October 21, 2024

The Vote for Human Needs edition. Democracy is under attack and CHN is fighting back. New, restrictive voter ID laws have been enacted in state after state. Many states are shortening the time we have to vote, or making it more difficult to have our votes counted. Often, the brunt of this oppression falls on people of color, students, the elderly, or first-time voters.

What are we doing about it? CHN has developed a number of tools you can take advantage of in the waning days of the election. Here’s a brief rundown of ways you can get involved – also in our Voter Engagement Resource Guide here:

1. Sign up for one of four virtual letter- or text banking parties:

October 22, 7:00 –8:15 pm ET – Letter Writing Party
October 24, 7:00 –8:15 pm ET – Letter Writing Party
October 29, 6:00 pm ET – Text Banking Party – Find your Polling Place
November 4, 6:00 pm ET – Text Banking Party – Voting Reminder

2. Send letters to infrequent voters through Vote Forward, using this link.

3. Try a new approach called Vote Tripling. To conduct Vote Tripling, all you need to do is greet people, and ask them to send a text message reminding their friends to vote. Click here.

4. Become a poll worker.

5. Protect our right to vote as an Election Protection volunteer. Sign up here.

6. Finally: we at CHN want to remind you of the availability of our nonpartisan Vote for Human Needs Voter Issue Guides. These cover the gamut – Care, Health Care, Hunger, Housing, Families and Lower-Income People, and Protecting Democracy. Many in our network – including nonprofits and social service agencies -- have a unique opportunity to raise awareness about the issues that matter most. (For the social media toolkit, click here.)

If you want just a taste of what we’re offering up with our issue fact sheets, scroll down!

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$10,000
1 in 4

Child care costs an average of $10,000 a year, exceeding the cost of rent in many areas. And the U.S. is one of the only developed nations without national paid leave – only one in four workers nationwide have access to paid national leave. Retweet this.

< $24,000
690,000

Direct care workers who take care of people including disabled and older adults earn less than $24,000 a year on average and usually don’t get benefits. Because Congress hasn’t agreed to pay direct care workers more and to hire more of them, nearly 690,000 people are waiting for Medicaid to provide home care so they don’t have to move into a nursing home. Retweet this.

+ 45 million

+ 100 million

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) covers more than 45 million Americans, and tax credits help lower costs. Most states have expanded Medicaid under the ACA for people with the lowest incomes, bringing the number of uninsured people to an all-time low. And the ACA has helped more than 100 million people by preventing overcharging, insurance denial, gender-based pricing, and service refusals. Retweet this.

$700

ACA tax credits helped reduce premiums for those buying their own health insurance. Increased assistance saved the average person about $700. However, this extra help will end in 2025, potentially leaving millions without health care unless Congress votes to keep it. Retweet this.

47.4 million

13.8 million

In 2023, an alarming 47.4 million Americans, including 13.8 million children and youth, lived in households without enough food. Not only does hunger affect people’s health and well-being, it also has far-reaching social effects. Hunger raises health care costs, makes it harder for children to focus on school, and reduces workplace productivity. It also hurts the economy. Retweet this.

For the full report, click here.
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