Every follower of our work knows by now how much we value the voices of low-income families, both to inform our work at Springboard To Opportunities and also in larger conversations that have the potential to shape public policy on local, state, and national levels. So when the opportunity presented itself to take two of our Springboard moms with me to the 8th Annual Ounce Policy Exchange: Unite with Children and Families in Chicago last month, I did not hesitate to say yes.
The conference focused on policy approaches to improve outcomes for young children and their families, but we, and the conveners of the conference, knew those conversations would be incomplete if the real, lived experiences of low-income families were not heard. During the conference, Val and Ebony were given the opportunity to share with policymakers, foundation managers, and nonprofit leaders from across the country their experience of living in affordable housing and the barriers that they face daily in trying to reach their goals and create more opportunities for their families. It was a chance to take a narrative that even the most well-meaning among us often lace with assumptions and stereotypes and recenter it on the realities low-income families experience every day.
Val described watching the expressions on people’s faces change as she shared her daily experience as a single mother in low-income housing and said she felt, “we were finally being heard and taken seriously.” After their panel, Val commented that people continued to come up to her asking about issues and policy concerns that affect her family on a day-to-day basis. For Val, it was affirmation not only that her story matters, but that her opinions, experiences, and knowledge are essential to the process of making strong public policy that actually has the power to break cycles of poverty.
For Ebony, this was one of the first times where she felt not only invited to, but actually included in the conversation that was happening. “No one ever wants to hear our voice,” she said. “They just tell us what to do. They set the rules and don’t care about the impact that it has on us as families, as individuals, and as the community. It is detrimental when [policymakers and leaders] don’t hear our voices.” But this experience was different for Ebony. No one made her feel small or just “like another girl from the projects.” Instead, she found that many of the other participants were parents, just like her and wanted to create more opportunities and a prosperous future for their children, and her experience and knowledge as a mother was just as important in reaching that goal as the knowledge and experience of everyone else in the room.
Both Ebony and Val left the meeting with renewed energy and passion and both expressed a desire to continue speaking up and advocating for their communities in any way they can. I hope that more national partners will see the value of bringing the voices of families to these larger conversations, as The Ounce of Prevention Fund did, and that all the participants who were there will go back to their respective homes remembering what they heard and doing what they can to integrate those ideas and experiences into their work. And I hope Val and Ebony and all the mothers we work with on a daily basis will be reminded of the importance and value of their voices and ideas in shaping communities where all people have the ability and opportunity to flourish.