Alabama Arise strives to live out our values. A core piece of our vision is that we have an Alabama where people are engaged in the policymaking process. And we prioritize the voices of those marginalized by poverty.

One way we try to realize our vision of people’s engagement is to listen. We value the input we get from our members and partners – and most importantly, from those directly affected by the work we do together. We depend on what we hear to help guide our issue work and our strategies.

We held a virtual statewide town hall this summer and either facilitated or were part of several additional listening opportunities around the state throughout the year. We engaged almost 700 people in a total of 22 listening opportunities.

Following are notes from the town hall and highlights from the other sessions. These notes and highlights are listed under the names of the Arise organizing team members who heard them.

Virtual Town Hall

• Celebrating & listening, Aug. 26 – We reviewed Arise’s 2025 priorities and celebrated our unprecedented wins together! Two small group breakouts followed. We asked folks in each group to discuss their thoughts and to share any other priorities they had. Here’s what our organizers heard from participants:

Formeeca Tripp, Senior Organizer for Southeast Alabama – Group 1:

• Are there other issues you would choose as Arise policy priorities?
  • A deeper dive into the connections between the legislation that has passed and the people, families, businesses, etc., directly impacted.
  • Look at fines and fees keeping people from voting. Particularly in cases where all other requirements have been completed, but not restitution.
• What motivates you to take action on issues you care about?
  • Justice in every aspect and big movement against things that are not protecting and respecting the people.
  • Helping eliminate suffering by people who are in low economic positions and may feel powerless.
  • Those who are not impacted make decisions. The ones who are impacted are not making decisions, though it impacts them the most. Infusing them with the idea that their voice, vote and life matter.
• What can Arise do to further support your issue advocacy?
  • Continuous reviews on legislation and policies, especially for those who don’t hold on to all the information well. If we can, get a handle on the issue in a way that really responds to those who are impacted the most.
• The overall consensus of the group was to keep working on our current priority issues and really lift up voices and experiences of those directly impacted by legislation more so than those who represent them.

Tamela Glover, Northeast Alabama Organizer – Group 2:

• Issues and concerns raised by members of this group were as follows:
• Voting rights: More specifically, they wanted more education on laws and barriers to voting and ways we can combat that. 
• Maternal health: Reproductive health care.
• Public transportation and the lack of transportation in some areas. 
• Criminal justice: Death penalty reform.
• Homelessness: The concern is that the lack of housing is being criminalized. There’s an uptick of homeless people being arrested. 
• Prevention of teenage pregnancy: Schools only teach abstinence; there needs to be a balance in teaching sexual education again for kids who are active. The desire is to see education readily available for parents to teach their kids. 
• Anniston has an emergency shelter. They would like to see that modeled in other counties in case of a disaster.
• There are also concerns with having poverty criminalized.
• More information and guidance on strategies for people losing health care coverage.
• Food bank donations are decreasing in north Alabama. Some contracts are being canceled.
• Some asked whether we had some strategies for immigrant protections against ICE.

Listening around the state

This section highlights participants’ input from the 21 additional sessions engaged by Arise’s organizing team. In general, people affirmed Arise’s work on current legislative priorities and said our recent wins indicated a need to continue in those areas. They also said we need to see even more change in areas addressed by our existing priorities.

The following lifts up both Arise-related issues and other issues of concern raised by people we listened to across Alabama.

Bernadette Allen, Southwest Alabama Organizer

Issues and concerns raised from meetings and events in this area:

• Disparity of services received in some communities versus wealthier ones.
• The need to spread the word and share information about the impact of the new federal budget law (One Big Beautiful Bill Act) on people in communities, especially related to health coverage, health care services and SNAP. This came up many times at different events.
• We heard interest expressed in our labor work and ways that folks could engage.
• People also were interested in learning more about Arise membership as a way to connect and continue engagement on crucial issues.

Tamela Glover, Northeast Alabama Organizer

Issues and concerns raised from meetings and events in this area:

• The impact of inequitable resources to underresourced communities in the area of public education.
• Accessible, affordable and available housing is a huge need.
• Changes in policy can help address some of the community needs. How do we reach more people with information about issues and how to engage the process to change policy?

Jennifer Harris, Senior Health Policy Advocate & Presdelane Harris, Organizing Director

Jennifer planned (and Pres facilitated) a listening session focused on oral health to hear about experiences and needs people have related to accessing oral health care. Following is what we heard from participants:

• Key themes and community concerns
  • Severe access gaps in rural areas
  • Post-incarceration dental neglect
  • Workforce shortages and aging providers
  • Alabama Medicaid limitations
    • Adult dental care is not covered.
    • Prenatal dental coverage ends 60 days postpartum, leaving new mothers without continued support.
• Policy insights and recommendations
  • Expand Medicaid dental benefits.
  • Support rural practice incentives.
  • Recognize dental conditions as chronic diseases.
  • Advance water fluoridation legislation.
  • Leverage community infrastructure to create community access.

Stan Johnson, Northwest Alabama Organizer

Issues and concerns raised from meetings and events in this area:

• The most jarring concern lifted by young people was bullying in school. One young lady (around age 16) said she had been non-stop bullied since she was in the third grade. Heartbreaking. We need stronger legislation around bullying in school.
• Fines and fees and voting: Participants asked whether it is possible for fines and fees not to preclude you from voting. 
• Transportation and how to get the rural areas more informed and involved. Participants said we need to fund the Public Transportation Trust Fund.
• Health equality and having doctors who actually listen to their patients and don’t bully them.
• Food security and especially the impact of the new federal budget law on SNAP, including how farmers and small grocers are impacted.
• Housing insecurity is a problem for college students as well as working-class and poor Alabamians.
• The Workforce Engagement Committee, as it is presently set up, is not a diverse representation of Alabamians. Participants shared concerns about racial representation and wanting to see more young people on the committee. This issue was more administrative than legislative.
• Voting rights: Concerns about seniors obtaining voter IDs and concerns about voting machines.
• Education funding and the need to repeal the CHOOSE Act. 
• Timberland taxation: Strong feelings about the need to tax timberland at a higher rate. Compared to neighboring states, Alabama has the lowest tax on timberland.

Adam Keller, Worker Power Campaign Director

Adam has been listening to our labor partners, and here are a couple of concerns he has heard.

• Some union members rely on the ACA Marketplace subsidies for health care. With gig work, no health care is provided through employment. Many members have incomes low enough that they would qualify for Medicaid had Alabama expanded. We heard concern about the impact of the new federal budget law on Medicaid.
• Some unions are concerned about the possibility of a reduction in force (RIF) and are facing the challenges of very low morale. These are stressful times for so many people trying to provide for themselves and their families.

Formeeca Tripp, Senior Organizer for Southeast Alabama

Issues and concerns raised from meetings and events in this area:

• Participants discussed healthy reproductive practices and self-value. Topics concerned safety, maternal and infant health, trauma, HIV/AIDS testing and stigma, and LGBTQ+ experiences. 
• Common issues raised in several different meetings: 
  • Medicaid expansion, expanded health care coverage and access, the broader impact of poverty on health, and racial disparities for Black women.
  • Mental health services and treatment, as well as drug addiction treatment and addressing the rate of suicides. 
  • Affordable housing, addressing housing shortages and funding the Housing Trust Fund.
  • Transportation and the needs for it, including funding the Public Transportation Trust Fund.
  • Voting rights, including accessibility to voters and the need for better representation in government.
• School breakfast/Summer EBT, including the need to help people understand how to access the programs. Participants also shared concerns about overall food insecurity.
• Employment and lack of opportunities in rural and small cities.
• Education opportunities, including diversity in education and anti-DEI laws.
• Anti-immigration legislation, the need for people to be safe and know their rights and the need to ensure advocacy work being done is inclusive of immigrant communities.
• Gun violence needs to be addressed.