Making the case...

Posted on 12/20/2010 @ 03:22 PM

Traveling hundreds of miles last week to legislative delegations in Central Florida and St. Lucie County made me appreciate the strong impact the Children's Movement of Florida has had on its communities. At each legislative delegation meeting, about a fourth of the audience were there on behalf of CMF. Thank you to all who showed up and waved their support for putting children first in Florida!

On Wednesday evening, Jeannie Forthuber presented the CMF 2011 platform to the Seminole County legislative delegation. She added a lot of personal touches, including the challenges with screening and treatment for her special needs son. She also emphasized the importance of the movement to the eight legislators who were gathered in the County Commission chambers.

The next morning, I finally had a chance to meet Katherine Hensley, the current chair of the St. Lucie School Board and a huge supporter of the Children's Movement of Florida. She eloquently presented the 2011 platform to the legislators and acknowledged several agency supporters in the room. Some of those included Tony Loupe, the chair of the Early Learning Coalition of St. Lucie County, and Sean Boyle, the director of the Children's Services Council of St. Lucie County. Both Tony and Sean indicated their support for the Children's Movement in their presentations to the delegation. A few supporters even donated funding to our efforts.

It was an exciting week to say the least! Thank you to all who "showed their presence" at these important meetings. Our policy-makers saw and heard the importance of the movement. We will march on.

Lena Juarez
State Coordinator, Central Florida
lena.juarez@childrensmovementflorida.org