Welcome to the August 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—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, how to process and make sense of all that’s going on, AND how to remain calm, find joy in community, and recharge as we build a brighter future! Want to receive these Dispatches directly in your inbox? Sign up here!

We’re still growing our Moms Next Door Village! Got a friend who would love Moms Next Door? Community is meant to be shared! If you have a friend, neighbor, or fellow mom looking for supportive, grounded ways to connect and take action, invite them into the fold this month. Let's see if we can each bring one new friend into our community this summer!

• How to share: Forward this newsletter, text them a link to our group, or invite them to the upcoming August Organizing Meetup.

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

AUGUST ORGANIZING ZOOM MEETUP

Join us on Tuesday, August 18, 2026, from 7:30-8:30 PM ET on Zoom for Moms Next Door Session #8. Sign up here.

ICYMI: Last month, we hosted How Craftivism Can Save Democracy. Check out the recording here!

MOMS ARE FEELING THE SQUEEZE! MAKE YOUR VOICE HEARD THIS AUGUST

Moms are being squeezed to the breaking point. This August, we’re gathering together with our main squeezes to build power and fight back! Are you in? Sign up here!

When you sign up for info, we’ll email you a toolkit that includes options for power-building activities like the following: 

• Share Your Lemons: Grab a lemonade and have a chat about the annoying "cost shocker" squeezes everyone is facing this year. 
• Write a "Lemonade Letter" to Congress: Pass around blank sheets of paper and write a quick, hand-written note to your member of Congress about how the squeeze is impacting your life. Snap a photo of the letter and send it to us—we’ll personally deliver it to Capitol Hill! (Bonus points if you or your kids draw a lemon on the letter!)
• Main Squeeze Trivia: Want some laughs?  Engage your group in a quick trivia game (we’ll provide the questions and answers!). 
• Get Out the Vote: Get ready to help get out the vote!

Sign up here to learn more about hosting a “Moms Feel the Squeeze” meetup!

FUN, JOY & POWER

• Add Your Name: Urge the Trump Administration to act immediately to extend TPS for Haiti and El Salvador and demand Congress pass the American Dream and Promise Act which would provide a path to citizenship for TPS recipients and Dreamers, allowing families to stay together and protect essential healthcare, homecare, and childcare workers in our communities. Protect Families. Protect Caregivers. Tell Congress to Save TPS!

• Sign on! Tell Congress: Protect our voting rights and REJECT the anti-voter SAVE America Act under any circumstances!

• Raise your voice! August 6th is Mom’s Equal Pay Day. Tell Congress: Close the Wage Gap: Support Moms & Pass the FAMILY Act!

• Get ready to Mom the Vote! Election Day is November 3, 2026 — and it'll be here before you know it. All 435 U.S. House seats and 35 Senate seats are on the ballot. Want to help Get Out the Vote with mom voters across the country? Sign up and we'll be in touch!

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 August library: *When you meet up to talk about books, take a picture, post it on social media, and tag @MomsRising to show others that they aren’t alone!

• Non-fiction Pick: Emergent Strategy by adrienne maree brown – This book is a practical guide to leaning into the world’s constant shifts, examining how the swirling patterns around us can teach us to adapt, build community, and drive meaningful social change together.
• Fiction Pick: Anyone else seen the Odyssey? Dive into these powerful retellings that put the women of Greek mythology front and center:
  • Circe by Madeline Miller – The story of the legendary sorceress transforming from an outcast nymph into a formidable power.
  • The Penelopiad by Margaret Atwood –A witty, subversive retelling of The Odyssey told from the underworld by Odysseus’s faithful wife Penelope and her twelve maids.

We’ve got lots of great book ideas for the kiddos in your life this month! Here you go: 

• Nell of Gumbling: My Extremely Normal Fairy-Tale Life by Emma Steinkellner (Ages 8-12) – A fantasy graphic novel about a 12-year-old girl with glasses with two dads who stands up against the overdevelopment of her magical hometown.
• Shakti by SJ Sindu (Ages 8-12) – An AAPI feminist graphic novel featuring LGBTQIA+ representation, centered on a young Indian-American girl who must tap into her ancestral magic and Hindu mythology to save her town from a dangerous curse. 
• The Rainbow Cleanup: A Magical Organizing Adventure by Clea Shearer and Joanna Teplin (Ages 4-8) – Back to school is around the corner, and we all might be looking for some refresh and reset! This book is an interactive way to help teach kids (and even grown ups) how to declutter and get organized.

*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: Get started organizing your neighborhood with the new toolkit from We Build Progress, Stronger Together: A Guide to Neighborhood Organizing!

• If you’re feeling angry or frightened, you’re not alone. And if you’re unsure what you can do to address the issues facing your community, Stronger Together: A Guide to Neighborhood Organizing can help you figure out where to start. It’s an easy-to-use toolkit for making life better where you live, whether you’re looking for practical checklists, sample materials and scripts, or groups to connect with—no previous organizing experience required. 

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 July dispatch and looking for more resources? Check it out on our blog.