Latest news with #JocelynSmith
Otago Daily Times
24-05-2025
- General
- Otago Daily Times
Community backs appeal to tune of $10K
Salvation Army Captains Paul and Jocelyn Smith with Cameron McIntosh, 19, of Oamaru, who spent eight hours collecting for the Red Shield Appeal. PHOTO: JULES CHIN The Salvation Army Red Shield appeal in the Waitaki District made over $10,000 this year thanks to volunteers and generous public support. The funds raised will go directly into the community through welfare support, food banks and social services. Salvation Army Captain Jocelyn Smith was "really, really happy" with the results. "We had Scouts and the Lions clubs, the three high schools and volunteers from all over the place. "We cracked just over $10,000. It's great. We needed that." Last year, the Salvation Army produced over 700 food parcels for people in need. The high cost of living had since increased demand. Capt Smith said the appeal was also a great way for Salvation Army volunteers to be face-to-face with the public. "People say beautiful things, such as I want to give to the Sallies, my son's in rehab at the moment and you guys are helping him to get sober. Or you guys helped me when we had no food and got us through a really tough time and we really appreciate it." Those stories were "golden". Capt Smith said the amount of money, resources and personnel required to keep up the community support was "big", with only one staff member working 20 hours a week and three part-time volunteers helping with the food bank.
The Guardian
16-04-2025
- Politics
- The Guardian
American women and children are in crisis. Republicans are about to make it worse
Women and children are under threat in America. Jocelyn Smith of Roswell, New Mexico, knows this too well. 'I'm disabled, taking care of my disabled daughter. I work, and I volunteer to help feed and house my community,' she told me. 'Yet I need assistance affording meals for my family. Something is broken.' Smith knows, but did you know, that in the United States, nearly 43% of women – and almost half of all children – are poor or low-income? And that last year, families with children experienced the largest single-year increase in homelessness, with nearly 40% more people in families with children experiencing homelessness? And what if I told you that Donald Trump's agenda – expressed through his more than 100 harmful executive actions, Elon Musk's Doge cuts, and his budget making its way through his Republican-majority Congress – will make things even worse for women and children? I bet you'll be pretty angry. Smith is. 'Is Congress working on any of this?' she asks about the struggles of working families. 'Unfortunately, no.' As she wrote in a recent op-ed, 'they're doing the opposite right now. In fact, the GOP budget proposal could slash $880 billion from Medicaid and $230 billion from food assistance. They're also cutting government agencies that assist with affordable housing, transportation, safety, veterans, and children with disabilities.' The final amounts of those cuts will vary, but the numbers stand to be huge and devastating. Why? Because the GOP is looking for at least $4.5tn in more tax breaks for corporations and the wealthiest Americans. 'They are reaching into my very shallow pockets, into my daughter's life-saving medical care to pay for it,' Smith says. A new paper I co-authored for Repairers of the Breach and the Institute for Policy Studies tries to reckon with what these costs would mean for working Americans. For women and children, we found that some of the harshest blows will come in healthcare access and in help putting food on the table. Nearly one in five women and almost half of all children rely on Medicaid or its Children's Health Insurance Program for healthcare. The House Republican budget resolution calls for potential cuts of hundreds of billions of dollars from Medicaid – as much as $880bn by 2034, as Smith points out. And a shocking 9 million people, disproportionately women and children, could lose all food assistance under the proposed supplemental nutrition assistance (Snap) cuts. Children could also miss out on food at school, since the Republican House budget proposal also calls for a $12bn cut to public schools' free and reduced meals programs. This would eliminate 24,000 schools – serving 12 million students – from the program. Beyond food and healthcare, these cuts and proposals would also harm women and children in countless other ways. Nationally, women are already paid 18% less than men, which contributes to their higher likelihood of poverty. But now, nearly 3 million pregnant workers are at risk of losing their jobs amid doubts that Trump will properly enforce the Pregnant Workers Fairness Act, which provides worker protections for pregnant women. That's especially egregious when you consider that 22 million women and girls of reproductive age live in states where their reproductive rights have been either eliminated or significantly eroded since justices appointed by Trump helped overturn Roe v Wade. Trump's budget cuts could also lead to 40,000 children losing their childcare – and affect 2.4 million children's access to childcare and early childhood education. That could have negative effects that follow those kids around the rest of their lives, in addition to imposing greater hardships on their parents. Other cuts target funding for the National Institutes of Health (NIH) research on health disparities, including Black maternal and fetal health, as well as $11.4bn in state and community health department grants. And of course all this comes alongside Trump's anti-DEI executive actions, which target anti-discrimination protections for transgender children and transgender women. One of the few winners in this budget is the mass deportation system, which is poised to see significant increases. Yet the immigration raids and deportations this will fund will separate families – including up to 4.4 million US citizen children with an undocumented parent and another 850,000 undocumented minors. None of this is popular. By large majorities, Americans across the political spectrum oppose cuts to Medicaid, Snap and other safety net programs, as well as deportations that separate families and target Dreamers who came here as young children. It's no wonder that countless women and children were among the millions who turned out for 5 April's 'Hands Off' rallies. I agree with Jocelyn Smith, who asks: 'I don't think this is fair. Do you?' Karen Dolan is a federal safety net expert and a fellow at the Institute for Policy Studies.
Yahoo
12-03-2025
- Yahoo
San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office to honor fallen deputies with monument
( – This year marks 175 years of service for the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office. In that time, the sheriff's office has lost several of its own. This year, the department hopes to break ground on a memorial monument that will honor their legacy for generations to come. 'We've had eight fallen in the history of the department. Five deputies and three constables,' Historical Committee Member Lt. Aaron Dunsing said. Video Above: Thousands honor fallen officers during National Police Week (May 2024) Lt. Dunsing is a 26-year veteran of the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office. 23 of those years have been spent as an honor guard member. 'With organizations this big, we have more people that are getting hired and, as time goes on people tend to forget or not remember the fallen, or they weren't around when they gave the ultimate sacrifice,' Lt. Dunsing said. Lt. Dunsing's father also served on the honor guard and worked for the sheriff's office for over 30 years. During that time, the department lost two of its own in the 1980s, Michael Coleman and Dighton Little. 'I have a huge connection with the families, so to be a part of this memorial is just a huge honor,' Lt. Dunsing said. The planned memorial will face south and include a wall with the names of the fallen, memorial benches with plaques for key donors, and a statue of two current honor guard members holding a folded flag. 'When the foundation presented it to me, I will not lie. It brought a tear to my eye,' Honor guard member Sgt. Jocelyn Smith said. Sgt. Jocelyn Smith and Correctional Officer Cornell Gray Jr. were selected as models for the memorial monument, and they said it's an honor they don't take lightly. The sheriff's office said they are both honor guard members and examples of the department's best. 'Within the office, there's a spot where a lot of us walk by every day that honors our fallen,' Ofc. Gray Jr. said. 'A few of us make a point to say good night gentleman, good morning gentleman. This will be another way for us to say hello and goodbye.' However, the new memorial monument comes with a hefty price tag of more than $500,000. About half of that amount has been raised by the community so far. 'We understand that this is a big ask, and it is expensive. 'However, the reason why is that we're building this monument so that it will last forever,' Lt. Dunsing said. The memorial is not being paid out of the county budget or taxpayers' funding. 'It's very humbling just to be a member of the honor guard and to be a member of this department. Having a memorial outside that everyone can recognize the fallen officers, our brothers that have fallen before us so that they will never be forgotten and not only be cherished by the sworn and non-sworn members of the department but also the private citizens that come to visit,' Sgt. Smith said. Instead, the sheriff's office says it received special permission to build the memorial with community donations. 'It's an opportunity to take that moment, recognize those that have fallen, and move into the day knowing that you're going to make a difference,' Sgt. Smith said. The memorial and fundraising is an effort the sheriff's office believes enough people in the community will rally behind. 'This gives us a chance to spotlight our members that have fallen as well, so it means a lot to us as a sheriff's office community,' Ofc. Gray Jr. said. There are three tiers for donors for the project, but the San Joaquin County Sheriff's Office welcomes donations of any amount to go toward the memorial. There is about $261,500 still left to raise. Tier 1 includes a memorial challenge coin and a letter of appreciation from the sheriff's office, Tier 2 includes the memorial challenge coin, letter of appreciation and a bronze plaque with the donor's name along the memorial bench and Tier 3 includes the challenge coin, letter of appreciation, bronze plaque and an 18-inch, 50-pound replica statue of the memorial monument. 'We did discuss different ideas for the project, and this was the best idea so that we can ensure it will last for many, many not years, but decades to come, so this is always going to be here,' Lt. Dunsing said. 'The fact that the community has such a big chance to be part of this memorial is amazing. It's not coming out of taxpayer dollars or anything of that nature. Everyone gets a chance to have their hands in it and memorialized in a sense as well,' Ofc. Gray Jr. said. Anyone interested in donating can reach out directly to Lt. Dunsing here. The sheriff's office hopes to break ground on the memorial by the end of July. Construction is expected to take about 60 days. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
