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My grandparents grew up in Maries County, Missouri. As young adults, they moved to St. Louis, where my grandmother worked for the postal service, and where she helped to form one of its first local unions. Eventually, they moved to High Ridge and built a life there. I grew up in Jefferson County, Missouri, where my mom was a third grade teacher, and my dad a school administrator. Our family built a nice life there.

Because my parents worked hard and we were fortunate to live in a thriving community that looked out for their neighbors, I was able to go to college. There, I followed my passion and became a clinical social worker and addictions counselor, met my spouse Ann, and moved to my home in Festus, not far from where I grew up. We have built a life there together.

But what also happened during those years is that small town, rural Missouri got drained. Local businesses got utterly steamrolled by big corporate stores. Family farms got bankrupted and bought out by huge agribusiness operations. Good-paying jobs got slashed when factories moved out of town. Hospitals shuttered. Despair became commonplace, and hope more rare. And living a comfortable life on the merits of hard work and determination got a lot harder.

It is easy to feel, now, that rural America has been forgotten. But there are still many of us here who call it home, and who care about our neighbors and the lives we build here. I know my roots, and I know how easy it can be to slip from stability to hard times. In my career as a social worker, I’ve seen firsthand how lives can be torn apart, and how to help put them back together. I began to see that public service is a lot like social work. We listen, we support, we challenge—and we work to empower.

Lately, too many of my neighbors are struggling. And it’s a serious problem when the person who’s supposed to fight for us in Congress doesn’t lift a finger to help out, or, worse, actively works against our interests.

Two years ago, I put my name on the ballot to replace that person in Congress. As a kid, I used to sit on the steps of the County Courthouse and wait for election results to come in. (I know, it’s nerdy, but it was also exciting to see peaceful change in action.) Now, I view running for office is a culmination of years of work and training as a social worker.

I’m running because we shouldn’t have to barely hold on to financial stability by the tips of our fingers. Social workers bring hope into the conversation, the hope that all of us can do better and be better, given the right tools. That's why I'm running—because it's the right thing to do. I’m running because our work isn’t done. I’m running because people in my district need help, and I want to reach out and offer a hand.

I hope you’ll join me.

Sincerely,
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www.ellisforcongress.com [[link removed]]

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Please mail checks to: Ellis for Congress, PO Box 580 Festus, MO 63028 [email protected]: [link removed]