All Resources
Report
The State of Working Alabama 2021, Section 6 – The ugly reality: Alabama’s hunger problem during the pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic has contributed to widespread hunger in Alabama. We all have seen the pictures – lines of cars stretching for blocks waiting to receive an emergency food box, desperate appeals from food banks that distributed as much food in the first six months of the pandemic as they did in the prior year, [...]
Report
The State of Working Alabama 2021, Section 7 – No place to call home: Housing insecurity amid COVID-19
Where are we now? More than 800,000 job losses in the first eight months of the pandemic caused Alabamians severe economic damage and heightened insecurity. Thousands of Alabamians face potential eviction and homelessness as a result of the pandemic. And unfortunately, the state’s recent scattershot approach to eviction policy has resulted in inconsistent protection for [...]
News Releases
69% of Alabama voters support Medicaid expansion, new poll finds
Sixty-nine percent of Alabamians, including 64% of Republican voters, support expanding Medicaid when told about arguments for and against the idea, according to a new poll that the Cover Alabama Coalition released Wednesday. The poll, conducted for Cover Alabama in January by Cygnal, shows support for Medicaid expansion across all demographics, including age, gender, income, [...]
Blog
Arise legislative recap: Feb. 16, 2021
Arise executive director Robyn Hyden breaks down the first two weeks in the Alabama Legislature's 2021 regular session and outlines Arise's goals for this session. Legislators have prioritized protecting corporations over workers so far this month, even as hundreds of thousands of Alabamians continue to struggle with hunger and hardship during the COVID-19 recession.
Letters & Testimony
Alabama Arise testimony in opposition to corporate COVID-19 immunity bill
Arise's Robyn Hyden testified to the Senate Judiciary Committee on Wednesday in opposition to SB 30. The bill, sponsored by Sen. Arthur Orr, R-Decatur, would provide corporations with a broad range of civil immunity against lawsuits related to exposure to coronavirus or contraction of COVID-19. Here's the full text of Hyden's prepared remarks: Good morning. [...]
Member Resources
We still make change: Advocating in Alabama in the time of COVID-19
The voices and needs of people matter. And engaging those voices in the policymaking process is key to building the better, more inclusive Alabama that we envision. Alabama Arise remains committed to informing and equipping our members to influence policies that affect their lives and communities. As we look toward the Alabama Legislature’s 2021 regular [...]
News Releases
Alabama Arise condemns insurrection, demands protection and expansion of voting rights
Alabama Arise executive director Robyn Hyden released the following statement Friday on this week’s events in Washington, D.C.: “The assault on the U.S. Capitol this week was a violent and racist attack on the very idea of democracy. It was an effort by white nationalists and other extremists to reject the results of a free [...]
Personal Stories
‘Everything is fine, until it isn’t’
[caption id="attachment_4788" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Elizabeth works at a sewing machine in the family's home. (Photo courtesy of Geoff)[/caption] Part 1: A hard winter ahead Winter has been a long time coming for Geoff* and his wife, Elizabeth*. He didn’t think he could actually feel more anxious than he had since March, when he and his [...]
Blog
Beyond hunger and poverty: An introduction to the Emerson Fellows at Alabama Arise
[caption id="attachment_4780" align="aligncenter" width="700"] Kate Blankinship and Curtis Hills pause for a photo after completing a mile run.[/caption] This is a post by Kate Blankinship and Curtis Hills. Kate and Curtis are Emerson National Hunger Fellows from the Congressional Hunger Center. They have joined Alabama Arise to assist our work on policies to reduce hunger [...]
Blog
How Alabama Arise is working to build a brighter future after the pandemic
After a year of darkness, the light at the end of the tunnel is finally in sight. Promising vaccine news offers hope that public health officials can rein in COVID-19 in the coming months. And as our state and nation seek policy solutions to rebuild from the pandemic’s health and economic devastation, Alabama Arise will [...]