Dear Friends and Allies,

Three weeks ago, in the midst of a spiking pandemic, we went to even greater lengths than usual to vote early, mail in ballots, and overcome inaccessibility issues while staying safe to make sure our votes counted. And now, for the first time in our history, we’re going to have two care champions (and former caregivers) in our nation’s highest office.

But we all know the work is just beginning to hold our newly elected leaders up and down the ballot accountable to get the relief and the resources we need. Read on to see what we’re working on to build a more caring future for all of us — and especially seniors, caregivers, people with disabilities, and Black and Brown people who remain at the center of this crisis but know the path forward.

As we head into this atypical holiday season, we leave you with this lovely reminder from Michael Snowden — one of the CCP artists we worked with this fall — on how we can still be in community even if we’re physically apart. We appreciate all of you, and hope you stay safe out there!

- Antonia and all of us at Caring Across

Mobilizing to Lead with Care

• Check out our #CareForAll video, created in partnership with NDWA and People’s TV, and released this week! In this first-person look into the lives of caregivers during COVID-19, four women tell us what it’s really like during these tough times — from their daily struggles and triumphs to what they need most to stay afloat. Says care worker and community caregiver Susie Rivera: “My hope is that we can create a society that cares for us as caregivers the way we care for others.” Please share the video wide and far, both to thank our caregivers and to demand that we invest in them.
• Join us on December 3rd at 5 pm ET for the Leading With Care Town Hall. Hear about what the Caring Majority has experienced during the pandemic, the commitments we need from the incoming administration, and how we can build a more caring future that works for all of us — and especially for the Black and Brown women who delivered this election and need care supports more than ever right now. RSVP for the Town Hall here.

Policy Push

On the campaign trail, President-elect Joe Biden committed to pass immediate relief and notably, a $775 billion caregiving plan as part of his economic recovery, including comprehensive support for childcare, paid leave, and long-term care. Our policy team has been working closely with aging and disabilities allies to release a series of care agenda legislation, starting with shoring up and strengthening Medicaid and Medicare to make home and community-based services accessible to everyone.

Caring Across Votes!

In the lead-up to the election, this year’s Care Fellows reached out to over 36,000 voters via text and phone — particularly women, women of color, and caregivers, who face higher barriers to voting. Our fellows exceeded the program’s goals reaching voters in critical states including Georgia, Michigan, Minnesota, Nevada, North Carolina, South Carolina, Virginia, and Wisconsin where every last vote counted. Of course, the work is not quite over to ensure that caregivers and seniors can get the care and support they need. If you’d like to join us for one last push to get the vote out ahead of the Georgia runoffs, please sign up here.

Care Wins!

This election cycle, caring policies won in several states across the nation:

• In Colorado, voters passed comprehensive paid family and medical leave, providing up to 16 weeks of paid leave, with a benefit of up to $1,100 per week to families who need to take time off to care for a loved one.
• Floridians voted to raise the minimum wage to $10 by next year and $15 by 2026, which is a big win for low-wage workers, many of whom are on the frontlines during the pandemic.
• Multnomah County, Oregon voters passed universal preschool for 3 and 4-year olds funded through a progressive tax. The bill also ensures fair wages for preschool teachers, benefiting both families who need care and the workers who provide it.

In the Field

Coming off the most hard-fought election cycle in recent memory, our field partners are looking towards the future while prioritizing the care their members so desperately need at this moment:

• Minnesota: Take Action Minnesota is gearing up for 2021 to protect and bolster programs critical to the Caring Majority, while working together with paid leave, disability justice and aging partners to reintroduce a Universal Long-term Supports and Services (ULTSS) bill and coordinating a larger Universal Family Care (UFC) push across the state.
• Wisconsin: Citizen Action of Wisconsin supported eight care champions in state races to win at the ballot boxes this year. Looking forward, they are developing care agenda trainings for new legislators while laying the groundwork for a Care Caucus in the legislature, and will use 2021 to broaden their coalition to set the stage for introducing UFC legislation in 2022.
• California: During this election cycle, the California Aging and Disability Alliance (CADA) built a groundswell of support to ensure that a robust ULTSS program is a key priority in the recovery from the pandemic. This work will continue into the next year while CADA also fights to protect critical supports and services. In addition, we are convening a Care Infrastructure Table, together with partners, to develop a UFC pilot in one major California city by 2023.

ICYMI: In the News

• Last month, we worked with The American Prospect to release a special Care In Crisis issue, outlining how our current patchwork care system is cracking under the pressure of COVID-19, and where we must go from here to build a more caring future (hint: it has something to do with Universal Family Care). Some highlights: Dorian Warren’s piece on the movement for the care economy, Maureen Tcacik’s take on the corporatization of nursing homes, and Elizabeth Warren’s interview on why care is infrastructure.
• In September, Ai-jen wrote a moving personal essay for CNN about her grandmother’s passing, and how home care played a huge role in her quality of care. And, in October, she made the case in TIME for why Congress must prioritize investing in a strong care infrastructure as the foundation of a strong economy. In both pieces, Ai-jen shows how the pandemic laid bare how our systems don’t care for those who need care the most, and why we need to prioritize policies that build an equitable, holistic care system for us all.
• In the lead up to the election, we worked with our partners at the Institute for Policy Studies to place op-eds by our care activists across the nation, including this piece by former Care Fellow Ann Klosinski on why elder care has to be an election issue, and this piece by disability activist Elaine Shelly on how COVID-19 reveals deep-seated care inequities facing Black Americans that must be fixed.
• Back in August, our Policy Director Josephine Kalipeni wrote an op-ed in the Washington Post on how the pandemic has laid bare how much family caregivers do to keep their loved ones safe and cared for, and why they need public support. The piece also featured videos from our Care Fellow Christina Keys and care activist Franklyn Mena that show the immense pressure they are under to take care of their families and communities.
• Josephine was also featured in this New Republic piece on the progressive agenda for the next four years, speaking to why care needs to be a priority for this next administration: “Working parents, sandwich-generation caregivers, seniors, and people with disabilities still need economic relief....we would make rebuilding our nation’s care infrastructure a key part of an equitable and sustainable economic recovery.”