Today is  YWCA USA Capitol Hill Day and YWCA advocates from Boston and across the country are in Washington to speak up for women and families. Please join us today as we tell Congress: Make Women and their Families a Priority! 

Action: Call your member of Congress toll-free at (202)224-3121. You will have to make three calls: one to your Representative and one to each of your Senators. To find the names of your elected officials click here.

Message:
My name is _________ and I am a constituent. I am calling to urge the Representative/Senator to support funding two vitally important programs that help women and children throughout our state; transitional housing programs and child care.
I am asking the Representative/Senator to support fully funding the transitional housing program for domestic violence victims at $40 million. I am also asking the Representative/Senator to support $1.6 billion for the Child Care Development Block Grant.  As your constituent, I believe that though these are tight fiscal times, now is not the time to cut back on funding these vital programs. Thank you.
Background:
President Obama released his Fiscal Year 2011 (FY2011) budget on February 1s. The President’s FY11 budget proposed providing $629.1 million or programs that help survivors of violence and their families and $25 million, specifically, for the transitional housing program, which is $7 million above the Fiscal Year 2010 level of $18 million.

While the YWCA USA supports the President’s request, as service providers we recognize that more funding is necessary to address unmet need. YWCA Boston for example retains more than 20 transitional housing units for single women, with no direct governmental support, with financial subsidies coming from other YWCA resources. We are urging Congress to fully fund this program at $40 million.

The President’s budget request also proposed providing $1.6 billion for the Child Care Development Block Grant or CCDBG. While YWCA Boston has not provide childcare services in this century, we strongly support funding for these initiatives because we know that these programs are a crucial investment the lives of women and children throughout our nation. Please join with us as well call on Congress to follow the President’s lead and commit to funding these vital programs.

To learn more about transitional housing and child care programs click here.