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Greetings! Happy Summer to you! I hope you have had the opportunity to relax with family and friends. With the Supreme Court Rulings, January 6 commissions, and soaring temperatures, it is important to take time to rejuvenate - and then get ready for action for our critical November mid-term election! In this newsletter you will find:
- Birthday & Back to School fundraiser for SDIAE
- Information about our decrease in Voter Registration in DeKalb
- 988: New Mental Health #
- "The Race We Run" Concert and Four Way Fundraiser
- DeKalb Election - Poll Workers and District 2 Race Analysis
- DeKalb Juvenile Justice Council Sponsorship for Youth Celebration
- Save the Date for MARTA Town Hall
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Becky's Birthday Fundraiser for SDIAE, an Education Non Profit
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Happy Summer - from our family to yours! Here is favorite photo of my family from my nephew's wedding at the end of June. Today is my birthday, and outside of spending time with family and friends, one of the things that makes me happiest is supporting organizations making a positive difference in our community, like South DeKalb Improvement Association Education (SDIAE) and DeKalb Juvenile Justice Council.
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SDIAE has been holding summer STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics) programs at Hamilton and NH Scott Rec Centers, teaching critical thinking skills. Pictured here are Barret Morgan, a McNair Middle School student, with his assistant instructor, Tomar Morgan, Sr., from McNair High School, making a mini-plotter.
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The South DeKalb Improvement Association Education (SDIAE) is a grassroots non profit supporting our children and giving them the tools they need to succeed. With the return to school in August, their help is needed now more than ever. Their programs for STEM at after school recreation centers, Robotics, SAT Prep, Book Buddy reading partners, and tutoring are essential to many of South DeKalb’s families and help ensure kids have the supplies and support they need.
Amy Durrell was one of the volunteers for the Book Buddy program this past year, where the students had promising results from the April Georgia Milestones Assessment.
Here are Amy’s thought on SDIAE:
“Educating kids has been extra challenging for the last few years and SDIAE worked hard to identify creative ways to support the students and teachers in getting the best results for Dekalb residents. I personally had the chance to be a part of their creative solutions in 2021 when I did weekly reading practice with a second grader. Via zoom I had the chance to connect with Kelvin and his family, helping him improve his reading skills. I loved his enthusiasm and he laughed at my silly jokes. With occasional interruptions from his hilarious little brother, we enjoyed the process of reading together. My experience is a reminder that through community support we can make progress in educating our community and SDIAE is finding ways to make that happen. I’m happy to support their efforts to make Dekalb County Schools terrific for all our students.”
This is the third year I am raising money on behalf of the students at SDIAE for my birthday. Will you please join David and me and Amy in supporting their good work? If you note “Becky’s Birthday” they will know it is for my birthday fundraiser. You may donate here via PayPal, or you may write a check “SDIA Education'' and mail to:
SDIA Education
PO Box 361050
Decatur, GA 30034
Thank you for your consideration, and your kindness and thoughtfulness!
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Important Voter Registration Information!!!!
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Look at this decrease in DeKalb Registered Voters!!! Why is this?
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When the Georgia Department of Driver’s Services redesigned their web site in early 2021, what seemed like an insignificant change had a dramatic impact on voter registrations in Georgia. Since implementing automatic motor registration in 2016, over 80% registered to vote simultaneously with getting their driver’s license, with an “opt out” feature. The new website changed this to “opt in”, requiring additional action to be registered to vote. This change resulted in a sudden drop of registrations by more than 50% over a 15 month period.
Voting advocates identified the issue this spring and Driver’s Services has corrected the web site, but there was no outreach to impacted residents. Here in Dekalb County, this has resulted in a 10% decrease of registered voters, 53,818 less than our high in January 2021 of 554,852. We went from nearly 94% of the voting age population registered to 84%.
What can you do?
- Check your registration status on My Voter Page at https://mvp.sos.ga.gov/s/
- Encourage your neighbors, friends and family to check their registration status, especially if they obtained a new driver’s license since January 2021
- Share this information on social media or community/group newsletters
- Volunteer in voter registration drives in your community
- If you want to help register people to vote, or if you have ideas about where to hold voter registration tables, contact Janet Grant here
The deadline to register to vote for the November midterms in October 11th, you can register on line at https://registertovote.sos.ga.gov/GAOLVR/welcometoga.do#no-back-button
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988: Three Digits That Could Transform America’s Mental Health Response
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If you’re having a heart attack, you call 911. If you’re contemplating death by suicide, you call 1-800-273-8255. That’s … not easy to remember. Fortunately, as of this July, you can dial 988 and be connected to a local crisis hotline. If no local counselor is available, the call will be routed to the 24/7 national Suicide and Crisis Lifeline.
As part of a broader push around the launch of 988, the federal government allocated nearly over $400 million to upgrade and expand the number of crisis call centers across the country. Given that last year 1 in 5 calls to a suicide crisis hotline resulted in a dropped call while other people in crisis waited hours for help, these resources could not be more welcome.
Yet, for mental health professionals and advocates, 988 is not just a more user-friendly crisis hotline, but a catalyst for a desperately needed transformation in how the country responds to acute mental health issues.
The Basics:
- As Dani Blume explains in the New York Times, though 988 started as an easier way to access suicide prevention help, starting tomorrow, “anyone experiencing a mental health or substance use issue can call 988. Counselors on the other end of the hotline are trained in handling a wide range of mental health issues, including self-harm, addiction and suicidal ideation[.]"
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"The Race We Run" Backyard Concert and Fundraiser
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We hope you can join us on August 14th, with the amazing singer-songwriter Caroline Herring will perform, and you will hear from me, Rep Dr. Jasmine Clark, Lisa Campbell, and Dr. James Beverly, Leader of the Georgia House Democratic Caucus!
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Thank you to many of you for your past generous support! Thankfully we did not have a Democratic opponent this primary. However, we have a Republican opponent in the November election. We are not taking anything for granted, but recognize that this new district is still heavily democratic. So we are fundraising, but wanting to do our part to help keep other strong incumbents in competitive districts in the state house, and to bring new Democrats into the state house!
So we are hosting a four way fundraiser, with two candidates who have ties to Druid Hills and Emory. We are thrilled that the award winning singer songwriter from Decatur, Caroline Herring, will perform for us! I am asking for your consideration of supporting the four way fundraiser for our campaign, Dr. Jasmine Clark - who teaches at the Emory School of Nursing, Lisa Campbell, who used to be our Druid Hills neighbor and Georgia Blue PAC for Georgia State House, the Georgia House Democratic Caucus Leadership Committee. Would you consider supporting this fundraiser? Whatever works for your budget we will appreciate!
Here is the link to the Act Blue, with the links to each of the campaigns.
If you prefer to write individual checks, here are the names of the campaigns and addresses for checks - please write "August 14 Fundraiser" in Subject line:
Friends of Becky Evans
PO Box 15074
Atlanta, GA 30333
Friends of Lisa Campbell, Inc.
2001 Duncan Drive, Unit 2281
Kennesaw, GA 30156
Jasmine Clark For Georgia House
P.O. Box 1922
Lilburn, GA 30048
Georgia Blue PAC
P.O. Box 18622
Atlanta, GA 31126
If you prefer to give one check, you can make it payable to "Friends of Becky Evans" and write "Joint Fundraiser" in the subject line and write to me how much for each campaign.
Thank you for your consideration of supporting our fundraiser and helping keep strong incumbents in the Georgia house and flip the Georgia House! This is a team effort!
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DeKalb Elections - Poll Workers and District 2 Race Analysis
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One of the many things that has struck me about the January 6 hearings was the testimony of the Fulton election workers, Shaye Moss and her mother, Ruby Freeman, and how their lives were decimated by being targeted by Trump. This makes me furious. And our new election law, SB 202, will make the work of our election workers more challenging. To those of us who have the capacity and fortitude, I am asking you to please consider becoming a poll worker. I don’t have the links to other counties, but DeKalb’s Poll Employment is HERE.
Many of us were disturbed by the errors of the initial DeKalb District 2 Commission Primary Race, and have been wanting to hear from our County Elections office about what happened. HERE is the link to their analysis.
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Will you join us to celebrate the success of DeKalb Youth? Please join our Sponsorship Campaign!
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We are pleased to announce the second annual “Youth Celebration” will be on August 28, 2022 from 5:00-7:00 pm. Thank you to those who supported us last year - and we welcome and need new supporters to join us! The fundraiser will be poolside at the beautiful Stonecrest home of Cassandra and Musa Dan-Fodio on Sunday evening.
DeKalb Juvenile Justice Council is a 501(c) that serves youth and families throughout DeKalb County. Like many juvenile courts across America, we experience a gap between the funding available and what the real needs are for youth programs. Please consider supporting our youth, the future of our community, in the form of a sponsorship for our 2nd Annual Youth Celebration Fundraiser.
Sponsorship: The Sponsorship Form HERE provides all the details - we have options at all levels!. For planning purposes, please let us know if you would like to be a sponsor by August 5th, if possible. Sponsorship Deadline is August 19th.
Admissions: If a Sponsorship does not fit your needs, you may purchase admissions and make a donation to the Youth Celebration HERE. Admission deadline is August 22nd.
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Save the Date: MARTA Town Hall on Saturday Morning, August 27th!
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Please hold the morning of Saturday, August 27, for an in person MARTA Town Hall. Rod Frierson, MARTA Board member and I are co-sponsoring this event. Stay tuned!
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I want to share photos of the wonderful community events we have attended this July - the parades, visits to five DeKalb County schools, and Governor's Honors program at Berry College. But I am running out of time! So I will share them with you in my next newsletter! Blessings to all of you!
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Representative Becky Evans
Georgia's 83rd House District, DeKalb County
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