TheFatLadySings has proposed a measure to help decrease the digital divide that separates rural communities and communities of color from online organizing and new media tools, like twitter and Facebook. She wants to help leaders of community health coalitions to attend Netroots Nation to learn about online organizing tools that can be used to end disparities in health care, and also send two members of Native American Netroots to Providence.
Communities Joined in Action is a national alliance of community health coalitions working to end disparities in health care. CJA believes health care is a Civil Rights issue and it works to create Civil Rights facts on the ground by teaching coalitions in underserved communities to use the Affordable Care Act and other tools to insure access to quality health care among the poor, people of color, the homeless and other hard-to-reach populations.This year, we have created a Marketing and New Media Committee dedicated to teaching coalitions to build power through community organizing, and to make use of online organizing tools. We have submitted a Pepsi Challenge Grant to bring 24 coalition participants to Netroots Nation in Providence, RI to caucus with bloggers and to learn on and offline organizing techniques.
Attending NN12 will be possible from a grant of $50,000 from the Pepsi Challenge where Pepsi funds "amazing ideas that refresh the world." But first we have to get the votes to win the grant.
While not belitting the devastation of a "high school without prom," if Pennies4Prom can get a $5,000 grant from the Pepsi Refresh Project to cover the costs of prom night that might otherwise prevent students from attending during these bad economic times, then we should be able to get enough votes to win a grant to decrease the digital divide.
We need lots of votes: TFLS's proposal is now ranked at # 271 but you can vote for her proposal once each day of this month. Ten grants are awarded. (Since I drafted diary, we have moved to 208th place. Please move us up!)
If each person who reads this diary could ask 5 friends to vote for TFLS's proposal, we can rise up in the voting ranks:
We need your help. Specifically, we need you to promote and vote for our grant application. Go to the registration page to sign up. (If link does not work, go to sitemap page, and click onto the Join Refresh Everything at bottom of page.)Then go to the page of Lifting the Digital Curtain and vote for us. You can vote once a day. We certainly hope you will vote for us every day in December!