Grassroots Constituency, Here We Come!
California, like many states, continues to struggle with passing a state budget and providing the resources that some individuals and families need to survive. Meanwhile, in these changing economic times, the number of Golden State families living from paycheck to paycheck, if they still have one, is steadily increasing.
Now, it’s certainly easy to be disheartened by these facts. But here at EARN, we also acknowledge that the economic crisis has provided us with a rare opportunity: the chance to meaningfully engage an emerging constituent base for the first time, by bringing voices and ideas of low-wage constituents to groups that directly influence California’s asset building policy agenda.
With years of proven success in helping low wage workers create and sustain wealth through innovative programs, we are now proudly laying the groundwork for building a large grassroots constituency that can advocate for policies that create greater opportunities for prosperity.
And so, this summer, EARN launched its constituency-building efforts, with the intention of building a statewide policy and research agenda that is driven by an engaged and active constituent base. The first phase of this work, which we’re conducting right now, is listening to people who represent the diversity of California, especially those who lack access and opportunities to basic financial services.
Our inaugural partners in this ambitious effort include Families in Schools in Los Angeles, Greenlining Institute, Long Beach Interfaith Community Organization, and PICO federations in the San Joaquin Valley. These partners have an impressive and long standing history of engaging directly with low-wage workers in California and have advanced multiple social justice issues, such as providing quality jobs, affordable housing, and quality education for poor neighborhoods and communities of color. In the future, we plan to broaden our partnership base, ensuring that the diverse voices of California constituents are represented in our research and policy agendas.
What will we gain from these sessions? Fundamentally, we’ll understand more directly the serious challenges that keep low-income families from financial success. But we’ll also hear stories of hope, some of which may spark ideas and solutions for reducing asset poverty and creating long-term financial security.
Social change does not only occur at the state capital. Rather, its roots are formed in our neighborhoods, cities, and regions. Accordingly, I’m thrilled about EARN’s decision to engage various parties — nonprofit partners, policymakers, and constituents alike — to advocate for local and statewide asset-building policies and programs.
Perhaps no one expresses my hope for this project better than Dr. Martin Luther King, who, in 1967, offered us this beautiful quote:
“Let us be dissatisfied until the tragic walls that separate the outer city of wealth and comfort and the inner city of poverty and despair shall be crushed by the battering rams of the forces of justice. Let us be dissatisfied until those that live on the outskirts of hope are brought into the metropolis of daily security.”
Until next week,
Sheryl Lane
Director of Constituency Building
Photo credit: Forest Service – Northern Region
