We’ve all been studying the deeper implication of the passing of the Big Ugly Bill, but here’s what everyone needs to understand: the promise of the American dream– the promise that any person can keep their family housed, fed and safe– has been broken. It has been broken so deeply, we’ll need to spend decades picking up the pieces.
The Americans with the heaviest burdens will be hit the hardest: immigrants, children, working parents, and especially BIPOC. As a Black American, my people’s history of determination and resilience helps me face these dark times with hope. After all, this won’t be the first time our people have seen America break its promises. We were promised freedom– we fought to get it. We were promised the vote– we fought to get it. We were promised reparations– those still haven’t arrived yet. As a people, we are veterans of the American nightmare.
And that is why we refuse to give up on the American dream! People always ask me, “Dr. Gina, where do you get your energy? How do you always stay so positive?” The answer is simple: I belong to a people that will never stop fighting for safety, love, and liberation. I believe in my people’s ability to lead community through crisis. Beloved Community is the foundation of GLIDE, where as President and CEO I lead with radical inclusion and unconditional love.
Now that the federal budget has passed, Beloved Community is all we have to ensure our collective survival. It’s almost impossible to exaggerate the extent to which our social safety net has been devastated. Over a trillion dollars have been cut from Medicaid and the Affordable Care Act: that’s 17 million people losing their insurance. Not only will cuts to the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) reduce food for more than 40 million people, but they are imposing work requirements to access food stamps which are impossible for many family caregivers– and about 3.2 million people will lose their food stamps entirely.
We asked hard-working parents whose children attend GLIDE’s Family, Youth and Childcare Center what they thought of the new budget. Mindful of the possibility of retaliation for immigrant families that practice political speech, our staff insisted on the protection of anonymity for parents giving quotes. More than one parent observed, “Mothers are going to be hurt by [work requirements for SNAP] the worst because there are times when they really cannot work.”
The cuts to Medicaid worried them deeply. One said, “This will be very hard for my family, because I will have to wait to take the children to the doctor until it is serious, due to lack of coverage. When I took my 12 month old to the doctor, I got a bill for $8000 and at first I was so worried– but I was able to pay just $2000 because of Medicaid.” How will this parent make it without Medicaid? Another said, “I have a child with special needs who needs a lot of surgeries. I can’t afford that myself.”
A budget is a statement of values. What the latest budget says about American values is not looking good. We are divesting from peace to invest in war. We are transferring wealth from the poorest to the richest, which hurts all of us. We are divesting from inclusion so we can invest in excluding, deporting, and policing innocent people.
The new budget invests $170 billion more dollars in ICE– terrified immigrant families will live in daily fear of government kidnappings. We are divesting from helping people so we can invest more money in harming people! This is wrong: and people will die for these decisions.
We can’t let this stand. We’ve got to show up and show out. In March, I called on city leaders to put in place an Emergency Food Plan for when SNAP is cut. But now I see the reality: when federal budgets shrink, state and city budgets strain frantically just trying to cover the gaps. And that means nonprofits– including GLIDE– struggle with layoffs, cuts, and lost government funding even as demand for our meals and services skyrockets.
As I write this, our whole community is mourning the loss of our Social Justice Academy. This academy was a city-funded program that trained members of marginalized groups to be leaders and advocates. A city suffering under the weight of federal cuts trimmed it out of existence.
But I don’t think listening to voices from the margins is optional. Funded or not, we need leadership from the margins. It’s the people in the margins who understand the problems the most deeply. That gives them the vision to see the solutions. As someone who relied on nonprofits when I lived in poverty, I know: nonprofits are the safety net of last resort. So, nonprofits have to get loud. We have to demand resources for our people. Love must be our agenda.
All of you: remember the nonprofits. Remember you are not powerless. Direct your time, talent, and treasure towards the issues that you care about. For every attack on abortion rights, trans rights, food security, and health access, there are hundreds– thousands– of passionate people fighting for those causes. All you need to do is help them.
Can we rely on the people and the nonprofits of this city to keep the promises our government has broken? I think so: I believe in the people of this city. The dream of San Francisco has always been that no matter where you come from, no matter who you love, no matter what you’ve been through — you matter here. You are welcome here. Together, we will keep that dream alive.
GLIDE will never stop feeding, healing, and loving. At GLIDE you can practically feel the spirits of all the ancestors who fought tirelessly here for civil rights. Come volunteer at GLIDE and see where I get my energy. I will NEVER give up on creating an America that invests in spreading peace, welcoming immigrants, and caring for its most vulnerable people.
Stand with me!
Dr. Gina Fromer, President and CEO of Glide Foundation