Sara Horan and Bill Davis – NWSOFA Chapter Co-Leads
Long cold winter but a spring is on the way.
We know it’s been a tough cold and bleak winter but don’t be like the groundhog……….. DON’T HIDE! Just because you see a shadow, instead acknowledge what that shadow is… an attack on our progressive values and issues coming from the current administration, recently, hourly, daily.. 365.
This is not the time to give up on our goals of a better, cleaner and more just America and world, but a time to recommit to those values and those candidates that reflect yours and our values.
We have a very busy month with our social justice, immigration and refugee rights, economic and environmental issue team meetings (and that’s just the tip of what we do), Each meeting containing informative programs along with key coalition partner events that will be both enlightening, informative, and Action Oriented.
But don’t stop there.
The Political season for 2018 is just Getting Started. The progressive movement begins in our meetings and spreading the word but as we found out last year the ballot box is the where change must occur. Early voting begins next week on the 8th and the last day to vote in
the 2018 Primaries is March 20.
NWSOFA recommends that you do research, attend candidate forums no matter who is putting them on. ASK questions. Be informed. Find out who’s running and where they stand on the issues important to you, then take your NWSOFA hat off and V
olunteer as an individual to work on a campaign by phone banking,
Volunteering to canvass,
Volunteering to march!
Volunteer as an individual, NOW, to get the word out for progressive candidates that support our issues!
NWSOFA will keep the focus on the issues:
ACA Healthcare reform, Climate Change, Minimum Wage, Gun Violence Prevention, Equal Pay for Equal Work for Women, Immigration Reform,
Marriage Equality,
and our new 2018 initiatives on “Voters Rights and Redistricting” and “Getting money out of Politics” .. these can not be ignored.. that’s our job. The candidates and the campaigns have to happen at the political party level .. so take that NWSOFA hat off and start gearing up as a concerned citizen .. join the candidates campaign(s) of your choice and help get those candidates who believe in your issues, get elected.
Together NWSOFA, You and the Political Parties and Candidates, are the front line of the battle.. in the streets and in the offices of the local, state and national Legislatures. We are not weak as long as our voices are together and our commitment to our issues resolute.
Let’s get the best candidates we can for the General election in November.
Working separately (NWSOFA vs Elections) on campaigns, yet working together on issues, we can and will create progressive change for the social issues that we (NWSOFA) believe in.
Join us in 2018 as we continue to create social change. Working together we can and will create progressive change.
Join us to celebrate the Women’s March to the Polls. Share your favorite stories and posters from this wonderful event. And join us in a “send a postcard” action to let our Illinois legislatures know- we are serious- ERA Now or lose my vote. See you there!
In February we will be back at the Arlington Heights library to discuss what is happening and how we can take action to affect positive policy changes. We will also take a deeper dive into a special topic, but which one hasn’t been decided yet. More info will be posted once that is decided.
Then after the meeting we will head to Eddie’s for “Taco Tuesday.”
The GVP Issues team has been working for over four years keep the conversation about gun violence going forward to take action to change our laws with the goal of creating safer communities for everyone, including our law enforcement officers, in our state and nation. We hold 90 minute planning meetings typically (some exceptions) on the 3rd Thursday of each month at 6:30 pm. If you are interested in working to reduce gun violence in America, we invite you to our next meeting. Registration is preferred as seating is sometimes limited.
Come join us as we kick off the new year. Special guest speakers from Oakton Community College will present their sustainability program that could be an inspiration for other communities. Invite your friends and see how you can make a difference!
“Hope is not blind optimism. Hope is that thing inside us that insists, despite all evidence to the contrary, that something better awaits us if we have the courage to reach for it, and to work for it, and to fight for it.” President Barack Obama
Thank You to our NWSOFA Issue Leads in 2015
Click on the above Image to see each lead and the issues they work on .._
