Getting back to organizing basics
From a childcare crisis fueling action in Indiana, to directly-impacted organizing winning big in Cook County – our stories about building a better future, one relationship at a time.
This year has been especially hard on the communities we cover – from cuts to healthcare and food programs, to housing and heating assistance, to our education department. And for many, the worst is yet to come with rising healthcare premiums and food prices. But our stories show that taking stock of the impending cuts to the social safety net is crucial for ensuring deeper and broader organizing strategies that provide a better vision of our country.
Often, as ChangeWire childcare fellow Val Weisler acknowledges, organizing happens out of immediate necessity. As childcare workers face deep subsidy cuts in Indiana and as ICE violently removes educators and parents from classrooms, her reporting outlined how communities are coming together to protect each other and build connections and power.
ChangeWire fellow Nateya Taylor, got to see the power of this kind of organizing first hand. This summer, she joined organizers as they canvassed in Chicago in support of guaranteed income for Cook County, Illinois. This month, she got an update on the story: On November 20, 2025, Cook County and those organizers made history by becoming the first county in the nation to approve a budget for a permanent guaranteed income program in 2026.
The benefits to individuals and communities that have come out of guaranteed income pilot projects at the municipal level have been well-documented, but this story of directly-impacted residents making their voices heard and local legislators listening is just one example of how localities are stepping up where the federal government is failing.
Although it can feel daunting to face the continued attacks on the social safety net, sometimes taking action is as simple as deepening your connections with neighbors and dreaming together about the kind of community you want to live in. The first step in knowing what you want to work toward and building that capacity one relationship at a time. In his piece for ChangeWire, Franco Caliz-Aguilar argues for a return to the basics of organizing, at a time where so many organizations are getting lost in data-worship.
“Trust comes from your friends, neighbors, or local community organizers who’ve been at city hall with you or advocating to bring healthcare to your town,” he writes. “The messenger is the message.”
It’s an approach we’ve found to be just as effective for news and storytelling as it is on the campaign trail.
Beyond the Byline with Val Weisler
EW: You’re a PhD candidate for Children’s Rights and you recently wrote a piece about what people can do to organize to protect kids from Trump’s deportation machine. Based on your experience with early childhood education and your doctoral research, what kinds of educational, social, and emotional damage happens when kids, their parents, or educators are violently removed from a classroom or community?
VW: When a child, parent, or educator is violently removed, the disruption leaves children feeling unsafe in a way that seeps into every part of their development. Kids shut down academically, lose trust in adults and the stability of spaces they previously never questioned, and become hypervigilant in settings that should feel predictable and nurturing. The emotional residue can last for years and often reshapes how they relate to peers and authority.
EW: Similarly, what happens to children and communities when access to child care is cut off due to funding cuts, as you have reported is happening in Indiana?
VW: When childcare access disappears, families and providers are thrown into crisis and children lose crucial stability. Parents scramble for care or leave the workforce, kids miss out on social and developmental learning, and the community loses a key support hub. The damage compounds quickly because early childhood systems don’t rebuild overnight.
EW: You also worked as a childcare provider for some years. What are some early childhood education strategies that educators use to build empathy in young children and why do these practices matter?
VW: Educators build empathy by creating everyday moments where children listen to each other’s stories, play together, and solve conflicts with gentle guidance. Instead of giving quick answers, teachers help kids use their own words, notice a friend’s feelings, and think about what would make things feel fair. They plant early seeds of social justice by helping children imagine what a kinder, more equitable world could look like—on the playground, in their classroom, and beyond—and by giving them chances to act on those ideas.
These practices matter because empathy isn’t just a feeling; it’s the beginning of trying to make things better. When children feel heard, trusted, and connected, they learn they have the power to care for others and to help create the world they want to live in.
EW: From what you’ve learned in your research and your reporting, to what extent can states fill the funding gaps in early childhood education and are there models of this in the U.S. we can look to? What can organizing do to help ensure this is a top priority at the national level?
VW: States can fill some gaps by expanding universal pre-K, increasing subsidy rates, and stabilizing the childcare workforce. Still, state efforts can’t fully match the scale of what federal funding could provide. Organizing by parents, educators, and community advocates helps keep early childhood investment on lawmakers’ agendas and frames it as essential public infrastructure.
We need sustained federal funding that reflects the real cost of care, along with state policies that expand access, improve wages and training for educators, and stabilize providers. Local governments can invest in facilities, transportation, mental health services, and wraparound supports that strengthen programs. When these layers work together, families gain consistency, caregivers are valued, and children grow in environments built for their well-being.
Editor’s Picks
Sometimes it feels like our lives are marked by election cycles and data analysis, but Franco Caliz-Aguilar of Community Change Action reminds us that returning to the fundamentals—building real relationships and trust together—is crucial for winning longterm.
ChangeWire fellow Nateya Taylor reports on the success of directly-impacted led organizing for Guaranteed Income in Chicago.
Childcare fellow Val Weisler writes about Indiana’s choice to cut funding to early childhood education—a decision that has fueled childcare organizing in the state.
Stigma about SNAP benefits can be a deterrent to people seeking the food they need. So I wrote about my own experience with SNAP to dispel myths about who deserves food (hint: we all do).
ICYMI
Nothing brings community together faster than sharing food. Take a look back at our project with Shelterforce, where we shared the story of Jennifer Made, a young organizer in Newark, New Jersey, who understands that providing meals and resources to the community is the best way to strengthen relationships and build power.
Fellows in the News
For the courier journal, ChangeWire Terrance Sullivan writes about the ways his family’s reliance on SNAP when he was a child made him determined to fight for justice and equity for everyone.