NCJW Advocacy Wrap-Up:

Friday, November 3, 2023

In this issue...

Actions to Support Israel and Abortion Rights

Contact Congress to Pass the Equality Act

Tell Congress to Save Childcare

Volunteer For & Support the 2024 Long Beach Homeless Count

Actions to Support Israel and Abortion Rights

This has been an incredibly hard few weeks. Friends, colleagues, and loved ones in Israel have repeatedly called these past twenty days a nightmare. As a community, we are hurt, grieving, and confused — mourning the great loss of life from Hamas's horrific attack in Israel and Israel's campaign against Hamas in Gaza.

We do not waver in affirming shared humanity for all people. We pray for the swift return of hostages. We bear witness to the awful realities of war. We are disgusted by the rise in antisemitism and islamophobia we see around us. We are in awe of Israel’s protest movement, led by women who, in the country’s darkest hours, moved immediately into action by leveraging their powerful network and infrastructure to provide aid. We yearn for peace, justice, and freedom for everyone in the region.

Our world is deeply broken. But together, in collective action, we can work toward the necessary repair amidst our sorrow, anger, and dismay. The call to justice never ceases, so despite our heartache, we must continue.

Below, please find a few ways to take action for reproductive health, rights, and justice in the coming weeks and build a better world for women, children, and families here and across the globe.

Save an empty seat at your Shabbat table for a hostage: There is no bodily autonomy in captivity. As we enter Shabbat this week, and each week until those being held captive are safely home, NCJW invites you to save a seat at your Shabbat table for one of the 200+ hostages still being held by Hamas in Gaza. While they cannot join their own families, or prepare their own tables, we will ensure there are empty seats in their honor around the world.

Pass a clean budget: A potential government shutdown looms and Congress is stuck — leaving workers and communities across the country in the lurch while lawmakers debate the annual budget. Our Jewish voices can be a powerful catalyst to push Congress to pass a clean budget, free from harmful cuts and provisions, that fully funds critical human needs programs.

Abortion is on the ballot in Ohio: We will never lose hope in the fight for reproductive freedom for all! Ohio has the chance to secure reproductive health access and care in the election this November with a ballot initiative that protects abortion.

Especially now, as so much is so fragile, we must take care of each other.

Tell Congress to Pass the Equality Act

There is an unprecedented rise in LGBTQ+ discrimination across the country. Fighting back against it at the federal level is just one way to stop it. 

The Equality Act would expand civil rights and end discrimination for women, LGBTQ+, and non-binary people on the basis of sexual orientation and gender identity. Email Congress and urge them to support this important bill!

It’s imperative we fight back against discrimination. 

Pass the Equality Act!

Tell Congress to Act Quickly

 to Save Children

President Biden just requested $16 billion in emergency supplemental funding for childcare!

President Biden’s actions today are a critical first step in pulling the childcare sector back from the brink of catastrophe. But Congress still needs to act now and pass the funding to prevent a major reduction in childcare availability, staffing shortages, and increased prices that will disrupt both families and our economy.

Billions of dollars of childcare stabilization funding expired on September 30. Women, children, and early educators across the country have already started to feel the impacts. Things will only get worse over the coming months.

The White House’s emergency supplemental funding request for childcare is a huge win, and only possible because supporters like you joined us in calling for this funding. Thank you!

Families and early educators are hurting now.

Act Now!

Volunteer For & Support the 2024 Long Beach Homeless Count

Volunteer registration for the 2024 Long Beach

Homeless Count is now open! 

The City of Long Beach Department of Health and Human Services is seeking community volunteers for the 2024 Long Beach Homeless Count. The 2024 Homeless Count will take place on the morning of Thursday, January 25, 2024 at The Grand Long Beach (4101 E Willow St.).  

The Homeless Count is an annual event that seeks to survey and count all people experiencing homelessness in Long Beach. The Count is a communitywide effort that provides a hands-on opportunity to hear directly from people experiencing homelessness and partner in improving the services and solutions we offer. Data from the Count are vital for allocating federal, state, and local resources, informing policies and programs to address homelessness, and identifying gaps and needs to better serve people experiencing homelessness.

Volunteer for the Count:

On the morning of the Count, volunteers will arrive at The Grand Long Beach (4101 E Willow St.) at 4:30am to be dispatched by 5:00am. Groups of three to five volunteers will canvass an assigned segment of the city, administering a demographic survey to any individuals experiencing homelessness they meet. Volunteers will be provided with gift cards, hygiene kits, and water to distribute. Volunteers should expect to spend up to four hours canvassing.

To volunteer for the Count, people must

• Be 18 years or older. 
• Attend a two-hour orientation and training prior to the day of the Count. Orientations will be held both virtually and in person and will occur in early January.
• Commit to a four-hour canvassing shift on Thursday, Jan. 25, 2024. Volunteers will be expected to report at 4:30 a.m. and dispatched to the field by 5 a.m.

Volunteers can register online at HERE. If more than 300 people register to volunteer for the count, a waitlist will be created. Information on how to sign up for orientations will be provided after registration.

To learn more about the Long Beach Homeless Count, visit

www.longbeach.gov/HomelessCount or email HomelessCount@longbeach.gov. 

Other Ways to Support:

In addition to volunteering for the Count, community members are encouraged to raise awareness and recruit other volunteers to participate in the Homeless Count or by providing physical and/or monetary donations. Community members can donate the following items to support the Count, which will be distributed to individuals experiencing homelessness.

• Socks
• Travel-sized hygiene products (deodorant, toothbrush, toothpaste, menstrual products, etc.)
• Bottled water 
• Small gift cards in amounts of $5 to $10 

Physical donation items can be dropped off at the Long Beach Multi-Service Center, located at 1301 W 12th St., between 8 a.m. and 4 p.m., Monday through Friday. To learn more about ways to donate, please visit www.longbeach.gov/HomelessCount or email HomelessCount@longbeach.gov.  

To financially contribute towards Count incentives, people can donate online to the

Mayor’s Fund to End Homelessness and type “Homeless Count - Mayor's Fund” in the Additional Comments box. Donations can also be made by check. Check donations may be mailed to Long Beach Community Foundation, 400 Oceangate, Suite 800, Long Beach, CA 90802. Please make check payable to “Long Beach Community Foundation” and write “Homeless Count - Mayor's Fund” in the memo section of the check. These tax-deductible donations will be used towards gift cards and other incentives for individuals being surveyed on the day of the Count. 

For more information, please visit www.longbeach.gov/HomelessCount or email HomelessCount@longbeach.gov.

Questions about anything you have read or related to our Section’s advocacy? Email advocacy@ncjwlongbeach.org.