U.S. Poverty Weekly Update March 19, 2019
Quote of the Week
“It is unconscionable that President Trump would propose to put more families at risk of homelessness by cutting housing assistance in his budget.”
– RESULTS advocate in Utah Heather Buchanan in a March 13 letter to the editor in the Deseret News
Got Two Minutes? Check about Town Halls this Week (March Action)
Members of Congress are home this week on recess and may be holding town halls this week to hear from you. With Washington lawmakers making decisions about budget priorities for the year, they need to hear from you about what their agenda should be this year. Our focus is to make sure low-income families have access to housing assistance and other programs to create economic security. Use public events this week to tell your members of Congress to make these issues a priority.
TAKE ACTION: Take two minutes to look for town halls or public events during this week’s congressional recess. Contact your House and Senate offices to ask about any events your members of Congress may be holding this week. You can also visit their congressional websites and www.townhallproject.com to look for events. Once you find an event to attend, contact Meredith Dodson and see our laser talks and lobbying pages for questions to ask and other resources. If you do get to ask a question at an event, please fill out our Lobby Report Form to let us know what you asked and what answer you got.
Got Ten Minutes? Put in April Meeting Requests Now (March Action)
For our Set the Agenda campaign, RESULTS volunteers have had 96 congressional meetings with 41 of them face-to-face with members of Congress. This is excellent work, but our work is far from done. Creating priorities in Congress requires not only passion, but persistence.
If you have not met with your members of Congress so far this year, you have two opportunities. First, you can reach out to offices today and ask for a last-minute meeting during this week’s congressional recess. You also have an opportunity in April. Congress will be on recess for two weeks (April 15-26), giving you a great chance to meet with them. Budget negotiations impacting housing assistance are happening now, so meetings now relatively early in the process will increase the influence you have on the decisions they make. Plus, this will be your best, last opportunity to meet with lawmakers before the Set the Agenda campaign ends on April 30.
TAKE ACTION: Take ten minutes to request face-to-face meetings for the April recess, and check about last-minute meetings this week, to talk about affordable housing. Use the March Action and our meeting request (online or Word doc) to request meetings now (use the Legislator Lookup tool to find scheduler names). All lobbying resources can be found on our lobbying page. Finally, please contact Meredith Dodson when you get a meeting scheduled for lobby coaching.
Got Twenty Minutes? Come to the RESULTS International Conference
In just under four months, hundreds of RESULTS volunteers will gather in Washington, DC for the 2019 RESULTS International Conference. We have lot in store for you (e.g. read about our Sunday session here), whether you’re brand new to advocacy, an experienced veteran, or somewhere in between. Attend to get a bigger picture of critical issues surrounding poverty, learn more about effective methods for getting your message through to decision-makers, head to Capitol Hill for face-to-face meetings with congressional offices, and connect at every corner with a network of passionate volunteers from around the world all committed to fighting for a world without poverty.
This year, we are introducing new intensive workshops and TED-style talks. Also, there will be more opportunity for U.S. and global poverty advocates to learn what each are doing. Join us in Washington, DC for four days of community, learning, and advocacy. We can’t wait to see you there!
TAKE ACTION: Take twenty minutes to register for the 2019 RESULTS International Conference, July 13-16 in Washington, DC. Go to www.resultsconference.org to sign up. Watch our new International Conference video, share it, and then register today!
Quick News
Cutting Child Poverty in Half. Last month, the National Academies of Science, Engineering, and Medicine released a report, A Roadmap to Reducing Childhood Poverty, highlighting policies that could slash childhood poverty rates in half in ten years. The report puts forward two policy packages that would cost dramatically less to implement than the annual cost of childhood poverty. Increases to current tax policies, expansion of housing assistance, and implementation of new income support programs are some of the policies the report projected would lift children out of poverty. Read our RESULTS Blog post about the report from Emerson Hunger Fellow Mackenzie Aime.
Keep Up Your Media Work. RESULTS volunteers have gotten 19 media pieces on housing published in March (27 for the year). Keep the pressure on by submit your own letter to the editor urging your members of Congress by name to make housing a priority in budget negotiations. Use our online media action to send your letter today. When you get published, please report your success in our new RESULTS Grassroots Media form.
Become an Investor in Change in March. We’re inching closer to securing a $10,000 match ($500 for every new monthly donor in March) for our March Investors in Change campaign. We have 10 new monthly donors signed up, with 10 left to go. Help us hit our goal of 20 new monthly donors by the end of the month. Become an Investor in Change today!
UPCOMING EVENTS
Monday, March 18-Friday, March 22: Congressional Recess. Submit your meeting requests today.
Tuesday, March 19, U.S. Poverty Free Agents Calls, 1:00 pm and 8:00 pm ET. Join at: https://results.zoom.us/j/324294681 or dial by phone at (929) 436-2866 or (669) 900-6833, Meeting ID: 324 294 681.
RESULTS New Advocate Orientation, Wednesday, March 20 (8:30pm ET). Get started at: https://results.salsalabs.org/volunteer/index.html.
Thursday, March 21: Quiet Leadership Book Club, 9:00 pm ET. To join, go to https://results.zoom.us/j/482992263. You can also join by phone at (929) 436-2866 or (669) 900-6833, meeting ID 482 992 263.
Tuesday, April 2: RESULTS U.S. Poverty National Webinar, 8:00 pm ET. Join at: https://results.zoom.us/j/873308801 or dial (929) 436-2866 or (669) 900-6833, Meeting ID: 873 308 801. Find recordings and slides from previous webinars on the National Webinars page.
Monday, April 15-Friday, April 26: Congressional Recess. Submit your meeting requests today.
Saturday, July 13-Tuesday, July 16, 2019: RESULTS International Conference. Register today at www.resultsconference.org!
Find other events on the RESULTS Events Calendar.
U.S. Poverty Staff time out of the office: Meredith Dodson, March 29, April 15-19. Jos Linn, March 20-22.
OTHER RESOURCES
Learn more about the RESULTS Experts on Poverty.
Report lobby meetings in our Lobby Report Form and report any published media in our Grassroots Media Form.
If you have a question, comment, or suggestion for the RESULTS/REF Board, please e-mail Steven McGee at [email protected]. View Board minutes and Annual Reports.
RESULTS Staff directory.