How long has it been since you’ve written a Letter to the Editor? Now is a great time to write a letter to the editor—last weekend saw two great editorials, one by the Oregonian Editorial Board, and the other by the Co-Chairs of the Human Services Coalition of Oregon about Oregon’s budget and our need to protect families and children during this recession.
We here at Neighborhood Partnerships were pleased to read these two editorials, and are working on our letters to the editor in support of these ideas. In our letters, we will be calling on the Legislature to do more to protect our neighbors and Oregon’s families. If you’d like to write a letter, here are some tips:
- Reference the article you’re responding to in the first sentence.
- Talk about the Oregon we want to have! Perhaps you want to live in an Oregon where we protect those most affected by the economic recession; or an Oregon where we offer opportunity for all of our residents; or an Oregon where families are supported in times of crisis and given opportunities to contribute.
- Call on decision makers to solve the problem! We can protect families and children and other critical safety net programs. We have stability funds and rainy-day accounts for moments like this—is leaving an ending balance in these times acceptable? Should any increases in the revenue forecast be dedicated to protecting the social safety net? What do you think the solutions are?
- If you think the safety net is important, don’t forget to mention why! If we want an Oregon that offers opportunity for all its citizens, we must come together to create that future now; cuts to the safety net will only lead to further and more damaging costs down the road, including increased foster care placements and more families falling into homelessness.
The week before also saw two other editorials, one by Ecumenical Ministries of Oregon’s Executive Director David Leslie and Dave Brauer-Rieke, bishop of the Evangelical Lutheran Church in America, and one by the Reverend Chuck Currie on the cuts to TANF.
Here are the nuts and bolts:
- For the Oregonian, Letters to the Editor need to be 150 words or less. They may be edited for clarity/brevity.
- Include your name and address.
- Send them to: letters@oregonian.com
Questions? We can help! Email us.