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Getting to Know the ACLU
from Fall 2020
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G ETTING TO KNOW THE AMERICAN CIVIL LIBERTIES UNION
Contributions by Elizabeth Allison | Design by Sara Roach
Are you having difficult discussions with friends and family members? Are you advocating for social justice in your local community in some way? If so, follow along with the following discussion with the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU), an organization with a chapter in every state, dedicated to educating people and advocating for social change on a plethora of issues.
The American Civil Liberties Union of Washington (ACLU-WA) works tirelessly to pursue all large-scale impacts that affect people’s lives. The ACLU will always be on the side of fairness, equality, freedom and justice for all, according to their website.
Interviews edited for clarity and length.
Rachel Gilchrist is the activism man-
ager at the ACLU-WA and has been with the organization for 4 years. Gilchrist has a Master of Public Administration degree from the University of Washington, where she spent her time focusing on the intersection of health, environmental and urban policy.
It wasn’t until after studying the effects of racism and poverty on health during her time as a policy fellow at Foundation for Healthy Generations that she knew she wanted to work for the ACLU.
Q: What are the most pressing civil liberties issues happening in the PNW today?
A: At the top of the list would be issues around policing and police accountability. It’s one of the issues we’re focusing on right now … We are working on reproductive rights, issues around surveillance [and] we’re working on ensuring that undocumented immigrants get the rights they need.
Q: How do you set aside your personal bias on controversial issues you’re working on?
A: ACLU employs people that are passionate about this work. All of us are dedicated to civil liberties … Working with brilliant and thoughtful people, it’s easy to work at the ACLU and what they stand for.
Q: What issue is currently getting the most attention from the ACLU in Washington?
A: Policing. [Meaningful] accountability for police use of force.
Q: What are some of the challenges working with these issues?
A: One of the challenges is that it’s a complicated nuance to issue. Not just one staff worker works on it … It’s complicated because there are so many pieces, not one size fits all … We don’t know what the right answer is, that's why we work with the community.
Everyone has their own opinion on this issue … We just represent one viewpoint, which might not always be correct. Paula Luangrath-Brown, community
relations manager, is another member of ACLU-WA that PULSE had the opportunity to speak to. Luangrath-Brown works on the public education aspect of the ACLU and organizes events such as Flights & Rights, a “new community series featuring important civil rights issues to ponder over local beer,” according to the ACLU-WA website. These are free events that gather the community together and have moved online during COVID-19.
Q: What are the most pressing civil liberties issues happening in the PNW today?
A: Right now we’re focusing a lot on the election. One of the priority issues is keeping sex education in schools.
Parents can still take their kids out of the class, but we think it’s still important to keep that in schools … We’re working with protests … We work a lot with health, liberty, technology, education — [a] wide variety of things.
Q: How do you set aside your personal bias on controversial issues you’re working on?
A: That’s a good question. I try to hear the perspective on both sides I’m working on … If there’s something that’s controversial that’s in the office, our director is good at answering questions.
I knew coming into the organization I wasn’t going to agree with everything … It’s pretty easy to keep separate … We work in a place [where] we can be vocal about things we disagree with.
Q: What issue is currently getting the most attention from the ACLU in Washington?
A: There’s a lot of protesting that’s happening around the state. Some of them are more complicated than the ones in Seattle … COVID and protests I’d say are the big things that are happening right now.
Overcoming food INSECURITY: ONE SPOONFUL AT A TIME
Story by Nidia Torres Photos by Kassandra Eller & Angela Kyle Design by Grace Winter
Have you, at any point in your life, felt like hunger was viciously gnawing at your stomach and not letting you pay attention in class? Well, you’re not alone.
There are many students, even adults, who do not have the comfort of knowing when they will have their next meal, especially as people are still coping with the COVID-19 pandemic.
Addressing Food Insecurity in Washington According to the Kittitas County Public Health website, 17 percent of the Kittitas County population is considered to be food insecure. The recent pandemic, closure of schools and parents losing their jobs or not working are leading causes of this recent surge of food insecurity.
In a 2019 Kittitas County factsheet provided by the Washington State Department of Agriculture (WSDA), the age group most in need of food assistance ranged from 18-54 years, which is 49 percent. Kids from ages 0-17 make up 35 percent and adults aged 55 and above make up 16 percent.
Households that receive the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program (SNAP) benefits make up 14 percent of all households in Kittitas County, which is considered to be a much higher number than state and national average need, according to the Kittitas County Public Health Department.
The state Emergency Food Assistance Program (EFAP) also aids people of all ages with food assistance. More than 2,000 households were served in 2019 alone, which is 24 pounds of food given to each family on every visit in Kittitas County, as noted by WSDA’s 2019 Kittitas County factsheet.
A Helping Hand Goes a Long Way Facing issues alone is not always the easiest thing to do when struggling with food insecurity. Allowing others to help, either friends, family, neighbors or community resources may assist with these challenges.
Nutrition Director of the Ellensburg School District (ESD) Alexandra Epstein-Solfiled explains she is responsible for child nutrition and implementing nutrition guidelines for the health and safety of all students. Epstein-Solfiled says she currently runs the Summer Food Service Program in Ellensburg, dedicated to giving children of the city community, even those outside of the ESD, an outlet to receive a meal over summer break. “It’s not our typical meal program, but it’s basically an emergency provision related to the COVID-19 pandemic; the USDA has stated that we can serve all children in the community 18 and under,” she says.
The Summer Food Service Program successfully distributed approximately 7,400 meals during the second week of September. The following third week, 9,279 meals were also distributed, according to Epstein-Solfiled.
The COVID-19 pandemic which is preventing kids from currently attending school, is the leading contributor for the recent increase in food insecurity.
Heather Burfeind, Kittitas Secondary School Principal, worries about students and families having access to meals. “It’s our responsibility to make sure that we provide [for] all of our … [students and] families that are in need.”
Besides Ellensburg and Kittitas School Districts providing food for students, they also partnered with other food assistance programs that also help students and their families. FISH Food Bank is also a resource aimed at helping the community.
Burfeind says she makes sure to understand the situations families are in, not only because of food insecurity, but also the challenges the pandemic has brought into their lives.
Richard Fowlks, Ellensburg community member and husband of Angela Kyle, PULSE reporter, explains because of COVID-19, he was one of many people affected from the temporary business closures, forcing his family into food insecurity. “We just got the COVID SNAP benefits which paid us for food benefits to buy groceries at the store and farmers market.”
Because Fowlks and his wife own a business, they were not able to qualify for the EBT SNAP benefits. “When COVID hit, we had to rely on our savings because we wouldn’t qualify for another six months.”During the pandemic, Fowlks and his family also used a variety of other local resources to help with food. “We use Safeway a lot and then for help we did FISH a couple of times,” he says. “And during the summer the school bus came to the neighborhood each day for lunches for free for our kids.”
According to Nutritionist and Registered Dietician Shena Jaramillo from Peace & Nutrition, there are many negative aspects that come with food insecurity. People, especially young children, are at risk of developing health issues due to lack of nutrients, resulting in malnutrition.“It could be poorly managed … medical conditions like diabetes, that [cause] food [insecurity],” says Jaramillo. “And that you might not be managing your medical condition in the best manner because you’re unsure of where your food is going to be coming from and you’re simply utilizing what you have access to.”
It’s better not to head to class on an empty stomach. As you may have noticed at one point in your lives, an empty stomach can be highly distracting.
Another issue that will most likely impact students, is the failure to perform at the highest standards in school. The academic performance of students might diminish over time because their thoughts will be sluggish and consumed with the thought of food and eating. “If we’re not eating adequately or replenishing adequately, it could be injuries or it could be illness as well because our immune system can be compromised because we’re exerting a lot of energy and we’re not replenishing appropriately,” says Jaramillo.
As people move forward, an effective way students, teachers and families can overcome food insecurity is by helping one another and supporting one another through life-changing times.Burfeind explains, the rate of food insecurity can be lowered if society is working together
Health Effects of Food Insecurity
to help these families.
