Hi there,

I'm going to get real with you. Being a working mom is hard.

Being a working mom during this pandemic is even harder.

I had one of “those days” a couple weeks ago -- if you've got kids, you know what I'm talking about. Virtual learning was already plagued by technology glitches and system crashes, and then my daughter started crying because she just wanted to go back to school in person to see her friends.

I explained that staying home is part of how we can help keep our community safe -- and that we'll be back at school as soon as possible. But when you're 7 and you miss the old normal, the “new normal” kind of stinks -- even if we all understand how very real the effects of COVID-19 are.

We knew before the pandemic hit that working parents, moms in particular, struggle to juggle child care and their careers. I knew from my own experience over the last ten years, and I saw women across Georgia dealing with the same issue when I was campaigning for Lieutenant Governor and then for the Senate.

Now, many of us have spent the last six months home with our kids, our kitchen tables serving as both our office and our kids' virtual classrooms.

I've treasured the extra time at home with my daughters -- and I also know how hard the pandemic has been on working mamas. I worry about women working in essential professions -- who now often have to find alternative child care options for kids who'd usually be at school. I worry about the women who will make the difficult choice to step away from their careers because they can't overcome the one-two punch of pandemic parenting and America's affordable childcare crisis. I worry about the economic implications of these women stepping away from the workforce, and about the loss of hard-fought gains in pay equity disappearing for our generation -- or worse, our daughters' generation.

Make no mistake: Child care is an economic issue. Reopening our economy won't happen until we understand that.

I firmly believe that we can solve this child care crisis, and so many other issues facing our state, by electing more women -- more moms -- to office. After all, we're used to solving problems and getting things done.

Can you help elect more women to office right here in Georgia by chipping in to Our American Dreams today? Every mom, and every parent, wants their kid to have access to the highest quality public education, regardless of where they live. Every mom wants to know that her child can visit the doctor when they are sick, without worrying about how she'll pay the bill. And moms uniquely understand the necessity of affordable child care when juggling work and kids.

Since 2016, women across the country have stepped up to run for office, ready to get to work to create change in their communities. I was one of them. But we still aren't making the inroads into elected office that we need to see if we want to create systemic change.

More women than ever now serve in our legislature, making up 30% of our General Assembly. But we accounted for 52% of the 2018 electorate. The numbers speak for themselves: We need to elect more women to office in Georgia.

That's one of the many reasons I'm so proud to support our 21 OAD-endorsed candidates -- all women. Seventeen of them are moms and grandmas.

They understand the challenges women -- and working moms -- face here in Georgia, and they're ready to find solutions. They offer a perspective that has too often been missing from our leadership. I can't wait to see what they do in office.

Our American Dreams is with our candidates all the way, but we cannot provide their campaigns the resources they need without folks like you chipping in to fund our work.

I'm asking personally, can you contribute any amount right now to help OAD get these amazing women elected in November? Click here to make a donation. Working moms for the win,

Sarah

Paid for by Our American Dreams PAC. Not authorized by any candidate or candidate’s committee.