Upcoming EventsVirginia Organizing

From Sheila Scott in the Portsmouth Chapter, an LTE in the Pilot about their forum tonight. Join us!Every year Mental Health America ranks the states and Washington, D.C., based on several factors, including prevalence of mental illness and access to services. In the 2023 rankings, Virginia placed 38th in the overall ranking, but placed a disturbing 48th in the youth ranking.Members of the Portsmouth Chapter of Virginia Organizing, a nonpartisan, statewide grassroots organization, have been working on mental health issues for several years. Our campaign to have mindfulness taught in Portsmouth Public Schools resulted in a pilot program being introduced in two elementary schools. Giving children tools to self-regulate helps them academically and socially, and will serve them throughout their lives. This outcome speaks directly to the strength of a focused and consistent effort by citizens.Deciding to stay with the issue of mental health, the chapter is exploring the issue of mental health services available to Portsmouth citizens and the ability to access those services in a timely manner. We have heard accounts of citizens seeking help only to be dismissed or delayed, several accounts with tragic consequences.We are formally gathering those stories, not only to give residents the opportunity to be heard but to help formulate our focus and strategy. At 6 p.m. March 27 we are hosting a listening session at St. James Episcopal Church. We ask Portsmouth citizens with experience seeking mental health services at either the Portsmouth Department of Behavioral Healthcare Services or the Bon Secours Maryview Medical Center to attend. Individual experiences are the foundation of grassroots organizing and the true source of meaningful change.Portsmouth Virginia Organizing ... See MoreSee Less

View on Facebook

Members are putting a new chapter together in Pulaski! They held their first action today, meeting in a park to celebrate the 13th anniversary of the Affordable Care Act. Some of them were too young to remember what it was like before the ACA. Rebecca remembers. ... See MoreSee Less

Photo

View on Facebook

Every year we celebrate the benefits of the Affordable Care Act and the hard work of people all over Virginia who worked for decades to win better health care coverage for everyone. We want to see affordable prescription medication! We want to see mental health services available to all, trauma informed care, reproductive justice, LGBTQ-friendly care, and so much more. We want health care to be free, safe, and accessible to everyone.But for the moment we want to celebrate that opponents of the ACA have tried to destroy it from the beginning and they have failed, thanks to you.Happy Birthday, ACA! ... See MoreSee Less

Photo

View on Facebook

This month chapters are holding their annual meetings, where they celebrate their victories, take stock of all the work they've done, plan for the future, and just enjoy being together. Portsmouth may win the prize for the biggest annual meeting ever! And they had a big win to celebrate--the city schools added a mindfulness curriculum to their elementary schools.This is a community that's changing the world around them for the better.Portsmouth Virginia Organizing ... See MoreSee Less

Photo

View on Facebook

A message from Elisabeth Chaves, Virginia Organizing's Climate Equity Policy Fellow:In 2020, the General Assembly voted for Virginia to join the Regional Greenhouse Gas Initiative (RGGI). RGGI is a cooperative effort by 11 states to reduce greenhouse gas emissions. It brings down emissions by requiring power plants to buy allowances for the pollution they generate. These funds are then used to benefit communities that are affected by climate change.Since it began, RGGI has reduced emissions by 50% in the participating states (which is much more than the rest of the country) and has raised $6 billion. In Virginia, RGGI has brought in $590 million for the Housing Innovations in Energy Efficiency program (HIEE) and the Virginia Community Flood Preparedness Fund Grant (CFPF). HIEE funds support low-income housing: the creation and preservation of low-income and extremely low-income energy efficient housing AND major repairs to homes to make them eligible for weatherization. CFPF provides support for regions and localities across Virginia to reduce the impacts of flooding.In spite of all these benefits, Governor Youngkin has decided to pull Virginia out of RGGI. Last December, the Air Pollution Control Board voted in support of his proposed regulations to withdraw Virginia from RGGI and is now undergoing a year-long process to finalize that decision.It's not clear that the board even has the legal right to disregard this law, but in any case RGGI is a valuable program for addressing climate change and harm to low-income communities. Virginia should remain in RGGI. The Air Pollution Control Board is receiving public comments on this decision until March 31. Thousands of people, and 90% of comments, have been in favor of RGGI. Any comment in support of RGGI will be counted, even if it is as short as, "Don't take Virginia out of RGGI." The pressure is building on the Board, and these comments will also have an influence on any future court case that decides whether the administration followed the law. Please comment today! When you get to the website, click the "Enter a comment" link to share your thoughts with the Board. Make sure you hit Submit at the bottom of that page for your comment to be recorded.Thank you for taking action! ... See MoreSee Less

Photo

View on Facebook

Virginia Organizing Calendar of Events

Jackson Street United Methodist Church