Welcome to the September Dispatch! Thank you for being a part of our growing, powerful Moms Next Door program!

What’s the Moms Next Door Dispatch? Each month, you’ll receive the Moms Next Door Dispatch (Scroll down!)—a monthly toolkit that will arrive in your inbox to provide you and your community with ideas on how to self-organize and take action; as well as to process and make sense of all that’s going on; AND also ways to remain calm, find joy in community, and recharge as we build a brighter future! Sign up now to get these monthly dispatches in your inbox and learn new ways to connect!

ICYMI – Sign up for Moms Next Door Office Hours! Every 2nd Thursday of the month at noon ET, join MomsRising team members Nina and Lauren to share ideas, troubleshoot barriers, and build community with others working to build the resistance in their own communities. Bring ideas, questions, or just good vibes!

Here’s the September Menu of 5 ways for you to engage this month, on your own—or with your small group near you:

SEPTEMBER ORGANIZING ZOOM MEETUP

Our September monthly organizing Zoom is happening this month on Tuesday, September 30 at 7:30 pm ET / 4:30 pm PT with our workshop Connecting Your Community Through Conversation: Living Room Conversation. We are so excited to welcome back Living Room Conversations for an exclusive workshop about facilitating meaningful dialogue. Moms are natural community builders. But in today's divided world, even simple conversations can feel like minefields. Whether it's a heated PTA meeting, neighborhood tensions, or family discussions that spiral, we need better tools. You’ll walk away with a framework that keeps conversations productive, even on tough topics; the confidence to facilitate anywhere—school meetings, neighborhood groups, family discussions; proven tools to create compassionate spaces where everyone feels seen and heard; and strategies to find common ground without avoiding real issues. This training is perfect for anyone who wants to lead with impact in your school or community, model healthy dialogue for your children or grandchildren, build community and bridge divides, and turn conflict into connection.
*Sign up here to join us and learn more!

ACTION OF THE MONTH: Protect Federal Funds for Public Schools

Trump wants $12 billion in cuts to public schools, and last week the House Appropriations Committee gave him a thumbs up, approving the elimination of dozens of programs, and a 27% cut to Title I funding. If approved by the full House, this could mean massive reductions in summer and afterschool programs, arts and tech classes, teacher recruitment and training, emergency preparedness, mental health services, and more. We need your help to organize against these cuts and make sure that Congress protects federal funds for public schools:

• Write a letter to ask your local school superintendent about what budget cuts mean for your school district. Check out a template letter here! 

• Share your story: How are attacks on public education hurting you, your family, or your community?

FUN, JOY & POWER

• Five Ways to Support Immigrant Children in Your Local School Community: This Back-to-School season, we’re taking action to make sure that every child deserves to feel safe and supported at school. Right now, across the country, schools are being targeted by immigration agencies—creating an environment of fear and uncertainty that impacts all children. We have the power to create a more welcoming and safe environment for all students to learn, including children from immigrant families. Check out five meaningful ways we can support immigrant children and make a difference in our school communities here.

• Learn more: On Wednesday, September 25th at 12:00 pm ET, join the Child Care for Every Family Network, Protecting Immigrant Families, Parents Together, Louisiana Organization for Refugees & Immigrants (LORI), and Caracol Counseling and Parenting for Community and Family Resiliency in the Age of ICE, a conversation about the attacks on our families and what parents, caregivers, and child care providers can do to prepare themselves and their children for immigration emergencies. Learn more and register here!

• Report (or Re-Post) #Trumpflation: The job report is bleak, critical costs are rising, the headlines are terrible, democracy is under threat, and care—including Medicaid, childcare, and eldercare—is being slashed. We’re doing an accountability project to help shift and shape the national narrative: #Trumpflation. Join us! Take a picture of a price tag or a bill (with all personal info hidden) that makes your jaw drop and upload it here. We’ll be sharing pictures widely so we can show the realities that families are facing and push for real solutions.

WHAT WE’RE READING THIS MONTH

For people wanting to start book groups for change or just looking for good books, here’s what’s in our September library: *When you meet up to talk about books, take a picture and post it on social media with @MomsRising to show others that they aren’t alone!

• Non-fiction Pick: Do The Work: A guide to understanding power and creating change by Megan Pillow and Roxane Gay – This guide provides a foundation for examining hierarchies and inequalities and establishes a framework for understanding power and how it shapes our lives and communities. 

• Fiction Pick: Sister Mischief by Laura Goode – Soon after Esme, a Jewish lesbian hip-hop enthusiast, co-founds a hip-hop crew at her suburban Minnesota Christian high school with her friends, the school bans hip-hop. Esme and her friends then find new ways to study and promote the art form. The novel explores themes of queer identity and fighting censorship, set against a backdrop of school conflict and cultural clashes. 

Need some book ideas for the kiddos in your life this month? Here you go: 

• Breathe Like a Bear: First Day of School Worries by Kira Willey (Ages 5-7) – For students nervous to go back to school, introduces a calming mantra for first-day worries. 

• This Is a School: An Inclusive Classroom Tale About Curiosity, Creativity, and Community by John Schu (Ages 4-8) – Make every kid feel welcomed and accepted!

• Books Make Good Friends by Jane Mount (Ages 5-8) – This book celebrates the avid reader, demonstrates how books make you better, and reassures anyone who has been anxious or uncertain about facing the real world. 

• How to Make a Picture Book by Elys Dolan (Ages 6-11) – For kids that love picture books so much that they want to make their own! 

*Want to support your local bookstore? Use the Bookshop finder to locate bookstores near you and women, Black, AAPI, LGBTQIA+, Latine, and Indigenous-owned bookstores online.

MUTUAL SUPPORT OPTION

What is mutual aid? Different from charity— where resources usefully flow in one direction from donors to recipients—mutual aid is community-driven and reciprocal, built on community-based solidarity. And many parents and caregivers are already doing this (think: your local PTA, community gardens, or even kids’ birthday parties). In creating communities of love, we also want to turn them into communities of support, protection, and action to prepare for what’s ahead. Curious how to get started? Here’s how to create a mutual aid pod in your community!

MUTUAL SUPPORT ACTIVITY OF THE MONTH: Community Fridges: What They Are and How to Find Them

Have you gone grocery shopping recently, gone through the check out counter, and then had your jaw drop? At a time when grocery prices continue to rise while federal investments in food assistance are slashed by Trump and Republicans in Congress, it’s more important than ever that we use our community-based resources, like community fridges, to fill in the gap.

Community fridges are a free, anonymous source of food with 24/7 accessibility. Anyone can drop off food that they don’t want, or would otherwise throw away, for another person in the community to enjoy. Think of it as crowd-funding a full fridge. Find your local community fridge or create one near you!

Thank you for being here. We are looking forward to strengthening connections and community in refreshing, educational, and joyful ways with you in the coming months!

P.S. Missed the August dispatch and looking for more resources? Check it out on our blog.