John,

If you make a habit of watching the news, you know 2019 was hard for lots of folks. But for Caring Across Generations -- and we hope for you, too -- the campaign to value care in America made incredible progress.

Here are some of the highlights of 2019, made possible by your support:

Washington State’s First-In-The-Nation Law

In May, Washington Governor Jay Inslee signed the Long-Term Care Trust Act, the first statewide, social-insurance program providing public support to caregiving families. Our state partners, Washingtonians for a Responsible Future, consulted with the legislators who wrote the bill, organized public support, and made sure that the bill passed. We’re so excited to see how Washingtonians use this program, and how other states are inspired by the law.

NASI Report

The National Academy of Social Insurance released a report highlighting how Universal Family Care could support all sorts of families in June. The report’s author, Ben Veghte (who is now Research Director at Caring Across) and our co-founder Ai-jen Poo followed up the report with a New York Times Op-ed to spell it out in simpler terms. Caring Across has been pushing for Universal Family Care the last few years, so it’s exciting to see it start to catch on. And it truly is catching on -- if you want to help us keep the momentum going, make a year-end gift to Caring Across Generations today.

New Leadership

This year, we said a fond farewell to our co-founder and co-director Sarita Gupta, who moved on to run the Future of Work(ers) project at the Ford Foundation. But as Sarita exited, Beth Shipp joined the team as our new Managing Director. Her experience has been invaluable in helping to bring the team together and set up our agenda for the work ahead.

Convening

Caring Across Field Partners from around the country gathered in Detroit this fall to meet, share strategies, and plan for future work. Also in attendance were our CARE Fellows -- a group of caregivers who have been sharing their stories all year -- who were finally able to meet together in person.

Care Makes the Debate Stage

After an online campaign where hundreds of Caring Across members got involved to suggest a question for the November Democratic Presidential Debate, the moderators finally asked the candidates about their plans to support families. This moment was a perfect illustration that when we come together to demand something, powerful people listen. Let’s keep the pressure on in 2020.

The Nation

Just this week, Universal Family Care was named to progressive news magazine The Nation’s Honor Roll, as the “Next Big Idea” of 2019. UFC started the year as an idea we discussed in staff meetings, but with consistent organizing and support from members like you, we managed to push it into the national policy conversation.

Looking ahead

There’s a lot more to come in 2020, as we build off all of these successes and create some new ones. No spoilers, but we have plans to introduce some federal legislation that could be a big deal, and we’ll continue our organizing on the ground in states across the country.

We hope you’ll be there with us.

With care,

Ai-jen, Antonia, Beth, Ben, Charlotte, Ishita, Janet, Josie, Mae, Matthew, Namatie, Paul, Samantha, Susannah, and Vanessa

P.S. Our work to change the face of caregiving in this country begins and ends with the generous support of people like you. Will you donate – a gift of any amount can make a big difference – to Caring Across Generations before midnight on Dec. 31st?