Issue link: https://nnumagazine.uberflip.com/i/327426
MICHIGAN A ctions often speak louder than words. In Michigan, nurs- es not only pass out cards listing the principles of the Main Street Contract for the Ameri- can People at every opportunity, they have started teaching their communities and representatives by example about key points of the contract through two successful events. On July 4, Michigan Nurses Association members from Alpena Regional Medical Center did what the local school district, which has been heavily hit by Gov. Rick Snyder's budget cuts, could no longer do: equip children with needed school supplies. They used the annual Fourth of July parade to talk about the Main Street contract's demand for a quality public education and pass out 150 book bags filled with pens, pencils, and notebooks. The schools are facing teaching staff reductions, reduced services and programs for needy students, and reduced state funding by more than $400 per student. The book bags were distributed to at least one child from every elementary class in every school whose family is suffering financial hardship. "We feel that the students who attend Alpena's schools should not be unfairly targeted by legislators for budget problems they did not create," said the Alpena RNs. "We are committed to healing soul and spirit as our children learn and grow." A little more than a week later, Michigan nurses tackled the Main Street contract's call for protection from hunger by staging Gover- nor Snyder's No-soup-for-you soup kitchen July 13 on the Capitol grounds in Lansing. On a beautiful, sunny day, more than 100 poor and homeless people from the streets of Lans- ing joined nurses, teachers, and members of other unions for chicken noodle soup, sand- wiches, and cookies. Nurses dressed in bright red scrub tops, who had driven in from all over Michigan, pulled on plastic gloves and served the people with a glad heart. The event produced many memorable moments and speakers: the nurse who took a bowl of soup and a sandwich to a homeless woman in a motorized chair who couldn't make it onto the grass to get into our tent; Susan Cecero, executive director of Advent House Ministries in Lansing, shar- ing how her group's ability to serve the poor and needy are being stretched too far; nurs- es and MNA staff using smart phones to help a patient find where a prescription could be filled; Deb McMillan, a Lansing teacher who brings food for her students because they don't have anything to eat at home and quite often also sends food home with them over the weekend; and the nurse who had to stop serving in the soup line to tend to a man having an asthma attack. Within seconds, she had the man sitting, using his inhaler, and was using her cell phone to call his case worker. "It's obvious," said MNA President Jeff Breslin, RN pointing to the Capitol, "that not enough people in there are thinking about what's going on out here in the streets of Lansing. That's why the nurses are start- ing to do events like this." Being able to apply the principles of the MSC in practical ways is taking Michigan nurses places they may not have gone before, and they say the ride is incredible. —Ann Sincox J U LY | A U G U S T 2 0 1 1 W W W . N A T I O N A L N U R S E S U N I T E D . O R G N A T I O N A L N U R S E 5 Michigan Nurses Turn Up the Heat for a Main Street Contract NewsBriefs_JulAug 8/16/11 5:14 PM Page 5