The presidential race is a big-ticket item, but hundreds of other state and local races will impact critical issues like school funding, childcare and early education, nutrition programs, and health care. Every seat in the NC General Assembly is on the ballot, along with the Governor’s race, a US Senate seat, congressional races, and more.
When it comes to elevating the importance of racial equity, voting is vital to make marginalized voices heard. Policies and systems can be changed by our vote and our call for accountability of candidates to their constituents. As we learn more about the effects of adverse community environments and how historical trauma and atrocious cultural experiences play out across the lifespan, we must act to get law makers to heed the call of the people - all people.
Children in our state most vulnerable to poverty, food insecurity, and lack of health care coverage tend to be Black and Latinx, under six years of age, and reside in rural communities. Factors like poverty and food insecurity can make the likelihood of childhood or family trauma increase significantly. And, as we all know, COVID has exacerbated these factors. Therefore it is important that parents, caregivers, and everyone who cares about kids gets to the polls this year.
As a strong child advocate, we know you are already making plans to vote this fall, either through early voting, mail-in voting, or in-person voting on election day. NC Child is here to help advocates like you ensure that everyone you know who cares about kids is connected to accurate, non-partisan voting resources. Here’s how:
First, we invite you to take the #Vote4NCKids pledge, and share with your organization, partners, neighbors, church members, and friends. We’ll send you shareable, accurate, timely, non-partisan updates each week from now until Election Day. The weekly messages are designed to make sure you and everyone you know has the tools and information to vote.
Next, if you work for a nonprofit serving North Carolina families, we ask that you consider getting involved in our Get Out the Vote effort, to help your clients and community members vote this fall.
Using the Nonprofit Vote model, NC Child is partnering with nonprofits working in several North Carolina communities that serve high numbers of “unlikely voters” — meaning folks who don’t always vote in every election. These are voters typically missed by the high volume of voter information put out by political campaigns each election cycle. They are often folks in low-income communities and communities of color, who are most likely to be left out of the political process. We work together with our non-profit partners to focus on voter education, making sure every member of our communities feels heard, valued, and is empowered to vote.
When trusted organizations mobilize their communities to vote, they bring more critical voices into our democracy. We are collaborating with Child Advocacy Network partners to ensure that the folks most impacted by the issues on the ballot – especially parents and caregivers of North Carolina’s children – get a say.
https://ncchild.org/voter-engagement-2020/
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