LOUISVILLE, Ky. — Helping those experiencing homelessness is close to Shameka Parrish-Wright’s heart. 

What You Need To Know

  • Shameka Parrish-Wright is the director of VOCAL KY

  • VOCAL aims to lift the voice of marginalized Kentuckians

  • The organization will work to end the AIDS epidemic, the drug war, mass incarceration, and homelessness

  • VOCAL KY is the first extension of VOCAL New York

The bail project operations manager and her four children were once homeless. 

Before she could afford an apartment, she took over the lease of the office she works out of. 

“I haven’t been homeless in a while and so what it takes now to survive on our streets in Kentucky, take someone who has that recent experience, people who are experiencing drug and substance use issues they are the ones who can tell us what works and what doesn’t work,” says Parrish-Wright. 

As director of VOCAL (Voices of Community Activists and Leaders) KY, a new grassroots membership organization Parrish-Wright believes she has the tools to lift the voices of the houseless and other marginalized populations in the commonwealth. 

“The light is on Kentucky and this is a time to lift up Kentucky and its people in a way that we haven’t been able to before,” says Parrish-Wright. 

VOCAL KY will also work to end the AIDS epidemic, the drug war, and mass incarceration. All issues Parrish-Wright or her family have been impacted by. 

“It means so much to people to be a part of the change moving forward and people didn’t see themselves as a tool of change,” says Wright. “VOCAL is going to help them understand that. We’re giving poor people power by lifting up their voices and letting them be leaders in the solutions.”

Parrish-Wright’s vision is to work directly with community members, activists, leaders, and partner organizations like KY Policy and Kentuckians for the Commonwealth to make a collective and inclusive state-wide impact. 

“I know that rural communities and urban communities have more in common than folks understand and that we can work together to really shift our state, so if we have legislative ideas and policy changes, it can’t just come from Louisville. It has to come from every 120 counties,” says Parrish-Wright. 

VOCAL KY is the first expansion of VOCAL New York. That chapter says it has saved or improved the lives of hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers. Parrish-Wright hopes the Kentucky branch will be just as impactful. 

“You and I, we might not see the next 100 years, but our offspring will our families, our communities will, so I want to know that we did our part right now,” says Parrish-Wright. 

The New York chapter will serve as a model for VOCAL KY. Parrish-Wright says ultimately, the people of Kentucky will build and shape the new union. 

VOCAL KY is hosting a meet and greet at Garage Bar in Louisville on July 28 from 5 to 7 p.m. The event will be a chance for community members to join or learn more about the movement. Local and state leaders will be in attendance. 

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