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Dear Friends,

At the campaign we have been closely following the situation with the coronavirus and we wanted to pause for a moment to just take stock.

First, from a policy perspective, I was very pleased to see the US House passed legislation that would directly tackle the community needs to address the challenge: including free testing, expansion of health care support, paid medical leave, and income supports for families that live paycheck to paycheck and may be burdened by economic disruption.

On the campaign itself, it has become abundantly clear that we need to focus on reducing public interactions to protect our populations who are particularly vulnerable to the disease. We are taking the following steps effective immediately:

• We are re-evaluating all of our meet and greets and fundraisers and working with organizers to find more “virtual” ways to reach out and connect with people.
• The campaign is going to utilize new and innovative forms of organizing around peer to peer voter outreach that does not involve direct face to face interactions.

Last, we are looking for opportunities to be helpful in the community - whether it involves supporting our local food pantries or helping families who may be subject to quarantine or economic hardship because of business shutdowns.

This is going to be a time where we need to pull together as a community and as a country. Please contact the campaign if you have other ideas of ways we can reach out to help alleviate the situation in the days ahead.

Take care of those you love, stay safe (and wash your hands!)

Yours in hope and faith,
Carolyn