Thank You From Children’s HealthWatch

Hello Friends, Partners and Supporters,

Thanksgiving may have been on November 26th, but for all of us here at Children’s HealthWatch, it was the week before at our “Wealth Equity is Health Equity” Fall Celebration event. The outpouring of support and kind words we received afterward was heartfelt and touching. If you haven’t yet had a chance to donate, you can scan the QR code below or go to www.childrenshealthwatch.org/donate. Your gift in any amount helps us to keep bringing the issues most important to families with young children to the fore in the most nimble and proactive way possible

We are so grateful to everyone who made the evening a success:

To our Children’s HealthWatch Champion, Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley: thank you for your powerful speech and your compelling call to action. You motivate us to not only use our voices and platforms to advocate for ourselves but the whole community, including those who are often silenced, marginalized and overlooked. Thank you for insisting on paying attention to data and truth and for your continuing public service to not only the families and children of the Massachusetts 7^th district, but those across the country as well. You truly embody the spirit of a champion through your tireless advocacy and drive on their behalf.

Monday night’s event was made possible in part by our sponsor, Eastern Bank – thank you for your support of our work and communities!

To our speakers:

From the Children’s HealthWatch team, Drs. Megan Sandel, Eduardo Ochoa, Jr., Diana Cutts, and Ms. Cerlyn Cantave
Kate Walsh from Boston Medical Center
Bruno Showers from Arkansas Advocates for Children & Families
Quanda Burrell Nanton from Witnesses to Hunger-Boston
From our Advisory Board, Dr. Charlie Homer and Ms. Karen Sweet
Kit Judge from the Annie E Casey Foundation
Susanne Beaton, formerly of the Paul & Phyllis Fireman Charitable Foundation

Thank you for your using your voice in support of our mission to improve and alleviate the economic and other material hardships of countless children and their families.

To the Children’s HealthWatch Advisory Board, thank you so much for your continued engagement and advice. Your wisdom and knowledge have enabled us to do this work more intentionally and purposively in service of all families and children.

To the Children’s HealthWatch staff at our five sites, thank you for your continued commitment to our mission. I am so proud to lead this organization of bright, mission-driven, and hardworking people and to call you my colleagues and friends. It is a joy to come to work every day and you are a huge reason why.

To the event attendees, many of whom are friends, family, supporters, partners in the trenches, policymakers, advocates and funders, thank you so much for taking the time to join us. We know many of you are fatigued by the constant Zoom calls and other virtual meetings and events, so to have not only the pleasure of your presence but your continued support of the work we do is a wonderful gift.

To our event vendors, Kerry King of Spark Street Digital, and Lauren Willis of Intercultural Productions, thank you for your professionalism, flexibility and help. Many hands make light work, and you really made the process to get this event off the ground a great one for us novices.

And last but not least, to the families, caregivers, and children on whose behalf we do this work and who actually make this work possible, we owe you a debt of gratitude. Thank you for taking the time to share your experiences, your dreams, your hurts, your wants, in short, yourselves, with us. Given where we meet you (in our emergency rooms and primary care clinics), you have your hands full caring for your loved ones or trying to get care for yourself. Your courage and knowledge humbles us.

Thanks to all of you for all that you do, especially for using your voices to sound the alarm and to spur real change. We’re all in this together. I appreciate each and every one of you, and in the words of the Bard, offer my “…thanks, and thanks, and ever thanks.”

Sincerely,

Stephanie Ettinger de Cuba

Executive Director, Children’s HealthWatch

Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley is the

2020 Children’s HealthWatch Champion!

Congresswoman Ayanna Pressley is the recipient of 2020 Children’s HealthWatch Champion Award!

The annual award is given to “a champion who advocates for evidence-based policies that help children thrive.” Congresswoman Pressley, who represents the 7^th District of Massachusetts, will be presented the award at our 3^rd annual Fall Celebration to take place virtually on Monday, November 16 from 7PM-8PM, and she will give the event’s keynote address.

Congresswoman Pressley embodies the spirit of the award, demonstrating an unwavering commitment to children and families through the advancement of evidence-based policies that respond to the harsh realities of hunger, homelessness, and poverty among families in Massachusetts and across the nation. Indeed, the Representative has been a stalwart supporter of legislation and policies that lift children and families economically and that dismantle the racism and discrimination embedded in the many institutions that are supposed to help, not hurt, constituents.

This year’s event, “Wealth Equity is Health Equity: Improving Child & Family Health Through Income Supports,” will focus on policy tools that help financially stabilize families and offset racial income disparities. These supports – including legislation sponsored by Congresswoman Pressley such as the Anti-Racism in Public Health Act of 2020, American Opportunity Accounts Act, and Comprehensive CREDIT Act of 2020 among others – are even more critical today as families across the country, particularly communities of color, feel the repercussions of an economic crisis precipitated by the COVID-19 pandemic.

Our theme this year is ‘What Equity Looks Like’. We share Congresswoman Pressley’s dedication to robust and informed policies that speak to the intersectionality of her district’s lived experiences – creating environments where all can be healthy and thrive. This focus underscores everything that she does on behalf of countless children and families, and we are so grateful for her commitment to holding us all accountable and ensuring that every choice is an equitable choice, lifting up communities who have so much to give to those around them and the nation at large.

To register for the event, please click here.