U.S. Poverty Weekly Update January 3, 2017
U.S. Poverty Campaigns
Weekly Update | January 3, 2017
“I grew up in poverty, and were it not for the "Food Stamp Program," now SNAP, I would have never received the proper nutrition that a child needs to develop their mind and body. Consequently, I may have never received an education that allowed me to pull myself out of poverty and now, in turn, passionately fight for those less fortunate.”
– RESULTS Salt Lake volunteer Michael Brown in a December 30 letter to the editor in the Salt Lake Tribune
- Got Two Minutes? Put in a Quick Request for a Face-to-Face Meeting with the New Congress
- Got Ten Minutes? Start Your First 100 Days Campaign Off Right – Connect with the Local Scheduler!
- Got Twenty Minutes? Build the Public Outcry to Protect Anti-Poverty Policies
- Upcoming Events
Got Two Minutes? Put in a Quick Request for a Face-to-Face Meeting with the New Congress
Today is the start of the 115th Congress, and there is a lot at stake, as our friend Bob Greenstein at the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities outlined in the Washington Post. You can be a part of RESULTS First 100 Days Campaign to shape the congressional agenda for next year by getting face-to-face with your members of Congress about the importance of policies that reduce poverty.
TAKE ACTION: Take two minutes to get started now on your local First 100 Days Campaign. Request face-to-face meetings with your members of Congress (both House and Senate) by tailoring our online lobby meeting request form and send it into your local members of Congress (in coordination with other local RESULTS activists!).
Got Ten Minutes? Start Your First 100 Days Campaign Off Right – Connect with the Local Scheduler!
RESULTS has launched an ambitious campaign to have 100 percent of RESULTS volunteers and Free Agents meet with their congressional offices face-to-face in the first 100 days of 2017. Our First 100 Days Campaign will help you shape the congressional agenda for next year. If members of Congress do not hear from their constituents on policies that reduce poverty, they could do real harm to millions of families around the country. Don’t let that happen.
TAKE ACTION: Take ten minutes to get started now on your local First 100 Days Campaign. Reach out to the local Scheduler by phone or in-person to request a face-to-face meeting with your member of Congress (both House and Senate) and then follow up – you can use our Elected Officials page to find contact information for returning and new members of Congress. Contact Jos Linn ([email protected]) if you need help with scheduling your meetings. Once you get a meeting scheduled, contact Meredith Dodson ([email protected]) to set up a lobby prep call to get you ready. You can also find our updated Lobby Requests on our website.
RESULTS staff will be offering a number of trainings this month to support our First 100 Days Campaign, including a training on Building Relationships with Congressional Offices: How to Set Up Meetings next Wednesday, January 11, at 9pm ET. You can see the details and other trainings on the RESULTS website. And if you want to ensure a powerful follow-up meeting with your representatives and senators later in the year, join us for the RESULTS International Conference in Washington, DC next summer (July 22-25). Registration for the Conference is now open!
Got Twenty Minutes? Build the Public Outcry to Protect Anti-Poverty Policies
As we’ve already seen in the new Congress, public attention on proposed changes can make an impact! Media, especially local media, will play a critical role in our efforts to protect critical anti-poverty programs. With new congressional leadership looking to make drastic changes to the safety net, it is imperative that we let them know that cutting poverty programs is the wrong path for our country. With lots of coverage of the new Congress in local papers, you should have plenty of “hooks’ to use for letters to the editor. And those media pieces are a great piece to hand deliver to policymakers face-to-face during our First 100 Days Campaign.
TAKE ACTION: Take twenty minutes (for many, it might not take this long!) to send in a letter to the editor telling your members of Congress by name to protect critical anti-poverty programs. Personalized letters like Michael’s above are powerful, and you can tailor our protecting the safety net letter to the editor alert or alerts specifically focused on protecting SNAP or expanding the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC). If you sent in a letter that wasn’t yet published, tweak and send in another one (to the same paper or a different one). Be sure to send in your published media to your members of Congress, along with Jos Linn ([email protected]).
In addition, if you haven’t done so already, join the effort to protect anti-poverty programs by signing the SAVE for All letter (RESULTS has already done so as a national organization) via the Coalition on Human Needs. This is another great strategy to show broad support for crucial safety net policies.
Upcoming Events
Go to the RESULTS Events Calendar to see a full list of RESULTS events. Also, find a list of the RESULTS U.S. Poverty staff with contact information on the RESULTS website.
RESULTS Introductory Call, Monday, Wednesday, January 11 at 9:00 pm ET. If you want to learn more about RESULTS, register for an Intro Call on the RESULTS website.
RESULTS U.S. Poverty National Webinar, Saturday, January 14 at 12:30 pm ET. Listen to previous webinars on our National Webinars page.
RESULTS U.S. Poverty Free Agents Calls, Tuesday, January 17 at 1:00 pm and 8:00 pm ET. To participate, login in at http://fuze.me/32256018 or dial by phone at (201) 479-4595, Meeting ID: 32256018#.
RESULTS International Conference, Saturday, July 22 – Tuesday, July 25, 2017. Washington Court Hotel, Washington, DC. Registration is now open!
If you have a question, comment or suggestion for the RESULTS/RESULTS Educational Fund Board, please e-mail them to RESULTS Grassroots Board Member Vanessa Garcia at [email protected]. You can view the most recently published minutes from Board meetings on the RESULTS website, as well as download RESULTS’ most recent Annual Report.