Thanks!

It’s been more than a day since we finished our Advocacy Day rally,

and I think I can speak for all the staff when I say how excited we

all were by the turnout and by our great speakers. Special thanks to

our Congressional champions, Senator Jeff Merkley and Representatives

John Dingell, John Sarbanes, Chris Murphy, and Lois Capps, for getting

us revved up for a great day.

I attended six meetings and got to meet advocates from Oakland and Los

Angeles, Miami-Dade County in Florida, North Carolina’s Research

Triangle, Cincinnati, and from all over the state of Maine. The

offices I met with couldn’t help by be impressed by the stories from

our next generation of advocates – some still in high school, some who

just graduated – who made the commitment to come to Washington and

speak up from themselves and their friends. I loved hearing how these

youth understand that, whatever successes they’ve had taking care of

their own community, that they owe it to the friends they’ve never met

to look out for the kids without an SBHC in their schools.

As I said at the morning rally: every school deserves a health center.

And we made that case to more than 120 Senators, Representatives, and

their staffs. Our yellow shirts were all over the Hill yesterday, and

our voices will persist long after.

Josh Rovner, NASBHC Director of Policy and Advocacy