Dear Members and Friends

Hope you were able to get away this summer to have a break from the heat. I had a stupendous 2 week vacation with my husband of 42 years in Massachusetts and Rhode Island! Our Tall Ship Sail was magic. Hopefully, we’ll see some heat relief before Nov.

On September 8^th, the FL Supreme Court will determine the fate of abortion by upholding the privacy clauses in the constitution or not. We’ll soon know whether we’re facing a 6 week ban. Either way, the abortion access petition signatures are high priority for us. Keep getting those signatures!

For Orlando, we have the ‘Come Out with Pride’ and ‘Veg Fest’ October events to help us get abortion access petition signatures and get the word out on our issues, as well as encourage young women to join Greater Orlando NOW. Hope you all have great events to table at too. We are excited to be partnering with the UCF NOW Chapter on both events. Keep looking for events and locations to do ballot petitions and voter registration.

We are going to be working on a strategic plan for FL NOW. We plan to launch it in January. To support developing the strategic plan, you will get a survey from FLNOW in late October to confirm our demographics and solicit your input on our priorities, as a business and for our NOW 6 pillar issues.

All of us must continue to be the resistance by holding or attending rallies/protests, by writing letters to the editor or op eds, by sending emails and making phone calls of protest, by attending School Board and City Council meetings, etc. Please consider volunteering with an organization doing phone banks for vote by mail. Getting out the vote is so important to getting any change in FL. The best we hope for these elections is to try to break the supermajorities in the legislature to enable more bipartisan work.

We just re-initiated the “Start By Believing” initiative related to sexual assault with Chapter leadership on our September Chapter Chat. “Start By Believing” is a great program to work with Campus NOW Chapters. We’ll be working it with UCF next semester and tying into their “Take Back The Night” program. Chapter Chat is open to all members and is held on the first Saturday of the month at 10am.Contact redmuseuu@yahoo.com or judi.marraccini@gmail.com for ZOOM information.

Court Watch continues to grow. We always need people to attend to support moms struggling in family court. Many hearings are virtual so you can support from anywhere. Please sign up via natasha@factscourtwatch.org.

The membership team is working on a guide and toolkit to support local Chapters in initiating, and supporting, Campus NOW Chapters. We hope there are members in your chapter who would like to champion a specific campus. It is so important for us to support the next generation of activists. It is a way to get more abortion access petition signatures and to support Voter Registration.

Three Chapters, Palm Beach County, Greater Orlando, and Greater Marion, are working on a new approach to Voter Registration that gets around voter suppression laws. I’ll keep you posted on how that goes.

We need your activism more than ever. We are never silent. We never give up.

Take Care, Debbie

• Get  Abortion in the FL Constitution - Keep getting those petitions signed
• Join the Economic Justice Task Force 10/19/23
• Join the Climate & Environmental Justice Focus Group 10/03/23
• Mentor Your Local College Feminists / Help them start a Campus NOW Chapter
• Help with Voter Registration wherever and whenever you can

• 2023 Feminist Calendar
• FLNOW Book Club Picks Through January 2024
• Women's Equality Day Chapter Celebrations
• Economic Justice Task Force Information
• Climate & Environmental Justice Focus Group Information
• Remembering Bonni

It is with great sadness that we announce the recent passing of a long-time Pasco NOW member, Bonni Axler.  Bonni served as our VP Action for many years as well as previously serving in other local Pasco NOW positions.  She was active in Florida NOW and served for a time as Florida State Board Secretary.  She was a member of TBAC (a group of Tampa Bay NOW Chapters) and a strong supporter of Abortion Rights.  Bonni also documented and created a poster for Pasco NOW's history that we use when we have events.  She passed away peacefully in Hospice on Tuesday, August 1 at 11:40AM with a friend holding her hand.

Since abortion rights was a key issue for Bonni, we suggest anyone who wants to make a donation in her honor consider the Ballot Initiative Drive at Floridians Protecting Freedom.

First Meeting / Thursday, October 19th 2023 6:30pm – 7:30pm

Women in Florida are struggling to survive due to the inability to meet basic needs. Lack of affordable housing, no Medicaid Expansion, reproductive health care on the line, waiting lists for childcare, low pay, domestic violence…. These issues comprise only a short list of the issues that contribute to high rates of poverty for women. We have heard you voice your concerns and we are listening. It is with great excitement that we are bringing back the newly revamped Economic Justice Task Force!

We know we need to do better in Florida to ensure that all women have the opportunity to thrive. To that end, the Economic Justice Task Force is forming and planning to address the unjust policies which govern the day-to-day lives of women living in poverty. You should have received a survey via email asking which issues pertaining to economic justice are most important to you, and we are looking forward to reading your responses!

The EJTF will meet virtually on the third Thursday of each month beginning on Thursday, October 19th @6:30PM. We welcome you to join other passionate advocates from around the state in breaking down our systems of oppression and the myriad issues which contribute to economic injustice. We will offer a hopeful, intentional, forward-thinking environment in which to engage in problem-solving, and collectively determine how we can best address the crises that plague women living in poverty. One hour of work per month is our ask from committee members, and those with lived experience are highly encouraged to participate.

Please contact committee chair, Laurie Scop, at lauriescop@gmail.com for sign-up, questions, and/or feedback. A Zoom link will be sent out in October.

We need you to take a few minutes a day to CLICK for FLNOW!
Did you know that FLNOW has a Facebook Page? 

The link is:  https://www.facebook.com/FLNOW

Please "like" our posts and repost them DAILY -- including sharing them to your chapter's FB page.

Thanks for the CLICK for FLNOW!

First Meeting / Tuesday, October 3rd, 6:30 - 7:30pm

Even though we've all heard about “Climate Change” and "Global Warming" for more than 30 years, we may have struggled to internalize the gravity of such huge phenomena, denied it, or felt helpless. While we surely have made modest changes to accommodate warming environmental conditions, the intensity of this summer’s blazing heat waves around the world leaves little doubt that we need to do more.

The impacts of extreme weather events vary geographically but not equally. Everywhere, they are harsher on women as caregivers of family, children, parents, and the poor. What else can we do in our daily lives to conserve our natural resources (for example, water, energy, and air quality) as “solutions” that mitigate the impacts of future extreme weather?

Our first (VIRTUAL) CEJFG meeting is on Tuesday, October 3, 2023 from 6:30 -7:30 PM. Co-chair Penelope Canan will report briefly on "Florida’s Local Sustainability and Resilience Plans" in four different regions of our state - Jacksonville, Palm Beach County, Greater Marion County, and Orlando. We will brainstorm small steps each of us can take in support of the mitigation and resilience strategies of our localities.

CEJFG promises one-hour virtual meetings on the first Tuesday of each month, exciting discussions, and meaningful actions. We also ask you to spend one hour per month working on the focus group agenda. We need you -- your presence, ideas, energy, and support.

Please contact co-chair Rev. Renai Collins <irenaicollins@gmail.com<="" a>=""> or Dr. Penelope Canan < or call (407) 473-9249 for input, questions, and to sign up xtagstartzstrong>with your email address, so we can send you the zoom link by October 1, 2023.

Penelope & Renai

CALL TO ACTION

YOUR SUPPORT IS NEEDED TO ENSURE THAT FLORIDA HAS CLEAN AND HEALTHY WATER FOR ALL OF ITS INHABITANTS

Florida NOW and hundreds of other organizations, businesses and local governments are supporting the Florida Right to Clean Water campaign. To amend our Florida Constitution with the right to clean and healthy water, the first step is to collect 900,000 valid petitions signed by Florida voters by December 31, 2023. Then once this vital issue is on the 2024 Ballot, the electorate can vote to ensure that Florida water, by law, must be clean and healthy for all.

All Floridians’ lives depend on clean water. The current legal system is protecting polluter interests over people’s health. Vulnerable communities are put in harm’s way via ‘sacrifice zones’ (where we see people and pets getting sick or dying) as well as other environmental injustices taking place unabated. That must change! We need our Florida Constitution to be abundantly clear about our democratic values and priorities: people over profit, especially with something as basic as clean water.

If our current laws were working, we wouldn’t have manatees dying in record numbers, 80% of our 1000 springs impaired, and harmful blue-green algae and red tide in greater frequency and duration. A constitutional right takes precedence over legislation that permits pollution, restricts fertilizer bans, and allows radioactive materials to be used in our roads. Time is running out for our water!

We are particularly calling on NOW Chapter presidents to help promote petition gathering. We suggest that each of your chapter members download 6 copies from this link Clean Water petition (sign one and ask at least 5 other Florida voters to sign theirs). They could be family members, friends, peers, etc. as long as they vote in Florida. Please spread the word and go to volunteer to make a bigger impact for mailing information and more details.