rich history and diversity, and to renew our dedication to ending intolerance and achieving equal rights.

Our mission is to reduce the amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere through individual and community education and action while supporting fair and just public policies and legislation.

Area federation representing over 100,000 members of 200 local unions in eleven central New York counties: Broome, Cayuga, Chenango, Cortland, Delaware, Madison, Onondaga, Oswego, Otsego,Tioga, and Tompkins. Mission: to improve the lives of working families—to bring economic justice to the workplace and social justice to our state and the nation.

Founded in 1982 by activists seeking an alternative to fat-cat corporate bankers, we are a non-profit, financial service cooperative dedicated to fairness, equality, and social & economic justice.

Eastern Farmworkers is a volunteer-run organization involved with low-income working families. We work with farmers and their workers, and former manufacturing workers who have had to assume temporary jobs after plants like Carrier relocated. We work to bridge the gap between rural and urban communities, and maintain healthy relationships between employers and employees who are often affected by the same policies. We allocate benefits such as job and housing referrals, food and clothing distribution, and volunteer dental, legal, and medical services.

Focus on Awareness and Information Resources of New York, Inc. We host the educational booth at the New York State Fair to provide information and resources on issues ranging from bullying of LGBTQ youth, discrimination facing members of the LGBTQ community in employment, housing and health issues, GENDA, marriage equality and protection of LGBTQ families. Our Booth is a highly visible space that welcomes the general public as well as members of the LGBTQ community, as we work to promote inclusion and diversity through educational information and resources.

The Hiscock Legal Aid Society promotes the fundamental right of every person to equal justice under the law by providing high quality legal assistance to individuals and families in need in Onondaga County and the surrounding region.

InterFaith Works builds bridges of understanding to affirm the dignity of all people in Central New York. Working with the different faith communities and the diversity of the region’s people, we address deeply embedded social divisions.

The JCC of Syracuse is all about families coming together with the community. We offer programs and services for infants, toddlers, school-age children, teens, adults and seniors... something for everyone! Come for a visit and tour. You don't have to be Jewish to become a member of the JCC.

A diverse and democratic community of activists grounded in Jewish values and traditions and working together against anti-Muslim, anti-Arab, and anti-Jewish bigotry and oppression. We seek an end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, Gaza Strip, and East Jerusalem; security and self-determination for Israelis and Palestinians; and a just solution for Palestinian refugees based on international law.

The Syracuse chapter of JVP was started in Fall 2016. In addition to the goals above, we are committed to creating community; working for peace, social justice and human rights locally; and collaborating with other Central New York groups working on these and similar issues.

The League of Women Voters is a non-partisan political organization that encourages informed active participation in government. We work to increase understanding of major public policy issues through education & advocacy. For 107 years, we have be an educational resource for voter information.

LiteracyCNY, formerly Literacy Volunteers of Greater Syracuse (LVGS) provides adults in Central New York with the literacy tools and skills that they need to be contributing, productive, and engaged members of the community. We do this by advocating for adult education, providing instruction, and partnering with other community based agencies. Improving Adult Literacy makes our community stronger.

Gives an opportunity to Muslims and members of the Association to come in close contact with one another in the true sense of Islamic sister and brotherhood.

Carries out educational and social programs that will further Syracuse University's knowledge and appreciation of Islam and Muslim heritage. Seeks to establish a relationship with the Syracuse University community that is based on mutual trust, respect, cooperation and support.

Advocates for justice, equality and prosperity for local, national and international causes for all people.

Allows Muslim students to take an active role in the Syracuse community through communication and service projects.

NOW is dedicated to its multi-issue and multi-strategy approach to women’s rights, and is the largest organization of feminist grassroots activists in the United States. NOW’s purpose is to take action through intersectional grassroots activism to promote feminist ideals, lead societal change, eliminate discrimination, and achieve and protect the equal rights of all women and girls in all aspects of social, political, and economic life. CNY chapter covers Onondaga and nearby counties.

Syracuse and surrounding areas - Inclusive group for all like-minded individuals who want to affect change especially with the new Presidential Administration threatening to destroy democracy as we know it. Upon learning the results of the 2016 Presidential election, three women came together to form New Feminists for Justice (NFFJ). Our goal is to work for peace through justice utilizing grassroots feminist efforts.

The Northside Urban Partnership is an urban revitalization collaborative dedicated to engaging diverse groups of people and organizations in turning the Northside of Syracuse right-side up.

Protects and provides health care and education that empowers individuals and families. Planned Parenthood of Central and Western New York has 10 health centers and one mobile unit. Delivers affordable, nonjudgmental, high quality health care to thousands of people each year. Staff specialize in reproductive and sexual health care.

Mission:

RISE advocates for and facilitates economic independence and community inclusion for refugees and immigrants through education, employment, social support and service navigation.

Vision:

Refugees and immigrants are empowered to become independent and productive members of society who enrich their new community while maintaining their cultural identity.

Values:

RISE values cultural authenticity centered on the lived experience and self-determination of refugees and immigrants.

Promotes the well-being of older gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender people and allies in Central New York through health programs, social activities, and education.

Service Area: Cayuga, Cortland, Jefferson, Madison, Oneida, Onondaga, and Oswego Counties.

Programs: Health and wellness programming, support groups, social activities, and education for health care providers about the needs of older LGBTQ people.

The Stand is an online South Side community newspaper that is written for and by South Side residents. As the voice of the South Side community of Syracuse, the paper aims to start a community conversation online by inviting residents of the South Side to share their stories. The paper is the brainchild of the South Side Newspaper Project, a collaboration of the South Side Community Coalition, Syracuse University and a number of dedicated South Side community residents.

Established in 1974, Syracuse Model Neighborhood Facility, Inc., now d.b.a. Syracuse Community Connections. (SCC) is the managing entity of the City-owned Southwest Community Center (SWCC) located at 401 South Avenue. SWCC, in the tradition of settlement houses also known as community or neighborhood centers, provides services and activities designed to identify and reinforce the strengths of individuals, families and communities. SCC provides a refuge for community residents with a variety of services to meet a number of social, health, economic and nutritional needs. 

The Syracuse Gay and Lesbian Chorus is a community choral ensemble of gay, lesbian, bisexual and transgendered people and their allies, dedicated to providing and performing an eclectic and entertaining offering of quality choral music which reflects the diverse nature of our community and serves to unite us with the wider community around us.

Join our community of over 2 million activists across the nation fighting for change and for justice. For 114 Years the NAACP has spent fighting against racism and discrimination across the country and in our very own communities! We work to disrupt inequality, dismantle racism, and accelerate change in key areas including criminal justice, health care, education, climate, economy, advocacy & litigation and next generation leadership.

Mission to engage the University Community to empower students, enhance equity and provide a platform for innovation and inclusion. We achieve this by mitigating competitive disadvantages and environmental barriers that impact learning; by supporting faculty in the classroom and our colleagues across the university to strive for universal design and full inclusion. We provide individual academic adjustments when environmental barriers cannot be eliminated and assistive technology that fosters independent, self-determined learners.

The Syracuse Urbanism Collective strives to build access to human-centered, walkable, vibrant communities and spaces for all. Our goal is to enhance the urbanism of Syracuse through physical installations and programming in public space, as well as advocacy on policy and design.

We advocate for people locked up by police and locked out of schools to build power and chart a path toward liberation by making racial and economic justice a reality.

Vera House is a comprehensive domestic and sexual violence service agency providing shelter, advocacy, and counseling services for women, children & men, education and prevention programs and community coordination.

One of Syracuse’s longest-surviving community gardens, cultivated primarily by community members living near the garden, the West Newell St. Garden utilizes a shared harvest model and holds regular garden workdays, garden lunches, barbecues, and fishing trips. West Newell Street Community Garden is a social change garden, striving to be inclusive of individuals from diverse backgrounds and ethnic groups.