Blog

September Newsletter

Dear Springboard to Opportunities Partners,

This month, I am thinking about what families need to build stable, healthy lives — and what happens when the systems we have in place create new barriers instead.

Congress’ H.R. 1, passed last year, is reshaping access to two essential supports: SNAP, which helps families put food on the table; and Medicaid, which helps people access health care. The law expands work-reporting requirements in SNAP and establishes new Medicaid “community engagement” requirements for many adults in the Medicaid expansion population.

The question is not whether people work. Most parents are already working — at paid jobs, in school, caring for children and family members, navigating unpredictable schedules and doing the daily work it takes to keep a household afloat. The question is who gets to define “work,” who has the time and resources to navigate another reporting system and what happens when paperwork, technology barriers or an administrative mistake stands between a family and the food or health care they need.

At Springboard, we believe families are the experts in their own lives. We also believe policy should make it easier for people to pursue their goals, not force them to clear additional hurdles just to meet their children’s basic needs.

That is why the power of the polls matters. The decisions made by elected officials determine whether families have access to affordable child care, nutritious food, health care, housing and real pathways to opportunity. Our voices, our stories and our votes are how we hold leaders accountable for building systems that honor families’ dignity and reflect what communities actually need. I hope we’ll all take that with us into the voting booth come November.

Also, I am happy to announce my new podcast, Bless Your Heart, is officially live! Listen now wherever you get your podcasts, and join me for conversations about the people, places and ideas shaping how we understand this moment.

Yours in Service,

Aisha Nyandoro
CEO

READ THE FULL NEWSLETTER HERE

Black. Single. Mother.

An evening with author Jamilah Lemieux

Jamilah Lemieux is a writer, speaker, and single Black mother herself who just released her new book Black. Single. Mother.We hosted alongside the SPLC and Jackson State University an intimate book talk with Jamilah where she shared more of her own story and experience, broke down some of the policy implications that have come from the false narrative we believe about single Black mothers, and encouraged everyone in the room to find joy and community together and own the fact that they are deserving of love, support, and respect.

This special evening was a mix of Springboard moms and fellows and other Black mothers and advocates from across the Jackson area who not only got to be in conversation with Jamilah, but also shared a meal, stories, and conversations with each other helping to build the powerful community of Black mothers in Jackson.

August Newsletter

Leadership Already Lives Here

Dear Springboard to Opportunities Partners,

This month, I have been thinking about what it really means to build community and sustainchange. Nineteen Magnolia Mother’s Trust alumni recently joined me in traveling to Chicago for the inaugural Child Care Changemakers National Convening, hosted by Community Change Action. The moms’ presence alongside advocates, organizers and community leaders was a powerful reminder of one of our earliest beliefs when we began this work more than a decade ago: leadership already exists in communities experiencing scarcity. Sometimes, it simply needs the space and resources to emerge.

These mothers did not just attend the event. They shared their experiences, challenged ideas, asked hard questions and brought their own expertise into the room. For many, it was an opportunity to see themselves not only as parents navigating an often-impossible child care system; but as advocates with the power to help shape a better future.

That is what true sustainability can look like. It is not simply about maintaining a program. It is about investing in people who carry the work forward long after a particular intervention ends. It is about creating opportunities for mothers to connect their lived experience to a larger movement and to recognize the value of their own voices.

It is also a reflection of the power of guaranteed income. When we give people the resources and agency to make choices about their own lives, we do more than relieve immediate financial pressure. We create the conditions for leadership, participation and growth.

YOU CAN READ THE FULL AUGUST NEWSLETTER HERE

• We’re launching the Bless Your Heart podcast next month! Subscribe on Spotify, Apple Podcast, or the BYH Youtube

• A new NPQ article by Gabrielle Wyatt that includes a shout out to the Magnolia Mother’s Trust!

• Our CEO, Aisha Nyandoro, went on Front Page with Mimi Brown. Listen here.

• A new video produced by creator Janai Norman discusses the narratives surrounding children going hungry and why language matters when we talk about poverty.

• This month’s resident spotlight features Candace ✨

Front & Center: Candace

Motherhood was never meant to be done alone—and a mother’s dreams shouldn’t depend on whether she can find childcare that works with her children’s schedules.

READ CANDACE’S FULL STORY HERE

I want people to understand that the only way this works is if we help each other. There is no way around it. Everybody needs a community. Everybody needs somebody. Having the mindset that you don’t need anybody is unrealistic. If I see a single mom in the store trying to get groceries while her baby is crying, I’m going to ask, “What do you need me to do?” We have to learn how to lend a helping hand.

Documentary Screening Event

On Tuesday August 4th Springboard to Opportunities hosted a special community event screening of Dr. Tressie McMillan Cottom’s documentary, Power To The People Y’all, at the Capri Theater in Jackson, Mississippi.

After the documentary played, Dr. Tressie McMillan Cottom led a cross-generational panel that was both insightful and inspiring! You can read more about the documentary here.

This event was presented in partnership with the Southern Poverty Law Center, Mississippi Votes, People’s Advocacy Institute, and the NAACP Mississippi State Conference.

Photos by Chuck Washington

Front & Center: Christy

Christy’s story reveals how America’s care system relies on women to shoulder impossible responsibilities with too little support.

“If I had more financial stability, it would help a lot. It would help with food, the kids and the pressure of trying to keep everything together. Even a little more would give me some room to breathe. When I’m not so stressed, I can focus more on caring for my mom and helping my children. That is what I do every day.”

READ CHRISTY’S FULL STORY HERE