Thank you for joining us at the 1st annual EF Day of Action!
Dear Essentials First community,
When my mom, Nickhath Sheriff, and I started Essentials First in 2017, it meant packing hygiene kits at our dining table and making Dollar Tree runs with friends and family to gather supplies. I never imagined that work would grow into three locations across King County, or that it would one day bring us into the Washington State Legislature.
Essentials First is the only Washington based nonprofit solely focused on expanding equitable access to basic personal and household hygiene items.
This week, our first Day of Action put us in rooms with lawmakers in Olympia to position hygiene insecurity as a public health and dignity issue that deserves real policy attention. After years of community work and research, seeing those conversations happen inside the Capitol felt surreal.
Some highlights from the day:
• 46 back to back legislative meetings
• 50 attendees and advocates from across Washington State
• Getting to be joined by Rep.Osman Salahuddin, Rep. Janice Zahn, and Sen. Yasmin Trudeau who took time out of their busy days to uplift our youth advocates, engage on our policy goals, and warmly connect with our group
Together we:
• Elevated hygiene poverty as a statewide policy issue
• Positioned Essentials First as a policy partner and legislative resource
• Advocated to protect core systems (like SNAP and Medicaid) that keep families stable and reduce hygiene insecurity
• Began building support for a long term slate of hygiene focused policy solutions, including the hygiene tax exemption in the Millionaires Tax Bill
I am also so grateful for Irene Muller, my partner in policy, who has been dreaming up and working toward this day with me for years. Getting to finally see it happen together meant everything.
I am proud of how far this work has come and excited for what it is becoming. Please stay tuned for action alerts from our team.
In solidarity,
Nabrath Sheriff
Chief Policy and Civic Engagement Officer
P.S. To stay up to date and hear first about opportunities to get involved, please subscribe to our Advocacy list here.
