This is no ordinary time in our state – and in our country. Our state’s efforts to serve families and communities in need, to “level the playing field” of opportunity and well-being remain fragmented and inadequate. Too many families in our state are challenged to put food on the table, to afford secure housing, to access quality healthcare, child care or after school day care, to enjoy a modicum of financial security.
Into this destabilizing environment the federal government has injected draconian cuts to food, health, housing and education funding through its budget reconciliation act, with the prolonged federal government shutdown accelerating and amplifying its adverse impacts. Throughout this policy debate, infused with partisan vitriol, the voices of residents most affected are obscured. The whipsaw of uncertainty surrounding suspension of SNAP benefits for 42 million Americans, including 425,000 New Jersey residents, exemplifies a systemic indifference in our political discourse to hardships confronting too many.
The time for residents to stand up and be heard is now. Today there is a movement under way in New Jersey to raise the voices of residents and to get them a seat at the table where decisions affecting their well-being are made. On October 23rd, just days before this year’s state elections, 90 residents, advocates and activists assembled on Zoom for the first of its kind Rally for Residents’ Rights. Fifteen representatives of those families and communities from nine different counties raised their voices, sharing insights from their personal journeys.
Their testimonies shone a bright light on the challenges they confront every day, the dearth of public resources in their neighborhoods that are abundant in so many other communities, and the extraordinary support and guidance they have received from community based agencies that stretch resources and tailor services to uplift families and avert crisis.
Speakers from this gathering included a young woman immigrant sharing her experience as a first time single mom being supported through childbirth and early parenthood by United Way of Central Jersey and Visiting Nurses in Middlesex County. Now managing her life as a mother of two, she is lending support to young mothers facing similar challenges as a parent leader;
Another was a young man in his 20s, who assumed custody for his two siblings following the premature death of his mother, describing his assumption of his role as a parent and a breadwinner, uplifted by the daily guidance and support he continues to receive from the Trenton based Father Center.
A young mother in Paterson, baby in her lap, described the essential support provided by the Healthy Moms, Healthy Families program run by the New Destiny Family Success Center. Her testimony in Spanish was translated by a leader of the Healthy Moms programs who on her own established a WhatsApp help group for young mothers that now includes 200 members collaborating and helping one another meet daily challenges.
Organized and recorded by The Family Success Institute, the rally was an outgrowth of 40 small group meetings, called Community Action Forums, held in 12 counties over the past three years. Meetings were hosted by trusted community-based organizations with the goal of eliciting resident views on issues of concern to them and programs that affect them directly. Over 400 New Jersey residents have participated in this program, sharing their insights, their aspirations as well as the enduring challenges they have encountered. Recordings of these proceedings also document the valued services, tailored to community interests, local agencies provide.
Over this same time period, on a parallel track, legislation that will codify the state’s commitment to giving residents and community providers a seat at the table where decisions are made has been working its way through the legislature. This bill, (A4365/S3301), passed out of the Assembly Committee on Children and Families by unanimous vote and poised for action in the Senate, will vault New Jersey to the forefront of states proactively investing in community directed services that enable families to succeed, rather than after-the-fact spending to mitigate the damaging effects of family distress and adverse circumstances.
The resilience, insight and commitment of residents and community organizations revealed in this rally constitute the foundation for children and families to succeed. They are a critical and effective countermeasure to the assault on wellbeing and opportunity emanating from our nation’s capital. The rally participants collectively demonstrated the importance of enacting the Family Success legislation as the next big step for our state. The launch of a new administration in Trenton in January is an opportune time to turn the page on our legacy of spending on distress and, in partnership with our residents, invest in family success and community directed services.