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John,
Thank you for being part of the Prosperity Now community and helping drive change for racial economic equity!
As a supporter of our racial economic justice mission, you know inequity is built into our economy. In fact, our economy is not working for everyone because it was not intended or structured to do so. For too long, people of color and those with low incomes have been excluded by design from building sustainable wealth. They continue to face systemic barriers that prevent them from participating in and benefitting from our economic system.
To truly build an equitable system, the very nature of our economic system must be disrupted — and Prosperity Now is leading that disruption by tackling the systemic policies and practices that sustain the status quo and hold these inequities in place.
We have four immediate solutions that will help large numbers of families begin to build wealth for the long term. The first, of course, is YOU.
It’s the generosity of people like you who make gifts, large and small, that helps us advance equitable economic policies and stem the tide of racial wealth inequality … so that we can drive transformative change that ensures prosperity for all. Together, we can:
Turn the tax code into an engine for economic and racial equality: The federal government spends about $634 billion a year through the tax code in ways that largely help wealthy, mostly White, households build more savings. Yet, more than 20% of low-income families who qualify for the Earned Income Tax Credit (EITC) don’t claim it. The Volunteer Income Tax Assistance (VITA) program provides volunteers to prepare and file taxes for low-income families, many of whom are people of color, — helping them access vital anti-poverty benefits like the EITC. Thanks to our successful mobilization, in 2020, Congress fully funded VITA at $30 million for the fiscal year 2021, resulting in an average refund of $2,249 for a VITA client.
Give every child a strong start: Too many children, especially Black and Latinx children, start life at a significant disadvantage ̶ through no fault of their own or their family. Two parents working full-time minimum wage jobs simply can’t meet the needs of a family of four. Baby Bonds are a bold policy innovation that would provide children with a significant nest egg to start off adulthood and help close the racial wealth divide. We are working with our partners and key legislative leaders to move baby bond legislation forward.
Create a pathway to wealth through entrepreneurship: The median net worth of business owners is almost 2.5 times higher than non-business owners, a finding that holds true across gender and racial lines. To help remediate the racial and economic barriers, Prosperity Now is focused on strengthening several entrepreneurship-related programs and policies in 2022. One of our target areas is increasing access to capital and technical assistance for low-income and BIPOC entrepreneurs.
The key to every one of these solutions is you. Support of any size helps us do this work … and the voices of our community show our lawmakers that an equitable economy is essential to all people in our country – regardless of race, ethnicity, or socioeconomic status.
Thank you for being part of this fight.
Sincerely,
Gary Cunningham
President & CEO
Prosperity Now
