Next Monday marks Juneteenth, a holiday for many, including CHN.  And Wednesday is the first day of summer, also known as the Summer Solstice, the longest day of the year for the Northern Hemisphere. 

It’s also traditionally a time when CHN member groups and allies pack the calendar with opportunities to make our voices heard. Things actually got underway a little early this year – First Focus today is wrapping up Children’s Week 2023, which offered a schedule of events urging Congress to better protect the health, safety, and well-being of America’s children. As a part of these events, this past Tuesday, Prosperity Now sponsored a Day of Action on Capitol Hill to promote Baby Bonds as a way of closing the nation’s racial wealth gap. And, Bread for the World brought advocates from across the country to Washington to talk about nutrition assistance on Capitol Hill Tuesday. 

The National Low Income Housing Coalition, the Center on Budget and Policy Priorities, and the National Alliance to End Homelessness on Monday co-hosted a webinar on housing and homelessness that drew more than 11,400 registrants, and today NLIHC and others in the Campaign for Housing and Community Development (CHCDF) have a day of action.  

Next week, the National WIC Association has a week of action planned during which it will protest proposed cuts to the Special Supplemental Nutrition Program for Women, Infants, and Children — cuts that could affect as many as 5 million kids as well as pregnant and postpartum people. The week will feature a tweetstorm at 1 p.m. next Wednesday – click here to download social media graphics in support of the event. 

On Tuesday, the Leadership Conference on Civil and Human Rights is organizing a Social Media Day to tout the importance of the Affordable Connectivity Program (ACP), which already has brought affordable, quality broadband internet access to more than 18. 5 million Americans. You can download the group’s social media toolkit here.

Also on Tuesday, the Poor People’s Campaign is expected to bring 1,000 participants to D.C. to share the direct impact of poverty with policymakers. On Wednesday, Think Babies, sponsored by Zero to Three, will bring its famed Strolling Thunder campaign to Capitol Hill to focus on issues important to infants and young children. The campaign focuses on five policy areas – paid leave, child care, early Head Start, infant and early childhood mental health, family support, and economic security. 

On Tuesday through Thursday, United Way will hold its annual signature event, 2023 Advocacy Forum and Capitol Hill Day.  

And although it’s still a little bit away, it’s not too early to make plans to attend CHN’s annual Human Needs Hero gala – reserve your tickets here. That event is 5:30 to 7:30 p.m. on July 13 at the AFL-CIO building, located at 816 16th Street NW. This will mark the first time in nearly four years that we are able to gather in person! 

Whatever your interest, whatever your issue, there’s something out there for you as we kick off summer 2023. Obviously, there are many ways we can make our voices heard – whether in DC or back home.  

So let’s get out there and celebrate and agitate!