2013 Annual Report Board of Directors Rosa McLeod President — Jessica Case Vice President — Serena Evans Treasurer — Michelle Grienauer Secretary — Tiffany Hankins Hotline Coordinator — Shelley Halstead At-Large Member — Trina Stout At-Large Member — Jennifer Rafalski At-Large Member — Patricia Atwater At-Large Member 2013: From the Frontlines of Choice The CAIR Project has provided funding, information and referrals for abortion care to people in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska for the last 15 years. In 2013, we faced a national legislative climate that increasingly restricted abortion rights, with 39 states enacting laws that severely restrict access to reproductive health. About half of these states, notably Texas, Arkansas and North Dakota, drastically curtailed women’s access to abortion services. While we saw bills introduced in our region that sought to restrict abortion rights, fortunately none of them were passed. Health care reform brought with it the promise that millions would receive coverage for reproductive and sexual health care, but implementation has been challenging: Meanwhile, the regional economy picked up, but growth was uneven, with income inequality all the more apparent. According to the Pew Research Center, the gap between the top 1% and the bottom 90% was the largest since 1928. Our clients related their struggles with longterm unemployment, underemployment and low wages. Against this stormy backdrop, The CAIR Project provided $73,407 in funding to people in our region, as well as to exceptional national cases. This number is second only to 2011, when our region was still contending with high unemployment and limited prospects for growth. The CAIR Project Board led the charge in raising $66,263 in 2013, more than half of which was comprised of individual donations. The remainder we funded through our budget surplus, rolled over from 2012. The CAIR Project provided grants to 353 women and gave information and support to another 591 in 2013. Our volunteer advocates spoke with an average of 18 women each week who called our hotline in search of assistance. Quick Facts In 2013, The CAIR Project: - Provided $73,407 in abortion funding to 353 people in AK, ID, OR and WA - Gave abortion information and referrals to 591 more - Raised $66,263 in funds - As a lean, volunteer-run organization, had no personnel expenses and few operating costs - Oregon’s online health insurance exchange never got off the ground, resulting in lengthy paper forms and long lines for public and private health insurance - The experience for Washington women was better, but still initially rocky - Political leaders in Alaska and Idaho refused to expand their public insurance programs, despite federal assistance, effectively denying millions of low-income women comprehensive health insurance
Transcript
2013 Annual Report
Board of DirectorsRosa McLeod
President—
Jessica CaseVice President
—Serena Evans
Treasurer—
Michelle GrienauerSecretary
—Tiffany Hankins
Hotline Coordinator—
Shelley HalsteadAt-Large Member
—Trina Stout
At-Large Member—
Jennifer RafalskiAt-Large Member
—Patricia Atwater
At-Large Member
2013: From the Frontlines of ChoiceThe CAIR Project has provided funding, information and referrals for abortion care to people in Washington, Oregon, Idaho and Alaska for the last 15 years. In 2013, we faced a national legislative climate that increasingly restricted abortion rights, with 39 states enacting laws that severely restrict access to reproductive health. About half of these states, notably Texas, Arkansas and North Dakota, drastically curtailed women’s access to abortion services. While we saw bills introduced in our region that sought to restrict abortion rights, fortunately none of them were passed.
Health care reform brought with it the promise that millions would receive coverage for reproductive and sexual health care, but implementation has been challenging:
Meanwhile, the regional economy picked up, but growth was uneven, with income inequality all the more apparent. According to the Pew Research Center, the gap between the top 1% and the bottom 90% was the largest since 1928. Our clients related their struggles with longterm unemployment, underemployment and low wages.
Against this stormy backdrop, The CAIR Project provided $73,407 in funding to people in our region, as well as to exceptional national cases. This number is second only to 2011, when our region was still contending with high unemployment and limited prospects for growth. The CAIR Project Board led the charge in raising $66,263 in 2013, more than half of which was comprised of individual donations. The remainder we funded through our budget surplus, rolled over from 2012.
The CAIR Project provided grants to 353 women and gave information and support to another 591 in 2013. Our volunteer advocates spoke with an average of 18 women each week who called our hotline in search of assistance.
Quick FactsIn 2013, The CAIR Project: - Provided $73,407 in abortion funding to 353 people in AK, ID, OR and WA- Gave abortion information and referrals to 591 more- Raised $66,263 in funds- As a lean, volunteer-run organization, had no personnel expenses and few operating costs
- Oregon’s online health insurance exchange never got off the ground, resulting in lengthy paper forms and long lines for public and private health insurance
- The experience for Washington women was better, but still initially rocky
- Political leaders in Alaska and Idaho refused to expand their public insurance programs, despite federal assistance, effectively denying millions of low-income women comprehensive health insurance
2013: From the Frontlines, cont. Behind the Scenes on MSNBC’s Melissa Harris-Perry Show
By Trina Stout, CAIR Project Board Member
When the booking producer from Melissa Harris-Perry’s weekend news and opinion show reached out to The CAIR Project asking us to go on the show, we were ecstatic. And nervous. But mostly, glad for the chance to speak on a national stage about the critical role abortion funds play in women’s lives.
Here’s a little bit about what it was like to be on the show.
To prepare, I reached out to a news anchor friend to ask how much makeup to wear (lots of powder), to a journalist friend to ask what it’s like to be on these shows (strange to have the interviewer’s voice piped into your ear), and a colleague at the communications agency where I work for a mini media-training (wear solid colors, sit up straight, smile, don’t gesture, don’t say “we”--say “The CAIR Project,” and most importantly: know the three things you want to get across in the interview). The board worked together on what we wanted those three things to be.
The show taped live at 8:00am Saturday from a tiny, one-room studio in downtown Seattle. The studio had a chair, a screen with the Seattle skyline, the camera, and not much else. Board member Jessica Case joined me for moral support.
The cameraman placed a clear earbud in my left ear so I could hear Melissa’s questions, and also hear the producers. Producers are the people who run the show off-camera, giving queues like, “When we come back from commercial, Melissa is going to introduce the segment and then go to you,” so I knew what to expect.
The most difficult part was maintaining “eye contact” with the camera lens. I didn’t know when the screen was showing me, when it was showing Melissa, or when it was showing both of us, so I had to maintain cordial eye contact with the camera for the entire segment.
Because many people in the audience had never heard of an abortion fund, I wanted to clearly explain what The CAIR Project is and the gap in access to medical care we fill. In the end, I was able to share with Melissa’s audience of hundreds of thousands of people the three things I’d wanted to get across:
1. An abortion fund is a hotline that helps women access safe abortion care by providing them with information and funding.
2. The CAIR Project is an entirely volunteer-run nonprofit that relies on donations to help the women we serve.
3. Abortion funds are necessary because the average cost of a first-trimester abortion is $550, and it’s often not realistic for a woman to raise that amount on short notice or at all.
After the show aired, we received new donations, and saw increased activity on our Facebook page. The Melissa Harris-Perry show was a fantastic opportunity to raise awareness of the important work CAIR does, and we’re grateful for the experience.
You can watch the clip here: http://tinyurl.com/CAIRonMHP
The CAIR Project Bowl-a-thon was a wild success in 2013, coming close to matching individual donations for the year. Bowl-a-thon captains rallied their teams to engage in personal fundraising from family, friends and colleagues, culminating in an afternoon of bowling, cocktails and more. Our loyal individual donors also came through for us in 2013, many of them giving monthly.
True to CAIR’s mission to achieve abortion access for all, in 2013 a full 85% of our grants went directly to abortion care for low-income clients. A lean, volunteer-run organization, we had no personnel costs and minimal operations expenses. Several of our board members traveled to the National Network of Abortion Funds annual summit to learn from other abortion funds, and we provided a small stipend to a summer intern. In addition to managing the hotline for a period of eight weeks, the intern chronicled her experience in a zine, which we now share with new hotline advocates.
A small portion of our income was spent on CAIR’s infrastructure, including storage, our toll-free number and our cell phone.
Patricia Atwater is a longtime admirer of The CAIR Project. As a manager at Planned Parenthood Columbia Willamette, Patricia worked with CAIR on improving the patient funding process. She moved to Seattle in 2011 to begin a graduate program in public health, during which she co-founded a student group focused on raising the profile of reproductive health at UW. She now coordinates a small academic program at UW and manages content for a health clinic website, as well as caring for her 1-year-old daughter, Vera.
Meet Our Newest Board Members
The CAIR Project was proud to join the All Above All Campaign in 2013. This coalition of abortion funds, providers, reproductive justice organizations and supporters works to remove harmful abortion bans at the national, state, and local levels. Since 1976, the Hyde Amendment has blocked federal Medicaid programs from covering abortion care. The name “All Above All” reflects our
coalition’s work to ensure that every person has the ability to make decisions about pregnancy outcomes, regardless of socio-economic level. In October, Board President Rosa McLeod joined other advocates in Washington, DC to educate members of Congress about our fund and the barriers to access faced by low-income people because of abortion ban.
The CAIR Project Goes to the Other Washington
CAIR Board President Rosa McLeod (far right) with other All Above All participants, October 2013
Trina Stout first became active in the pro-choice movement in 2005,volunteering against an anti-choice ballot measure in California. In 2006 she moved to Seattle and interned at NARAL Pro-Choice Washington. She joined The CAIR Project board in 2009, shifted to volunteering for the DC Abortion Fund while in the Other Washington for graduate school, and rejoined the CAIR board upon moving back to Seattle in 2013. Professionally, Trina works on global and public health projects at a communications agency that creates real and lasting change in the world.
