Category: Advocate

I remember the first time I cast my ballot in an official election. I voted for my father who was running for city council. I was so proud that day, not only of my dad, but that I was able to execute my civic duty. I was able to easily register to vote by simply filling out a form at my high school and a teacher gave the class a ton of resources to turn to in order to learn about all of the candidates on the ballot. There was a presidential election that year, so there was certainly a lot to learn.

READ MORE from Celebrate Democracy by Taking Action on September 22

Congress returned from their annual summer break in August and found themselves already behind in their homework. Awaiting completion are the FY 2016 appropriations bills, though Congress will likely need a short term continuing resolution to complete that assignment. Also due is a vote on the Iran agreement, the debt ceiling, highway bill reauthorization and funding, and finding bridge funding for the SSDI program whose trust fund runs dry in a year.

READ MORE from Congress is Back in Session and Already Behind in Assignments

Many associate Labor Day with the end of summer, a three-day weekend and the start of a new school year. Families and friends gather for barbecues and one last outing to the pool until next year. Rarely do folks sit around on Labor Day and actually celebrate America’s workers, think of ways to get more people in the workforce or consider how to lessen the unemployment rate. Unless, that is, you work for Goodwill®.

READ MORE from On Labor Day, and Every Day, Goodwill® Thinks About How to Put People to Work

On August 26, 1920, following a long and hard-fought political campaign, women in the United States won the right to vote. Research shows that 95 years after securing the right to vote, more and more women execute this right of citizenship. Women have had larger voter turnout than men in every presidential election since 1980. Some attribute this to women having more interaction with government.

READ MORE from Women’s Equality Day Commemorates Strides to Narrow the Gender Gap

On August 26, 1920, following a long and hard-fought political campaign, women in the United States won the right to vote. Research shows that 95 years after securing the right to vote, more and more women execute this right of citizenship. Women have had larger voter turnout than men in every presidential election since 1980. Some attribute this to women having more interaction with government.

READ MORE from Women's Equality Day Commemorates Strides to Narrow the Gender Gap

I visited the Hudson County Jail in northern New Jersey. Twenty years later, I can still vividly remember the rhythmic sound of sturdy locks opening, followed by heavy doors slamming shut, and then the locks swinging back home. It was a deafening and consistent reminder to the residents of that institution that they were “inmates” who were very, very bad.

READ MORE from Urge Congress to Support the Second Chance Reauthorization Act

Last year, Congress voted overwhelmingly to pass the Workforce Innovation and Opportunity Act (WIOA). The moment represented a bipartisan beacon of hope on Capitol Hill. Goodwill Industries International was pleased with the overall outcome in this new Act which provides opportunities for community based organizations, like Goodwill, to do more to help people build their skills and connect with career opportunities.

READ MORE from Bipartisan Innovation at Risk of Being a Missed Opportunity

Congress left town this week for the month of August. When they return after Labor Day they might just turn around and leave again. Why? Because all the tough calls they couldn’t make before August will still be here when they get back and with even less time to get it all it done.

READ MORE from Procrastination: Congress Style

In 1971, while struggling to find an exit strategy from the Vietnam War, President Nixon declared a new war – the War on Drugs. He proposed fighting this war on both the supply side, by cracking down on drug pushers, and on the demand side by investing in strategies to rehabilitate people who were dependent on drugs. Unfortunately, drug abuse remains a serious problem. However, tough sentencing for drug-related crime has done little to deter those on the supply side. Instead, incarceration rates have steadily increased from just under 200,000 people in state and federal prisons in 1971, to more than 1.5 million in 2013.

READ MORE from Help End the Nation’s Prison Dependency Problem

This week marks the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) which prohibits discrimination against people with disabilities in employment, education, and public accommodations. Goodwill® has been dedicated to supporting employment opportunities for people with disabilities, among others, since its founding more than 113 years ago

READ MORE from Goodwill® Celebrates the 25th Anniversary of the ADA

This week I had the great pleasure of working with Boyd Brown, area director of employment & training of Goodwill Easter Seals Minnesota (St. Paul), as he testified before a Congressional subcommittee. The hearing, which was on welfare reform proposals, specifically involved the reauthorization of the Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF) program. His testimony provided great insight into the journey of an individual on public assistance, struggling to find a job and the challenges faced by case managers trying to put people to work.

READ MORE from Goodwill® Conveys Need for Welfare Reform Before Congress

At the end of President Lincoln’s second inaugural address, he implored a war-weary nation “…to care for him who shall have borne the battle and for his widow and his orphan….” All the country was aware of the sacrifice. From big cities to small rural towns, there was either direct destruction because of the civil war or their soldiers had been lost or wounded in battle. As in most of his addresses to the nation, Lincoln spoke to both current and future generations.

READ MORE from Lincoln’s Words Remind Us of Our Duty 150 Years Later