Gemma, Northeast PA

Sarah and I just finished the third week of our internship and so far it’s been complicated but very rewarding. We’ve realized flexibility is one of the most important parts of grassroots organizing. For example, we planned to go door-to-door three times during our second week, but it rained almost every day and we were only able to canvass once. Instead, we made phone calls and switched around the day of our data entry. One of my favorite parts of the internship (and one of the most frustrating) is that you have to think on your feet and be ready for anything. We’re also discovering that the more challenging something is, the more rewarding it is. On our first day out, almost no one was home and we had a high number of refusals. However, when we got our first petition signed, it felt amazing.

So many people have been supportive. It is so wonderful going to someone’s door and hearing her personal reasons behind supporting Planned Parenthood and comprehensive sex education. This past week, I spoke to a school nurse who works in the Hazleton school district and she told me nearly 70 students in the high school were pregnant last year alone. She’s been struggling with the school for most of her career to put comprehensive sex education into the curriculum and was very supportive of Planned Parenthood’s work. Its women like her who makes me proud to intern for Planned Parenthood and to play a role in making a positive and lasting change for students in Pennsylvania.

Week 2: Juliana, Southeast PA

“This has been a disastrous first couple of weeks.” That’s what Madeline just said after the other Chester County interns and I spent the day cutting six turfs, not realizing that our list of doors somehow included EVERYONE who lived in the area as opposed to just our target (women aged 25-60). So we recycled hundreds of sheets of paper and are now starting over.

I’m learning that grassroots organizing is just that – messy, complicated, but also so important. It’s been frustrating learning how to use the computer programs, forgetting to enter data, getting lost canvassing – and yet we’ve received so much positive feedback for our efforts. We tabled at the gay pride parade in Philadelphia and got 250 petition signatures while also meeting some really enthusiastic people. Certain individuals have stuck with me: the 60 year old grandmother I phone banked who had never heard of Planned Parenthood, but after I explained the services we offer, replied, “Well…you’re just trying to help people, right? …Then of course I support you.” The young mother in the health center who looked us in the eyes and thanked us for our work. The woman who assured us that she had her legislator’s phone number on speed dial and would call him immediately to urge him to vote for our sex ed bills.

For every frustration, there has also been gratification, and that’s what makes this work so worth it.

The first two weeks...: Anna, Western PA

Anna D from Pittsburgh here, two weeks into my Grassroots Organizing Internship with PPWP. I am very excited with how much on-the-ground work Rachel and I have already done: three canvasses, a phone bank, and tabling at Pittsburgh’s Pride festival! Canvassing has been quite rewarding so far-- the vast majority of people I’ve spoken with have been very receptive and supportive. Pride fest was loads of fun (and everyone loved the free chapstick and colorful condoms), it was like tabling at a giant party! I’ve had a few surreal conversations (on the phone: “No, comprehensive sex education actually does not include handing out condoms at elementary schools…”), been seriously scared by some aggressive Rottweilers, and got several compliments on my YNT t-shirt. Based on the successes of these first few weeks, I am looking forward to a busy and productive summer!

Healthy Youth Summer 2009

Throughout this summer, thirteen PPPA interns spread throughout Pennsylvania will be blogging to tell the story of their grassroots organizing internship experiences.

Twelve interns have been placed around PA to gather active support for comprehensive sex education:

Anna D & Rachel in Western PA
Sarah W & Gemma in the Northeast
Michelle & Elissa in Central PA
Lisa, Juliana, Sarah P, Madeline, Anna M, & Clarissa in the Southeast.

One public affairs intern, Rhiannon, works in the state public affairs office in Harrisburg, the state capitol.

McBush: Eliminating women's access to health care, one term at a time.

Planned Parenthood PA Advocates reproductive freedom fighters held a visibility outside John McCain’s York town hall meeting yesterday, to let residents in on McCain’s dirty little secret.

During his 25 years in Congress, the Republican presidential candidate has consistently voted against medically accurate sex education, birth control, and even family planning funding to pay for breast and cervical cancer screenings for low-income and uninsured women. He’s earned a 0% rating from Planned Parenthood Action Fund for his long history of votes against women’s health.

You might wonder, “How does one earn a 0% rating without my hearing about it?”

The simple answer is that McCain doesn’t want you to know. Thanks to his reputation as a "maverick," many Americans have come to think of him as a moderate. As many as half of women who support John McCain actually think he's pro-choice. Asked about his views on insurance coverage of birth control in July, McCain flat-out told a reporter, "I certainly do not want to discuss that issue."

But McCain can't hide from his voting record if pro-family planning, pro-choice voters choose to make it an issue, as Planned Parenthood supporters did in York on Tuesday. Holding signs with slogans such as "Stop McCain's War on Women," supporters encouraged passerby to Know McCain. Check out these three media spots featuring Planned Parenthood:

1. Anne Laird of Planned Parenthood PA Advocates was featured on the local WPMT FOX43 news coverage of John McCain's stop in York, PA on August 12. Click here to see Anne and several PPPA signs, including a great slogan from Sari Stevens: "McBush: Eliminating women's access to health care, one term at a time."
2. Sara Reed of Planned Parenthood of Northeast and Mid-Penn was featured in a York Dispatch article about the event:
   
   "As John McCain supporters streamed into the York Expo Center Tuesday, they passed a couple dozen sign-bearing opponents protesting his stance on abortion rights, the Iraq War and the economy.
   
   'It's important for us to educate women and men about John McCain,' said Sara Reed, who works for Planned Parenthood of Northeast and Mid-Penn. Planned Parenthood staff and volunteers were holding handmade signs to bring attention to McCain's voting record, which has received a zero percent approval rating from the Planned Parenthood Action Fund for his votes on sex education, birth control and abortion rights. The action fund gave Democratic candidate Sen. Barack Obama a 100 percent approval rating for his support of abortion rights and other reproduction-related issues."
3. Planned Parenthood interns are featured in YouTube coverage of the event by Keystone Progress, a Pennsylvania progressive advocacy organization

I wish I could write about seeing McCain firsthand. I wish I could say that I'd asked a question of the senator, that I'd been able to raise this issue with him directly. Unfortunately, I'm not a registered Republican with a conservative reputation. McCain's campaign pre-screened everyone requesting a ticket to the event, and only people fitting that description (and their children) were admitted. Doesn't this negate the implication of a "town hall" meeting? Only one side of the town is allowed to present their opinion.

Obviously, this meant that McCain faced only his supporters, and wasn't challenged with any tough questions. Given the layout of the York Expo Center, where the meeting was held, McCain didn't even have to see the signs or hear the chants of those who showed up to voice their disagreement. Hardly preperation for leading a diverse nation, where one isn't just the president of people who already agree with you.

America needs a president who respects all constituents, including women. McCain has spent the past 25 years telling us he will not be that president. America needs a president who listens to and considers all points of view. At least in York, the McCain campaign made it clear that only conservatives can have a seat at the table.

- Cassie, Harrisburg.

Going door-to-door for State Rep. Matt Smith

I can’t believe it is past the middle of the summer already! I have finally started working with State Representative Matt Smith on his campaign. Most days it is just us going door-to-door, canvassing in his district. Luckily, we’ve been getting an exceptionally positive response.

Saturday, I helped in his event to have supporters come together and door an afternoon’s worth of door to door. The only two real complaints? Lots and lots of steps and the unbearable heat! I even got to meet his family Saturday; he has the cutest baby daughter!

We have been working on a kind of weird schedule, so it goes a lot day by day, but we usually work for at least a couple of hours. I miss working in the office, but it is nice to get my hands dirty doing work! I hope everyone is doing well across the state!

- Lauren, Pittsburgh

PPPA interns lay the groundwork for election work!

Remember "How I Spent My Summer Vacation" essays in grade school? Well, if I had to write one now as a 23-year-old recent college graduate, I'd have to say that the last four weeks of my summer have been interesting and inspiring to say the least. Being offered the opportunity to be a Planned Parenthood Campaign Organizer intern has been one of the most exciting, enriching experiences I've had. My days are filled with work that, while perhaps isn't the most glamorous or fabulous, is always exciting and challenging. And in the midst of an economically questionable summer in which many Americans are partaking in "staycations" instead of stealing away to exotic locales, I'd venture to say that not only is my summer work exciting, it's also pretty important.

Jenn and I have been working out of John Siptroth's campaign office in Marshalls Creek. We're really lucky in that we have an awesome setup. We have the entire headquarters to ourselves, complete with a plethora of office supplies, a computer, fax machine, and phones. Basically, we're laying a lot of the groundwork for things that will happen later in the campaign as we approach the election. We've streamlined databases, organized the headquarters completely, set up two MySpace pages (Women for Siptroth and Vets for Siptroth), make countless phone and walk lists, and coordinated the setup and volunteer staffing for the recently-held American Freedom Festival in East Stroudsburg, among other things. (Which also included a very Lucy and Ethel-esque hours long hunt for curling ribbon around downtown Stroudsburg…) So on the campaign end of things, it's been a lot of computer work, but I realize how crucial this foundation is in making sure that John is re-elected and can continue to advocate for our issues (among other issues of course!) in HD 189.

As far as our PPPA stuff goes, Jenn and I have done lots of phone calls and crowd canvassing, but we have even more exciting things on the horizon. On Wednesday, we're tabling the Mae show at Crocodile Rock in Allentown. We're gunning to meet AND exceed our Million Strong goal at this event. After that, we're hosting a house party at my house a week from Thursday and hopefully petitioning at MusikFest in Bethlehem and one of the upcoming Warped Tour dates. There's a lot to look forward to and a lot of really exciting work to be done as we continue on this particular summer adventure!

- Joy, Northeast PA