Did you know a bookstore can lead to radical and attainable social reform? This bookstore stands on the side of a cobblestone New York City street. Seemingly lost to time, you may feel like you’ve traveled back a few decades. However, Housing Works is actually moving the city forward and bringing healthcare for all along with it while confronting toxic stigmas.
Wine, coffee, and donated books await you within this gorgeous structure. Yet, it has so much more to offer. All profits from the shop go towards fixing two of the Empire State’s biggest problems: homelessness and the healthcare (specifically HIV/AIDS) crisis.
In this article, you will discover more about Housing Works Bookstore, its goals, and its methods. The bookshop is extremely transparent with its fund allocations. This makes its promises actionable and achievable.
Housing Works Bookstore
Like so many people in New York, this structure has multiple jobs. It sells books, wine, and coffee. The space offers itself out to rent for weddings and performances. It even provides a bridge to healthcare and housing for those who otherwise couldn’t afford it.
The structure itself is magnificent. There’s a dark wood interior with a spiral staircase that leads to a second floor. From there, you can see the cafe/bar on the level below. Small tables are tucked against the overlook. This offers a perfect spot to people-watch, like a pigeon on its perch. Golden lights drape from the high ceilings, enchanting the space even further. You can easily envision the many weddings that have taken place here. The dark wooden bookshelves are filled with hundreds of pre-loved books. You can find any genre you may be looking for and can easily lose hours searching through some unique pages.
The cafe/bar is wrapped by bookshelves offering New York-themed books, art, and maps. Many small circular tables await you along with your drink and book of choice. Soft conversation and light music fill the space, adding to the comfort. You feel like you are at a community gathering as if you know the people that sit at the table beside you. Even if you just plan to sit and read your book, this feeling is a warm one.
At the front of the store, you’ll find a few final offerings at the register. Volunteers work these registers as well as serve the drinks, none wanting to divide the finances of Housing Works’ mission.
Most recently, Housing Works was seen on “Gutsy,” an apple TV program where Hillary and Chelsea Clinton travel the world interviewing “gutsy” women. While the bookshop was a setting in the show, it also fits its theme as perfectly as every other guest. The space, and the team behind it, have courage even against the odds they face.
A Bookshop Battling a Crisis
The land of dreams and opportunities has always known struggle. New York City residents face a never-ending battle of rapid gentrification. This constantly increases impossibly-high rent prices. Therefore, the likelihood of facing housing insecurity is higher than in most places. Housing Works confronts this issue by connecting low-income people to housing across Manhattan, Brooklyn, and The Bronx. Housing Works also teams with Ready For Work, which prepares people living with chronic illnesses for careers. Access to career resources like this is valuable in destroying the illness-to-homeless pipeline.
Securing treatment for those affected by HIV/AIDS has been a devastatingly long process. It’s one that’s made longer due to homophobia, racism, classism, and other false stigmas surrounding the infection. The advocacy and healthcare provisions provided by Housing Works have changed the perception and treatment of those with HIV/AIDS. Housing Works Healthcare even fights for transmission prevention by offering PrEP regardless of insurance.
Harm Reduction
Housing Works connects people to community health centers throughout the five boroughs. Preventative care, integrated treatment, and more are offered to any/all who need it. Collaborative multi-lingual counselors are available for those struggling with behavioral health and/or substance use and who need someone to talk to. Through this counseling, clean syringe exchange, and overdose recognition, Housing Works teaches and implements harm reduction.
Harm reduction is a public health policy designed to lessen the negative consequences associated with various illegal and legal human behaviors. Though a useful philosophy and practice in many things, it is often used in the treatment of substance abuse. Shifting focus to reduction rather than elimination leads to attainable and trackable progress without shame. There are so many ways to practice harm reduction. While Housing Works takes huge important steps in reducing harm from substance use, you can use the same methods in any area of your life.
Harm reduction makes up the mental framework for so many things. Even book-selling and book-buying. Something simple like choosing paperback books over hardcover acts as a form of harm-reduction for environmental sustainability. Over time, hardcover books basically dissolve into soft paper-cover books, making them lose their value. This typically means they are thrown away and turned into waste. Buying local can also be seen as harm reduction. While buying from any business supports capitalism, “shopping small” also supports local businesses, which keeps the funds in your community.
If you have more tips and ideas for harm reduction practices, share them with us in the comments below.
A New Page in New York City
By providing this abundance of resources, Housing Works Bookstore offers life to a city that is often struggling to breathe. The store also represents the strength of the New Yorkers who believe that a bookstore can be the catalyst for important social reform. Housing Works is there for you, whether you need a beautiful space to hold an event or need healthcare and housing services. Perhaps you just need a good book.
To find out more about their resources, visit https://www.housingworks.org/services
Housing Works Bookstore and Cafe is located at 126 Crosby St, New York, NY
