Storytelling in MAP's PromisePublic

Keywords: Disability justice, legal team, advocacy team, volunteering, legal assistance, New York  

One of the integral parts of Mentor A Promise is a commitment to storytelling. Storytelling helps humans to form communities  -- mutual understanding and a connection through spoken word. By speaking to the PromisePublic division, I was able to delve deeper into understanding what drives this group of devoted workers, and fit their mission into the broader community of MAP.

 

The main goal of PromisePublic is officially to “advance systems level change that improves outcomes for children, youth and families experiencing housing instability”, and accomplishes this through five main avenues: elevating community voices, influencing public policy strengthening civic engagement, building and participating in strategic coalitions, and addressing root causes of housing instability such as barriers to opportunity. Three departments exist within the division, and I sat down with the directors: Sarah Weill-Jones, in the disability justice division, Lauren Moschitta with the policy department, and Genevieve Satzinger, the advocacy team lead. I wanted to learn the mission of each department, but also to understand the stories behind each of these individuals.

Disability Justice Division: Sarah Weill-Jones

One of the most rewarding things about the Disability Justice Division, according to Weill-Jones, is that it was recently developed from the ground up. There are two unofficial ‘wings’, an educational team and digital accessibility coordinators. Functionally, while the digital accessibility coordinators focus on corrective work inside MAP, making sure that each and every division is fully accessible, the educational team has a broader goal to teach the principles of universal design to those in MAP. For those that are unfamiliar, Weill-Jones explained this term to me by using the ‘Curb Cut Effect’ metaphor, wherein road tweaks are meant for those in wheelchairs, but oftentimes other people, who may not even be disabled, have found it helpful for their purposes as well. Universal design strives to follow that principle, Weill-Jones explained, where you make “something as adaptable as possible so that it can suit as many different sets of user needs as you can”. These principles are taught through the designing of disability justice handbooks, universal design handbooks, and training for those in MAP. Weill-Jones describes the importance of this, stating that “by teaching people how to make their products or lesson plans accessible from the ground up, it’s less the disability team going in and doing corrective work, and more us just putting accessibility to the forefront in everything that we’re creating, so that as many people as possible can participate.”

 

Having gotten the basics of their division, I then asked Weill-Jones about their personal story, and personal motivations. First, they told me that what drew them to Mentor A Promise was the populations that we work with. Coming from a background of interest in public interest law, it was clear that many marginalised groups overlap. One of the biggest overlaps is between those who are disabled and those who are unhoused. “As a disabled person,” Weill-Jones stated,  “I really want to work to tackle the systems that have systemically put disabled folks at a disadvantage and do whatever I can to help other disabled people live successful independent lives by giving them the tools they need, and working to create structures that are more accessible to them.” From this initial draw to the program, one of the most rewarding parts of MAP for Weill-Jones has been the opportunity to create this division from the ground up, and getting to see “how passionate people are to adopt our materials as much as possible”. Willingness to learn has been inspiring to them from all divisions. Furthermore, involvement with MAP has shifted their lens of disability law, from focusing on civil rights and liberties directly towards housing as a main issue preventing success for disabled individuals.

Photo of Sarah Weill-Jones, by Sarah Weill-Jones 

 

Advocacy Team Lead, Genevieve Satzinger

The second division of the PromisePublic is Advocacy, and Genevieve Satzinger is the Advocacy Team Lead, currently in charge of both the operation and strategy side. This was also a division built from the ground up starting in January, and has involved large amounts of research by Satzinger on how an advocacy organisation can best serve the community. Currently, the focus has shifted more towards policy and legislation, collaborating to determine how advocacy operations ought to be adjusted to the current legal state. A key aspect of this wing is identifying the needs of the community. This is done by elevating the voices of the community, but also with empirical data analysis on the children directly represented. In opinion, this is the most important part of advocacy, understanding the lived experiences and actual beliefs of the community. All this knowledge then feeds into coalitions that Mentor A Promise participates in, notably, the NYC Kincare Taskforce. This larger body was established to facilitate collaboration among systems assisting caregivers. By contributing to this, MAP can ensure a wider reach of their own platform as well as elevate the resources to their own community.

 

Speaking to Satzinger, she stated that the most rewarding part of her experience has been the variety of MAP programs and methodology, such as mentoring, tutoring, and leading activities for the mentees as well as the volunteers. The downside, however, is “deciding the most effective way to begin our advocacy work so that it is sustainable for scaling and always prioritizes the youth we directly influence.” This circles back to the idea of elevating voices to determine what is actually the most important to the community directly. Satzinger emphasises this, stating that “being involved with MAP has reinforced [that] the most important part of advocacy is centering the lived experiences of the people you are advocating for.” She goes on to state that “community is deeply personal. When people feel safe sharing their experiences, it not only helps others better understand their needs but also fosters connection, empathy, and a stronger sense of belonging,” ultimately enabling an improvement of the community as a whole.

 

Policy Team, Lauren Moschitta

 

The policy team works to steer the advocacy team, by tracking state and local legislation, flagging relevant platforms for advocacy. This means looking out for policy that helps Mentor A Promise’s cause, but also watching for that which may hurt it. “Losing access to housing” she stated, “can cause a loss in access to work, schooling, mental health stability, and even safety. The policy team is doing our best to identify the problems that can arise alongside housing instability and create inequality”. 

In addition to working as a base for the advocacy department, the policy team also conducts research into issue areas that relate to MAP’s mission. Currently, conducting research on mental health and youth development, “looking into the issues in the scope of NYC, [and] the trends and what policies have worked in other cities”, using that information to assist and brief other departments of MAP. 

Moschitta has been working at MAP since December 2025. In her words, “creating a more equitable New York means finding where the gaps exist in access to opportunity. Ensuring that all children are able to get to school, become educated, and have support for any problems that may arise when they are without housing is vital”. This collaboration with the advocacy team is new as well, and Moschitta expressed her excitement at how working with like-minded people, most of whom have given their time to volunteer along with a full time job, has been the most rewarding part of MAP.

 

 

Advocacy in Action

 

When asked if being involved with MAP has changed her perspective at all on [her] view of advocacy, Moschitta stated that “non-profit advocacy and volunteer work in the policy space is a work of passion and dedication. People offering their free time to help with the skills they have is really special”. This reflects the mission of many MAP volunteers.

 

Advocacy goes beyond Mentor A Promise volunteers. Speaking on the ability of PromisePublic to give tools of advocacy to the community, Satzinger stated that “Our team is also very focused on making advocacy accessible beyond MAP. We're actively creating tools and resources that help people become stronger self-advocates while also empowering community members, volunteers, and others to take action in support of people affected by homelessness”. She ended the conversation by expressing that “advocacy across different groups is deeply connected. Whether it's storytelling, community organizing, or government relations, these approaches all work together to create meaningful change… The goal is not only to amplify the voices of those with lived experience but also to equip more people with the knowledge and confidence to advocate alongside them.”  Learning the stories of these devoted members of Mentor a Promise, I was able to leave these conversations ready to embrace opportunities for learning in my life, as well. There are so many different facets through which to channel your passions into advocacy. But the most important part of this is what your experiences can teach you, and what you can learn through others.