1 00:00:00,000 --> 00:00:10,200 Hello, hello, hello, everyone. 2 00:00:10,200 --> 00:00:15,400 Welcome back to the bold and the brave parent leader podcast. 3 00:00:15,400 --> 00:00:19,080 We are so excited to have you all back. 4 00:00:19,080 --> 00:00:22,880 I want to introduce my cohost for today is going to be Melvet Hill. 5 00:00:22,880 --> 00:00:24,280 How are you doing Melvet? 6 00:00:24,280 --> 00:00:26,360 Hey, good morning, everyone. 7 00:00:26,360 --> 00:00:28,960 Good to be back with you again. 8 00:00:28,960 --> 00:00:30,040 I'm a parent leader. 9 00:00:30,040 --> 00:00:35,520 I'm also a great supporter and friend of our National Parent Leadership Institute. 10 00:00:35,520 --> 00:00:39,400 I work at the Commission on Women, Children, Seniors, Equity and Opportunity, where I'm 11 00:00:39,400 --> 00:00:40,400 the executive director. 12 00:00:40,400 --> 00:00:44,760 So we're holding it down here in Connecticut on this very cold winter's day. 13 00:00:44,760 --> 00:00:45,760 Awesome, awesome. 14 00:00:45,760 --> 00:00:48,680 And before we get started, I'll introduce myself as well. 15 00:00:48,680 --> 00:00:49,680 My name is Hobson McCain. 16 00:00:49,680 --> 00:00:53,320 I'm the operations and special initiatives associate with the National Parent Leadership 17 00:00:53,320 --> 00:00:57,160 Institute and the leader of legislative advocacy and policy teams. 18 00:00:57,160 --> 00:01:00,280 I'm very excited to be back with you all. 19 00:01:00,280 --> 00:01:04,560 I think we have an exciting podcast planned for you this week. 20 00:01:04,560 --> 00:01:08,880 I know that we're going to start it off just talking about Black History Month. 21 00:01:08,880 --> 00:01:10,920 So happy Black History Month. 22 00:01:10,920 --> 00:01:12,880 Happy Black History Month. 23 00:01:12,880 --> 00:01:15,600 You know, for me, Black History is 365. 24 00:01:15,600 --> 00:01:21,080 But I appreciate that we do have a month where we can really highlight and focus on people 25 00:01:21,080 --> 00:01:28,160 in the African diaspora and really hone in on how they have contributed to and continue 26 00:01:28,160 --> 00:01:32,440 to contribute to our society and our world. 27 00:01:32,440 --> 00:01:38,800 So this month, the theme for Black History, this is a national effort, the theme for Black 28 00:01:38,800 --> 00:01:46,240 History this month is African Americans and labor with a focus on the various and profound 29 00:01:46,240 --> 00:01:54,160 ways that work, labor and work of all kinds intersects with the collective experiences 30 00:01:54,160 --> 00:01:55,800 of our people. 31 00:01:55,800 --> 00:02:02,700 And you know, for those who don't know, and who might not be watching or might not know 32 00:02:02,700 --> 00:02:07,640 you and I, Hobson, but we both identify as people on the African diaspora. 33 00:02:07,640 --> 00:02:13,040 I'm a Black woman and I know you identify as an African American male as well. 34 00:02:13,040 --> 00:02:17,600 So for this, this is very meaningful to us. 35 00:02:17,600 --> 00:02:25,080 But I know MPLI has historically celebrated Black History Month by doing a number of things 36 00:02:25,080 --> 00:02:26,560 what's happening this year. 37 00:02:26,560 --> 00:02:32,640 Yeah, I know that we have had our series on our Hidden Heroes series that used to be our 38 00:02:32,640 --> 00:02:35,600 Hidden Heroes series, but we've changed it to Hidden Figures to be a little bit more 39 00:02:35,600 --> 00:02:37,560 inclusive lingually. 40 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:43,040 So we have brought that back this month and have highlighted some amazing African American 41 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:48,080 leaders throughout history who have contributed to the movement through civil rights and labor 42 00:02:48,080 --> 00:02:49,660 in various areas. 43 00:02:49,660 --> 00:02:54,760 So highlighting some of the less known heroes who may not have been highlighted in your 44 00:02:54,760 --> 00:02:58,080 school history class or on social media. 45 00:02:58,080 --> 00:03:01,720 So I definitely would encourage everybody to go check out our social media and review 46 00:03:01,720 --> 00:03:04,360 some of those Hidden Figures. 47 00:03:04,360 --> 00:03:09,120 Because as always, it's just great information to know, it's really good to understand the 48 00:03:09,120 --> 00:03:16,080 intricacies of the history of racial discrimination in this country and how some of those things 49 00:03:16,080 --> 00:03:20,480 are rearing their head in today's world. 50 00:03:20,480 --> 00:03:25,360 And I know that we also this month are going to get into housing. 51 00:03:25,360 --> 00:03:31,580 So I wonder about, you talked about the history of segregation and contributions that Black 52 00:03:31,580 --> 00:03:34,800 people have made in connection with labor. 53 00:03:34,800 --> 00:03:40,320 And I wonder how some of those things may connect back to some of the housing conversations 54 00:03:40,320 --> 00:03:43,600 that are happening in today's world. 55 00:03:43,600 --> 00:03:51,400 Yeah, I think that historically we've seen and have understood that when this country 56 00:03:51,400 --> 00:03:58,520 was built and with the economic platform that it had, Black people were already a part of 57 00:03:58,520 --> 00:04:03,800 the equation, except for they weren't the beneficiaries of the work and of the system. 58 00:04:03,800 --> 00:04:09,680 And so historically, Black people and people of color have worked together to advocate 59 00:04:09,680 --> 00:04:16,640 for many people's fight for civil rights, to fight against injustices, not just in the 60 00:04:16,640 --> 00:04:23,000 human rights space, not just against slavery, not just against voting rights, but really 61 00:04:23,000 --> 00:04:24,520 for housing rights. 62 00:04:24,520 --> 00:04:32,520 NPLI has done a lot of work with housing, with their parent housing policy table. 63 00:04:32,520 --> 00:04:39,120 And one of the things that we did together, Hobson, you and I and others at NPLI was really 64 00:04:39,120 --> 00:04:46,720 dig into the book, The Color of Law, right, and help parents understand how these systems 65 00:04:46,720 --> 00:04:53,880 were built and how redlining started and what that looks like today and how redlining allowing 66 00:04:53,880 --> 00:05:01,840 certain people to purchase homes in the prime real estate areas, the nice neighborhoods, 67 00:05:01,840 --> 00:05:04,760 and how they were able to get mortgages and insurance. 68 00:05:04,760 --> 00:05:09,920 And while people of color were regulated to other parts of cities and towns that weren't 69 00:05:09,920 --> 00:05:15,840 so nice, that did not have good housing stock and weren't able to get mortgages and things 70 00:05:15,840 --> 00:05:16,840 like that. 71 00:05:16,840 --> 00:05:20,600 And so how has that historically continued to play out? 72 00:05:20,600 --> 00:05:26,000 I mean, we see, especially in New York City and big cities, that that's how housing projects 73 00:05:26,000 --> 00:05:29,720 started because they didn't want people of color in the suburbs. 74 00:05:29,720 --> 00:05:31,960 So like, we'll build you these nice, big, pretty buildings. 75 00:05:31,960 --> 00:05:33,000 You'll love it. 76 00:05:33,000 --> 00:05:36,720 And so that's how housing projects started and all of these other things. 77 00:05:36,720 --> 00:05:44,600 We still see it play out today in homeownership and even how infrastructure happens in urban 78 00:05:44,600 --> 00:05:48,080 planning that they would people of color in neighborhoods. 79 00:05:48,080 --> 00:05:52,840 And then when they wanted to develop, they put a highway right through that neighborhood. 80 00:05:52,840 --> 00:05:59,280 And so we see the environmental factors that happen when you put highways and dumps and 81 00:05:59,280 --> 00:06:03,760 landfills and places where community of colors live, you see the health effects. 82 00:06:03,760 --> 00:06:09,120 So all of this is a ripple effect and quite frankly, lands us in that place of social 83 00:06:09,120 --> 00:06:15,120 determinants of health and why certain peoples have the health issues they do have the economic 84 00:06:15,120 --> 00:06:16,960 issues and pressures they do. 85 00:06:16,960 --> 00:06:23,400 All of this ties back to the inequities that exist and primarily one of them is housing, 86 00:06:23,400 --> 00:06:24,400 right? 87 00:06:24,400 --> 00:06:26,000 Housing we see as a human right. 88 00:06:26,000 --> 00:06:30,320 It's not something that people should have to fight for, but that everyone should have 89 00:06:30,320 --> 00:06:33,360 housing just like they should have food and clothing. 90 00:06:33,360 --> 00:06:35,000 So I'll stop there. 91 00:06:35,000 --> 00:06:38,840 But I think that's kind of like the moment that has brought us to today that we still 92 00:06:38,840 --> 00:06:43,880 see people fighting for these, this very basic human right. 93 00:06:43,880 --> 00:06:49,560 And people like Al Sharpton and Martin Luther King and Malcolm X, people don't understand 94 00:06:49,560 --> 00:06:54,880 that while people had their different ways of fighting for what was needed, they were 95 00:06:54,880 --> 00:06:59,840 all very effective in reaching different groups to continue to keep them engaged in the issues 96 00:06:59,840 --> 00:07:02,040 that were important, including housing. 97 00:07:02,040 --> 00:07:03,040 Yeah. 98 00:07:03,040 --> 00:07:05,200 And I love how you raise those leaders. 99 00:07:05,200 --> 00:07:11,000 And I just want to raise the fact or raise the level of comprehensive understanding that 100 00:07:11,000 --> 00:07:15,720 those leaders had to have of the history of the country in order to even have the foresight 101 00:07:15,720 --> 00:07:18,640 to begin advocating for those things when they were. 102 00:07:18,640 --> 00:07:23,420 You spoke a little bit to the redlining piece when in the 30s and 40s, the federal housing 103 00:07:23,420 --> 00:07:29,360 administration would refuse to give loans to certain communities to purchase housing 104 00:07:29,360 --> 00:07:33,440 within some of these areas where the federal government was building some of these government 105 00:07:33,440 --> 00:07:36,320 funded housing projects and things of that nature. 106 00:07:36,320 --> 00:07:39,720 Those things were originally created to assist the middle class. 107 00:07:39,720 --> 00:07:42,920 But in this country, it was mostly middle class white Americans. 108 00:07:42,920 --> 00:07:47,520 And so black folks were able to get loans to get housing. 109 00:07:47,520 --> 00:07:54,400 And so they were forced into these poverty areas outside of where the cities were developing. 110 00:07:54,400 --> 00:07:59,560 And then as cities developed, they expanded and built upon these black neighborhoods and 111 00:07:59,560 --> 00:08:02,960 kind of forced them to relocate back into the city. 112 00:08:02,960 --> 00:08:07,200 And so, you know, it's kind of been this back and forth where, you know, where the prime 113 00:08:07,200 --> 00:08:12,560 real estate, as the prime real estate moved, certain demographics of Americans were kind 114 00:08:12,560 --> 00:08:13,560 of forced out. 115 00:08:13,560 --> 00:08:19,160 And, you know, homeownership is one of those things that leads to economic freedom. 116 00:08:19,160 --> 00:08:25,680 And so as the civil rights movement evolved and racial discrimination became illegal, 117 00:08:25,680 --> 00:08:29,400 and if you're not watching, I did put up some quotes around that because the policy really 118 00:08:29,400 --> 00:08:38,200 just shifted to where it was more of a discrimination based upon income and that ended up or reared 119 00:08:38,200 --> 00:08:40,280 its head in a racist way. 120 00:08:40,280 --> 00:08:41,280 Right. 121 00:08:41,280 --> 00:08:44,800 Because of the discrimination that prevented black folks from accessing some of this federal 122 00:08:44,800 --> 00:08:50,120 assistance, a lot of black communities were the impoverished communities. 123 00:08:50,120 --> 00:08:56,320 And so when the policies did flip to being financially discriminatory, it was still the 124 00:08:56,320 --> 00:08:58,240 same folks who were being affected. 125 00:08:58,240 --> 00:08:59,920 And we're still seeing a lot of that today. 126 00:08:59,920 --> 00:09:09,280 I know in Ohio, there's a huge push to establish a community redistricting council to some of 127 00:09:09,280 --> 00:09:15,860 the partisan redrawing of lines that results in black people being put into districts and 128 00:09:15,860 --> 00:09:19,080 not receiving as much funding as various white communities. 129 00:09:19,080 --> 00:09:21,480 And this doesn't isn't just limited to housing, right? 130 00:09:21,480 --> 00:09:28,200 This goes into funding for education, funding for public services, even funding for long 131 00:09:28,200 --> 00:09:30,080 enforcement and things of that nature. 132 00:09:30,080 --> 00:09:36,720 It's really a very insidious and complex system that has worked to maintain lower class, lower 133 00:09:36,720 --> 00:09:43,840 income class in America that looks more racially universal and unfortunately has been including 134 00:09:43,840 --> 00:09:48,040 black people. 135 00:09:48,040 --> 00:09:57,720 But yeah, so I want to maybe kind of switch to a more current discussion around how the 136 00:09:57,720 --> 00:10:02,040 federal government, everybody knows we have a new presidential administration that has 137 00:10:02,040 --> 00:10:06,960 come in and they've made some sweeping changes that will affect housing, but realistically 138 00:10:06,960 --> 00:10:11,480 affect how our government is looked at and run going forward potentially. 139 00:10:11,480 --> 00:10:17,280 So I want to start just introducing some things that the federal government may have done 140 00:10:17,280 --> 00:10:22,760 in terms of not celebrating certain holidays and how maybe some local and state action 141 00:10:22,760 --> 00:10:26,640 can combat some of these changes that are happening. 142 00:10:26,640 --> 00:10:33,200 So I think what's interesting in when we're talking about holidays and how the current 143 00:10:33,200 --> 00:10:41,600 administration is not encouraging celebration of particular holidays and things like Black 144 00:10:41,600 --> 00:10:47,400 History Month, you'll also notice, right, that there, you know, this is a public private 145 00:10:47,400 --> 00:10:55,160 situation, so it helps you to better understand or question the authority of the executive 146 00:10:55,160 --> 00:11:00,520 branch, right, so we were kind of established, our constitution gives us three branches of 147 00:11:00,520 --> 00:11:05,760 government so that there is a balance of power, right, and Congress has a lot of power because 148 00:11:05,760 --> 00:11:06,920 they make laws. 149 00:11:06,920 --> 00:11:13,840 And so what's interesting is this conversation around federalism, around balance of power, 150 00:11:13,840 --> 00:11:18,400 like federalism meaning like states power, like how much power do the states have. 151 00:11:18,400 --> 00:11:24,000 And so when it comes to holidays, quite frankly, really that's more in the state's hands. 152 00:11:24,000 --> 00:11:27,760 So the president can say, well, we're not going to celebrate Black History Month, but 153 00:11:27,760 --> 00:11:33,240 in Connecticut we still are, we still have our holiday off, nothing has changed, we're 154 00:11:33,240 --> 00:11:39,520 moving forward with Juneteenth because in our state, our laws govern us. 155 00:11:39,520 --> 00:11:44,640 And so if our state legislature put into effect that we have Juneteenth off as a holiday, 156 00:11:44,640 --> 00:11:46,400 that's what's going to happen. 157 00:11:46,400 --> 00:11:54,520 It also causes us to question public-private partnerships and how much the government can 158 00:11:54,520 --> 00:11:57,080 tell entities to do things. 159 00:11:57,080 --> 00:12:06,320 For example, like renaming the Gulf of Mexico, the Gulf of America, right, who decides that? 160 00:12:06,320 --> 00:12:13,440 And quite frankly, who decides on the Google calendar to remove such holidays? 161 00:12:13,440 --> 00:12:19,560 Google decided because they could have made a decision like we're a private entity, we're 162 00:12:19,560 --> 00:12:22,400 going to keep what we want to keep on our calendar. 163 00:12:22,400 --> 00:12:28,160 So there seems to be a lot of influence from the executive branch in many different areas. 164 00:12:28,160 --> 00:12:33,720 I think your question was how does that play out and what can states be doing and even 165 00:12:33,720 --> 00:12:37,800 what can parent leaders be doing in this time? 166 00:12:37,800 --> 00:12:42,340 And I think we always say like you reach out to the people who represent you, but also 167 00:12:42,340 --> 00:12:45,920 like you have to look at your own values, right? 168 00:12:45,920 --> 00:12:53,200 And quite frankly, we have to have some balance even in our thinking, right? 169 00:12:53,200 --> 00:13:00,760 So instead of being worried about what you might be hearing or what people are saying, 170 00:13:00,760 --> 00:13:03,520 watch the news for yourself. 171 00:13:03,520 --> 00:13:08,120 Tap in, read things for yourself and get your own understanding before allowing people to 172 00:13:08,120 --> 00:13:09,120 tell you what's happening. 173 00:13:09,120 --> 00:13:10,560 And that's what I always say. 174 00:13:10,560 --> 00:13:12,920 And it's the same with these executive orders, right? 175 00:13:12,920 --> 00:13:14,720 On one hand, someone's like, this is terrible. 176 00:13:14,720 --> 00:13:16,760 On the other hand, someone's saying this is great. 177 00:13:16,760 --> 00:13:19,840 And so we have to decide for ourselves. 178 00:13:19,840 --> 00:13:25,080 How does that affect me, my family, my community, my situation? 179 00:13:25,080 --> 00:13:26,520 So that's what I would say about that. 180 00:13:26,520 --> 00:13:28,320 What would you say, Hobson? 181 00:13:28,320 --> 00:13:33,800 Yeah, I really liked how you touched on the power of the states to kind of maintain some 182 00:13:33,800 --> 00:13:38,660 of these historical practices that have been so important and kind of elevating the racial 183 00:13:38,660 --> 00:13:40,040 history of this country. 184 00:13:40,040 --> 00:13:46,080 I know that when you're in a history class in public school 11 months out the year, we're 185 00:13:46,080 --> 00:13:51,280 talking about George Washington and James Madison and Paul Revere and all the great things 186 00:13:51,280 --> 00:13:54,160 that some of these historical figures have done for this country. 187 00:13:54,160 --> 00:14:01,200 While it seems that the racial dynamic of some of those individuals and the history 188 00:14:01,200 --> 00:14:05,560 of this country is kind of relegated to February, right? 189 00:14:05,560 --> 00:14:11,840 And so, especially if you're in one of those districts that's not elevating Black history 190 00:14:11,840 --> 00:14:14,680 every month, because Black history is American history. 191 00:14:14,680 --> 00:14:22,520 We've been a part of this country essentially as soon as folks got here, brought folks here. 192 00:14:22,520 --> 00:14:30,040 So the importance of cutting out a month to make sure that there's some conversation around 193 00:14:30,040 --> 00:14:31,920 these things is vitally important. 194 00:14:31,920 --> 00:14:35,840 I think it goes into the changing of curriculum. 195 00:14:35,840 --> 00:14:41,240 There's a huge push to eliminate the Department of Education to kind of prevent some of these. 196 00:14:41,240 --> 00:14:46,280 And to be fair, the Department of Education doesn't control state or public funding for 197 00:14:46,280 --> 00:14:56,440 education, but the spirit of these executive orders and these movements to kind of eliminate 198 00:14:56,440 --> 00:15:04,120 some federal employees and federal departments is to eliminate some of these quote unquote 199 00:15:04,120 --> 00:15:10,580 DEI practices or the inclusion of woke histories, what some folks may say. 200 00:15:10,580 --> 00:15:17,000 And so, you know, what that really is, is an elimination of the discussion of Black 201 00:15:17,000 --> 00:15:20,800 history and not wanting to kind of speak to some of those things. 202 00:15:20,800 --> 00:15:26,720 And so, you know, just thinking about the importance of being knowledgeable about all 203 00:15:26,720 --> 00:15:32,920 of the racial and secretary practices that have happened, you know, our community members, 204 00:15:32,920 --> 00:15:36,020 our parent leaders don't speak up to kind of maintain those things. 205 00:15:36,020 --> 00:15:40,040 So I just wanted to raise it in the education aspect. 206 00:15:40,040 --> 00:15:44,920 And then you talked a little bit about executive orders and like the duality between how some 207 00:15:44,920 --> 00:15:49,920 folks may think it's a great move and some folks may think it's not a great move, right. 208 00:15:49,920 --> 00:15:55,720 And especially in terms of housing, you know, there was an executive order to deliver emergency 209 00:15:55,720 --> 00:16:00,000 price relief for American families in defending the cost of living crisis, right. 210 00:16:00,000 --> 00:16:06,040 That sounds on its face like a phenomenal thing that can alleviate some costs. 211 00:16:06,040 --> 00:16:09,720 But if you read through the executive order, it is fairly broad. 212 00:16:09,720 --> 00:16:14,960 It doesn't give specific methods for implementing some of those changes. 213 00:16:14,960 --> 00:16:21,360 But it does have the spirit of trying to alleviate some of those costs. 214 00:16:21,360 --> 00:16:24,240 Now, the methodology of that is going to be important. 215 00:16:24,240 --> 00:16:29,880 And especially when you have other executive orders, mainly tariffs on Canada and Mexico, 216 00:16:29,880 --> 00:16:35,280 who are some of our biggest providers of steel, concrete, lumber, things that are pivotal 217 00:16:35,280 --> 00:16:39,220 in increasing the amount of housing in this country that may make construction of housing 218 00:16:39,220 --> 00:16:40,440 more expensive. 219 00:16:40,440 --> 00:16:45,920 Maybe I'll know that as the production cost of something goes up, that cost is generally 220 00:16:45,920 --> 00:16:48,120 pushed down onto the consumer, right. 221 00:16:48,120 --> 00:16:52,240 We're a capitalistic country, so the folks who are producing houses want to make money 222 00:16:52,240 --> 00:16:55,240 and they don't want to lose money because concrete is more expensive. 223 00:16:55,240 --> 00:17:00,640 And so the prices of concrete go up, the prices of lumber goes up, presumably the prices of 224 00:17:00,640 --> 00:17:02,640 housing might go up. 225 00:17:02,640 --> 00:17:07,560 And then there's been other executive orders that may undermine DEI practices, like we 226 00:17:07,560 --> 00:17:12,960 kind of talked about, and the whole concept of diversity, equity, and inclusion, which 227 00:17:12,960 --> 00:17:19,480 is what DEI stands for, was to make sure that folks were evaluated on their merit, not to 228 00:17:19,480 --> 00:17:21,320 eliminate that requirement, right. 229 00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:28,400 There was a huge discrepancy in the amount of people of color, women, the LGBTQ community 230 00:17:28,400 --> 00:17:32,680 that wasn't getting access to some of these employment opportunities, despite the fact 231 00:17:32,680 --> 00:17:38,440 that they had their credentials and had the experience and ability to perform these tasks. 232 00:17:38,440 --> 00:17:43,600 And so the creation of DEI initiatives was to ensure that our country was representative 233 00:17:43,600 --> 00:17:47,560 and that qualified individuals weren't being discriminated on based upon their race, right. 234 00:17:47,560 --> 00:17:53,200 And so the elimination of those things is actually kind of counterintuitive to the whole 235 00:17:53,200 --> 00:17:56,920 let's evaluate each other based on our merit argument. 236 00:17:56,920 --> 00:18:02,080 And so there's that, and then there's been reduction of staff and executive agencies, 237 00:18:02,080 --> 00:18:07,200 the Department of Government Efficiency, maybe more commonly known as DOGE, is doing widespread 238 00:18:07,200 --> 00:18:14,400 cuts to federal agencies, sometimes eliminating federal agencies altogether effectively or 239 00:18:14,400 --> 00:18:16,800 attempting to- Or accidentally. 240 00:18:16,800 --> 00:18:21,480 Yeah, or accidentally, you know, eliminating folks who have nuclear codes, which could 241 00:18:21,480 --> 00:18:26,000 be catish, you know, clearly- Or trying to solve for bird flu right now. 242 00:18:26,000 --> 00:18:28,560 Yeah, or trying to solve for bird flu. 243 00:18:28,560 --> 00:18:33,840 And so, you know, these executive agencies, you know, serve the purpose of implementing 244 00:18:33,840 --> 00:18:41,440 some of these federal laws, you know, like the Civil Rights Act or Federal Housing Act 245 00:18:41,440 --> 00:18:46,640 that were aimed at eliminating or working towards eliminating some of these problems 246 00:18:46,640 --> 00:18:48,520 because we know that they haven't been eliminated. 247 00:18:48,520 --> 00:18:53,060 But lastly, in terms of the policies, the federal policies that may be affecting some 248 00:18:53,060 --> 00:18:57,940 of these housing issues, there's a lot of conditioning of federal aid on cooperation 249 00:18:57,940 --> 00:19:04,360 with federal policy or conversations around not providing colleges that receive federal 250 00:19:04,360 --> 00:19:05,520 funding. 251 00:19:05,520 --> 00:19:13,160 Their funding may be removed if it's deemed that they're introducing DEI curriculum at 252 00:19:13,160 --> 00:19:14,160 their schools. 253 00:19:14,160 --> 00:19:18,440 Same thing with public schools and private schools on the K-12 level, right? 254 00:19:18,440 --> 00:19:23,880 And so a lot of these things, a lot of these executive orders, you know, while framed around 255 00:19:23,880 --> 00:19:30,360 a certain theme or a certain ideal, you know, they might not have that effect in practice. 256 00:19:30,360 --> 00:19:35,560 And so just like Movet said, you know, we always encourage parent leaders to, you know, 257 00:19:35,560 --> 00:19:40,880 look for their own news and form their own perspective in terms of these policies. 258 00:19:40,880 --> 00:19:46,160 The White House website, whitehouse.gov, they have all of the executive orders that have 259 00:19:46,160 --> 00:19:48,360 been passed, the language that's included in them. 260 00:19:48,360 --> 00:19:53,500 And so, you know, I encourage folks when you hear about delivering emergency price relief 261 00:19:53,500 --> 00:19:57,920 for American families executive order, don't just operate based off the title of it. 262 00:19:57,920 --> 00:20:02,640 Go read it, find out for yourself how that information may be applied in community and 263 00:20:02,640 --> 00:20:04,200 whether or not you support it. 264 00:20:04,200 --> 00:20:08,880 Because ultimately, combating some of these things or if you're in support of some of 265 00:20:08,880 --> 00:20:14,920 these things, all of that is going to come down to constituents and advocates making 266 00:20:14,920 --> 00:20:20,040 their voices known and their perspectives known, whether they're dissatisfied or satisfied. 267 00:20:20,040 --> 00:20:22,300 Definitely encourage folks to do your own research. 268 00:20:22,300 --> 00:20:28,680 There's a plethora of sources and sites out there that you can check out to get good information. 269 00:20:28,680 --> 00:20:32,200 And you know, make sure that if you are looking at something and it appears to be partisan, 270 00:20:32,200 --> 00:20:35,720 maybe go to a site that you know has the other perspective so that you can kind of get a 271 00:20:35,720 --> 00:20:39,560 full idea of the picture. 272 00:20:39,560 --> 00:20:41,680 That's where we are. 273 00:20:41,680 --> 00:20:46,760 I would, before we shift, I would offer also another resource to parents. 274 00:20:46,760 --> 00:20:51,000 We've shared this before on other podcasts and some of our other work together. 275 00:20:51,000 --> 00:20:53,920 At allsides.com. 276 00:20:53,920 --> 00:21:00,880 So allsides.com really shows a balanced approach to the media, right? 277 00:21:00,880 --> 00:21:05,720 So it shows it from the conservative side, the liberal side, and right in the center. 278 00:21:05,720 --> 00:21:11,160 And so if you subscribe to them, you'll get a daily email that gives you the news headlines. 279 00:21:11,160 --> 00:21:15,760 But then it gives it to you like, here's what the conservatives are saying about this particular 280 00:21:15,760 --> 00:21:17,680 issue or about this executive order. 281 00:21:17,680 --> 00:21:20,440 Here's what the liberals are saying. 282 00:21:20,440 --> 00:21:25,120 Here's what the news media in the center of this issue, a more balanced approach. 283 00:21:25,120 --> 00:21:31,520 And then you'll kind of see how people might spin something or different word choices and 284 00:21:31,520 --> 00:21:33,640 why words really matter. 285 00:21:33,640 --> 00:21:36,780 This is not to bash one side and the other. 286 00:21:36,780 --> 00:21:42,080 This is just to give you a balanced approach to what might be very controversial or partisan 287 00:21:42,080 --> 00:21:43,080 issues. 288 00:21:43,080 --> 00:21:48,280 So allsides.com, I would highly recommend for folks who are really trying to look through 289 00:21:48,280 --> 00:21:51,480 an unbiased lens at some of these topics. 290 00:21:51,480 --> 00:21:54,200 Yeah, 100%. 291 00:21:54,200 --> 00:22:01,640 We talked a lot about how state and local action can be utilized to combat or support 292 00:22:01,640 --> 00:22:04,800 some of these initiatives and specifically around housing. 293 00:22:04,800 --> 00:22:08,360 We talked about some of our work with our Melville housing table. 294 00:22:08,360 --> 00:22:14,580 And so we have the great honor and privilege to invite one of those housing table members 295 00:22:14,580 --> 00:22:17,120 to join us today on the podcast. 296 00:22:17,120 --> 00:22:20,480 Julie, how are you doing? 297 00:22:20,480 --> 00:22:24,360 Welcome Julie. 298 00:22:24,360 --> 00:22:25,360 I'm doing well. 299 00:22:25,360 --> 00:22:26,780 Thanks so much for having me today. 300 00:22:26,780 --> 00:22:28,440 We are so, so happy to have you. 301 00:22:28,440 --> 00:22:32,960 Would you mind just like giving us a brief introduction of who you are and, you know, 302 00:22:32,960 --> 00:22:37,920 kind of how you got ingratiated with the National Parent Leadership Institute. 303 00:22:37,920 --> 00:22:42,480 So I live here in Littleton, Colorado, just south of Denver with my husband and my three 304 00:22:42,480 --> 00:22:43,480 children. 305 00:22:43,480 --> 00:22:46,000 We've been here for almost 13 years now. 306 00:22:46,000 --> 00:22:54,200 I was able to a few years ago join one of the local parent leader institutes for a session 307 00:22:54,200 --> 00:22:58,400 and really just grew so much. 308 00:22:58,400 --> 00:23:04,560 I've been working in a nonprofit that addresses housing insecurity and many other challenges 309 00:23:04,560 --> 00:23:10,560 in poverty, but I needed a lot more education on how I could use my voice around the challenges 310 00:23:10,560 --> 00:23:11,800 I was seeing. 311 00:23:11,800 --> 00:23:16,520 I needed to learn about spending time with others in that class. 312 00:23:16,520 --> 00:23:21,960 There were many people who identify as part of the Latino community and I was able to 313 00:23:21,960 --> 00:23:27,840 hear their stories and to grow in the challenges that they've seen personally living here in 314 00:23:27,840 --> 00:23:29,400 Colorado. 315 00:23:29,400 --> 00:23:34,360 And then I learned so much about how to advocate in local and state government. 316 00:23:34,360 --> 00:23:38,400 And so that was a life changing experience for me and taught me how I could take the 317 00:23:38,400 --> 00:23:42,960 concerns that I had for the populations that I was working with and use my voice to bring 318 00:23:42,960 --> 00:23:43,960 about change. 319 00:23:43,960 --> 00:23:44,960 Awesome. 320 00:23:44,960 --> 00:23:45,960 Yeah. 321 00:23:45,960 --> 00:23:49,920 And we've been so fortunate to have Julie's voice on the housing table for I think three 322 00:23:49,920 --> 00:23:51,800 years now, four years. 323 00:23:51,800 --> 00:23:55,520 I know I've been working with the table for the last two and a half years or something 324 00:23:55,520 --> 00:23:56,520 like that. 325 00:23:56,520 --> 00:23:57,520 That's the beginning. 326 00:23:57,520 --> 00:23:58,520 Yeah. 327 00:23:58,520 --> 00:24:00,280 So it's been really great to have your voice on the table. 328 00:24:00,280 --> 00:24:05,480 And so, you know, let's just jump right into it in terms of the housing conversation in 329 00:24:05,480 --> 00:24:06,480 Colorado. 330 00:24:06,480 --> 00:24:12,280 Can you speak to just a little bit of the work that is going on in Colorado? 331 00:24:12,280 --> 00:24:17,360 What is the housing crisis look like in Colorado and what's some of the work that's being done 332 00:24:17,360 --> 00:24:22,600 to alleviate some of those concerns for some of our most vulnerable communities? 333 00:24:22,600 --> 00:24:28,280 I want to start with local in my city because I think it speaks to the conversation you 334 00:24:28,280 --> 00:24:32,580 were having earlier about Black History Month and naming redlining. 335 00:24:32,580 --> 00:24:38,280 When I first moved here, Littleton has a really lovely city center that's kind of an old town 336 00:24:38,280 --> 00:24:39,280 area. 337 00:24:39,280 --> 00:24:40,280 It's very charming. 338 00:24:40,280 --> 00:24:44,600 And we, our family, really loved it and wanted to be in this area. 339 00:24:44,600 --> 00:24:51,520 But as I moved in, I realized that it was a very homogenous kind of situation. 340 00:24:51,520 --> 00:24:54,160 I am a female that identifies as white. 341 00:24:54,160 --> 00:24:58,640 And I looked around and realized that primarily it's mostly white people that live here in 342 00:24:58,640 --> 00:24:59,920 Littleton. 343 00:24:59,920 --> 00:25:04,680 And then I began to learn about the redlining that happened in downtown Denver. 344 00:25:04,680 --> 00:25:10,140 There's an area called Five Points and that's the historic community that was the Black 345 00:25:10,140 --> 00:25:13,620 community because that's where they were allowed to live. 346 00:25:13,620 --> 00:25:18,280 And so of course, I wasn't here to cause that challenge, but then you have to ask yourself, 347 00:25:18,280 --> 00:25:24,120 you know, why was that the case and how am I going to make my, the place where I live 348 00:25:24,120 --> 00:25:25,680 more accessible? 349 00:25:25,680 --> 00:25:30,080 And I've learned so much in these last few years about the housing practices and zoning 350 00:25:30,080 --> 00:25:31,720 here in Littleton. 351 00:25:31,720 --> 00:25:36,520 And one of the current challenges that we are navigating right now, Littleton is very 352 00:25:36,520 --> 00:25:37,520 expensive. 353 00:25:37,520 --> 00:25:42,960 It is not accessible for all different kinds of people to come live in this city. 354 00:25:42,960 --> 00:25:49,400 And there are some recent efforts around changing zoning policies and allowing for more inclusionary 355 00:25:49,400 --> 00:25:50,840 housing. 356 00:25:50,840 --> 00:25:54,720 And the people that live here, primarily white. 357 00:25:54,720 --> 00:26:00,880 There's a certain cohort of them, I will say, that is really fighting that inclusionary, 358 00:26:00,880 --> 00:26:03,360 those inclusionary housing opportunities. 359 00:26:03,360 --> 00:26:06,700 Of course, there are others who are promoting it. 360 00:26:06,700 --> 00:26:11,800 There are people on both sides, but that's playing out in a very real way right now. 361 00:26:11,800 --> 00:26:17,560 While at the same time, we've seen gentrification happening in that historic Five Points area 362 00:26:17,560 --> 00:26:22,200 and part of that neighborhood that's turning over and becoming a place where lots of people 363 00:26:22,200 --> 00:26:27,640 want to go out to eat or go hear music, they're actually changing the name to this kind of 364 00:26:27,640 --> 00:26:33,520 like hip popular name called Rhino, which comes from River North. 365 00:26:33,520 --> 00:26:39,640 And so just seeing it play out in real time, the ways that the community hasn't been cared 366 00:26:39,640 --> 00:26:40,640 for. 367 00:26:40,640 --> 00:26:46,240 And so that's one of the areas that really real time we can in the city of Littleton 368 00:26:46,240 --> 00:26:51,280 show up and advocate for our neighbors and inclusionary housing. 369 00:26:51,280 --> 00:26:55,440 And then I'll just also add that on a state level, one of our biggest challenges here 370 00:26:55,440 --> 00:26:57,960 in Colorado is a budget deficit. 371 00:26:57,960 --> 00:27:05,640 We are sitting at for this year about a billion dollars that our legislators have to find. 372 00:27:05,640 --> 00:27:11,240 And what we know about that government funding is that it's all dollars that really serve 373 00:27:11,240 --> 00:27:13,600 our population here in Colorado. 374 00:27:13,600 --> 00:27:19,320 And some of the highest, the highest cuts that they might be looking at are in Medicaid and 375 00:27:19,320 --> 00:27:20,560 education. 376 00:27:20,560 --> 00:27:26,720 So these areas that really take care of everyone, but especially vulnerable populations. 377 00:27:26,720 --> 00:27:31,560 And so any new bill that's getting introduced this year, and there are many that are meant 378 00:27:31,560 --> 00:27:37,800 to serve vulnerable populations, the challenge is if it has a fiscal note, if they think 379 00:27:37,800 --> 00:27:43,520 that there's going to be any cost to it, they will not even consider that bill in our legislature. 380 00:27:43,520 --> 00:27:50,300 And so there's some significant concerns about what that looks like for advocacy groups. 381 00:27:50,300 --> 00:27:55,080 There's one that I'm a part of advocating for a program that really serves houseless 382 00:27:55,080 --> 00:27:58,400 people to get restaurant prepared meals. 383 00:27:58,400 --> 00:28:04,600 And the challenge is that if we have any cost associated with that, it will be immediately 384 00:28:04,600 --> 00:28:05,600 struck down. 385 00:28:05,600 --> 00:28:12,520 Yeah, no, well, one, it sounds like there's different communities of folks who are doing 386 00:28:12,520 --> 00:28:13,720 great work in Colorado. 387 00:28:13,720 --> 00:28:18,800 So that's definitely encouraging to hear and encouraging to hear that some of the new changes 388 00:28:18,800 --> 00:28:22,280 haven't affected these efforts, maybe not yet. 389 00:28:22,280 --> 00:28:28,440 But I do want to kind of speak to we talked about how the federal government policies 390 00:28:28,440 --> 00:28:34,360 may affect the ability of or the funding for some of these local initiatives, right? 391 00:28:34,360 --> 00:28:37,960 Have you seen any of that in the community efforts on this point? 392 00:28:37,960 --> 00:28:44,880 Yeah, I have some significant concern about our local organization that addresses homelessness 393 00:28:44,880 --> 00:28:46,600 here in Colorado. 394 00:28:46,600 --> 00:28:52,480 I saw when there was a federal funding freeze that happened temporarily, I saw a note come 395 00:28:52,480 --> 00:28:59,360 out from them that it's called Colorado Coalition for the Homeless, that their funding had gotten 396 00:28:59,360 --> 00:29:00,360 frozen. 397 00:29:00,360 --> 00:29:04,000 And I think that they have significant federal funding that they rely on. 398 00:29:04,000 --> 00:29:07,360 Thankfully, that funding came back and they're still operating. 399 00:29:07,360 --> 00:29:12,240 But they're one of our primary organizations that advocates around housing and provides 400 00:29:12,240 --> 00:29:13,760 resources. 401 00:29:13,760 --> 00:29:19,880 And so some significant concerns about that and about some of the verbiage that caring 402 00:29:19,880 --> 00:29:23,920 for people who are vulnerable like that. 403 00:29:23,920 --> 00:29:27,720 In the verbiage, it said it was a Marxist idea. 404 00:29:27,720 --> 00:29:33,960 And so for me, a concern that coming from the federal government, this idea of caring 405 00:29:33,960 --> 00:29:40,640 for vulnerable populations is some kind of idea that's unhealthy is really concerning 406 00:29:40,640 --> 00:29:41,640 to me. 407 00:29:41,640 --> 00:29:42,640 Yeah. 408 00:29:42,640 --> 00:29:46,200 It's definitely concerning to everyone. 409 00:29:46,200 --> 00:29:51,840 And I think during that federal funding freeze period, there was concern all over the country 410 00:29:51,840 --> 00:30:01,480 around whether or not specific nonprofits or other entities that may receive federal 411 00:30:01,480 --> 00:30:06,820 funding to implement their programs would be able to continue operation. 412 00:30:06,820 --> 00:30:12,200 Because as folks may know or may not know, a lot of these community organizations and 413 00:30:12,200 --> 00:30:16,600 nonprofits that do a lot of this work receive a significant amount of funding from the federal 414 00:30:16,600 --> 00:30:22,720 government based upon some acts passed by Congress and regulations passed by some of 415 00:30:22,720 --> 00:30:27,600 these executive agencies to distribute these funds down to the state level and then how 416 00:30:27,600 --> 00:30:31,720 those state funds are then distributed into individual communities. 417 00:30:31,720 --> 00:30:35,700 That source of income was in jeopardy. 418 00:30:35,700 --> 00:30:44,000 And so that was a huge concern and definitely grateful that the freeze period was temporary 419 00:30:44,000 --> 00:30:48,760 and did not continue, but it's definitely still on the table and still in conversations. 420 00:30:48,760 --> 00:30:53,360 And so there'll be a lot of advocacy required around that as well. 421 00:30:53,360 --> 00:30:59,400 I want to turn it over to Movet and see if Movet has any thoughts or questions. 422 00:30:59,400 --> 00:31:04,920 So I think this conversation around, you know, we're talking about housing, but as Julie 423 00:31:04,920 --> 00:31:09,000 has shared, what's happening in Colorado with their state budget is really important. 424 00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:16,720 And a lot of states will go through this even aside from the changes that are happening 425 00:31:16,720 --> 00:31:21,480 at the federal government and what monies states are concerned about, what monies they 426 00:31:21,480 --> 00:31:27,960 might lose with some of the changes that are happening, especially around Medicaid. 427 00:31:27,960 --> 00:31:29,120 And I think it's important. 428 00:31:29,120 --> 00:31:34,440 I think it's important to say out loud that while Julie has said out loud that Medicaid 429 00:31:34,440 --> 00:31:40,080 takes up a good amount of Colorado's budget, and this is one of the pain points as they're 430 00:31:40,080 --> 00:31:46,280 looking to balance their budget and they're at a $1.2 billion deficit. 431 00:31:46,280 --> 00:31:51,140 In Colorado, Medicaid makes up about one third of the state's budget. 432 00:31:51,140 --> 00:31:56,700 So when we're thinking about the billions of dollars that a state has, that 33% of that 433 00:31:56,700 --> 00:32:03,800 budget is Medicaid, which helps families with health care and with some other things, right? 434 00:32:03,800 --> 00:32:10,400 As we know, Medicaid pays for dental in many states, medical, but also some special services 435 00:32:10,400 --> 00:32:14,480 for people with disabilities, our aging population, people who are retired. 436 00:32:14,480 --> 00:32:17,700 So there's a lot that Medicaid covers. 437 00:32:17,700 --> 00:32:20,960 In Connecticut, for us, it's about 24% of our budget. 438 00:32:20,960 --> 00:32:24,360 That's $7.9 billion. 439 00:32:24,360 --> 00:32:26,800 That's a lot of money. 440 00:32:26,800 --> 00:32:30,360 And conversely, Connecticut is a teeny tiny state. 441 00:32:30,360 --> 00:32:35,920 Colorado is a good sized state, bigger budget than ours, more people, more land. 442 00:32:35,920 --> 00:32:41,360 But if people were to find themselves in between a teeny tiny state in the Northeast and a 443 00:32:41,360 --> 00:32:46,440 large size state in the middle of the country, where does their state sit? 444 00:32:46,440 --> 00:32:49,720 These are things that parent leaders need to know. 445 00:32:49,720 --> 00:32:54,580 What are the Medicaid costs in my state and how does that relate to our state's budget? 446 00:32:54,580 --> 00:32:57,400 Because this is where our advocacy sits. 447 00:32:57,400 --> 00:33:01,000 If we don't have Medicaid, this is the ripple effect. 448 00:33:01,000 --> 00:33:04,280 And people don't have access to health insurance and dental insurance. 449 00:33:04,280 --> 00:33:10,320 And Connecticut, we have a big bill proposal around oral health and how poor oral health 450 00:33:10,320 --> 00:33:11,920 affects people, right? 451 00:33:11,920 --> 00:33:17,400 So quite frankly, if you have a tooth that rots out and you get an infection that can 452 00:33:17,400 --> 00:33:19,080 spread to your brain, right? 453 00:33:19,080 --> 00:33:24,480 These things can become bigger issues, no different than if Medicaid is cut, what are 454 00:33:24,480 --> 00:33:25,480 the implications? 455 00:33:25,480 --> 00:33:27,360 What are the health implications? 456 00:33:27,360 --> 00:33:32,560 And that it will cost more money at some point to care for those people who show up in emergency 457 00:33:32,560 --> 00:33:35,180 rooms without insurance. 458 00:33:35,180 --> 00:33:38,720 What is the effect on families and work? 459 00:33:38,720 --> 00:33:41,800 If people are sick, they can't go to work. 460 00:33:41,800 --> 00:33:45,240 What is the effect on our economy when we don't have workers working, right? 461 00:33:45,240 --> 00:33:46,240 In all the industries. 462 00:33:46,240 --> 00:33:51,840 And so this is a ripple effect that we have to start thinking about when we look at cutting 463 00:33:51,840 --> 00:33:58,840 funding and crucial and critical areas that provide basic care for people. 464 00:33:58,840 --> 00:33:59,840 What's the ripple effect? 465 00:33:59,840 --> 00:34:05,200 When we're talking about housing, back to housing, if people don't have health insurance 466 00:34:05,200 --> 00:34:10,040 and they don't have Medicaid, we need people to build houses. 467 00:34:10,040 --> 00:34:12,080 What happens to those people, right? 468 00:34:12,080 --> 00:34:16,160 Oh, half my workforce and my construction force are down because they were sick and 469 00:34:16,160 --> 00:34:20,160 they didn't have health insurance or they had to wait on medical issues, right? 470 00:34:20,160 --> 00:34:26,200 This affects workforce, this affects well-being of our communities, of our schools, all the 471 00:34:26,200 --> 00:34:27,200 things. 472 00:34:27,200 --> 00:34:31,160 So it's a ripple effect and we really have to be paying attention to this conversation. 473 00:34:31,160 --> 00:34:32,320 All of it is interrelated. 474 00:34:32,320 --> 00:34:34,780 Why is Medicaid connected to housing? 475 00:34:34,780 --> 00:34:36,480 Because of the things I told you. 476 00:34:36,480 --> 00:34:38,000 And what else can it affect as well? 477 00:34:38,000 --> 00:34:43,920 If I could just add one other piece to that, as I worked with many unhoused individuals 478 00:34:43,920 --> 00:34:50,040 who navigated substance abuse challenges and even those who aren't unhoused, having Medicaid 479 00:34:50,040 --> 00:34:56,560 cover the cost of detox and helping them navigate that challenge was essential because if you 480 00:34:56,560 --> 00:35:02,600 have no income and you want to make that positive change, we're asking people to make a positive 481 00:35:02,600 --> 00:35:04,160 change for their health. 482 00:35:04,160 --> 00:35:09,240 But if you don't have the resources for them, asking them to obtain sobriety while living 483 00:35:09,240 --> 00:35:12,160 on the streets is just completely unreasonable. 484 00:35:12,160 --> 00:35:16,000 And I think that that's just another helpful example of people that I sat with who wanted 485 00:35:16,000 --> 00:35:22,000 to make positive change and need these resources to be able to obtain that. 486 00:35:22,000 --> 00:35:23,680 Yeah, no, a hundred percent. 487 00:35:23,680 --> 00:35:31,040 And I like how both of you highlighted how interconnected all of this is. 488 00:35:31,040 --> 00:35:38,380 And I just want to highlight that while I think many believe and I think based upon 489 00:35:38,380 --> 00:35:48,320 the language of some of these actions that a lot of this is targeted towards people of 490 00:35:48,320 --> 00:35:53,080 color, it's not limited in effect to those communities. 491 00:35:53,080 --> 00:35:57,080 A lot of impoverished communities of all demographics are going to be affected by a lot of these 492 00:35:57,080 --> 00:35:58,080 changes. 493 00:35:58,080 --> 00:36:04,180 And so it's important to recognize how these things work, how federal policy kind of ripples 494 00:36:04,180 --> 00:36:09,560 out to the rest of the country and maybe have different differing effects depending on where 495 00:36:09,560 --> 00:36:14,400 you are and what your state legislatures focus and direction is. 496 00:36:14,400 --> 00:36:18,960 And so really just encourage all of our parent leaders who are listening and all of our advocates 497 00:36:18,960 --> 00:36:24,960 who are listening to continue to stay informed, continue to seek out your own perspective 498 00:36:24,960 --> 00:36:29,700 by looking at all of the different perspectives and looking at this bird's eye view and then 499 00:36:29,700 --> 00:36:35,680 narrowing in on these little intricate routes that some of these federal policies and state 500 00:36:35,680 --> 00:36:41,120 level policies, how they may affect your local community. 501 00:36:41,120 --> 00:36:46,400 With that, are there any closing thoughts, either you Julie or you Melvette before we 502 00:36:46,400 --> 00:36:48,320 call it quits for this week's podcast? 503 00:36:48,320 --> 00:36:51,960 Well, I would love to have our parent leader guests have the last word. 504 00:36:51,960 --> 00:36:56,000 So what I'll say is, you know, this has been a great conversation. 505 00:36:56,000 --> 00:37:03,400 I'm inviting all parent leaders to be engaged, to not tap out, but to tap in. 506 00:37:03,400 --> 00:37:07,660 Because as I tell parent leaders here in the state of Connecticut, and as we've experienced 507 00:37:07,660 --> 00:37:13,360 with some of our housing committee, public hearings, and certainly our education, public 508 00:37:13,360 --> 00:37:19,200 hearing committees, those things go into the wee hours of the morning, 2 a.m., 3 a.m., 509 00:37:19,200 --> 00:37:20,360 5 a.m. 510 00:37:20,360 --> 00:37:24,000 And so what I say to them is that while you're sleeping, people are making decisions about 511 00:37:24,000 --> 00:37:25,080 your life. 512 00:37:25,080 --> 00:37:27,160 So now is not a time to tap out. 513 00:37:27,160 --> 00:37:33,600 It is a time to tap in and to be informed, to inform yourself, and then to take action, 514 00:37:33,600 --> 00:37:38,160 the actions that you think need to happen in order to make sure that your family is 515 00:37:38,160 --> 00:37:40,320 safe and healthy. 516 00:37:40,320 --> 00:37:41,320 Julie. 517 00:37:41,320 --> 00:37:43,660 Yeah, thanks so much for having me today. 518 00:37:43,660 --> 00:37:48,200 And I would just say in this current season, it's easy to feel overwhelmed. 519 00:37:48,200 --> 00:37:54,240 And I would encourage us all to tap into hope and to continue to care for our neighbor because 520 00:37:54,240 --> 00:37:56,520 we all have spaces of influence. 521 00:37:56,520 --> 00:37:59,320 And that's where the on the ground change is going to really happen. 522 00:37:59,320 --> 00:38:00,320 Awesome. 523 00:38:00,320 --> 00:38:01,960 Well, we appreciate you both. 524 00:38:01,960 --> 00:38:24,840 And for our listeners, we will see you next time.