The American Citizens of Puerto Rico, some of whom are family members of mine, are in dire need of food, medical and sanitary supplies now!! The Merchant Marine Act of 1920, aka the Jones Act, no longer serves its original purpose. If the United States has ANY interest in the hurricane-battered people of Puerto Rico, it needs to remove this law off their necks....NOW !

There has been too many qualified Hurricane Harvey disaster victims being denied cash assistance with money that has been specifically donated to the Red Cross for Texans

The Recovery community needs access to supportive housing environments. These environments should have standards and have assistance from public funding sources.

California has the highest child poverty rate in the country. California is a global leader in environmental policy and progressive politics, yet we still have 1 in 5 kids—that’s nearly 2 million children—in our own state languishing in poverty. Let’s put this into context: If all the kids living in poverty in California were a city, it would be more than twice the population of San Francisco. We have the chance to turn that around. Right now, Governor Jerry Brown has bipartisan legislation in his hands that takes the critical first step to end child poverty in our state. Tell the Governor to act and sign AB 1520. Californians want action. AB 1520—The Lifting Children and Families Out of Poverty Task Force—will create an expert task force made up of leaders and stakeholders from inside and outside government that will develop a comprehensive, data-driven plan that lays the groundwork to eliminate child poverty. Families struggling in California need support now.

Better living conditions!

The victims of Hurricane Harvey urgently need federal assistance. But instead of pledging to give Texas the help it needs outright, Donald Trump is still threatening to veto funding bills that don't include money for his wall. And if Congress waits too long, Trump might shut down the government before the relief effort is funded. We can't afford to have Congress fold to Trump. Our representatives need to pass an emergency relief bill -- without money for the wall -- to ensure that help gets to those suffering from Hurricane Harvey. Sign our emergency petition to Democrats and Republicans in Congress: Pass a clean bill to fund relief and rebuilding in Texas and the Gulf Coast -- with no border wall.

The final public hearing on Revisions to Development Standards in the R1-A Districts will be at the planning commission Nov. 15th and soon headed to the Berkeley City Council. Planning staff and developers want to continue building two large luxury condos on one parcel that can include 2-story houses in the rear yard and 3-story houses in front yards, making housing less affordable for working families. Keep housing affordable: limit height on rear units to one story, limit height of front yard houses to two stories, increase required open space, and encourage backyard cottages and duplex buildings

Amory Street Partners is seeking community support for its Article 80 filing towards the redevelopment of 125 Amory Street. Demonstrating support from neighbors and business owners is an important step in the Boston Planning and Development Agency ’s Article 80 approval process. To learn more about this project, follow the link to the presentation from the last community meeting: https://jpndc.org/wp-content/uploads/2016/04/125-Amory-Community-Presentation-May-16-2017.pdf For more information about the Amory Street Redevelopment, contact Noah Sawyer at [email protected]

Critical Mass in Berkeley; overpopulation, in general, is nothing new, but there is a genuine lack of green space in Berkeley. House the homeless and the poor and the schizophrenic. Keep the park for the People. The Park is relative to civil rights and free speech. 2019 will mark the 50th anniversary of People's Park and it would be a horrific shame on the community if the park would be destroyed simply for the sake of student housing, which can be built anywhere. UCB used eminent domain illegally to displace the original neighborhood and, lacking funds to create yet another student housing unit, created the blight in the first place. The park was an attempt by the community to create something beautiful. The UCB and, frankly, the City of Berkeley, have done everything in their power to destroy the park. Given the associated civil rights and free speech background linked to People's Park, the actions of UCB and The City of Berkeley seem determinedly fascist.

I affirm that Arkansans stand WITH, not against, the approximately 8,000 Arkansan youth who have already received or will soon be eligible for DACA. The phasing out of the DACA program would have detrimental, negative effects on our communities as well as our Arkansas economy, which has benefited from the skills and talents of these bi-cultural, bi-literate individuals as well as the additional tax, consumption, loan and entrepreneurial/ innovation revenue that our DACAmented have brought to our state. Arkansas is a state that believes in enabling the potential of all its children, including our DREAMers, because when we hold back some of our youth, we hold back ALL of our youth. The Supreme Court has already ruled on the legality of the original 2012 DACA program, and I do not want to see our state or nation go down this road again. Arkansas WANTS to see DACA further renewed and expanded, NOT terminated.

I waited two years for affordable senior housing in the San Francisco Bay Area, one of the most expensive rental markets in the country, where most housing wait lists have been closed for years. We love our well-maintained homes and safe community. But the President's proposed deep cuts to HUD and USDA housing programs would mean rent and utility increases immediately, less money for property maintenance, and even longer waits for future affordable housing. We need more affordable housing, not less. Tell Congress to stop these proposed cuts and fully fund affordable housing programs now.

Most TANF participants face multiple barriers to employment. Few (15 percent) of those with multiple barriers get jobs, while over 60 percent of those with no barriers gain employment. Work readiness (poor mental or physical health, education less than high school, lack of recent work experience, and lack of English-language proficiency) is a major impediment to employment. Two additional factors include having a young child and having a handicapped child. Other barriers include lack of child care for preschool children and those whose parents work at night, lack of before-after-school care, absence of employment opportunities in the community, mental and physical abuse, substance abuse, and care-giving responsibility for aged or handicapped relatives.