LIHEAP Action Day always has a spirit of celebration as community leaders, program administrators and local service providers from across the country travel to Washington, DC to educate their Congressional delegations about the impact of LIHEAP in their communities. As LIHEAP.org turns twenty years old, it’s inspiring and a little bit humbling to reflect on how the event that we helped conceive of and organize decades ago has grown to a massive movement including over 200 delegates from 35 states.
We all know the importance of local voices in policy debates. This is particularly important with an issue like LIHEAP – the essential humanity at the heart of the program is often lost in the antiseptic nature of fact sheets and debates about millions (and billions) of dollars. For Congressional leaders and staff to meet directly with those members of their community committed to serving needy households is always an essential piece of the advocacy puzzle.
This year, we had the honor of shadowing two California delegates participating in Action Day for the first time – Melissa Wynn, an Intake Worker with the Lassen Economic Development Corporation and Kim Rikaldo, a Residential & Assistance Delivery Manager with the Sacramento Municipal Utility District. We will be featuring their reactions to the day in a post later this week, but in short it was a joy to watch them meet with House and Senate staff to explain basics of the program, answer questions and urge strong support.
Over twenty years, LIHEAP has had a slow and steady climb from a regional, cold weather program with limited funds for heat emergencies to a national program with resources in all fifty states. While the need for more investment remains, it is heartening to see states like California having the capacity and infrastructure to support a full LIHEAP program and, most importantly, advocates like Melissa and Kim making the commitment to travel across country to have their voices heard. Congratulations to the National Energy and Utility Affordability Coalition staff and board, Action Day sponsors and the hundreds of delegates who traveled to Washington for making this event such a success.