In mid-August, California still didn’t have a budget for next year. “Child care providers weren’t going to get paid (for caring for children who get child care subsidies) because the budget was being held up. Low-income moms like me wouldn’t be able to go to work because they wouldn’t have child care. The situation was devastating,” says LA mom Yolanda James.

Parent Voices, LIFETIME, and the California Partnership held joint rallies in Los Angeles, San Diego, and Oakland to urge Senate Republicans to pass the budget. Thanks to pressure from groups around California, including Parent Voices, the budget passed the next day.

In LA: “Someone has to say ‘This affects me!’”

“I wanted to let my voice be heard,” says James. “Working moms and dads are doing the right thing. We needed to tell the Senate to do the right thing and get this budget passed.” James—mother to Mary, 15, Janette, 13, and Brian, 10—has been part of Parent Voices for over a year and is a long-time anti-poverty activist.

“We got parents to call their senators and reached out to the governor,” says James. “The hardest thing about attending the rally was getting time off from work, but someone has to say ‘(This) affects me and millions of other parents.’”

In Oakland: “It was really empowering!”

“My daughter’s child care provider said she wouldn’t be (paid by the state),” recalls Alameda mom Caroline Topeé. “She asked me to pay her directly, which I couldn’t afford. (Without) child care, I wouldn’t have been able to work. I’m just starting over again after a crisis in my family. I went to the rally for both of us.” Topeé is the mother of Elizabeth, 22, and Jovanna, 4, and has been with Parent Voices since 2005.

Topeé asked her employer for a longer lunch break and joined the Oakland rally. “At first there were about 20 people, but it kept getting bigger and bigger. People were driving by and honking in support. It was really empowering! I got goose bumps from being part of it.” 

Budget passes

“When I heard the budget passed (the next day), I was so elated!” says Topeé. “I felt like I was making a difference.”

Parent Voices contacts:

Statewide: Mary Ignatius, 415-882-0234. mignatius@rrnetwork.org
Alameda (Hayward): Jennifer Greppi, 510-584-3115, jenniferf@4c-alameda.org
Alameda (Oakland): Janet Zamudio, 510-658-7353, janet@bananasinc.org
Amador: Brenda Bullington, 209-223-1624, ext. 109, Brenda@hrcccr.org
Butte: Jane Haberman, 530-895-1677, jhaberman@valleyoakchildren.org
Calaveras: Cheryl Berg, 209-754-1075, ext. 115, cberg@hrcccr.org
Contra Costa: Candy Duperroir, 925-778-4739, candy@cocokids.org 
El-Dorado: Heather Della Ripa, 530-541-5848, hscfcslt@pacbell.net
Fresno: Lourdes Hernandez, 559-456-1100, louh@cvcsn.org
Los Ángeles: Christine Giron, 323-421-2602, cgiron@crystalstairs.org
Marin: Leah Benz, 415-491-5776, leah@mc3.org
Sacramento: Rachel Minnick, 916-369-3387, Rachel.Minnick@childaction.org
San Francisco: Maria Luz Torre, 415-343-3383, parentvoices@childrenscouncil.org
San Mateo: Nelly Puhachevsky, 650-655-6770, ext. 283, nelly@sanmateo4cs.org
Santa Barbara: contact statewide organizers
Santa Clara: Mario Del Castillo, 408-487-0747, mariod@4c.org
Solano: Kathy Lago, 707-864-4620,
klago@solanosfcs.org
Sonoma: Lorie Siebler, 707-522-1413, lsiebler@sonoma4cs.org