What amazing things will happen in 2010

December 18, 2009

Dear Friends,

As 2009 draws to a close, and we fully engage the inspiration of hope and light, I would like to thank you for your incredible efforts to improve life in our nation this year.  Consider what our work together through the PICO network is accomplishing in the United States and around the globe.

PICO leaders have helped lead the fight to prevent unnecessary foreclosures, successfully organizing for local and state policies and a new federal loan modification program that has helped three-quarters of a million families remain in their homes.  Just this month, PICO families facing foreclosure traveled to Washington, DC to ask senior White House officials to adopt a new initiative to help hundreds of thousands of unemployed homeowners from losing their homes.

We began the year with PICO families sitting on both sides of Michelle Obama watching the President sign Children's Health Insurance legislation extending health coverage to four million uninsured children.  We end it closer than any time in our nation's history to guaranteeing health coverage for all Americans.  Throughout the year, PICO has brought a unique grassroots faith voice to the health reform debate, hosting hundreds of local events, generating more than two-hundred media stories, bringing families to Washington DC monthly to press for protections to make health coverage affordable to working families, and organizing the largest event in the debate, a national call with the President that brought together 140,000 people of faith.

We're imagining a country in which losing your job does not mean losing your  home or your health coverage.

As our vision for change has expanded, PICO remains rooted in a commitment to equip people with the skills and knowledge they need to transform their own communities.   In more than 150 cities and towns in 17 states, ordinary people are discovering their voice and showing their power to shape the most important policy decisions that affect their lives.  In the face of double digit unemployment, PICO affiliates have led successful campaigns to create local job opportunities in low-income communities and sustained some of the most successful efforts to improve inner-city school systems.

Inspired by the power of organizing and their relationship with PICO, people in Rwanda and El Salvador are reshaping their countries - building a health clinic in rural Rwanda and cleaning up the water supply in El Salvador.

What amazing things happen when people come together to seek constructive solutions to common problems and take their rightful place at the center of public life.

I encourage you to visit PICO's website to learn more about what we've accomplished in 2009 and where we're headed in 2010.  If you have not already done so, please also consider making a donation to PICO or one of our 52 affiliates on our website to help us carry out our plans for the coming year. 

Blessings,

Scott Reed
Executive Director
PICO National Network