Obama for America

Earlier today over 25 residents of Milwaukee, Wisconsin gathered at a Unite for Change event to share their stories and connect as supporters. Hosted by Annie, one of the Organizing Fellows, the event ended up being almost two hours long, with in-depth discussions about a variety of issues.

Bev, a mother of three, has recently lost her house due to unexpected financial problems. After a drag in the economy, her husband lost her job. And while they struggled to stay afloat, they had to empty their savings account to pay out of pocket for her son’s medical illness.

She first heard about Barack from one of her daughters and decided to go to an event when Barack came to Racine.

He spoke to things that affect the common man. He had ideas and solutions to bring change. I had never heard a politician speak like him. I thought to myself, ‘this guy really knows what’s going on, he knows what I’m going through.’

Since that time, Bev and her daughters have gotten more involved in this campaign and were excited to gather with other supporters today to help towards work towards a stronger economy and affordable healthcare.

Although Joan helps to take care of her eight grandchildren and her aging parents, time is not a factor when it comes to making sure Barack wins in November. After marrying and starting a family as a young adult, her life became busy fast. And after she lost her husband, she was suddenly thrust into single-parent mode.

I was taking care of three teenage boys on a very small income. Life was busy, and it felt like once it starts, it never stops. Now I have a chance to retire, and I have time to reflect on things – what our country is doing and what we are going to leave for the next generations.

And for the first time in generations, we have excitement again. We have hope. We can get rid of corruption in politics, we can see relief and we can leave this place in a much better place. And I'm going to do everything I can to make sure we do.

Kelly is a local school counselor at a downtown Milwaukee high school. She started researching presidential candidates soon after the 2004 election. She was an Edwards supporter for a while before she attended a unique Barack event in Milwaukee.

It was the day of the unexpected Virginia Tech shooting, and Barack didn’t raise any campaign issues during the event. He just told us we needed to talk about how we got to this point. His words, and the discussion as a whole, really touched me.

Kelly went on to explain that she is thousands of dollars in debt due to unreasonable health insurance costs. When companies failed to pay for procedures, she would have to pay out of pocket or take out loans to cover the cost. Barack’s plan for more preventive medical insurance would have saved Kelly the debt that she current has.

After discussions in a group setting and a small group setting, participants were signing up for voter registration drives, planning to write letters to the editor, and getting ready to take action in their communities.

As one participant put it, “when you’re taking on the lobbyists – these people with unlimited amounts of money – it’s going be tough. We have to put up a fight. And it starts from the bottom up. It starts with us.”