U.S. Poverty Weekly Update June 5, 2018

U.S. Poverty Campaigns

Weekly Update | June 5, 2018

“As a child, my family received food stamps. I don’t believe I could have excelled in school, been the first person in my family to attend college and been pursuing a Ph.D. if I had been fighting hunger while trying to learn in school.”

– RESULTS Lincoln, NE volunteer Jamy Rentschler in a May 23 letter to the editor in the Lincoln Journal Star

Quick Media Action: Tell Congress to Protect SNAP

Got Two Minutes? Confirm Your Plans for Tonight’s National Webinar with Allison Bovell-Ammon

The RESULTS U.S. Poverty National Webinar this evening, June 5 at 8:00 pm ET. Although we got a victory for SNAP in the defeat of the House Farm Bill last month, the fight is not over. On tonight’s webinar, we’ll talk about what’s happening with SNAP both in the House and Senate and what things you can do between now and the International Conference to protect this critical program. We are pleased to have Allison Bovell-Ammon, Deputy Director of Policy Strategy at Children’s HealthWatch as our guest speaker this month. She will share more details about how the House Farm Bill impacts working families and exacerbates the “cliff effect.” We’ll also hear shares from the grassroots, update you on the May fundraising campaign, and preview the upcoming RESULTS International Conference. Please join us!

TAKE ACTION: Take two minutes to confirm details to participate in the RESULTS U.S. Poverty National Grassroots Webinar call this evening, June 5 at 8:00 pm ET. Coordinate whether your group will meet for the webinar or whether you all will be joining on your own. To join the webinar, 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 will be available on our National Webinars page later today.

Got Ten Minutes? Use All Your Tools to Protect SNAP (June Action)

On May 18, House members mustered enough votes to dramatically defeat the House Farm Bill, 198-213, which would cut SNAP (formerly Food Stamps) and take away food assistance from millions of people. RESULTS volunteers played a role in this victory. Many of you met with members of Congress, wrote 115 published media pieces, made phones calls, and leveraged relationships with key staff to help defeat this bill.

However, House leaders are looking to vote again on June 22 on a bad bill made worse by amendments during the first vote. Leaders are hoping that enough conservative members, who initially voted no on the Farm Bill to force a vote on immigration, will support the Farm Bill this next time around. Meanwhile, the Senate is crafting its own Farm Bill, which is expected to be released on tomorrow. While it won’t cut SNAP like the House bill, it still might include some harmful provisions. The next six weeks could be critical for the future of SNAP. Put the pressure on Congress to keep food on the tables of hungry families.

TAKE ACTION: Take ten minutes to use your advocacy skills and talents to push Congress to protect food assistance for hungry families by starting the June Action. The Action has a list of different actions you can take to keep loud and clear in your lawmakers’ minds this message – leave SNAP alone! The goal is for your group to check off all the actions between now and the completion of the RESULTS International Conference (July 17). As you progress, post your actions on the RESULTS Volunteers Facebook page and use the hashtag #Voices4RESULTS on Twitter to encourage others to do the same. If you have questions or need help, please contact Jos Linn.

Got Twenty Minutes? Book Your Hotel for the Conference This Week

The RESULTS International Conference begins five weeks from this Saturday. That’s right – five weeks! While it is coming fast, there is still plenty of time to register and attend. Registration is only $200 for existing volunteers and flights are still reasonable. Also, you can still get an affordable (relatively speaking) rate for your hotel stay at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. But not for long. RESULTS’ reserved block of rooms expires this Sunday, June 10. If you reserve your room before that date, you get the discounted rate. If you register after it, we cannot guarantee the discount nor a room (after June 10, our reserved rooms are open to the public).

The moral of the story? Reserve your hotel room now!

TAKE ACTION: Take twenty minutes to 1) register for the Conference if you haven’t done so already and 2) reserve your room at the Grand Hyatt Hotel. Don’t let the June 10 deadline to book your hotel room pass you by. And if you need help covering your hotel or other expenses, we still have money available in our U.S. Poverty Scholarship Fund. If you are a currently active U.S. Poverty volunteer, apply today.

Conference Resources Available. Find links to resources to help you make the most of the Conference experience on our IC Resources page, including our IC Checklist, information about the agenda and speakers, and sample lobby meeting requests. And check back frequently; we will update it many times before, during, and after the Conference.

Quick News

Spring Friends and Family Campaign Extended Through June. The RESULTS Spring Friends and Family Fundraising Campaign has been extended to the end of June. We are about half way to our $40,000 goal and we could use your help getting us across the finish line. Use the resources in our Campaign Guide to get started and contact Mea Geizhals, Grassroots Fundraising Manager, for any help you need. 

Welcome, RESULTS Burlington. Our newest U.S. Poverty group, hailing from Burlington, VT, finished their new group training yesterday. This is an exciting group, made up of high school students wanting to create the political will to end poverty. They join their companion RESULTS global group in Burlington, which started last year. Congratulations, Burlington, and welcome!

The Poor People’s Campaign Rolls On. The Poor People’s Campaign continues to hold events across the country focused on raising awareness of issues impacting low-income Americans. Each week of the campaign has a theme. Next week’s focus is “Everybody’s Got the Right To Live: Education, Living Wages, Jobs, Income, Housing”. Find events in your area and plan to attend. Invite people you meet to continue this important work by attending your next RESULTS meeting and taking one of the actions in our June Action.

Sing Up for Conference Lobby Prep Calls. It’s that time of year again. To help you get ready for your lobby meetings at the RESULTS International Conference, we want to schedule a lobby prep call with your group and Meredith Dodson. Our DC staff person Susan Fleurant has a Doodle poll for U.S. Poverty advocates to start signing up now. Please speak with your group members to coordinate and select the times that you are all available over the next few weeks. Susan will be in touch with groups to finalize a call time. To facilitate the scheduling process, please have one person from your group fill in the appropriate Doodle and be sure to include your state (e.g. (AK)) along with your name. If you have any questions, please contact Susan at [email protected].

Vox Highlights the Racial Wealth Divide. The news outlet Vox has been highlighting an issue that has been important to RESULTS for a number or years now – the racial wealth divide. Ezra Klein, the founder of Vox, recently interviewed Mehrsa Baradaran, author of The Color of Money, about the issue on his podcast. In addition, Vox’s new Netflix show “Explained” has an episode dedicated to the racial wealth divide, which features Sen. Cory Booker (D-NJ) telling the crazy story of his father trying to buy a house. Check out both the interview and the show – they are excellent.

New Welcome Series for New Advocates. RESULTS has a new process for welcoming, training, and connecting new advocates to our movement! If you find someone who is interested, invite them to enroll in the Welcome Series online. At the end of the series, they will be invited to sign up for an orientation (dates and times are listed on our online calendar). The series triggers automatically for new people who get entered into our database; if you have new people who are already in our database, send them here to sign up for the series.

New RESULTS Resources Page. Check out our new Resources page to make it easier to help you find anything and everything you need in your advocacy work.

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.

Upcoming staff vacations: Jos Linn: afternoons of June 8, 15, and July 3. Meredith Dodson: July 4-6.

RESULTS U.S. Poverty National Webinar, Tuesday, June 5 at 8:00 pm ET. Participate at http://fuze.me/32255914 or (201) 479-4595, Meeting ID: 32255914#.

2018 RESULTS International Conference, July 14-17, 2018, Grand Hyatt Hotel in Washington, D.C. There is still time to register for our biggest event of the year! Watch the 2018 Conference video and share it (along with our flyer) with others you know.

Other Resources

Get Your RESULTS Promo Materials. If you need banners, pens, stickers, or business cards for your local RESULTS work, fill out our Materials Order Form and we’ll send them to you.

Got a Question for the RESULTS Board? 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]. View the most recently published Board minutes on the RESULTS website, as well as RESULTS’ most recent Annual Report.

Please Fill Out the Lobby Report Form. After any lobby meeting, please fill out the RESULTS Lobby Report Form to let us know how it went. When you have a meeting where both U.S. and global poverty issues are discussed, please fill it out twice.