Hello and greetings!

Last year I had the honor of sharing my story with the world through a book called MAID: Hard Work, Low Pay, and a Mother’s Will to Survive. On Tuesday, that book will be released to paperback, and I have some big plans for where I want it to go.

Since my book was published, I’ve heard from countless others around the country who have lived, or are living, a similar existence of poverty and homelessness. My story is not unique. Millions of Americans are struggling to pay their bills and feed their families despite working day and night. It is an all-too-common narrative, with so many untold stories waiting to be heard.

Take a few seconds to think about the dozens of invisible people who have already cleaned up after you today. The invisible housekeepers and doorman you brush by on your way out of the hotel. The restaurant workers and caterers, bustling around to clear the plates you’ve eaten off of. The janitors in airport bathrooms. The drivers. These people work to make our lives easier—that’s their job: to make our lives easier—and we are failing them by not paying them a living wage. Not allowing them access to health care, mental health care, and often food. Not allowing them to support their families while we literally hand them our children at daycare centers, and ask them to support ours.

I truly believe that the only way we’ll see change in this country is by listening to not only stories like mine, but ones from people who have experienced systemic poverty and racism. If we can somehow start to remove shame from struggle, we’ll start to see how many of us are fighting in our own way.

 

On Tuesday, January 21, the paperback for MAID will be out in the world. To celebrate, I’ll be launching my own campaign called #MAID2REPS to get a copy (or several copies) onto the desk of all 535 state representatives and senators. This book was one Barack Obama named as one of the best of 2019, and said it was an “unflinching look at America’s class divide” and “a reminder of the dignity of all work.”

 

#MAID2REPS works like this:

people go to the link on my website at https://stepville.com/maid2reps/

 

From there, they select a representative or senator from their state and purchase a paperback copy for $15.00. During checkout, they have the option to add their own story and why they are sending the book. All of that information comes back to me, and I (with the help of my family) will personally mail the books to the legislators with the sender’s return address and personal story of how their lives have been impacted through struggling to get by.

My hope is to spread this campaign throughout social media through shareable graphics and a catchy hashtag, but I obviously need help with that.

If you are able or feel inclined or impassioned to, please help me in sharing this message by forwarding this email, sharing graphics on social media, or ordering a book for your representative. Lawmakers need to get a glimpse of what it’s really like to be homeless, a member of the working poor, and a parent who struggles to feed their child.

To get involved:

Go to the website, download a graphic, and post.

Send a book to your local representative.

Thank you so much. For listening. For starting a movement toward change.

With hope,

Stephanie