Mother's Day Cards

Mother's Day is May 13th! For a donation of $5 or more to POWER, we will mail a card to a mother of your choice!

Please click on the "Donate" button to make a payment using our online PayPal account.

Cards are also available at our office in downtown Olympia, 309 5th Ave. SE and in these fine local businesses – Bearded Lady, Last Word Books, Dumpster Values, Psychic Sister, and Rainy Day Records!

After completing your donation, email this info to monica@mamapower.org to be included with the card:

Name_________________________________

Address_______________________________

City______________ State_____ Zip________

Name of who the card is for ________________

Love, Peace, etc. & your name______________

Written message?________________________

______________________________________

______________________________________

Poverty Scholars Visit Olympia!

Poverty Scholars Visit Olympia!
Willie Baptist & John Wessel-McCoy
Friday, March 23rd
Olympia Center, Room 103
222 Columbia St. NW

On Friday, March 23rd, two Poverty Scholars will visit Olympia from
the Poverty Initiative at Union Theological Seminary in New York City.
Willie Baptist is the Poverty Initiative's Scholar-in-Residence, a
formerly homeless father with over 40 years of experience organizing
among the poor. John Wessel-McCoy is a project organizer with the
Poverty Initiative, which is dedicated to raising up generations of
religious and community leaders committed to building a movement to
end poverty, led by the poor (http://www.povertyinitiative.org/).

Join us from 1:00pm - 2:00pm for a special potluck lunch meeting with Willie Baptist and John Wessel-McCoy where we will discuss our poor people's movement in Olympia. This event will be specifically for POWER members because we want to hear from you what you think is important in this community!

From 2:30pm – 4:00pm, Willie and John will be giving a talk on the
book, "Pedagogy of the Poor” (http://pedagogyofthepoor.org/).

Join us at the Olympia Center, located at 222 Columbia St. NW, Room
103. This event is free and open to the public, but donations are
welcome to help cover the cost of airfare for Willie and John.

Childcare provided by the Olympia Childcare Collective at the POWER
Office, 309 5th Ave SE.
We hope to see you there!

For more information on POWER and this event, contact
info@mamapower.org or 360-352-9716.

Support Group for Low-Income Parents

As a low-income parent do you often find yourself feeling alone and without adequate support? Join other low-income parents to provide for each other what the government fails to do.

Join us for our first meeting and potluck at the POWER Office in downtown Olympia at 309 5^th Ave SE

Thursday, March 15^th

5:30pm – 7:30pm

Meetings will continue to be held every 2^nd & 4^th Thursday evening of the month. For more information, contact Jamie at jamie@mamapower.org or 360-352-9716.

Childcare provided by the Olympia Childcare Collective

Wheelchair accessible

“The only way to survive is by taking care of one another" - Grace Lee Boggs

POWER DOWN (Developing our Own Welfare Narrative)

Seeking Community Journalists and Decision Makers for POWER DOWN (Developing our Own Welfare Narrative)

We have seen what happens when the mainstream media represents our stories. Negative images of people who access public benefits and who work hard to make ends meet in a failing economy influence policy decisions to be anything but family friendly, can make us hesitant to ask for the help we need, and make it harder to build community through our struggles.

POWER DOWN is a project that puts the tools in our hands to tell our stories of economic survival in the face of injustice. Community Journalists, low-income parents who learn how to use audio recording equipment and go into their own communities to record the stories of their own friends and family, weaving together a narrative that will aid other parents advocating for their families in the welfare system as well as expand the dialogue on poverty.

Do you have audio skills or an interest in learning? Are you frustrated with the stereotypes that people who are poor are forced to confront daily? Do you want to be a part of changing the dialogue about who is poor and why? Or maybe you just want to know more? Come to our second planning meeting and training workshop on Saturday, March 10th from 1-4pm. at the Olympia POWER office, 309 5th Ave. SE. As with all POWER events, childcare is provided by the Olympia Childcare Collective! For any questions, contact Jamie at jamie@mamapower.org or 360-352-9716.

February POWER Outage

Know Your Rights with Child Protective Services

Monday, February 6th
5:30pm - 6pm Potluck * 6pm - 8pm Presentation
Darby's Cafe * 211 5th Ave. SE, downtown Olympia
Childcare provided by the Olympia Childcare Collective

Child Protective Services was created to protect children from abuse, but nearly 90% of dependency cases these days are established due to "neglect", which is vaguely defined. These policies allow for children to often be placed in foster care because their parents are poor or because a report is made by someone who does not understand the family's culture.

Sharon Amamilo, an attorney who works with parents who are involved in CPS dependency cases will present information for parents who want to know what their rights are, what to do if CPS comes to your door or your child's school, and what resources are available for parents and children to prevent a dependency case from being opened in the first place. 

For more information, contact Sfirah at 360-352-9716 or at info@mamapower.org.