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The full video of Our First Stand, “Save Health Care: Listening Session” is on YouTube:

We also received some wonderful press on the local evening news:

http://www.keyt.com/health/nationwide-health-care-rally-includes-event-in-santa-barbara/271028053

Our first event, “Save Health Care: Listening Session” was a fact-gathering session wherein seven leaders in our health care community provided detailed facts and figures about the populations they serve in our area to our newly sworn-in Congressman, Salud Carbajal. The event opened with a statement from the Congressman, followed by each speaker.

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Our First Stand: Save Health Care

Santa Barbara, California – January 13, 2017

Event Time:  Sunday, January 15, 2017, 2:00 – 3:00 pm

Event Location:  Carrillo Recreation Center, 100 E Carrillo St, Santa Barbara

(corner of E. Carrillo St. and Anacapa St. in downtown Santa Barbara)

In December of 2016, Senators Charles E. Schumer, Bernie Sanders, the new leader in charge of outreach for Senate Democrats, and House Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, issued a letter to fellow Democrats calling for a day of action on January 15 with the theme “Our First Stand: Save Health Care.” The stated purpose of the letter is to “vigorously oppose the Republican plan to end Medicare as we know it and throw our health care system into chaos.”

In response, the newly formed political action group Indivisible Santa Barbara waited for the swearing in of freshman Congressman Salud Carbajal on January 3, then contacted his office to ask if the Representative had planned a response to that call to action.

Many rallies are planned for January 15 including “Our First Stand Rally With California Nurses Association” at the Grauman’s Chinese Theater in Los Angeles and “Save Health Care” on the steps of San Francisco City Hall with Congresswoman Nancy Pelosi.

In Santa Barbara, Congressman Carbajal will attend an event organized by Indivisible SB, “Save Health Care: Listening Session”. Leaders from the health care community will give short, prepared statements about the population they serve in his district, including information on how many members of our community currently are insured under Covered California, Medi-Cal and Medicare.

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About Indivisible Santa Barbara

Indivisible Santa Barbara is part of a national movement inspired by the indivisibleguide.com to oppose harmful legislation proposed by the Trump agenda with frequent, coordinated action. The principles of inclusion and civility have also been endorsed by local members. The volunteers who update indivisibleguide.com have been scrambling to keep up with the several thousand requests to form groups across the country, just in the last two weeks.

media contact: Jennie Reinish   (###) ###-####
indivisiblesb@gmail.com
indivisiblesb.com
@indivisiblesb
https://www.facebook.com/IndivisibleSB

Confirmed Speakers for January 15 Save Heath Care event:

Charity Dean, MD, Ph.D., Physician Health Officer at Santa Barbara County Health Department

David Dodson, MD President Central Coast Medical Association

Charles Fenzi, MD, Chief Executive Officer, Chief Medical Officer, Santa Barbara Neighborhood Clinics

Paul Jaconette, Chief Operating Officer, CenCal Health

Jenna Tosh, Ph.D., President and CEO Planned Parenthood California Central Coast

Peter Conn, of Health Care For All

Bill Skeen, MD, MPH, California Physician’s Alliance

More about the event from IndivisibleSB:

The event was so well attended, we had to move to a larger room, and people were still standing outside the doors. We received excellent press coverage and were the top news story on our local television evening news. Most importantly, the information shared by the experts is something that most people would not have otherwise known. It was invaluable. We know that our Congressman has new, complete facts and figures that he would not have otherwise, had we not taken the initiative.

Our Congressman’s first speech on the floor was in defense of the Affordable Care Act, so we did not need to plan a protest. Instead, we wanted to bolster his resolve and arm him with information he can take back to Washington DC. We also collected one-page written stories from members of the audience regarding the ACA and gave them to him in an envelope.

In blue districts, our Reps need our support. We want them to have current, useful information, and to take a bold stand. However, this kind of event could work in red districts as well. If you invite them to an informational session, the facts will be hard to dismiss. If they decline the invitation, you can tell the press, or you can invite their most recent political opponent to attend, instead. We plan to publish a guide to help other Indivisible groups organize similar events. Coming soon!

Also coming soon, Fact Sheet from the event.