The system
isn't broken...
it's working as designed
Rattle the Windows is a grassroots movement built from the ground up.
It's a space where poor and marginalized folks are the experts and the leaders who come together to work toward economic justice and equity in our local communities, our state, and our country. We're organizing to make West Virginia a state built on an infrastructure of care that is focused on our values and our families. We shouldn’t be ashamed that we’re stuck in the cycle of poverty, but we also shouldn’t sit in our pain and wait on someone else to advocate for us. This is our moment, perhaps our best chance ever at demanding an equitable society.
We're turning our pain into power.
Let’'s rattle the windows until the glass breaks.
The story that started a movement
In February of 2020, before COVID- 19 pointed out all of our country’s fragilities, Amy Jo Hutchison testified to members of the United States Congress in the House Committee of Oversight and Reform about the struggles of the working poor in America. Within hours, hundreds of people had reached out to her from across the U.S. to share their stories of struggle and resilience.
#RattleTheWindows, a line from
her speech, became a battle cry
across social media.
A movement was born.
CURRENT CAMPAIGNS
child tax credit
It’s been alluded to by a WV Senator that the Child Tax Credit payments will be spent in less than honorable ways. It’s so important that we tell him the truth about how this money is being used. I’m hearing families talk about filling their freezers and cupboards, buying new tires for their cars, and buying school clothes for their kids.
Click here to tell your story of how this money is helping your family. WE are the difference between what they think the truth about us is and what we know it is.
child care
Come on now.
If you have ever lived in WV and needed child care, you know that it’s underfunded, too expensive, and often is unavailable. How do we work when we can’t enroll our kiddos in child care? Quality child care is a must if we’re going to be able to work and become self-reliant.
If you’re a WV parent who has something to say about child care, share your thoughts here!
paid leave
Caring for our loved ones is what we do here in West Virginia. Too often, too many of us are forced between having to take unpaid time off from our jobs because a loved one needs us at home. Whether it’s a child, a spouse, a parent, or ourselves, we all have a paid leave story that speaks directly to the tough choices we have to make when we work and care for our families.
Share your story here so we can tell Congress to pass paid leave for all.
Call Senator Joe Manchin and tell him that we need him to support these pieces of legislation.
304-342-5855
Charleston
304-368-0567
Fairmont
304-264-4626
Eastern Panhandle
202-224-3954
Washington DC
“I was organizing long before I knew it had a name and people did it for a living. I was just a mom who wanted better for my kids and the kids in my community and fought like hell to get it.”
I am a lifelong resident of West Virginia. My lived experience is centered around poverty and raising my children alone.
It took 42 years for me to become brave enough to say to strangers that I am living in poverty. Even now, after the Congressional testimony went viral, numerous podcasts, media hits, and panel discussions, my hands and voice still shake and my knees get wobbly. It’s hard to admit that you’re poor because America treats poverty like it’s a character defect rather than a circumstance. There is so much about poverty that people who have never experienced it don't understand.
