It is hard to believe that we are fast approaching the one year anniversary of the Equal Voice for America’s Families Convention. I am happy to report that what started out as a campaign continues to gain momentum in its transition to the Equal Voice for America’s Families Coalition. In the months following the convention, families have taken their voices to Washington, D.C., organizations have built new networks and strengthened coalitions in an effort to advance the goals of the campaign and most importantly – a national family agenda.

When we started this campaign, 37 million Americans were living in poverty. One year later, as a result of the recession, another 12.4 million are at risk. Now more than ever, the Equal Voice for America’s Families Coalition is needed to ensure that issues affecting families are at the forefront of the national dialogue.

To continue building on the success of the Equal Voice for America’s Families campaign, Marguerite Casey Foundation is hosting the Equal Voice Policy Convening October 9-10, 2009. We are extending an invitation to all grantees to bring one representative as well as one family participant who has been involved in some aspect of the Equal Voice for America’s Families Coalition for a total of two people from each organization.

What you can expect from the Equal Voice Policy Convening:

• An outline of next steps on the budget and recovery funds and how we can move forward;
  
• Discussion of the impact/dissemination of stimulus funds including how communities are directly benefitting from stimulus dollars;
• A workshop for strategies to advance policy issues at the state level;
• Facilitated benchmarking of where we are on the Equal Voice platform issues; and
• The identification of possible future actions to be taken by the Equal Voice for America’s Families Coalition.

In order to ensure that we can bring communities together during these economically challenging times, we are asking for your help in controlling travel costs. Attached to this email, you will find “Policy Convening Logistics” with detailed registration instructions and specific logistical information. For each participant, we will provide transportation to San Francisco, lodging, meals on-site and limited reimbursement for meals while traveling. We are requesting that:

• All registration materials to be completed by Friday, September 4, 2009 and that
• All flight arrangements to be booked by Friday, September 18, 2009.

We truly appreciate your willingness to work with us to ensure that we can continue bringing everyone together.

I want to commend you for your work in advancing the Equal Voice for America’s Families Coalition and your continued efforts to raise the voices of families. I look forward to seeing you in October!

Sincerely,
Luz Vega-Marquis