I’m a mom, a community organizer, a small business owner, and State Representative for House District 42. I grew up in Littleton, went to college in New Orleans to study political science, became a single mother at 23, and returned to Colorado where I eventually built a family with my husband, Kevin. We have raised four kids who are now in high school and college – while I’m still paying my own student loans. Over the last twenty years, we’ve experienced living paycheck to paycheck, faced the high cost of childcare, medical coverage (sometimes having insurance, sometimes not), and skyrocketing housing costs – plus, we’ve navigated the public education system, with four very different children.
People should earn a living wage with 40 hours of work. The American Dream should be available to all through higher wages, benefits, and an increased quality of life. We cannot sit idly by while the middle class disintegrates and the wealthy become wealthier while the rest of us face insurmountable struggle.