When Rosa Garcia went to Chicago as a delegate for Equal Voice for America’s Families, “I felt like a tiny person,” she recalls. “Never have I traveled any place alone. But when I saw all these people and heard their problems, I felt very strong. I spoke about my community, I’m the voice for those families.”

The Equal Voice campaign is bringing families together to call for political action on education, health care, housing, and other family needs. After town hall meetings around the US, delegates went to Chicago to draft a national platform that will be released at the September convention (see below).

“This campaign is very important—families need to know they have a right to talk about what they need,” says Garcia. Mom to three grown children, Garcia is also a Novato family child care provider, a community activist, and a Parent Voices member.

“Everybody wants change”

In Chicago, parents and advocates “had similar priorities,” says Garcia: “universal health care, child care, affordable housing, immigration, and safety for families. Everybody just wants change.”

Garcia, who is originally from Peru, is also passionate about immigration issues. “I worry about the person who lives here for 20 years (without) papers, but they have a job and pay taxes. Why not help them become legal citizens?”

“It’s hard, but I want to do it”

“When I went to Chicago, my husband took time off from his job to work in the child care center,” says Garcia. When she goes to the September convention (see below), “I will need to pay someone to watch the kids. It’s hard, but I want to do it.”

Garcia is now recruiting “a huge group” of families from her community to go to the convention, she says. “I will reach out to other providers. I ask them, ‘What do you want? What do you want for your kids?’ I tell them, ‘You need to be ready for new ideas, and don’t worry if you can’t speak English, they have translators.’ My husband and I are going to knock on doors and speak with everybody. This is in my heart, getting families involved.”

Sept. 6 Conventions

The Equal Voice campaign will present a family-issues platform—developed by families through town hall meetings—at conventions in LA, Chicago, and Birmingham. www.equalvoice2008.org

Parent Voices contacts:

Statewide: Mary Ignatius, 415-882-0234. mignatius@rrnetwork.org
Alameda (Hayward): Jennifer Greppi, 510-584-3115, jenniferf@4c-alameda.org
Alameda (Oakland): Janet Zamudio, 510-658-7101, janet@bananasinc.org
Amador: Brenda Bullington, 209-223-1624, ext. 109, Brenda@hrcccr.org
Butte: Jane Haberman, 530-895-1677, jhaberman@valleyoakchildren.org
Calaveras: Cheryl Berg, 209-754-1075, ext. 115, cberg@hrcccr.org
Contra Costa: Candy Duperroir, 925-778-4739, candy@cocokids.org
El Dorado: Heather Della Ripa, 530-541-5848, hscfcslt@pacbell.net
Fresno: Lourdes Hernandez, 559-456-1100, louh@cvcsn.org
Los Ángeles: Christine Giron, 323-421-2602, cgiron@crystalstairs.org
Marin: Leah Benz, 415-491-5776, leah@mc3.org
Sacramento: Rachel Minnick, 916-369-3387, Rachel.Minnick@childaction.org
San Francisco: Maria Luz Torre, 415-343-3383, parentvoices@childrenscouncil.org
San Mateo: Nelly Puhachevsky, 650-655-6770, ext. 283, nelly@sanmateo4cs.org
Santa Barbara: contact statewide organizers
Santa Clara: Mario Del Castillo, 408-487-0747, mariod@4c.org
Solano: Kathy Lago, 707-864-4620,
klago@solanosfcs.org
Sonoma: Lorie Siebler, 707-522-1413, lsiebler@sonoma4cs.org