I've been helping to coordinate the Lobby Day visits for EAD participants from NY, NJ, and Mississippi. I work in conjunction with the main coordinator from Children's Defense Fund. We started contacting these offices at the end of January, when I'm pretty sure March felt like the 22nd Century for many of them.
But the end of last week and this week has yielded some encouraging signs of life from many of the offices that I've been nagging over the last month. My greatest feelings of satisfaction came Tuesday and Wednesday, when staffers from Senator Menendez (NJ) and Senator Schumer (NY) called back and confirmed a meeting time. Score! That means the 30 people from NY and the 18 from NJ can have a big group meeting with staff from those offices (Senator Clinton's office had been very quick to respond early on). Mississippi (I enjoy spelling it out) had very helpful and responsive staff, so those 3 EADers will meet with staffers from both senators and most of their representatives.
Other meetings with Rep. offices are falling into place, now that schedulers and staff are verifying that March 10 will occur soon. Things haven't been completely easy, and I've had my fair share of awkward mistaken identities (uh, what office are you calling from?), but I'm glad that things look like they'll work out fine.
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