The Oneida Daily Dispatch (Oneida, NY)
John Furman receives community activist award
UTICA >> Mohawk Valley Community Action Agency has chosen John Furman of Vernon as the 2017 recipient of the Treva Wood Community Activist Award.
The award, established in 2005, is presented annually to an individual who is dedicated to fighting for the empowerment of ow-income members of the community. This individual works tirelessly for the rights and the opportunities for success of each individual in the tradition of the late Treva Wood, past executive director of Mohawk Valley Community Action.
Furman will receive the award as part of MVCAA’s 51st Anniversary Gala on Friday, May 12 from 6-10 p.m. at Hart’s Hill Inn. Tickets are $75 each and are available online at www.mvcaa.com/gala or by calling (315) 624-9930.
Furman’s involvement in social justice activism is extensive. He is president of Central New York Citizens in Action, Inc., a multi-issue public interest advocacy organization that works with issues such as equitable funding for public schools, health care, living wages, climate justice, and publicly funded elections. Furman also serves as a leader of the OneidaHerkimer-Madison Working Families Party chapter and is a member of the Central New York Labor Council. He participates in the Global Social Economy Forum, an international network that aims to foster public-private community partnerships for an inclusive, equitable and human centered economy. Furman has taught workshops on grant writing, community collaboration, civic engagement, housing and community development, social enterprise, and volunteer mobilization.
Furman holds a directorship position at the Utica Municipal Housing Authority. He represents the Housing Authority on the Mohawk Valley Anti-Poverty Task Force, Mohawk Valley Housing and Homeless Coalition, Refugee Service Providers Consortium; Herkimer, Madison, Oneida Emerging Worker Committee, Oneida County Health Coalition, and the Lead-Free Mohawk Valley Coalition. He secured funding and managed the Housing Authority’s HOPE VI community revitalization project in the Cornhill neighborhood, which resulted in the development of 159 units. He has successfully garnered funds and managed the Housing Authority’s homeownership program, which produced 58 units. Furman has obtained more than $3,000,000 in new funding for the Housing Authority’s resident service programs.