All families despite their economic status – be they two parent or single parent families – share the same goal: to provide for their families and ensure a bright future for their children.
Last year, Marguerite Casey Foundation and approximately 200 of its grantees across the country launched the Equal Voice for America’s Families campaign — a campaign designed to hear directly from families as to the challenges they face and to change how we as a country address the social and economic needs of our families.
Between January and June 2008, in 65 townhall meetings across the country, more than 12,000 families from diverse backgrounds, often with children in tow, gave up their weekends and evenings to participate and add their voices to the discussion. At each town hall meeting, they were inspired, engaged and motivated. Families conveyed not only a sense of urgency but also their desire to be directly involved in the creation of the policies that affect them.
They linked family stability to the availability of living-wage jobs, affordable housing, quality healthcare and education. They stated clearly that their well-being is not tied to a single issue and that piecemeal solutions have failed to address the complexities of their lives.
The testimonies of the families at the townhall meetings have been synthesized into a cohesive National Family Platform, which represents the shared vision of more than 30,000 families for families in this country and a blueprint for change.
On September 6, 2008, at a multicity convention of 20,000 families in Birmingham, Chicago and Los Angeles, the Equal Voice for America’s Families National Family Platform was ratified. On February 11, 2009, more than 150 families went to Washington DC to call on the country, lawmakers and the president of the United States to adopt a comprehensive approach to addressing the issues and challenges that families face.
Families are the backbone of our nation and no family should live in poverty. Everyone who works hard should be able to advance and participate fully in the economic, political, and cultural life of the nation. To do so America’s families need income equality and the opportunity to build wealth to insure upward mobility and equal outcomes.
We can no longer ignore that single issued policy solutions are failing families. The needs of families must be addressed universally.
The strength of our country depends on the strength of our families. It’s time we listened to the voices of America's Families.
Click for National Platform in English