washington dc
so i have returned from my Eating Disorder Coalition Lobby trip in DC and I have sooo much to share...
first of all, i had a blast. it was so empowering to be able to have an influence on mental health parity as well as the "dream" bill (actually titled the FREED Act) I lobbied with 6 other individuals. 2 others from Michigan and 4 from New York. Together we visited the offices of our state congressman and senators. I was in the office of Debbie Stabenow, Tim Walberg, Hilary Clinton, Carl Levin, Vito Fossellaa, and Randy Kuhl. I actually met Carl Levin and Randy Kuhl and was almost lucky enough to meet Hilary Clinton. I also met Patrick Kennedy and spoke with him for a few minutes and shook hands. He is the forerunner on our dream bill so we honored him at a reception later in the day.
anyway we made a lot of progress. im supposed to meet with walberg later this month in his michigan office on my own to talk further about the dream bill. vito's office seemed to at least consider co-signing on the mental health parity bill as well as kuhl's office. hilary's office said they definitely would even sign the dream bill which is huge for us.
needless to say it was the experience of a lifetime. i'm definitely attending next year.
first of all, i had a blast. it was so empowering to be able to have an influence on mental health parity as well as the "dream" bill (actually titled the FREED Act) I lobbied with 6 other individuals. 2 others from Michigan and 4 from New York. Together we visited the offices of our state congressman and senators. I was in the office of Debbie Stabenow, Tim Walberg, Hilary Clinton, Carl Levin, Vito Fossellaa, and Randy Kuhl. I actually met Carl Levin and Randy Kuhl and was almost lucky enough to meet Hilary Clinton. I also met Patrick Kennedy and spoke with him for a few minutes and shook hands. He is the forerunner on our dream bill so we honored him at a reception later in the day.
anyway we made a lot of progress. im supposed to meet with walberg later this month in his michigan office on my own to talk further about the dream bill. vito's office seemed to at least consider co-signing on the mental health parity bill as well as kuhl's office. hilary's office said they definitely would even sign the dream bill which is huge for us.
needless to say it was the experience of a lifetime. i'm definitely attending next year.