This is a tough time for a lot of us, and I feel fortunate to be able to work at OneAmerica (OK, more like my upstairs bedroom lately). I've been with OneAmerica for the last three years, and we're the largest immigrant rights advocacy organization in the state. In times like this, I feel lucky to have a steady income, family, health care and access to a safety net.

Unfortunately, frontline COVID heroes and those who've lost their jobs, many of whom are immigrants, don't have the support they need to stay safe. I've been hearing so many stories of hardship, but also resilience and fortitude from our immigrant and refugee members. 

Every day I'm hearing stories that hurt my heart and deepen my commitment to this fight. Here are two examples: 

"Due to needing to work for money to pay bills I am not adequately supporting my child's education.  We also don't have good technology for school online resources, and no printer to print reliably."

"I am a housekeeping manager. My entire staff was laid off. I assisted and continue to assist navigating unemployment for my staff that is documented. Undocumented staff is not eligible for any assistance, even Federal Stimulus checks. I am very concerned for them!"

Not enough of our politicians have their back right now, but I'm standing with them, and I hope you will too. With your help, we can make sure we ALL have what we need to stay safe and healthy.

Together, we will fight:

• To Include All of Us. We'll ensure undocumented immigrants, “gig” workers and other excluded workers are included in local, state and federal stimulus initiatives.
• To Have Their Back. We'll ensure that providers have protective equipment, training and financial resources to preserve child care and early learning services for essential workers and their families.
• To Close the Tech Gap. We'll move school districts and colleges to address the educational inequities amplified by the pandemic, closing the technology gap for immigrants, English learners, and students of color.
• To Tell Our Story. We'll tell our immigrant story – emphasize our contributions, our unity and power – to counter growing xenophobic attacks on our communities.

Supporting organizations that are engaging in direct aid is critical, and supporting organizations like OneAmerica that are pushing for bold, systemic change is equally important. Help support our COVID advocacy agenda with a gift today. 

You can help make sure we all have what we need to stay safe and healthy. Thanks to a generous donor all gifts received will be doubled with a match! That means your gift of $25 will automatically become $50.