John,

Last week Congress passed the $1.7 trillion end-of-year omnibus spending bill. Included in that bill were major wins for vulnerable families and communities including prevention of potentially millions of children from losing Medicaid, a nationwide summer food program for children when school is out, more funds for child care and home heating assistance, and enactment of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act.

While we weren’t able to extend the expanded Child Tax Credit, our fight continues in the new year.

Through tonight, December 31st at midnight, a generous donor will MATCH up to $10,000 in donations! Your tax-deductible gift to CHN will have DOUBLE the impact as we head into 2023 with a divided Congress. Rush a donation to fight to meet the human needs of millions of vulnerable and working people, now.

Our families and communities need investments in critical human needs programs. We cannot allow ideological differences to get in the way of supporting working families, the poor, and vulnerable communities.

Rush a tax-deductible end-of-year donation of $5 to fund our work and it will be DOUBLED!

If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your secure donation will go through immediately:

Thank you for all you do to support families and communities,

—Deborah

-- PREVIOUS EMAIL --

John,

This has been a dramatic year of highs and lows, but through it all, we have come together to advocate for policies and legislation that benefits the greater good.

As 2022 draws to a close, we’re celebrating all of our achievements from the past year. Every day on the federal, state, and local levels, decisions are being made that have immense impact on our lives. We are so grateful for supporters like you who volunteered to make calls, write letters, and help people access voter IDs so they could cast their ballots and make their voices heard. Our democracy works only if we all participate.

We had a big win from the Biden administration’s successful fight for the Inflation Reduction Act, which includes:

• Authority for Medicare to negotiate prescription drug prices, caps out-of-pocket insulin drug costs for Medicare recipients to $35, and penalizes pharmaceutical corporations for raising Medicare drug prices faster than inflation.

• Extension of Affordable Care Act subsidies for 13 million Americans -- which prevented insurance premiums from skyrocketing at the end of this year, and kept millions of people on their health insurance.

• Cuts to energy bills for millions of households, targeting aid to low-income communities, disproportionately communities of color, and creating millions of renewable energy jobs.

Though we didn’t get everything we wanted -- in particular, an extension of the expanded Child Tax Credit -- we were able to close out the year with some important wins in the end-of-year spending bill:

• A year of uninterrupted Medicaid coverage for children, preventing loss of health care due to bureaucratic hurdles

• A 30 percent increase in affordable child care funding (to $8 billion) and $12 billion for Head Start

• A nationwide summer food program for children for 3 months each year, to reduce hunger when school is out

• $3.6 billion for Homeless Assistance Grants, and new Section 8 Housing Choice Vouchers to support over 11,700 additional low-income households

• Expanded maternal and child health programs -- more funding and enactment of the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act

None of this would be possible without supporters like you who volunteer, send messages directly to Congress, and help fund the fight to enact human needs policies for vulnerable communities. Between right now and the end of the year, your dollar can go even further! Every donation, up to $10,000, will be MATCHED by The George Gund Foundation. Donate $5 or more today!

When the 118th Congress begins on January 3rd, it’ll be divided. Likely incoming Speaker of the House Kevin McCarthy (R-CA) has already made comments alluding to his plans to undo much of the progress we’ve made when it comes to investing in critical human needs programs. We have come too far to just sit back while right-wingers hold the government hostage in order to implement draconian austerity measures.

In 2023, we’ll keep fighting to expand the Child Tax Credit and we’ll be on the defense against proposed cuts to essential programs like Medicaid, Supplemental Assistance Nutrition Program (SNAP), and Temporary Aid to Needy Families (TANF).

Your friends and admirers at the Coalition on Human Needs are so grateful for the work we are doing together. We know that having affordable health care, stable housing, and quality child care help families thrive. We know that the double forces of racism and poverty are holding us back and are exacerbating the inequity of health, wealth, and education outcomes.

We have a long road ahead of us, but we know that with your support, we’ll make it and bring relief to working families, the vulnerable, the sick, and the poor. All year-end, tax-deductible gifts up to $10,000 will be MATCHED between now and December 31st by a generous gift from The George Gund Foundation. Pitch in $5 or more today!

If you've saved your payment information with ActBlue Express, your secure donation will go through immediately:

From all of us here at the Coalition on Human Needs, we wish you a season of joy, peace, and love, and all the best in the New Year.

Deborah Weinstein
Executive Director, Coalition on Human Needs