In celebration of Labor Day last weekend, we remembered what working people fought and bled to win: the 8-hour day, weekends, overtime pay, child labor laws, and the right to organize. Hard-won protections that proved collective action works.
We also talked about how housing costs and declining worker power have combined to create a crisis of affordability. This back-to-school season makes it painfully clear:
- 44% of Oregon parents are going into debt just to buy school supplies.
- 54% are sacrificing groceries to cover the basics.
- Families are spending an average of $874 to send kids back to school.
Back-to-school should mean fresh notebooks and first-day photos. Instead, it’s parents forced to choose between rent, food, and backpacks. It’s the one in ten kids in Oregon who are trying to learn while worrying where they’ll sleep tonight.
We don’t accept that.
That’s why, when lawmakers tried to gut emergency rent assistance, our Housing Alliance coalition fought back. 743 advocates came together and restored $11 million. That’s $11 million that will help keep eviction notices out of kids’ backpacks in the year ahead.
Today, we’re asking you to stand with us. Make a gift of $87—a symbolic stand-in for the $874 parents are spending on average to get their kids back to school.
With a strong community behind us, we can honor the spirit of Labor Day year-round. And in the months and years ahead, we can win greater security and pathways to prosperity for working families across the state.