Dear friends,
Every once in a while, I peek at the archive to see what I was writing about a year ago. I did this last night, because I’ve been feeling scattered and overwhelmed.
Exactly one year ago, I was focused on care work and climate action.
Barrett explained the connection between care work and climate:
“When hurricanes hit, we leave our homes and families behind and are asked to shelter in place with our clients. Home care workers are often the first responders in a climate emergency, and yet, we rarely get the recognition or resources we deserve for our labor and efforts. As we experienced this past year with COVID, it is care workers who hold up the economy in a crisis.”
In Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, about 250 in-home support staff and about 250 workers from skilled nursing facilities participated by Zoom in the Caregiver Resiliency Teams Project, a pilot program teaching everything from emergency preparedness and response to how to manage post-crisis trauma and other impacts of climate disasters.
“[O]ur members are de facto first responders,” said Marguerite Young, who works with the climate and environmental program of the Service Employees International Union’s (SEIU). “And yet, they aren’t really part of the emergency response network.”
As June Barrett noted, care workers support the rest of us in a crisis. They need our support.
We have not yet won Fair Pay for Home Care, but the campaign is gathering steam.
Last year, Governor Hochul put $400 million into the budget to provide a $2/hour raise for care workers. In order to get that money into workers’ pockets, there needs to be a change in how that money is disbursed.
[T]he DOH added the money to the premium, or the monthly payment, that the [managed care] plan receives from the state. There is no audit to make sure that the new funds actually went to providers so that it could get to workers.
Tell the Governor to make sure Medicaid managed care plans pay for the home care wage increase. This action is from Consumer Directed Personal Assistance Association of NYS.
Last night I also attended a very interesting session with Nathaniel Stinnett, founder of the Environmental Voter Project.
The project is brilliant. The operating idea is that there are a whole lot of Americans who care deeply about climate change and the environment, but because many of them are not voting, these issues are not getting the attention they merit.
Rather than aiming to change peoples’ minds, which Stinnett noted is nearly impossible, the Environmental Voter Project (EVP) aims to change their behavior. In short, EVP is focused on turning environmentalists into voters.
One of the people attending last night’s session noted that many environmental activists feel — with some justification — that neither major political party is sufficiently committed to climate action.
Stinnett reminded us that who we vote for is secret, but whether we vote is a matter of public record. Using the same tools that pollsters use to identify registered voters and to distinguish likely and unlikely voters, EVP identifies and mobilizes people who care deeply about environmental issues AND are unlikely voters.
Using canvassing, calling, direct mail, and digital advertising, EVP contacts about 85% of this cohort — maintaining the other 15% as a control group! — and then checks the results of their efforts. Habit reinforcement, including calling new environmental voters to thank them, is also part of the program.
They use behavioral science to craft effective messages. Stinnett allows that it’s almost creepy, and very effective.
EVP has been around for six years. Working in 17 states, they have thus far turned over 1 million unlikely voters into super voters, the folks who vote in midterms and off-year elections.
To give you a sense of scale: This year, in Arizona, EVP is working on a cohort of almost 250,000 people. They represent 10.5% of the total number of 2018 voters. There are races for Senate, Governor, and four House seats this year.
EVP is playing a long game. Not just this race or that race, not just this year. They are building the likely voter base with climate and environmental voters. These are the people who get polled, whose priorities matter.
EVP estimates that there are more than 13 million unlikely environmental voters this year.
Support the Environmental Voter Project so that people who care about climate issues and sustainability are voting in every election.
I feel a little less scattered today, owing to a great conversation with my springling last night (you now know how I spent the WHOLE evening).
I will end with an invitation to a picnic this Sunday, where you can eat, meet new people, and learn about our campaign to increase wages for home care workers.
The event is organized by NY Caring Majority and JFREJ. If you come, find me (I have purple and silver hair) to say hello!
There’s still time to RSVP to attend the NY Caring Majority picnic in Prospect Park on Sunday, September 11.
with love,
L