More than 1,550 Meetings Held in all 50 States

June 18, 2011

WASHINGTON—Thousands of Americans confronted the jobs crisis in house meetings held in all 50 states over the weekend that resulted in concrete solutions to create jobs.

MoveOn.org and Change Nation, a new action network that is part of the Campaign for Community Change, joined forces to encourage Americans to host the house meetings. More than 1,550 meetings were held nationwide.

“It is painfully obvious to all Americans that Washington is broken, and our elected officials are squandering every opportunity to create jobs and get our economy moving again,” said Gabe Gonzalez, the national campaign director for the Campaign for Community Change. “I’m so proud that thousands of Americans came together to create real solutions to end this jobs crisis. Politicians and the big corporate interests they serve ought to take notice: the American people aren’t going to stand for business as usual.”

“I was heartened by the thoughtful ideas that came out of my meeting, and I look forward to being part of this new movement to rebuild our economy,” said Portia Boulger, who held a house meeting in Chillicothe, Ohio. “One idea from my meeting was to restore an abandoned shoe factory in our area and turn it into a place where Americans can once again make shoes, or make some other products. This factory has sat abandoned for decades! Let’s put it back into business.”

At a Seattle house meeting, the participants there were slated to meet again today at the Federal Building to let the Congressional delegation know some of the ideas that came from their gathering. At a meeting held in Memphis, Tennessee, one idea was to use funds earmarked for blight remediation to create jobs for unemployed and homeless people.

Meeting participants all expressed unanimous support for a nationwide day of action on Aug. 10 to continue the push of citizens creating jobs.

“We cannot sit by and do nothing,” Gonzalez said. “Creating jobs in this country has to be the number one priority. And together, we will succeed.”

Change Nation, www.joinchangenation.org, is devoted to building a volunteer lead movement to rebuild the economy. Change Nation is part of the Campaign for Community Change, the c(4) sister organization of the Center for Community Change. The Campaign for Community Change conducts lobbying work and brings the voice of grassroots communities to our nation’s capitol. While our focus is always on the grassroots, the Campaign ensures that the needs of low-income people and communities of color are heard loud and clear in Washington, DC. www.campaignsforcommunities.org.

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