An artist, gamer, and movie lover, Curtis McLaughlin (above) has been part of the Health Care for the Homeless Art Group for more than five years.
Art is one of my coping skills. I can be anywhere and create art wherever I go.
05.26.17
When Gov. Larry Hogan vetoed HB1, he sent the message that Marylanders don’t deserve time off work when they’re sick.
On May 25, Hogan vetoed HB1, the bill that got an unequivocal thumbs up from the Maryland legislature this past session and which would have ensured paid sick days for 750,000 working Marylanders. And in so doing, he conveyed that it’s okay for working adults to have to choose between staying home sick and missing out on much-needed income or risking losing their jobs because they’re too sick to work and going to work sick and possibly getting sicker and making others sick, too.
Unacceptable.
In passing HB 1 this past legislative session, our state lawmakers sent a loud and clear message that tackling poverty and the deep and systemic inequities in our collective safety net is a priority for Maryland. Yet when Gov. Hogan vetoed the bill, he instead suggested that preserving Marylanders’ ability to work and those policies that protect against – and help Marylanders out of – poverty are less of a priority for his administration.
Paid sick leave is a priority for Health Care for the Homeless. And we will press forward in coming weeks and months to build on the advocacy of our community (incluiding with the Working Matters Coalition) and the leadership of HB 1’s sponsors (Del. Luke Clippinger, Del. Dereck Davis and Sen. Thomas “Mac” Middleton) that got this bill passed. We will work to make sure paid sick leave becomes a right and a reality for all Marylanders.
Join us and tell your legislator to override the Governor’s veto or spread the message below on social media.
An artist, gamer, and movie lover, Curtis McLaughlin (above) has been part of the Health Care for the Homeless Art Group for more than five years.
Art is one of my coping skills. I can be anywhere and create art wherever I go.
Client storytelling is a staple of the nonprofit business model, ever present in advocacy, clinic tours, fundraising—and news articles like the one you are reading right now.
The Trans Rights Advocacy Coalition (TRAC) has been the driving force in championing trans rights policy changes in Maryland. Due to stigma and structural discrimination, transgender people—particularly transgender people of color—experience high rates of homelessness. Following the implementation of the Trans Health Equity Act in January, we talked with TRAC leadership about their work and community.
Since starting in January 2022, REI Health Specialist Arie Hayre-Somuah, LMSW, MPH has worked with our clinical teams to identify health disparities and move us closer to health equity. This year, she is turning her focus to the topic of health literacy.