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Author: Jennifer R Farmer

EVENT: Dr. Sabrina N’Diaye to Lead Workshop on Grief, Stress and Coping During the Holidays

Posted on

For Immediate Release

Dec. 4, 2023

BALTIMORE – Dr. Sabrina N’Diaye, an acclaimed author and psychotherapist, will lead a workshop on grief, stress and coping during the holidays for the Institute for Spirituality and Health. The event occurs on December 7 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m. N’Diaye will also discuss her most recent book, “Big Mama Speaks: Love Lessons from a Harlem River Swan.”

“I am here while I’m here with a purpose to bring healing, hope and help. I want to help people come to a place of deepened self-awareness and to understand with their whole bodies that they are here for a glorious reason. Every person has a purpose. I want people to leave feeling and believing that, even amidst grief and pain.”

WHO:            Dr. Sabrina N’Diaye, Acclaimed Author and Psychotherapist

WHAT:           Silent Nights: Grief, Stress and Coping During the Holidays workshop

WHEN:          Thursday, December 7 from 6:00 p.m. to 7:30 p.m.

WHERE:       Rothko Chapel, 3900 Yupon Street, Houston

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With Rousing Support, Columbus City Council Member Shayla Favor Enters Franklin County Prosecutor’s Race

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For Immediate Release

November 30, 2023

COLUMBUS – In a stirring press conference on Nov. 30 at The Historic Pythian Theater on Columbus’s Near East Side, Councilmember Shayla Favor announced that she will enter the Franklin County Prosecutor’s race. Flanked by prominent community leaders, including Council President Shannon Hardin and former Mayor Michael B. Coleman, Favor explained her decision to run. Her campaign released the following statement: 

“I am running for Franklin County Prosecutor because I want to support our community in becoming a model county that prioritizes public safety while being responsive to a system long considered to be unjust and inequitable,” Favor said. “I want to work in partnership with leaders across the region in creating a public safety model that leads with transparency, prioritizes accountability instead of retribution, and ensures the dignity of all Franklin County residents and visitors.” 

“Councilmember Favor is unapologetic in her commitment to people,” said Council President Shannon Hardin. “She is a fighter and a servant leader who acts with conviction and compassion. Now more than ever, Favor is what our community needs and deserves.” 

“Whether she was serving on Columbus City Council, serving in the Columbus City Attorney’s office, or litigating high profile environmental lawsuits that addressed public safety in our community, Favor has always put the needs of our community front and center,” said former Columbus Mayor Michael B. Coleman. “We can be sure of this one thing: from day one, she will roll up her sleeves and get to work.” 

Prior to joining Columbus City Council, Favor served as an Assistant City Attorney for the Columbus City Attorney’s Office in the Environmental Division. In that capacity, she served the downtown, Near East and Southside areas of Columbus. As a Zone Attorney, she worked alongside city and community leaders to provide essential city services, improve Columbus’ neighborhoods and facilitate conversations to address criminal activity, vacancies, abandonment, and blight. 

“From my time in the City Attorney’s Office, I am proud to have played a role in the City’s efforts to address criminal activity and neighborhood disparity through the abatement of nuisance properties,” Favor added. This work included the abatement of residential and commercial structures that were violating civil and criminal statues in the City of Columbus & State of Ohio.” 

Favor also worked as the executive director of Partners Achieving Community Transformation (PACT). PACT works to create a healthy, financially, and environmentally sustainable community where residents have access to safe and affordable housing, quality healthcare and education, and employment opportunities on the Near East Side of Columbus. 

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Child Care Advocates Sound Alarm on Child Care Crisis in Miami County

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For Immediate Release

Nov. 20, 2023

MIAMI COUNTY, Oh. – Renee Matsunami and Karen Stienecker, child care advocates in Miami County, are pleading with elected leaders to take action to address the child care crisis in the county and state. The duo runs Child Care Choices, a small nonprofit which provides training for child care providers, referrals for families needing care, and sponsors the Child and Adult Care Food Program. They are affiliated with The CEO Project and have been working with other organizations to bring solutions to the child care crisis in Miami County.

“Miami County is facing a shortage of child care that will affect this generation of children for a long time,” Matsunami said. “But this is an issue that impacts families at the county, state and national levels. We have found that the families most impacted by a lack of childcare are the families that need publicly funded childcare, families that have a child with special needs, families that need second, third and weekend shift care, and families with infants and toddlers.” 

“When parents need care and can’t find it, they feel desperate,” Stienecker said. “You can hear them close to tears on the phone and that is heartbreaking. Our system is forcing parents to settle for care that may not be up to their standards. We must face the fact that Ohio’s child care system is not stable or sustainable.”  

“We are a rural county,” Stienecker added. “We have a good percentage of children who need child care spots. Many of our centers don’t accept publicly-funded subsidies because they can fill their spots with private pay families. Today, there are only spots for less than half of the kids who need a publicly funded spot in Miami County. Ohio is one of the lowest in terms of reimbursement rates for publicly funded child care. The reimbursement rate is 25% and the recommendation is 75%.”  

“In Miami County we have no licensed family child care providers, which means a lack of second and third shift care.” Steinecker said. “The number of women who left the workforce has been staggering; many of them have not returned because there is a lack of childcare. In other situations, parents are depending on family, friends and neighbors to take care of their kids.”  

When asked why Ohio’s childcare system is in such a bind, Matsunami and Stienecker noted: 

  1. The licensing process is frustrating and overwhelming. Two providers we’ve been working with for close to a year are still not through the process. It takes a long time to complete the licensure process. The system is broken and we aren’t able to get people licensed. With the exception of one person who is licensed but set to move away from the county, we have zero licensed family child care providers in Miami County.  When we don’t have licensed family child care providers, families that need publicly funded childcare aren’t able to get those services.  
  2. Staffing shortages means fewer child care spots. The wages are so low that centers aren’t able to recruit and retain child care educators. The average wage for child care providers in Ohio is around $11 per hour. “It is hard to draw people into a career in early childhood education when other industries don’t require the same amount of education, and they pay more than $11 per hour. Down the road is a Chewy factory with starting rates of $19 per hour. When you’re looking at your bills, the difference between getting paid $19 or $11 per hour, that changes a family’s income,” Steinecker said. “The rules and regulations seem oppressive. We are crushing child care providers with rules. Our people are breaking under the weight that is put upon them by the system.” 
  3. The importance of high-quality early childhood education is not prioritized. Birth to age five are critical years in terms of brain development, which means that the care children receive during this period is vital to their future. About 60% of Ohio’s children are unprepared for kindergarten. Child care providers are not babysitters; they are educators who are ensuring that our children are ready for school

“Ohio’s child care system is in crisis” Matsunami said. “It’s time elected leaders invest in our future by investing in child care.”

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Dr. Sabrina N’Diaye To Headline New Jersey Prevention Network Workshop

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For Immediate Release

Nov. 16, 2023

BALTIMORE – Dr. Sabrina N’Diaye, an acclaimed author and psychotherapist, will lead a workshop for the New Jersey Prevention Network on December 6 from 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m. The workshop is for social workers, chemical dependency counselors, and professional counselors. Attendees will receive six continuing education credits. N’Diaye will also discuss her most recent book, “Big Mama Speaks: Love Lessons from a Harlem River Swan.”

“I celebrate those who live in bowed service to other humans,” N’Diaye said. “Healers are able to hold grief and hope; joy and sorrow; and love and hate at the same time. We are special, and I want to be in service to this community through this and other workshops.”

WHO:             Dr. Sabrina N’Diaye of the Heart Nest Center

                        New Jersey Prevention Network

WHAT:           Guidance from the Other Side: Using Imagery, Journaling, and Love to Connect

WHEN:          December 6 at 9:00 a.m. to 4:00 p.m.

WHERE:       30 Park Rd | Suite 2 | Tinton Falls, NJ 0772

“I’m passionate about being a guide for people who work in healing fields,” N’Diaye said. “My goal is to offer therapists and healers another skill that they can use with their clients. I’ll talk about the science and research that validates the work. I want them to understand and use these skills for themselves and those who desire to stay on the path to recovery.”

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Child Care Providers Reveal Empty Promises, False Narrative from Alabama Department of Human Resources

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For Immediate Release

Nov. 8, 2023

“The truth is they are failing miserably.”

Montgomery, Ala. — On a media call organized by the Alabama Institute of Social Justice and the Raising Child Care Fund, Alabama child care center directors and owners spoke out about the state’s failure to effectively roll out funding from the recently expired American Rescue Plan Act (ARPA) or implement programs to fix the broken system. The ARPA funding, which expired in September, was intended to stabilize the child care sector by supplementing care rates, but instead increased taxes to Alabama center owners and put many in a further deficit. While other states provided the funding in the form of grants, Alabama center owners received it as payroll creating a tax burden.

“Now that the money has gone, we feel that it could have been given out in a different manner so it would have lasted a lot longer,” said Constance Dial, PhD, who runs a center in Mobile, Ala. “Now we are back to where we were prior to the pandemic, and we were already working with an old system that needed to be dismantled and rebuilt.”

Providers expressed they are not able to pay enough to retain staff or recruit new teachers, and many are leaving the field.

“We still don’t have enough finances to increase salaries, so we’re fighting Starbucks, WalMart, and all these entities that we shouldn’t have to fight because we should be at an equal hourly rate,” continued Dial. “I’m looking for teachers. I’m down two teachers.”

“Every day we’re struggling. I’ve been doing this for 22 years and struggling for 22 years. Providers are worn out and ready to give up.”

Providers say the Department of Human Resources is controlling the narrative and painting a picture that it is doing all it can, while ignoring solutions brought forth by those actually providing care.

“What they are not telling you is, for me, they’re only paying $128 a week,” said Kishia Saffold, MBA, owner of Kiddie Care Learning Center Enterprise. “We see the numbers in the news and in the media about the exorbitant cost of child care all over the country, and at $128 we’re still having to require our parents to pay the difference between what the state pays and our rate. They’re not paying rates that are in line with our industry or with the rates of food cost.”

One solution providers agree on is addressing the state’s market rate survey, which was intended to determine child care rates based on location. Providers say the DHR publicly promised to form a committee to revisit the survey, and instead reinstituted it.

“We know the market rate survey is a failed tool. It does not get to the true cost of child care, and it creates a schism in the system as to who gets certain rates,” said Lenice Emanuel, Executive Director of the Alabama Institute for Social Justice. “Most providers don’t even fill it out because it doesn’t serve any purpose to advance the economic status of an organization.”

“Sometimes we are hogtied because the system is broken. It is splintered because one area is trying to move forward, and another is not even thinking about it,” said provider Lisa Nimmer in Greenville, Ala. “We need to value each and every child. This is the time to focus on [ages] 0-5. This is where we need to put our resources, not in higher ed. We need to focus on 0-5.”

 

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Black Southern Women’s Collaborative Weigh in on Redistricting in States Such as Georgia, Florida, and Louisiana

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For Immediate Release

Oct. 30, 2023

ATLANTA – On Thursday, October 26, U.S. District Court Judge Steve Jones declared that Georgia’s current maps violated the Voting Rights Act and must be redrawn by Dec. 8. Gov. Brian Kemp ordered a special session on Nov. 29 to begin the map-drawing process. The Black Southern Women’s Collaborative, which includes founder Phyllis Hill; Kendra Cotton, CEO of the New Georgia Project; Nsombi Lambright-Haynes, executive director of One Voice; Tameka Greer, executive director of Memphis Artists for Change; Rev. Rhonda Thomas, executive director of Faith in Florida; and Ashley K. Shelton, president and founder of the Power Coalition for Equity & Justice, released the following statement:

“For years, Black women have been organizing against unfair and inequitable redistricting maps,” Cotton said. “We have done this even as we have gone to great lengths to educate our communities on how they could engage in the process. The federal court ruling in Georgia, and the Supreme Court rulings in Alabama and Louisiana affirm what we’ve said all along, the state and congressional districting lines in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, and Louisiana disproportionately harmed Black voters.”

“We have repeatedly urged elected officials to create fair maps while also educating voters on how they could engage in the redistricting process,” Shelton said. “In Louisiana, we launched a tour where we went city by city to explain the process in accessible terms. We, along with partners and allies, also filed a legal challenge to Louisiana’s maps which diluted the voting power of Black voters. Our work has shown that when Black women organize, Black communities benefit. It is imperative that donors and foundations continue to get resources to Black women who have time and time again proven to be defenders of democracy.”

The victory for Black voters in Georgia follows similar wins in Louisiana and Alabama where the Supreme Court ruled those states’ maps violated Black voters’ ability to elect candidates of choice. Ohio advocates are also preparing to put a measure on the ballot that would allow ordinary citizens as opposed to politicians to draw state legislative lines.

“The right to vote is sacred,” Hill said. “And from coast to coast, Black women organizers have been pushing back on attacks that undermine the right to vote and democracy itself. From experience, we know that when we fight, we will win.”

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Nsombi Lambright: Voter Purging Is the Number One Complaint from Our Voter Protection Hot Line

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For Immediate Release

Oct. 27, 2023

JACKSON – On Oct. 25, One Voice, MS NAACP, Civic Engagement Roundtable, MS Poor People’s Campaign, the Legal Defense Fund (LDF), and the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law raised concerns that counties throughout Mississippi are improperly purging voters, putting them on the inactive list or removing them without notice. During the event, the groups presented information gathered from circuit clerks’ offices throughout the state and sought to educate citizens who may have been removed from the voting rolls. Nsombi Lambright, executive director of One Voice and a member of the Black Southern Women’s Collaborative, released the following statement:

“The maintenance of voter rolls is a normal process of cleaning voter data, eliminating duplicates, removing persons who are deceased or have been convicted of a disfranchising felony and removing inactive voters. Unfortunately, our state has used this process as a voter suppression tool by dropping voters from the rolls without notice.

“Voter purging is the number one complaint from our voter protection hot line.  It is very common for us to receive calls from voters who have voted at one place for years, only to discover that they are no longer eligible to vote at this place. 

“We are urging Mississippians to check your voting status. Make sure that you still vote where you think that you vote.  And make sure that your status is still active.  You can verify this information through the Secretary of State’s website and through your local circuit clerk’s office.  Voting is a human right, not a privilege. We have some very good circuit clerks and election commissioners who are committed to making sure that we all vote, but there are also those who want to take this right away.  We cannot let them win.”

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Civil Rights Leaders: New Legislative Maps Dilute the Political Power of Black Voters

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For Immediate Release

Sept. 27, 2023

COLUMBUS – After the Ohio Redistricting Commission adopted its 5th set of maps, civil rights leaders with the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, the Ohio Unity Coalition and the Ohio NAACP noted that the new maps diluted the political power of Black voters. They released the following statement:

“For over a year, communities of color have been living in state legislative and congressional districts separated from or combined with communities where they do not share common interests; nor have the issues of concern to these voters been addressed by the new legislator who should be representing them,” said Pierrette “Petee” Talley, petitioner and Executive Director, Ohio Unity Coalition. “By ignoring the racial impact of the new maps on these citizens, the Commission has done a grave disservice by not assuring that districts are drawn that do not disenfranchise some voters at the expense of others. This minimizes voters’ ability to elect candidates to represent their interests. We are better than this as a state, it’s time to trust citizens, not politicians.”

The new maps indicate a Republican-to-Democratic advantage of 61 to 38 in the Ohio House, and a 23 to 10 Republican advantage in the Ohio Senate.

“It is extremely frustrating that politicians are looking out for their own interests. Consequently, Black and Brown communities will end up with the short end of the stick,” said Jeniece L. Brock, Policy & Advocacy Director at the Ohio Organizing Collaborative. “These maps dilute the political power of underrepresented communities, and it is evident politicians cannot be trusted with the task of drawing fair districts. We need an independent commission absent of politicians and with an inclusive process that allows Ohioans to have fair and just representation.”

“This process was rushed and it was not representative of the needs and perspectives of communities of color, especially Black voters,” said Prentiss Haney, co-director of the Ohio Organizing Collaborative.

“Ohio voters have been fighting for fair and equitable maps for the last two years, and we won’t stop now,” said Tom Roberts, president of the Ohio NAACP. “Our work for fair maps and an inclusive democracy continues.”

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Revolve Fund Raises $1.9 Million to Help Businesses Led by People of Color

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For Immediate Release

BALTIMORE – Since it launched in 2020 as a pilot, the Revolve Fund has raised $1.9 million to help Black, Latinx, Indigenous and other people of color increase access to capital. Founded and managed by James Wahls, the Revolve Fund is a philanthropic initiative that assists persons of color seeking to open, grow or scale their business or nonprofit. Wahls brings 15 years of experience in the philanthropic, impact investing and legal sectors.

“For entrepreneurs and nonprofit leaders of color, systemic barriers disproportionately prevent their businesses and nonprofits from equitable capital access,” said James Wahls, founder and managing director for Revolve Fund, and senior vice president of programs and initiatives at Mission Investors Exchange. “Revolve intentionally deploys ‘friends and family-like’ funding to increase capital access, a critical factor for success.”

Revolve offers interest-free, recoverable capital to support Black/African American, Latinx, Indigenous and other people of color-led businesses, nonprofits, and financial intermediaries. To date, the fund has deployed more than $560,000.

READ MORE: https://www.citybiz.co/article/469467/revolve-fund-raises-1-9-million-to-help-businesses-led-by-people-of-color/

This National Voter Registration Day, the Black Southern Women’s Collaborative to Focus on State-Level Voter Purges

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For Immediate Release

Sept. 18, 2023

ATLANTA – The Black Southern Women’s Collaborative (BSWC) will celebrate National Voter Registration Day, on September 19, by engaging Black communities around the threat of voter purges, and by registering Black communities to vote. The network of Black women organizers in the South is also highlighting the ways in which their group is pushing back. The BSWC includes Kendra Cotton, executive director of the New Georgia Project; Rev. Rhonda Thomas, executive director of Faith in Florida; Nsombi Lambright, executive director of One Voice; Ashley K. Shelton, president and founder of the Power Coalition for Equity & Justice; Tameka Greer, executive director of Memphis Artists for Change; and Phyllis Hill, BSWC founder and national organizing director for Faith in Action. They released the following statement:

“Studies show that 60% of eligible voters are never asked to register,” said Rev. Rhonda Thomas, BSWC member and executive director of Faith in Florida. “Given the many people who have been removed from the voting rolls, we want to spend National Voter Registration Day engaging as many people as possible and ensuring they register to vote or confirm that their registration is up to date.”

Faith in Florida will celebrate Nation Voter Registration Day in Eatonville, Florida. Eatonville is the oldest black town in the United States. Incorporated on August 15, 1887, by 27 black men, it was one of the first self-governing all black municipalities in the United States.  

Faith in Florida’s goal is to register 200 voters and encourage 100 people to encourage at least 100 people to complete the vote by mail applications. “We hope to expand the electorate in 41 counties,” Thomas said.

“This is a moment to dialogue with voters about their registration, their plans for voting, and the reasons our votes matter,” said Tameka Greer, BSWC member and executive director of Memphis Artists for Change. “We are also engaging voters who are at risk of being purged from the voting rolls and encouraging them to check their registration status.”

“One vote may seem insignificant, but every vote is an opportunity to help create the future we envision,” said Nsombi Lambright, BSWC member and executive director of One Voice. “It is part of a larger strategy, but it is a component that cannot be overlooked or ignored. “We will use this as an opportunity to not only sign up new voters but to reclaim voters pushed out of the system through purging.”

To date, One Voice has collected lists of inactive voters from six circuit clerks offices and are actively pursuing the remaining 76 counties in Mississippi.

“The ballot booth is another opportunity to ensure our demands are met and that the evil of systemic racism is confronted and dismantled,” said BSWC member and founder and president of the Power Coalition for Equity & Justice Ashley K. Shelton. “Every election matters, which is why it’s crucial that we avail ourselves of moments like National Voter Registration Day to engage with voters and prepare them to turn out on election day.”

“We have an awesome opportunity to continue the work of those who came before us, and to simultaneously organize to make life better for those who will come after us,” said Kendra Cotton, BSWC member and executive director of the New Georgia Project.

The New Georgia Project has registered 41,000 people to vote since January 2023, and intends to register an additional 300 people on National Voter Registration Day.

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