Message from the Executive Director:
Giving to Support the Change You Believe In
by Charity Eleson
In this column, Charity considers the importance of contributing financially to the causes that are important to you, as exemplified by the actions of her father, who continues to work largely in order to maintain his support for the organizations and causes he cares about.
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Another Brutal Budget Brewing
by Jon Peacock
State budget season is nearly upon us, and the 2009-11 edition promises to be an agonizing one. The Governor and Legislature will be faced with the daunting task of addressing an enormous structural deficit, largely the product of several years of filling holes with a patchwork of short-term fixes. The solution will be made more elusive by various potential hits to revenue and upward pressures on spending. In this article, Jon assesses the magnitude of the problem.
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Early Learning Coalition Launches 'Great Start' Agenda
by Dave Edie
The Wisconsin Early Learning Coalition has unveiled its new policy agenda--and a new website--for early care and education. Under the slogan "Great Start: Early Learning Matters," the Coalition is proposing investments to enhance children's early development and to support families. In this article, Dave lays out the agenda's goals and strategies, as well as the rationale behind them.
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Coming Together in Support of Families
by Deborah McNelis
By now, most of you have (we hope) heard about our upcoming Child Policy Forum featuring a luncheon presentation by international child development superstar T. Berry Brazelton. Deborah had the chance to chat with Dr. Brazelton. Here she gives kind of a teaser preview of what he will be talking about in Madison on Nov. 20.
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On the ground with...
Jon Stellmacher, Executive Vice President and Chief Administrative Officer, Thrivent Financial for Lutherans
interview by Bob Jacobson
Jon Stellmacher is deeply involved in a number of initiatives related to poverty and early education. In this interview, he discusses the importance of business leaders being actively engaged in the dialog about building strong families and strong communities.

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Did you know that you can access all sorts of useful data about the well-being of Wisconsin's children and families via the WisKids Count portion of our website? There are a lot of tools available for county-by-county comparisons and generating tables, charts, etc. Check it out.

And did you know that WCCF publishes e-newsletters on a variety of specific issues, including health care, early education, economic support, juvenile justice and other youth issues, and budget and tax matters? Well, we do. If you are interested in any of these issues, please consider signing up for one or more of these email bulletins. You can also sign up via that page for action alerts and for one or more of our campaigns. Once you see the impressive volume of work we are doing on the issues that matter to you, you will no doubt feel moved to help support this work by making a donation to WCCF.