Every Voice Matters. Vote.

Voting. It’s fundamental to our democracy. And it’s vital that Americans from all walks of life have the opportunity to make their voices heard. But if you live here in the South Bronx, it isn’t always as easy as taking a long lunch. With unemployment nearing 25%, the average Bronx resident has a one in four chance of being out of work. That means worrying about where your next meal is going to come from, and whether the end of the month will bring eviction.

The Pew Research Center has found that the least financially-secure Americans are also less likely to vote… or even to engage with politics at all. Why? There are many possible reasons. But it’s hard to deny that if you’re hungry and facing homelessness, getting to your polling place may be far from the top of your mind.

Even before the pandemic, the South Bronx was facing dire struggles. But Covid-19 has made a bad situation even worse. The South Bronx is in crisis, and the economic insecurity faced by our friends and neighbors here may leave many unable to cast their vote. That’s where you come in.

Will you support Step Up for Better Living with your contribution of any amount? Every dollar we receive helps support our services. Services like Eviction Prevention, Housing Subsidies, and food distribution. But that’s not all.

Recently, our Program Director, Andrew Thomas, received a phone call from a client. He wasn’t registered to vote, and told Andrew he worried about missing the deadline. He wanted to make sure his vote would count — for his toddler daughter’s future. Andrew got right to work. He gathered registration forms and online resources in English and Spanish. He developed an impromptu registration plan. Did it work? Well, by the end of the day, not only was the client registered… Andrew had helped get 42 individuals registered to vote!

At Step Up, we believe every voice matters, every vote counts, and every little bit helps. Will you chip in $5 today?