• Designing Healthy Workers (formerly known as the "three-share" program) anew model for providing affordable health insurance to uninsured adults working for small businesses. Healthy Workers was unanimously approved by the Santa Clara County Board of Supervisors in June 2007. In fall 2007, the state bill authorizing implementation of Healthy Workers was passed, making it the only health coverage expansion bill to successfully pass the Legislature and be signed into law this year. The program is now on track to launch in February 2008 with an initial target of 1,000 enrollees.
  • Publishing a major new study of economic trends affecting working families in our region: Life in the Valley Economy 2007. Known as LIVE 2007, this framing report shines a spotlight on the tough times facing working people and the middle class in Silicon Valley as they struggle to hold on to good jobs, provide for their families, and secure their future. LIVE 2007 serves as a tool for community members, activists, and policymakers to learn about local trends in jobs, wages, health care, housing, education, and to advocate for the issues that matter to their families and communities.
  • Pioneering the Children’s Health Initiative in 2001, which now provides health coverage to more than 121,000 Santa Clara County kids and has been replicated in seventeen counties.
  • Winning the 1998 San Jose Living Wage Ordinance and subsequently expanding living wage and labor peace principles to over 7,600 workers, among them rental car agency drivers at San Jose International Airport.
  • Advocating for expanded access to public transportation, especially for low income and transit-dependent residents. Working with a broad range of committed community allies, successes have included the expansion of the Light Rail system to San Jose's East Side; staving off cuts to bus services that protected transit access for thousands of low income residents and preserved hundreds of jobs for transit workers; and spearheading creation of the RIDE Task Force, a first-of-its kind commitment to give community groups an institutional voice in transit policy.
  • Bringing together an historic collaboration in support of affordable housing, which won increased affordable housing commitments from the cities of San Jose and Santa Clara as well as Santa Clara County.
  • Leading the effort to win City Council approval for the Community Benefits concept in 2003, which put San Jose at the forefront of efforts to institutionalize community oversight of development subsidies, and applying accountable development principles to win community benefits, including affordable housing, living wage, reduced rent for childcare facilities, and benefits for small businesses.
  • Creating a model for smart and equitable growth in the planned major development of Coyote Valley, including a commitment to 5,000 affordable housing units and a proposal for two community health clinics.
  • Launching Team San Jose, a public/private entity formed in 2004 to manage the San Jose Convention Center, which has prevented privatization, preserved high-quality jobs, and turned the center's finances around.
  • Developing LeaderNet, a three-month popular education and leadership training institute that has built capacity for over 250 community and elected leaders since 1997. In 2005, the institute underwent a comprehensive redesign, including the creation of an ongoing program series for LeaderNet alumni.
  • Engaging South Bay clergy and laity in nurturing a progressive faith-based voice through The Interfaith Council. In 2005, the Interfaith Council came together with progressive faith organizations throughout the state to create a new interfaith network, Clergy and Laity United for Economic Justice of California (CLUE-CA).
  • Collaborating with partners in Los Angeles, Oakland, and San Diego to found the Partnership for Working Families, dedicated to assisting organizations throughout the country to build "policy-action centers" with the resources and expertise to support progressive community coalitions. PWF helps regional coalitions develop the capacity to design a vision for living wages, community benefits, and other policies to hold government accountable to working families.
CONTACT INFORMATION Working Partnerships USA
2102 Almaden Road, Ste. 107 San Jose, CA 95125
p: 408.269.7872
f: 408.269.0183
e: info@wpusa.org

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