By Terica D. Scott, MA Chapter Founder
Have you already forgotten your new year’s resolutions? Have you taken the time to reflect on what you have accomplished and what you will focus on in the New Year? If you are like most of us, you have a journal full of incomplete thoughts about your dreams. There are many things going on around us in the world. We need to take advantage of the opportunities that abound.
The key to effective goal setting and attainment is having a clear vision on what you want to achieve. It is time to get organized, get mentally clear, gain perspective on what you need to do in 2013 and beyond. First ask yourself, is anything holding you back from pursuing your dreams? Are you passionate, motivated, and focused about achieving your dreams? Set expectations and implement the best system of accountability for yourself to ensure your success! Take a moment, right now, and reflect on your goals.
To help you on your journey, here is my personal four D’s formula to personal achievement:
1. Direction
Direction helps to create clarity, power, passion and life-change. Create a vision board for inspiration and insight on where to go.
2. Decision
Create an environment of action. How do you set up your life to get the life you want to live?
3. Discipline
Use self-control and self-restraint in order to reach your goals in a timely and efficient manner
4. Dedication
Start with these three simple steps to ensure you capture your passion.
Rise Higher!
Suggested further reading and learning:
• The Charge by Brendon Burchard
• MorningCoach.com podcast in How to Stop Procrastination by J.B. Glossinger
• Power of Focus : How to Hit Your Business, Personal and Financial Targets with Absolute Certainty by Jack Canfield, Mark Victor Hansen and Les Hewitt
What are some methods, strategies, tricks, or tools you use to set and attain your personal goals? And how do you bounce back from setbacks?
A recap from the Medicaid Expansion Training provided by our partners at Georgia Equality and Georgians for A Healthy Future held on February 27th, 2013.
By Kaitlin Case
Advocacy and Policy Director
YWTF Atlanta
What is MEDICAID?
-Needs tested
-jointly run by Federal and State government
-Federal gov’t pays 2/3 of Medicaid while the State pays 1/3
-Expanding Medicaid to cover more people will literally save lives
-However, under current Medicaid, dental is not covered, which can prove to be problematic since dental health is also key to overall bodily health
What’s important to remember is that Medicaid is designed to serve lower income people. This structure is already in place across states, so expansion will encompass only that, expanding those who fit the profile. There will be no huge overall to the system, we are not remaking the wheel here.
The money gained from Medicaid Expansion will go directly into the economy, which will essentially BOOST our economy because healthcare providers and the like will be spending the money given. So, according to the GBPI, we can see a projected return investment of $30 per person if we go forward with taking the money.
The Governor’s number of it costing the State $4 Billion is unfair at best. According to the GBPI it will cost us about half of this over the course of 10 years. So spending 2 Billion over 10 years equates to something like 2% of the Budget! So we can afford it and we should take this deal! It’s affordable when you look at the big picture and we should be pointing this out to the General Assembly. We are talking about creating new forms of revenue with the money flowing into GA.
One of the issues that was raised was about healthcare providers shutting down due to Medicaid expansion and the reimbursement rates, but that was not exactly tackled because that’s a structural problem that does need to be solved to make Medicaid run more smoothly.
Barack Obama and Mitt Romney. Their names are plastered on nearby billboards, buses, and tee shirts. The candidates are pulling out all of the stops in their effort to appeal to votes across numerous geographic and demographic boundaries. As the Presidential election draws nigh, the thoughts of many are filled with who will take home the victory. On Spelman’s campus, there is also a heightened sense of awareness about how the upcoming presidential elections will affect college students. With enthusiasm and great vigor, Spelman students have expressed their interest in the election process.
At a recent Market Friday, where students are able to shop and socialize on campus, countless understood that their active involvement in making informed decisions is key. Moreover, students also acknowledge that they have a responsibility to vote. Senior Ashley Hulls states “Voting means showing that I care; it means showing that I am concerned about my future and the issues that will affect me in the long run”. Hull echoed the sentiments of a number of Spelman women. YWTF Atlanta’s booth at Market Friday garnered much attention as students readily took pledges to vote. In fact, I was elated to see my peers’ sprits high about the prospective candidates for president. But there was something else that was taking place that was just as important as students realizing, individually, the need to vote. My classmates were calling each other to be involved. I overheard the conversations of several students questioning one another about voter registration dates, the importance of voting, and their voter status.
So, as the candidates continue to debate, formulate strategy, and shape their image, one thing is for sure: Spelman students will be watching. Indeed, we will be watching, we will be questioning, we will be engaged. Spelman students’ voices will be heard as they rock the vote at the polls.
*enter your information; the results will show your polling place, if the system do not recognize your name, you are not registered to vote
What if I have moved since I last voted?
If you have move since the last voting, and your driver’s license does not reflect the same address as what is on the coting list, you MUST RE-REGISTER to indicate your new address. Deadline is October 9th!
STUDENT VOTING in Georgia
According to the U.S. Supreme Court, students have the right to register and vote in their college towns if they meet the same requirements as everyone else!
ID requirements
All GA voters must show their photo ID at the polls to vote. ONLY student ID from public colleges or universities will be accepted. If you attend a private school, use another form of acceptable identification.
Acceptable Identification is:
A Georgia driver’s license, even if expired;
Any valid state or federal issued photo ID, including a free Voter ID Card issued by your county registrar’s office or by the Georgia Department of Driver Services (DDS);
Valid U.S. passport;
Valid employee photo ID from any branch, department, agency, or entity of the U. S. Government, Georgia, or any county, munici-pality, board, authority or other entity of this
Valid U.S. military photo ID;
Valid tribal photo ID
Student ID cards: If you are currently enrolled in a state college, university or some Georgia technical colleges, you may use your school photo ID. If you attend a private college or university, you must show one of the other acceptable forms of photo identification. For more information, call the Geor-gia Secretary of State’s office at (877) 725-9797.
Do I register at School or Home?
Registering to vote at a school residence:
If you move to attend school in Georgia with the intent of making it your fixed home, you can establish voting residency at that address.
Registering to vote at a home residence:
Some students may choose to register or remain regis-tered at their home (prior) address if they intend to return there after college. In this case, a student may need to vote by absentee ballot.
As a woman, I was a little disappointed in myself for not being aware that April is sexual assault awareness month. Fortunately, it is never too late to get informed. Take Back The Night is an international event held to raise awareness about sexual violence against women and I must say on the night of April 10th, 2012 Georgia State University did a phenomenal job. Along with the Younger Women’s Task Force, several other non-profits like the Feminist Women’s Health Center and the DeKalb Rape Crisis Center attended this in event and each organization did its part in providing the audience with personal accounts both solemn and triumphant, of women and children making it through these unimaginable situations. With alarming statistics like “97% of rapists will never go to jail” I imagined everyone in the audience was as shocked and appalled as I was.
Listening to those stories of survival was inspiring. I almost wanted to put on a cape and fight these crimes against women all by myself, but taking the law into your own hands is frowned upon. Nevertheless, this rally put a little more fuel to my fire when it comes to service. Sitting there in the audience just listening instantly made me want to do more. The march following the rally was just as inspiring. Georgia State University’s sprawling campus twists through downtown Atlanta which made spreading our message of anti-violence that more valuable because we were not only engaging students, but pedestrians and drivers as well. We took back the night, for victims who were survivors and for those who still need to be rescued.
Happy Spring Everyone! We’re well into April and YWTF-ATL is quite busy this month. So we hope to see you at any and all of our upcoming events this month!
Tuesday, April 10th, 7:00-9:00pm: GSU’s Take Back the Night
Board members, Trang Nguyen and Amber English spoke on sexual violence prevention at the event. Our intern, Suewayne Burke was also in attendance and will be blogging about her experience. Stay tuned. Together we rallied with GSU’s students around campus, chanting “Break the silence, NO MORE VIOLENCE!” April is Sexual Violence Awareness Month!
Friday, April 13th, 1:00pm: The Voice of Younger Women: Breaking the Silence
Tuesday, April 17th, 2:30EST: Equal Pay Day @Georgia State Captiol, Room 230
Our wonderful partners, 9to5, is rallying for Equal Pay!!! Because unfortunately, we’re still struggling in 2012! Be a part of this conversation!
Do married women in the labor force make more money than single women?
Do African-American women with a college degree make as much as white men with a college degree?
How much does the 20 cents wage gap between men and women amount to over a lifetime?
Wednesday, April 18th, 7:00pm-8:30pm, CNNDialogues@ Rialto Center for the Arts
Our partners at the National Center for Civil and Human Rights have two wonderful talks this month. This first one is entitled, “Today’s Other America: Living in Poverty” Should be great, y’all. Join us in the conversation!
Saturday, April 28th, 10:00am-12:00pm: Legislative Review with League of Women Voters of Atlanta-Fulton County (LWVAFC) @Roswell Library
YWTF-ATL is co-sponsoring this event with the League of Women Voters. Come join us in the conversation and learn more about the policies that are impacting your life, Atlantans!
Phew! A busy busy month filled with important issues and causes. We’re all the more thankful to be a part of this community!
Written by Amber English, YWTF Atlanta’s Policy and Advocacy Director
We’re finally all rested up after the whirlwind that was the 2012 legislative session of the Georgia General Assembly. Although this year was a “shorter” session calendar-wise (they usually run well into April), just about everybody agrees it felt way too long.
Even with a short session, there were some tough blows dealt to Georgians, particularly young women. The bill you may have heard most about was HB 954, the controversial bill that bans abortions after 20 weeks regardless of a woman’s individual circumstance. During the final week of session, many news reports considered the bill all but dead. But in final hours of session the bill was revived and passed through both chambers–despite testimony from doctors, legal scholars, and women all in opposition to the legislation.
The reason so many groups opposed the bill is that the consequences–both to women and the state– are far too great. First of all the bill is unconstitutional because it provides no exception for the health of a woman. So if a woman is diagnosed with cancer later in her pregnancy, her physician would be unable to provide abortion care to allow the woman to begin life-saving cancer treatment. An unconstitutional bill also increases the chance that the state will spend lots of money defending the law in court. Money we all know Georgia doesn’t have a lot of.
Speaking of money, another bill passed in the final hours of session cut unemployment benefits from 26 weeks down to 20 weeks. With the average job search taking longer than ever in this economy, this will only tighten the strap around families facing unemployment.
There were some good measures proposed this legislative session, unfortunately some of them didn’t make it to the governors desk. One bill that YWTF-ATL followed would have allowed employees to use sick leave to care for sick children or family members. HB 432, which was sponsored by Rep. Katie Dempsey, made great progress this session but ultimately stalled in committee.
Just about everyone can agree on the importance of this bill–especially anyone who has had to take time off from work to care for a sick family member. It’s also worth noting that many of Georgia’s top employers already follow this practice. A colleague described the lessons of this session best: all elections have consequences. As much as we pay attention to presidential elections we really have to watch our state and local races too. The laws made at these levels are likely to affect us right away, and if we aren’t careful, they are likely to be passed without us knowing about them,
Speaking of elections, another good bill that was introduced but didn’t pass was a measure that would expand the use of college ID’s for voting. Right now, only students at state schools can use their school ID to go vote. HB 707 would have expanded that to include a set list of private institutions. We already know how hard it can be to get young voters to the polls, and this is just one more barrier to that. Hopefully, we’ll see that legislation revisited in 2013.
In the meantime, as young women we need to be watchful during the upcoming election season. It’s not enough to simply vote for “the same team”. Where do the candidates stand on the issues? Does your candidate see your issues as a priority? If we want to see legislative sessions with better outcomes for the younger women of Georgia, these are the questions we have to ask.
Please don’t delay to keep the pressure on by contacting your own Senator and Representative — to ensure that private medical decisions remain with the woman, in consultation with her doctor and her trusted family members.
TAKE ACTION. To find your Georgia State legislators, please visit Project Vote Smart. Your Georgia State Senator and Representative are listed under the State Legislative category. You will need to enter your complete address or 9-digit zip code to find your district.
YWTF-ATL supports our partner, 9to5.org, in their efforts to improve the lives of women in the workforce.
JOIN US or CONTACT your representatives:
Tuesday, March 6
10am
CLOB Room 415
We need your show of support by attending this hearing! Please also take a moment to call the Committee members listed below, who have agreed to vote yes on HB 432. We will need them present for this vote!
Rep Dee Dawkins-Haigler dee.dawkins-haigler@house.ga.gov
Sponsored by Rep. Katie Dempsey (R-Rome), HB 432 will allow employees to use their own sick days for care of immediate family members. The bill has bipartisan support, including cop-sponsorship by Reps. Manning, Smith, McKillip, Sims and Kaiser.
Employers, classrooms and workplaces all benefit when working family members are able to keep sick children at home and ensure that ill family members get the care they need.
The Need
Today, women make up more than 50% of our workforce. Over 65% of mothers work outside the home. Where both parents work and in single parent households, a sick child creates a crisis. No one can ‘plan’ for a child’s illness. Without flexible use of sick days, parents resort to sending sick children to school, spreading germs to other students and teachers.
A Realistic, Cost-Effective Policy
Allow use of existing employer-provided sick days for illness of an employee’s child, spouse or parent. Eight states currently have laws providing access to sick days for ill family members.
Proposed legislation would require no expansion of the benefits provided under the employer’s sick leave policy. It would simply allow employees added flexibility by using sick days that they have already earned, through existing company policies, in cases where the illness of a family member requires them to remain with a child, parent or spouse.
The Family Care Act will Benefit Employers and Families
A study conducted by Wake Forest University shows that increased work flexibility reduces absences for illness and improves job commitment. Workers also were less likely to indicate that health issues affected their job performance. (Grzywacz & Casey, 2008).
How can workplace flexibility promote the health of your organization?
Reduce health care costs Improve job performance
Increase commitment and loyalty Reduce hiring and re-training costs
Lower absenteeism Decrease employee turnover
Source: Alfred P. Sloan Foundation, Effective Workplace Series
We commend local employers who are good citizens and provide family care days for their employees, including Delta Airlines, the State of Georgia, Federal Home Loan Bank and SunTrust Bank.
Georgia Job/Family Collaborative http://www.gajobfamily.org
404/222-0037
gajobfamily@yahoo.com
Younger Women's Task Force Atlanta Metro Chapter 