Dear friends,
Engaging in local and state activism and advocacy is the perfect balm if you are feeling overwhelmed by national and world events. It’s easier to have an impact AND so many consequential decisions are made relatively close to home.
The theme of this post is inspired by Lena Greenberg for Ward 5, who is a long-time organizer and first-time candidate for public office. I had the pleasure of hanging out with their all-volunteer campaign team when I was in Burlington last week. It was plain that folks were feeling good about working for change in their community.
I like to mix it up, because so many issues — climate impacts, poverty, etc. — are subject to policy-making at every level of government. As I do with young people, I urge you to identify a short list of your own top issues.
Here are some good people who have accomplished great things in their cities and states:
The Denver Streets Partnership is the community coalition behind the city’s pilot Bicycling Rewards Program that begins this April.
The Bicycling Rewards Program is part of a larger research project to see what motivates locals to drive less. The city has struggled to meet their climate goal for reduced transportation emissions and this program hopes to offer some solutions.
Some cool features of the program are mileage reimbursement of up to $200/month for transit miles traveled by bike, commuter training and personalized coaching for some participants, and stipends for bike maintenance.
In Omaha, Black Men United operates a food pantry that provides twice-monthly groceries for up to one thousand families each month.
Their advocacy was also key in bringing about Nebraska Governor Jim Pillen’s change of heart: after insisting that the state would decline $18 million in federal funding for Summer EBT to provide an additional $40/month per child to assist families, Pillen took the funds.
Few things are easy in DC these days; the Republicans are again angling to shut down the government. Remind your Senators that they can improve the lives of millions of children by passing the expanded Child Tax Credit.
Tell the Senate to pass the expanded Child Tax Credit. This quick action is from Moms Rising.
Fighting for sensible local and state budgets is a serious matter. In Minneapolis, a librarian hiring wave across the city rapidly increased the number of books borrowed by students.
In one school, the number of books borrowed quadrupled.
Circulation is way up in many schools — it's doubled since last year at Nellie Stone Johnson Elementary on the North Side and also at Transitions Plus, a program for 18- to 21-year-old students with learning disabilities.
Here in NYC, we’ve got to mobilize to restore Sunday service at the libraries, and the 3-K pre-school program.
For nearly a decade, every 4-year-old in New York has been eligible for a free prekindergarten seat — and 3-year-olds were set to be next in line. The unusual program was designed to make staying in an increasingly unaffordable city more tenable for thousands of families, whose continued presence would also benefit the city’s economy.
But instead of expanding the 3-K program, the Adams administration has slashed the city’s preschool budget by about $170 million in recent months because of empty seats.
We can be the heroes of this story.
Mark your calendar for March 6, when we will rally for #CareNotCuts.
The work of making meaningful change sometimes starts at home and it may entail some pretty knotty legislative issues.
Watch my friends Charles and Agnes explain the home care crisis in NY with Lilieth Clacken, 1199 SEIU home care worker.
Getting the care we need is a good thing. It’s worth understanding how a change in the law could end the current wasteful practices that divert billions of tax dollars to private insurance companies.
Let your state legislators know that we need the The Home Care Savings & Reinvestment Act. This quick action is from NY Caring Majority.
I’m not generally inclined to rely on rich people to solve problems. Nonetheless, you can raise a glass to Ruth Gottesman, a former professor at the Albert Einstein College of Medicine, who donated $1 billion to the medical school so that students can attend the Bronx institution tuition-free.
It’s not structural change AND it’s a cool thing to do if you inherit a ridiculous pile of money.
In 2010, he created an Employee Stock Ownership Plan and by April 2020, the company became entirely employee-owned. In an interview last year, Bob said he was inspired to transfer full ownership to his 700+ employees by the Golden Rule.
with love,
L