DON’T MISS OUR UPCOMING OCTOBER EVENTS

October 8, 2023

Thank you for an eventful September kicking off our DC Women and Guaranteed Income series.

October Events. Following the screening of Storming Caesar’s Palace, we invite you to our October events line-up:

Our DC GI Coalition October 5th Advocacy & Action Work Group to discuss strategy and direct actions.
In continuation of our DC Women & Guaranteed Income series, we’ll host a hybrid meeting with a panel discussion on October 19th.

October’s Highlight of Guaranteed Income, Health Equity and Social Determinants of Health. Our October 19th event promises to be a foray into the ways in which many social determinants of health intersect and can be impacted by guaranteed income. What is a social determination of health? They are:

Income and social protection.
Education.
Unemployment and job insecurity.
Working life conditions.
Food insecurity.
Housing, basic amenities and the environment.

The Department of Health and Human Services defines social determinants of health: (SDOH) as “the conditions in the environments where people are born, live, learn, work, play, worship, and age that affect a wide range of health, functioning, and quality-of-life outcomes and risks.” Our October 19 program will feature an array of issues and organizations, and how our collective action can move these determinants to achieve health equity.

Reflecting our focus on the social determinants of health, and supported by a number of partner organizations including the Greater Washington Community Foundation, we are so excited to highlight the impact of our community’s work fighting for health justice. In this vein, read below and join us in spreading the word about the events of our partners at Mamatoto Village. Further, one critical social determinant of health – housing access and conditions – is featured in our coverage of DC Council updates. Read about how the Council is taking action to address the affordable housing crisis through temporary legislation. And don’t forget to sign up as a volunteer with our canvas activities and more.

We welcome your health equity and economic justice news and events for a future weekly email. Contact us at info@mothersoutreachnetwork.org.

Thank you for your continued support and interest!

Please join us for our monthly Advocacy & Action Working Group. We will continue to plan our fall canvass and legislative agenda. Join us most first Thursdays from 5:00 PM – 6:00 PM. (Check our newsletters for meeting updates!)

OCTOBER 19 GENERAL BODY MEETING:

Join us on October 19th for our October DC Guaranteed Income Coalition General Body Meeting, where we’ll continue our D.C. Women & Guaranteed Income series. For this longer session, from 5 to 7 pm,vwe will meet over Zoom and in-person, with location details to be announced.

A multi-pronged and intersectional effort, our DC Women & GI program will examine and lift up the promise of guaranteed income for a broad swath of marginalized BIPOC women residents and worker communities across the District of Columbia. As discussed above, the focus on social determinants of health drive our overarching collective health equity mission. Our efforts seek to apply several frameworks:

Cash as care to power a DC economy focused on the Black Women Best framework
Cash policies that power BIPOC women workers including immigrant communities, such as Let’s GO DMV!; and
Cash-centered policies that redefine caregiving as work to benefit women currently excluded from the Earned Income Tax Credit.

Related poverty-driven, health-equity related, issues will be addressed, to include domestic violence, child welfare involvement, and maternal health outcomes.

To get involved in the planning table for this effort contact Melody at info@mothersoutreachnetwork.org.

This week, the DC City Council will be considering several pieces of temporary legislation related to the affordable housing crisis. This includes the Family Re-Housing Stabilization Program Protection Emergency Amendment Act of 2023 and the Voluntary Agreement Moratorium Temporary Amendment Act of 2023. The FRSP emergency act would temporarily codify existing DHS regulations to ensure that FRSP participants are able to apply for an extension of assistance beyond the standard 12 months if they have made a good faith effort to find housing and have yet to be matched with a permanent housing support. The Act, if passed, will be in effect for a maximum of 90 days while the Council works towards a more permanent solution. The Voluntary Agreement Moratorium Act would prohibit tenants and landlords in rent controlled buildings from entering into a voluntary agreement to raise rent for a period of one year. Landlords can pressure tenants into approving voluntary agreements by making necessary repairs or maintenance contingent on such an agreement. A similar moratorium has been in place since 2020, so this Act would maintain that status quo for the next year, in response to the extremely steep rental increases that many residents in rent controlled buildings have faced in recent years.