For Immediate Release: September 4, 2014
What: Media conference call releasing new report on families in Virginia
When: Friday, September 5 at 10 a.m.
Where: Conference call-in number 605-475-4700, access code 158362#
Speakers:
Allyson Frederickson, Alliance for a Just Society, Author of Report
Thomasine Wilson, Virginia Organizing, Home Health Worker
Denise Smith, Virginia Organizing, Resident of Southwest Virginia
Rocky Gap, Va.—Virginia Organizing and The Alliance for a Just Society will release “Families Out of Balance,” a revealing report on family debt and the living wage in Virginia on September 5, 2014 at 10 a.m. via conference call.
In Virginia, families are struggling with the reality of making ends meet on a limited budget while state legislators refuse to implement life and cost savings by expanding Medicaid.
“My family and other families in Southwest Virginia are struggling,” said Virginia Organizing leader Denise Smith of Rocky Gap. “Medicaid expansion would save lives and make it possible to see a doctor without fear of losing our homes or going into a lot of debt. Virginians deserve better than to live in fear of getting sick.”
The first report in the 2014 Job Gap Economic Prosperity Series, “Families Out of Balance,” produced by the Alliance for a Just Society, looks at five household types in 10 states, New York City, and nationally. The Alliance has produced a annual Job Gap Study on jobs and wages since 1999.
A living wage is the hourly pay needed to cover the cost of housing, food, utilities and other expenses, including modest savings. The report calculations include a telephone, but not cable television or Internet service.
To RSVP for the conference call, or to interview a spokesperson for Virginia Organizing, please contact Amanda Pohl at 804-337-1912 or amanda@virginia-organizing.org.
Virginia Organizing is a non-partisan statewide grassroots organization that brings people together to create a more just Virginia.
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