With the inauguration days away, the GOP will now be in complete control of the federal government. This will mean reduced taxes on the wealthiest Americans and reduced spending on social programs – healthcare, food benefits, welfare. Some or all of those will be cut in the coming years. Vulnerable Americans are going to be a lot more vulnerable.  And many people are asking what they can do to help.

Use Your Money

Conservatives have long argued that it isn’t the role of government to provide those benefits; it is the responsibility of private charities. Liberals argue that it’s all of us have a responsibility to care for our fellow citizens. Either way, when benefits are cut, more people are going to be in need. Now is the time for all of us to fund the organizations that will help when our tax dollars don’t.

Fund Medical Care

One of the most commonly discussed sources of free and low-cost medical care is Planned Parenthood. Whatever your thoughts on abortion, the organization provides numerous healthcare services entirely unrelated to abortion: cancer screenings, flu shots, STD testing and treatment. In short, they help people who need help.  You can help them.

Perhaps you’re not on board with that, or perhaps you want to you want to help medical care to a broader audience and not necessarily linked to awkward sexual politics.  In that case: Donate to your local free clinic. Pretty much every community has one and they provide vital life-saving primary healthcare services to people with no where else to go. After the Republicans put an end to the ACA (Obamacare), these clinics are going to be a lot busier. I can’t give you a link because I don’t know where you live. Sorry. I don’t work for the NSA. I can tell you how to find them, however:

  • Google your city or county name, your state name, and “free clinic”
  • Go to their website. Find the donate button. It might be on an “about us” page.
  • Donate

Fund Liberty

I’m a relative moderate. I don’t always agree with what the ACLU does.  But they provide a vital counterpoint to government power, especially in a country governed by the far right.  They provide legal counsel, defending freedom of speech, privacy, due process of law, and civil rights.  As voting rights are restricted, dissent is punished, and citizens are threatened for political criticism, that will become more important than ever.

Fund Food

The right wing news sites are already asking whether the food stamp program should be ended. It’s only a matter of time before Congress takes up the call. The program provides food to families living in poverty, primarily to children. Even if food benefits are not cut, any cut in cash benefits will also necessarily affect families’ food budgets. With no other source to feed their children, food pantries are going to need a lot more help.  But, one thing you need to understand, is that your money goes a lot farther than random donations of Kraft Mac & Cheese.  Donate food rather than throwing it away, but a cash donation will help quite a lot more. Food banks can buy in bulk and can buy items that are more urgently needed than that can of creamed corn your 5 year old won’t eat.

Like with the free clinic, I can’t give you specific instructions to find your local food pantry, but once again Google can help.  Follow the same instructions as above. Search for your city or county name, your state and “food bank.”  Go to their website. Donate money.

Whatever our political party and whoever we voted for, we must realize that for a lot of people the recession never ended. Most of these people are not lazy or entitled like we might imagine. Most of them are working hard and are simply underpaid and underemployed. If the government is not going to help them, it is up to the rest of us to step forward.