Kathy is a temporary worker and she has worked for a large automotive company for ten years- essentially a permanent temporary position. because of her temporary status she has no sick days, she pays for her insurance and benefits for about $400 a month, and has no human resource liaison to talk to about any issues. She notes that if she did have issues she would be labeled “not a good fit for the company” and let go.

She also notes that if anything catastrophic happened to her health she would lose her job and subsequently her benefits because she wouldn’t be able to pay for it.

She calls for the need for sick days and decries the practice of a company utilizing a ten year temporary position.

Carole volunteers in a food pantry twice a week. She shares a story of how one day a mother came in to the food pantry with a three year old child. As the mother put food into basket the little boy was saying, “Milk- mama- milk! Please milk- we have no milk!” She shares how it broke her heart that this tiny kid was crying out for milk, not cookies or ice cream, but milk which he needed but didn’t have.

Carole shares how this child has made her want to work the rest of her life helping the people who don’t have enough.

Ruthie shares about her friends, aged fifteen and eighteen, who are forced into “being parents” for their nieces/nephews or siblings while the childrens’ parents have to work most of the day.

Ruthie shares the story of one of her close friends who is eighteen years old and the primary caregiver for two of his siblings. His mom, a single mother, is supporting four children and is unable to take care of the children, so her high school aged son often takes care of his younger siblings. One of them is very young and calls him “Dad.” Her friend also works, and is preparing to go to college next year, and shouldn’t have to take care of two children.

She also shares about another friend, fifteen years old, who takes care of her sister’s two children while her sister works three jobs.

Alejandro shares a personal experience with police harassment.

At the time he was working for a restaurant and had a two hour break to run home in his sister’s car and grab a bite to eat, etc. As he was on his way back to work a police officer pulled him over and told him that the air freshener hanging from his rearview mirror was a distraction to other drivers on the road.

Alejandro shares that the car’s back window is tinted, making it difficult to see through to the drivers side, leading him to the conclusion that his being pulled over by the officer had more to do with him being a young Latino driving a very nice car than the look of his air freshener.

Before attending this program, he didn’t think much of this encounter. However, now he sees it is racial profiling and calls for it to stop.

Rep. Marcy shares her experience attempting to get a World War Two memorial installed in their area. She points out that the bill for the memorial was introduced in 1987, but wasn’t dedicated until 2004. This is something that the American people wanted and understood- yet it still took almost two decades to bring an idea to reality in our system.  This  experience showed her how long it takes to get anything, even projects with nearly unanimous support, through our system.

She notes that when there’s disagreement, getting anything done represents real perseverance. She applauds those who show up and do advocacy and activist work for persevering in the face of a challenging system.

Julian is very active in the Black Lives Matter movement- believing that it’s very important for everyone to be active participants in their own survival.

He began protesting when he started losing sleep, disturbed to the point of being unable to work. He began by walking with his hands up in during his lunch break solidarity with protestors  Ferguson. This grew into the local movement to fight racial inequality. He shares how it has changed his life to put effort and work toward such an important movement.

Julian calls attention to the constant systematic and institutional inequality in America’s past and present. He notes that this country has never been equal and fair- especially for the black community- and he stresses the importance of continuing the fight for equality and fair treatment.

Julian shares his belief that things are on the verge of shifting, and calls people of all ages, races, sexual orientation, etc.to participate in the movement because real change comes out of unity. He calls for all people to join in the struggle for equality for all in our country.

Dr. Jonathan Ross calls for a healthcare system that better serves patients by cutting down on the immense complexity an bureaucracy which increases costs and decreases effectiveness.

Dr. Ross decries a healthcare system that undermines the effectiveness of caregivers with its complexity and greed. He notes that patients arrive with progressed or exacerbated conditions because they couldn’t afford care.

He states that he has spent a lifetime in the system and still finds it almost impossible to understand. He points out the the complex bureaucracy in our healthcare system has frown thirty-fold in the last thirty years, compared to the number of doctors and nurses which as only ground two-fold and is more consistent with the demand.

Dr. Ross identifies the complexity of the system with the high cost and names it as a main obstacle to caregivers adequately caring for their patients.

Enedilla has been a migrant worker for the last 44 years, since 1972, and shares her journey.

When she first started working in the fields she didn’t know about her rights as a worker, now she knows her rights to unemployment, benefits, right pay, etc. She shares her experiences raising a family as a migrant farm worker- she once went back to work only five days after giving birth. She also calls attention to work being done to help combat stereotypes and discrimination against migrant workers, especially with the police.

Enedilla has worked so hard largely for her children’s sake. She made a focused effort to teach her four children the value and benefits of hard work throughout their childhoods, and they now all work in non-migrant positions.

She calls attention to the need for better health care and health insurance for migrant workers, as many do not qualify for ‘Obamacare’ and cannot afford health insurance. Enedilla herself works a night job that provides health insurance for $80 a week. She notes that many migrant workers don’t have the education level to make enough money to get health insurance and are also unaware of their rights and programs available.

Therese shares how her family is the first to be doing work than earlier generations.

After 20 years of working for the same company, her husband lost his job when his workplace was bought out by a new company that exported the jobs overseas. He has been looking for a new job for the past year without success. As the mother of three children, she had been a stay at home mom and lost her teaching certification while she wasn’t working. Now she works a part-time minimum wage job; her family relies upon food stamps and is at risk of losing their home. She is worried about her 18 year old son, who is preparing to go to college, when the price of college is too high for the family to afford.

Therese voices her frustration with the system that led her family into this situation, stating “we’re doing all the things that aren’t supposed to happen if you do everything right.” For her, “the American dream isn’t there,” as her family struggles to get by.

Therese ends with her goal for her children, to raise them to be compassionate members of society, so when times are tough they will be “the helpers” to others.

Jennifer’s family was a “typical suburban family,” she was a stay at home mom active in the schools and 6 months pregnant when her husband suffered a massive heart attack.

He experienced the heart attack on a Friday, had a stint put in the following Tuesday, and by that Thursday was back at work. The following Wednesday he received a severe neck injury while at work, and a week later was terminated from his job. Her family went from a six figure income to no income in fifteen days.

She was able to use her networks of friends and families to help them through this challenging time, while her husband was involved in the extensive process to get unemployment and disability benefits. They ended up losing everything and having to move to the shelter.

Jennifer calls attention to the unfair stereotyping of her as lazy for not having a job after her husband was seriously injured. She calls out these judgements as unfair, noting that her husband, who was bedridden,was not only unable to take care of the children but required care himself for up to 24 months. She also notes that it’s extremely difficult to get hired when you’re six months pregnant.

Jennifer also highlights the difficulties her family faced after leaving the shelter, for as soon as her husband was working and they moved into their new house they lost all assistance, including food stamps. It was only through much difficulty that they were able to make their rent and afford food and other necessities for their family.