Our hearts ache for the victims of yet another senseless mass murder in Las Vegas.

Our hearts ache for the victims of yet more extreme weather events and for the unfolding crisis in the Caribbean.

Our hearts ache for children across the United States who will lose their health insurance because the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) expired last weekend, taking the Maternal, Infant, and Early Childhood Home Visiting (MIECHV) funding along with it.

Our hearts ache because there are too many tragedies to list, to account for, and to wrap our heads around and process.

Deep inside, we feel pain turning into anger.

But we must not give in to this anger. We must find a way to transcend it, and transform it into positive action to *change* the way our world is working (or not working) right now. It is time to act, not out of anger, but out of love and compassion for our children and families across the world, across the country, and across the Commonwealth.

Please join us in calling your members of Congress (House: 202-224-3121, Senate: 202-224-3121) with a simple message:

• It is time to act on the issues that have strong bipartisan support, to resume funding of gun violence research as a critical public health issue impacting children and families, and to act swiftly on Puerto Rico and the U.S. Virgin Islands to help those citizens put their lives back together


• It is time to act on the Children’s Health Insurance Program and MIECHV funding for home visiting

Thank you for all that you can do to turn anger into positive action.

“Hatred paralyzes life; love releases it. Hatred confuses life; love harmonizes it. Hatred darkens life; love illuminates it.” —Martin Luther King, Jr.