U.S. Poverty Weekly Update January 9, 2018

U.S. Poverty Campaigns

Weekly Update | January 9, 2018

“We need to make clear to Congress that we won’t stand for any attempt to unravel anti-poverty programs.”

– RESULTS Hawaii volunteer Emma Ulali’a Oto-Pale in a January 8 letter to the editor in the Maui News

Quick Media Action: Tell Congress No Cuts to Basic Assistance to Pay for Tax Breaks​

Got Two Minutes? Join the U.S. Poverty National Webinar Tonight at 8 pm ET to Jump Start the Planning Process (January Action)

Join us for the RESULTS U.S. Poverty National Webinar this evening, January 9, at 8 pm ET. In 2018 it will be critical that Congress (and, looking ahead, Congressional candidates) hear from you – their constituents – about protecting and strengthening health and basic assistance programs like Medicaid and SNAP. On our first National Grassroots Webinar of the year, our focus will be planning for a powerful year. We’ll preview our 2018 U.S. Poverty Campaigns and briefly overview the 2018 group planning process. We’ll end the call early (after about 30 minutes) to give groups gathering in person time to do your planning. If you are not meeting as a group tonight, please schedule a time to meet and complete your plan before the end of this month. You can find Group Planning resources on the Group Resources page of our website.

TAKE ACTION: Take two minutes to confirm details to participate in the RESULTS U.S. Poverty National Grassroots Webinar call this evening, January 9 at 8:00 pm ET. Coordinate with your group where you will meet for the call. To join the webinar online, login at http://fuze.me/32255914 or dial in by phone at (201) 479-4595, Meeting ID: 32255914#. Plan to log in or call in no later than 7:55 pm ET. Tonight’s webinar slides are now available on our National Webinars page. Also, please read the January Action, which has tips for your planning this month, including links to the forms to use, as well as a guide for requesting your first lobby meetings of the year.

Got Ten Minutes? In Your 2018 Planning, Take on Leadership and Make Room for Others to Do the Same  (January Action)

As your group discusses goals for the year, we hope you will come up with an inspiring plan that will motivate your group and make a big difference on our issues. Part of that is YOU – this is a great opportunity to build your skills and for us to support new leaders to take on important roles in your group. Not sure where to start? You can find a list of various roles on our website. Everyone participating means greater group strength and less work for everyone. And, we encourage you to make up your own role if you need a new one to help your group strive and thrive.

One of the ways you can take leadership is making our 2018 #LettersGetLoud Campaign a success! Throughout the year, we’ll be mobilizing our grassroots network and engaging new members to craft powerful letters to share and deliver to Congress. The more letters we write, the more our #LettersGetLoud! We know that one letter is powerful but if we all write letters, together we can draw on the collective impact of our stories, our letters, our voices to influence decision makers, and bring an end to poverty. Congress needs to hear from you, and they need to hear how policies affect real people.

TAKE ACTION: Take ten minutes to think about how you can take more leadership in your group. Or if you already have a full plate in the group, think about how you can encourage others to take on more. Be sure to articulate the various role(s) you and your group members will take on in 2018 in the Group Planning Summary. Once completed, please submit your Group Plan Summary to Jos Linn at [email protected] by January 31.

Got Twenty Minutes? Reconnect to Senate (and House) Health and Nutrition Aides to Oppose Cuts to Anti-Poverty Programs

As you may have seen recently, some in Congress and the Administration want to add ‘work requirements’ to programs like SNAP and Medicaid. But taking away food and health care doesn’t help people find work. That’s why we need to keep sending the message to lawmakers to protect these vital programs from harmful cuts and changes. In addition to stating our strong opposition to such threats, we must take this opportunity to propose solutions that create opportunity for all. In other words, we need to play some offense. For example, we should strengthen programs like SNAP by reducing the “cliff effect” (when an individual loses public benefits faster than he/she can earn the wages to replace them) without undermining the core benefits of SNAP and other anti-poverty programs, and increase SNAP benefits to meet the nutritional needs of hungry Americans.

While there is some pushback from the Administration and the Senate whether to prioritize cuts to health and basic assistance, we need keep up the pressure – and tell Congress to strengthen these programs!

TAKE ACTION: Take twenty minutes to reconnect with key nutrition and health aides, starting with your Senate offices, urging them to reject harmful cuts and changes to anti-poverty programs. Congressional leaders will finalize their priorities for 2018 in the coming weeks, and we want to make sure cuts to Medicaid and SNAP are off the table. You might consider setting up a conference call for key RESULTS volunteers and their allies with Senate offices in the coming weeks – and of course look for opportunities to talk with members of Congress in person at town halls or in lobby meetings you schedule (as several RESULTS groups have already done this year). When you get a meeting or conference call scheduled, contact Meredith at [email protected] to get coaching on the messaging and resources you should use.

Register for CBPP Webinar Tomorrow at 4:00 pm ET. We’ll preview our campaign work on tonight’s webinar, and for a more thorough review of the threats to anti-poverty programs, register for this Center on Budget and Policy Priorities webinar tomorrow at 4:00 pm ET. 

Quick News

CHIP Day of Action Tomorrow. On Wednesday, national child health groups are holding a day of action on the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP), the funding for which expired in September. RESULTS will be sending out an action alert to forward to your network to act on CHIP. More information about the day of action is available here, and a full toolkit for engagement is available here. 

See Food Bank Video from Expert on Poverty. View the new video from RESULTS Expert on Poverty Pamela Covington highlighting the importance of local food banks in helping families make ends meet.

Register for the International Conference. Registration for the 2018 RESULTS International Conference is now open. The Conference is July 14-17 in Washington, DC. It promises to be a great experience for all who attend. Don’t wait – register now for the 2018 Conference at www.resultsconference.org.

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 U.S. Poverty National Webinar, Tuesday, January 9 at 8:00 pm ET. Participate at http://fuze.me/32255914 or (201) 479-4595, Meeting ID: 32255914#.

Louisiana Storytelling & Advocacy Training Session, Saturday, January 13 at 5:00pm CT. Women's Resource Center, 1221 Truxton Street, Gretna, LA. Featuring RESULTS Experts on Poverty Qiana Torregano, Maxine Thomas, and Asia Bijan Thompson. For more information, contact Meredith Dodson.

Martin Luther King, Jr. Holiday, Monday, January 16. All RESULTS offices closed.

U.S. Poverty Free Agents Calls, Tuesday, January 17 at 1:00pm and 8:00pm ET. Login at http://fuze.me/32256018 or dial in by phone at (201) 479-4595, Meeting ID: 32256018#.

Iowa (Des Moines) Presentation on Poverty and Young Children, Monday, January 29, 2018 at 6:30pm CT. Franklin Avenue Library, 5000 Franklin Ave, Des Moines, IA. More details soon. Contact Jos Linn for more information.

Iowa (Iowa City) Presentation on Poverty and Young Children, Tuesday, January 30, 2018 at 6:30pm CT. St. Mark’s United Methodist Church, 2675 E. Washington Street, Iowa City, IA. More details soon. Contact Jos Linn for more information.

Pennsylvania “Join the Fight Against Poverty” Training, Saturday, February 17 at 10:00am ET. Featuring RESULTS Expert on Poverty Asia Bijan Thompson. Al Beech/Wood Side Food Pantry, 190 S Sprague Ave, Kingston, PA. For more information contact [email protected].

2018 RESULTS International Conference, July 14-17, 2018, Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington, D.C. Registration is now open – register today! Also, check out our new 2018 Conference flyer!

If you have a question, comment or suggestion for the RESULTS/RESULTS Educational Fund Board, please e-mail them to RESULTS Grassroots Board Member Steven McGee 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.