The Big Five - Learn More About Five Issues Important to Women: Economic Security, Health, Immigration, Violence and Education

The Ms. Foundation is proud to be a co-sponsor of The Big Five, a public-information campaign launched by the National Council for Research on Women. Based on the work of 2,000 scholars in the 115 research, advocacy and policy centers in NCRW's network, the campaign focuses on five issues important to women: economic security, health, immigration, violence and education. You'll find the facts, along with in-depth analysis and proposals to develop effective policies and programs at ncrwbigfive.org

Help us spread the word! Together, we can make a difference, not only for women and girls, but for society as a whole -- in the U.S. and around the world.

To find out about how the Ms. Foundation's more than 150 grantee organizations are igniting critical policy and culture change on behalf of women, families and communities, visit us at ms.foundation.org and sign up to receive our blog postings by email.

Join the Ms. Foundation for a Special Showing of "Pray the Devil Back to Hell"

The Ms. Foundation for Women and the Global Fund for Women are Honored to Present

Pray the Devil Back to Hell
A film by Gini Reticker and Abigail E. Disney

Liberian women demonstrate at the American Embassy in Monrovia at
the height of the civil war, July 2003. [Photo credit: Pewee Flomoku]

Host: Sara K. Gould, President and CEO, The Ms. Foundation for Women
Date: Saturday, November 8, 2008
Time: 8:00 pm
Location: Cinema Village [site]
Address: 22 East 12th St., Manhattan [map]

Pray the Devil Back to Hell chronicles the remarkable story of the courageous Liberian women who came together across faith to end a bloody civil war and bring peace to their shattered country.

The Ms. Foundation for Women builds women's collective power to ignite progressive change. As the leading national women's fund, we support over 150 local, state and national organizations working for social justice across the United States. President and CEO Sara Gould will host a conversation with the filmmakers and discuss the importance of linking women's struggles around the world.

"We believe that women who are most affected by flawed policies and institutions have solutions that benefit everyone," says Sara Gould. "As demonstrated so powerfully in Pray the Devil, women have the courage and deep commitment to pursue just solutions against all odds. We must create connections with women's movements across the globe, to be inspired, and to learn from and support one another, as we build the collective power of women to create a better world."

For more information, contact Lulu Roller at 212.709.4430 and lroller@ms.foundation.org
For more information on the film see PraytheDevilBacktoHell.com
For more information on the Global Fund for Women see globalfundforwomen.org
For more information on the Ms. Foundation for Women see ms.foundation.org

Ms. Foundation Grantees Collaborate in Opposition to Colorado Amendment 48 Declaring Personhood Begins at Fertilization

Two Ms. Foundation grantees, the Colorado Organization for Latina Opportunity and Reproductive Rights (COLOR), and the National Advocates for Pregnant Women (NAPW) are working together to oppose the "Definition of Person" amendment to the Colorado State Constitution. Amendment 48, on the ballot before voters on November 4, declares that the term person includes "any human being from the moment of fertilization" and would grant that person "inalienable rights, equality of justice and due process of law."

As noted on COLOR's web site, the amendment (emphasis added)

goes too far by outlawing all abortions, even in the case of rape, incest, and to save the life of the woman. The amendment does not respect family decisions and puts women's health at risk. Even though many Latinos would not choose abortion for themselves, we respect other people's decisions and believe that family decisions should be private.

In a letter to the editor in the New York Times, NAPW Executive Director Lynn M. Paltrow, writing about the Colorado amendment and related ones in California, and South Dakota, noted:

Measures that outlaw abortion and recognize fetal rights are routinely used to hurt all pregnant women, including those going to term. Such measures are used to control, and sometimes punish, women who do not want unnecessary Caesarean surgery; who want to have vaginal births after previous Caesarean surgery; women who love their children but can’t necessarily overcome a drug or alcohol problem in the short term of a pregnancy; and women who suffer unintentional stillbirths.

In collaboration, NAPW and COLOR have prepared a one-page fact sheet in English and Spanish that is part of state-wide education efforts and COLOR's grassroots door-to-door canvassing. Both organizations are also pursuing public information and voter education campaigns. Lynn Paltrow, of NAPW, in collaboration with Indra Lusero of the Luz Reproductive Justice Think Tank, wrote a commentary that has appeared in numerous local papers including the Vail Daily. Lynn Paltrow's speaking visit was covered in the Denver Daily News with an exploration of the opposition to Amendment 48.

Ms. Foundation Announces Emergency Grants

Crisis continues on the Gulf Coast:
FEMA fails thousands again; ICE raid threatens immigrant workers and families

Today, the Ms. Foundation announced that it has made special grants to the United Houma Nation Relief Fund, the Louisiana Disaster Recovery Foundation and the Mississippi Immigrants’ Rights Alliance—all either current or past Katrina Women’s Response Fund grantees—to meet the urgent needs of women, families and communities in the Gulf Coast.

One month after Hurricanes Gustav and Ike ravaged rural, low-lying coastal areas of Louisiana and forced the evacuation of New Orleans, entire communities remain in crisis. FEMA is repeating past mistakes and a severe housing emergency looms.

Throughout the bayou, homes were thrust off of their foundations and strong winds left only a few beams standing. FEMA has offered emergency housing vouchers, but for nonexistent rentals and hotel rooms already taken up by representatives of the powerful oil and gas industry.

Since Gustav, Brenda Dardar Robichaux, Principal Chief of the United Houma Nation and a recipient of the Ms. Foundation’s 2008 Women of Vision Award, has been blogging about Gustav and Ike’s devastating impact on her People—and the failure of the media or policymakers to pay attention. You can read her entries here. She also set up a relief center again, just like she did after Hurricanes Katrina and Rita, to offer emergency food, supplies and assistance with FEMA applications.

In New Orleans, people are still struggling to recover from unexpected costs and lost wages sustained during a city-wide evacuation. The displacement was especially burdensome for low-wage workers—most often women—who frequently lack benefits or leave policies that might serve as a buffer in times of emergency. LDRF is working to help offset their expenses and restore some sense of economic security—already fragile before the recent storms—to their lives.

In Laurel, Mississippi, just before Gustav hit Louisiana, Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) detained nearly 600 immigrant workers in the largest workplace raid in U.S. history. Since then, families have struggled to pay rent or purchase basic necessities like medicine and food. MIRA acted quickly to protect the legal rights of the detained workers’ and their families and to establish a relief fund to meet people’s basic needs.

Sara K. Gould, President and CEO of the Ms. Foundation for Women, shared this: “We are proud to support the relief efforts of our Gulf Coast grantees as they work to meet people’s immediate needs and to address new levels of devastation brought about by recent hurricanes and ongoing government failure, discrimination and neglect. We hope to continue to raise the visibility and leadership of those who are most impacted—namely, low-income women, women of color, and immigrant women—who, because of their disproportionate and direct experience with these crises, have the most just and sustainable solutions to the short- and long-term challenges their communities face.”

Photos: Gustav Damage, 9/16/08
Brenda Dardar Robichaux
Credit: United Houma Nation

Proposed federal rule poses dangerous threat to reproductive rights of low-income women and women of color

The September 25 deadline for public comment on a proposed HHS rule that would allow healthcare providers and pharmacists to liken birth control and other forms of contraception to abortion and would further undermine women's right to sexual and reproductive health and justice, is fast approaching. (See last Friday's New York Times op-ed by Hillary Clinton and Cecile Richards.)

The impact of the ruling would be far-reaching--it would affect nearly 600,000 hospitals, clinics and other health care providers nationwide that rely on federal financing for services. But it would impact low-income women and women of color the most. As Bethany Sousa points out on RH Reality Check,

Low-income women and women of color who rely more on public programs will ultimately be hit the hardest. Significant percentages of Latinas, Asia Pacific Islanders and African-American women work in low-wage jobs that don't offer benefits and therefore, they lack health insurance of any kind. Public programs such as Medicaid and Title X fill that void by covering prenatal, pregnancy-related care and contraceptive services. The deeply flawed regulation fails to serve the needs of these patients by erecting new barriers to their obtaining reproductive healthcare. Read more...

We talked with Desiree Flores, Ms. Foundation Program Officer for Health, who oversees the foundation's reproductive justice and HIV/AIDS advocacy funding. She added that the proposed rule is particularly troubling for low-income women and women of color because so many already receive substandard care and are often discouraged from questioning their healthcare providers about any information--or lack of information--they share. It would erect even more barriers for our grantees and their constituents--women who confront issues of access and discrimination on a daily basis--and place an immeasurable burden on women already struggling to navigate the medical system and advocate for their rights.

The Center for Reproductive Rights, the National Asian Pacific American Women's Forum, and the National Latina Institute for Reproductive Health, a current Ms. Foundation grantee, are submitting joint comments to the HHS, focusing primarily on the impact on low-income women and women of color. You can read these comments and contribute your own here.

Women's Leadership Critical in Building a Successful, Just Response to Economic Crisis

Last week, Ms. Foundation CEO and President Sara K. Gould again reiterated the importance of women's leadership in the face of the market crisis and its potentially devastating aftershocks for middle and working class America.

Her entire statement was published by the Miami Herald -- read it here on our blog.

Ms. Gould concluded by saying that, "Across the U.S., women are too well-acquainted with poverty and economic insecurity. Because they know these challenges personally, however, they are often best positioned to develop the most effective strategies to address them.

“Women must be better represented at policy tables; their perspectives and leadership are crucial to bring about long-term economic stability and well-being—for women, families and communities. So as we hold key members of the public and private sector accountable for our country’s worsening economic disaster, let’s turn to women driving change at local, state and national levels for economic-justice solutions.”

Ms. Foundation for Women grantees are already pioneering strategies for addressing poverty and economic hardship in their communities and promoting grassroots and national policy alternatives that would improve economic security for low-income women and families. Here are just a few examples of how women leaders are advancing innovative strategies and solutions:

• In Rhode Island, Direct Action for Rights and Equality (DARE) is tackling the mortgage crisis' effect on low-income women and women of color in Providence, promoting people-centered development in the face of gentrification and displacement, and advocating for women’s budget and tax justice.
  
  
• The Multistate Working Families Consortium is a network of state coalitions working for policies that value families by enabling workers to balance their jobs with their responsibilities as parents and caregivers. They have set paid sick leave, job-protected and affordable family and medical leave for all workers, and the right of workers to have greater control of their schedules, as priorities for federal action in 2009. Just this past spring, their members helped pass paid leave legislation in New Jersey.
  
  
• Avery Institute for Social Change promotes community-driven solutions for ending health disparities while stimulating a grassroots movement for national health care reform. They’re currently working to galvanize the women's healthcare movement to support universal healthcare so that no one is forced to choose between paying their rent or paying for their child's visit to the doctor.
  
  
• Domestic Workers United, an organization of caregivers, nannies, housekeepers and other in-home workers, is advocating for the NY Domestic Workers' Bill of Rights. The legislation would establish fair labor standards for domestic workers in NY State, including a living wage, health care and basic benefits. It would guarantee domestic workers basic labor protections which they’re currently denied, address widespread issues of abuse and exploitation to which they’re often subject, and pave the way for true economic security for those entrusted with the security of their employers’ children, families and homes.
  
  
• Childspace, based in Philadelphia, works to improve the quality of jobs for historically low-wage childcare workers, and thus improve the quality of care for the children they serve. Through advocacy programs spearheaded by childcare providers themselves, they are calling for low-income workers' access to health insurance, higher state subsidies to support professional development and facility-improvement, and better management of the Pennsylvania's childcare subsidy program.
  

Houma stories illuminate long-standing and urgent needs after Gustav and Ike

Unfortunately, what remains of media coverage of the most recent Gulf Coast storms, continues to focus on urban areas hit by Hurricanes Gustav and Ike, with little attention paid to rural, low-lying coastal communities. Brenda Dardar Robichaux, Principal Chief of the United Houma Nation, reminds us that more than two weeks out, Houma parishes in southern Louisiana continue to face the impact of both storms. Little known to the outside world, the destruction wrought by Gustav in Houma communities was compounded by massive flooding from Ike--reportedly worse for some than it had been due to Hurricanes Katrina and Rita in 2005. What's more, these storms came as people were still struggling to recover from Katrina and Rita. Brenda Robichaux shares an example of this below:

I would like to share with you a story of a wonderful family I had known for years but became close to following Hurricanes Katrina and Rita. They are an elderly couple who recently celebrated their 60th wedding anniversary and who live along Shrimpers Row. They had their home flooded by Hurricane Rita and now again by Hurricane Ike. I had visited with them recently when I brought a reporter from Time Magazine to interview them for a story on the Louisiana wetlands. During his interview they described their love for the land and the attachments they felt for their home and their culture. When asked about seeking Road Home funds to elevate their home, they mentioned that they felt sorry for the people in New Orleans who had lost everything and did not want to take any money that might be used to assist these families.

When they were later persuaded that they needed to file for these funds they did so and were scheduled to have their home elevated prior to the storm. However, the Road Home evaluation team found they had a faulty faucet attachment in their bathroom and denied them their funds until the problem was corrected. The elderly husband was unable to perform this task himself and the elevation of the home was cancelled.

Prior to Hurricane Gustave, they had placed all of their treasured possessions in their automobile and had evacuated the community. When they returned, they replaced everything in their home, only to be caught unprepared for the quick rising waters which occurred with Hurricane Ike. All of their precious possessions were devastated by the floodwaters which covered their home.

The amazing part of this story is the same thing we heard with flooding in New Orleans, St. Bernard Parish, Plaquemines Parish, and elsewhere. When the floodwaters begin to rise, they sometimes come up so quickly that escaping them is impossible.

...It is difficult enough to meet the needs of our Tribal citizens and even more difficult to write about these experiences. Although it is difficult to write this daily blog, I will continue to do so as I realize how important it is to share our stories with you. When I first began writing about our plight, it was healing as it helped me to organize my thoughts and plan my future activities. At this point it has become more difficult as the stories that need to be told are painful to describe and difficult to express with a degree of accuracy to equal their emotional significance.

...I am extremely grateful to have a loyal and understanding family and friends who have stood with me throughout this ordeal and who realize that this is just the beginning of a lengthy and trying experience for us all.

Robichaux's blog remains one of the only sources of on-the-ground, up-to-date information about the urgent and long-standing needs of people in the Gulf Coast--particularly those whose priorities remain the most invisible: low-income people and people of color, in this case from primarily Indigenous, rural communities that bear the brunt of federal and state government failures to address key underlying issues like coastal erosion and poverty.

We will continue to share Brenda's stories and insight into the urgent and long-term needs of the Houma Nation--we hope that you will spread them far and wide as well.

Again, you can support the United Houma Nation and its Relief Center, which they were finally able to set up last week, through its web site. You can also make a gift to the Ms. Foundation for Women's Katrina Women's Response Fund, which provides immediate and long-term strategic grantmaking, communications, and capacity-building support to the United Houma Nation and other organizations and communities impacted by Gustav and Ike, as well as Hurricanes Katrina and Rita.