Poverty Action, Solid Ground’s statewide advocacy partner, builds grassroots power to end root causes of poverty and create opportunities for everyone to prosper.
Poverty Action envisions a state where people of all income levels fully promote and participate in building the fabric of socially, politically, racially and economically just communities.
About Poverty Action
Poverty Action is grounded in the understanding that poverty is a systemic issue, and that racism is one of the greatest perpetuators of poverty. Many of the barriers people of color face in reaching economic security are a direct result of institutional racism, including housing discrimination, benefits denied to immigrants, predatory lending, and the prison system.
Thus, Poverty Action’s work is directed by people with low incomes and people of color, ensuring accountability to the communities that are most directly impacted by the effects of poverty and inequity.
Poverty Action recognizes that systemic barriers and disparities are often the result of policies and practices. To address these barriers, Poverty Action forwards thoughtful campaigns that provide a platform for the people most impacted by these policies to advocate for equity, while dispelling myths about what it means to be poor.
In addition, Poverty Action engages in year-round voter registration and engagement, focusing on communities that have been historically disenfranchised from the voting process.
Poverty Action’s Main Campaigns
Save the Safety Net
Our communities thrive when all people can meet their basic needs and have opportunities to prosper. This campaign works to maintain and expand programs that help families keep a roof over their head and food on the table, as well as access childcare, education and employment. These programs include Temporary Assistance for Needy Families (TANF); Housing & Essential Needs (HEN); Aged, Blind & Disabled (ABD); Medicaid and more.
Consumer Protections
Everyone, regardless of income, should have fair and reasonable consumer protections when borrowing money or managing their existing debt. This campaign has helped pass and continues to defend a payday lending law that has saved Washingtonians over half a billion dollars in unfair fees and fines, and the Foreclosure Fairness Act that helps people facing foreclosure stay in their homes.
Roadblocks to Re-entry
Incarceration has increasingly shifted from a rehabilitation model to a punitive model that disenfranchises entire communities through unfair debt, limited voting rights, denial of access to education and employment, and more. Poverty Action supports policies that provide previously incarcerated people and their families opportunities to reclaim their lives, including reforming Washington state’s broken Legal Financial Obligation (LFO) system and addressing barriers to employment.
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