Did you know stories are one of our most powerful tools for changing hearts and minds? Stories are personal, they're real, and they really paint the picture of what's really happening on the ground.

MomsRising has brought your stories around the importance of healthcare, early learning and food justice, and the heartbreak of gun violence, deportation and the criminal justice system, and so much more right to our leaders. Truly: everyone from past Presidents of the United States to small-town Mayors have heard the voices of MomsRising members like you. It makes a huge difference.

This week's #5Actions roundup keeps the drumbeat going around gun safety and immigration, and also asks for a fresh round of stories on some of our most urgent campaigns. Please take a moment to click through on some of the items below and share what an issue means to you, whether it's a personal experience or why you fight for that cause.  

Let's do this! 

1. Quick Signature to Support Young People Rising for Gun Safety

BACKGROUND: Young people across the country are calling BS on adult excuses for failing to achieve any progress on gun safety. They are rising up to fight for their own safety and future, and calling on members of Congress to reject the NRA. The influence of the National Rifle Association (NRA) is driving our government’s massive failure to even attempt to reduce gun violence. Politicians who continue to accept campaign contributions from the NRA and gun industry PACs implicitly support an all-types-of-guns-everywhere-for-everyone agenda, which points in only one direction: more gun violence. Something is happening. When Emma Gonzalez spoke, she projected the pain and sense of betrayal shared by her entire generation over the fact that adults have not delivered on our most sacred charge: to keep them safe. Now Emma and young people across the country are calling BS on adult excuses for failing to achieve any progress on gun safety. They are rising up to fight for their own safety and future. As adults, our job now is to help our children succeed where we have failed. We hear them and support them as they begin to speak their truth to power to save their own lives.

2. Tell D.H.S. Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen: Separating Infants and Children from Their Parents at the Border is Inhumane!

BACKGROUND: Join us in telling D.H.S. Secretary Kirstjen Nielsen that we strongly oppose the Department of Homeland Security’s proposed inhumane policy of separating parents from their infants and children at the border! ICE has already agreed to the policy, and it is now up to the new D.H.S. Secretary, Kirstjen Nielsen, to sign it, formally making it DHS policy. Ripping children from their mothers’ arms and sending them off to a different facility is unfathomable and should never become policy.

3. Share your Birth Story to Help us Fight for Maternal Justice!

BACKGROUND: More U.S. women are dying from pregnancy or childbirth complications today than in recent history. The U.S. has one of the worst maternal mortality rates of any developed nation. There are also scary racial disparities. In the past 5 decades, Black women have consistently experienced an almost 4-times greater risk of death from pregnancy complications than White women. This increased risk is independent of age, parity, or education. This is why we need YOUR story. Have you experienced health complications related to birth before, during or after delivery? Have you or someone you loved gone through a traumatic birth experience? Have you experienced unsatisfactory care or access to care when it came to maternity and/or birth? Share your thoughts and experiences with MomsRising and we’ll include it in materials we use to educate our nation and decisionmakers about the maternal health problem in this country as we work to ensure that the health of women and their children are made a priority!

4. Share your SNAP and Medicaid Experiences

BACKGROUND: Some lawmakers are proposing to add strict work-related requirements to programs like SNAP (food stamps), Medicaid, and housing assistance--programs which provide critical support to millions of families. We want to show how work-related requirements would affect real moms, dads, children, and concerned voters. Your experiences don’t need to be dramatic, long or well-written to be powerful and you can share your story anonymously if you prefer. Tell us how SNAP, Medicaid, and/or housing assistance has helped your family and what it would mean if restrictions were placed on the program. When you share your story with us, we’ll share your thoughts and experiences with key decision-makers in your state and in Washington, D.C. Your brief thoughts can make a huge difference in the upcoming fight to protect Medicaid, SNAP, and housing assistance!

5. Donate Now to Fuel the Fight Against Deadly Gun Violence!

Your contribution today will help:

• BLOCK THE NRA and GUN LOBBY: Young people across the country are calling BS on adult excuses for failing to achieve any progress on gun safety. They are rising up to fight for their own safety and future, and calling on members of Congress to reject the NRA. With your support, we’ve got got their back. We’re mobilizing members and blitzing members of Congress, urging them to reject donations from the gun lobby.
• BAN SEMI-AUTOMATIC ASSAULT WEAPONS AND HIGH-CAPACITY MAGAZINES: The AR-15, a military-style assault rifle, was used in the Parkland, Newtown, Orlando, and Las Vegas shootings, to name just a few. It is the weapon of choice for mass murderers. No civilian should have access to military-style semi-automatic killing machines or high capacity magazines. With your help, we’re boosting our campaign on Congress to ban military-style assault weapons and high-capacity magazines.
• #MOMSVOTE: If lawmakers won’t listen, moms and women WILL vote them out! We have a huge opportunity — and strong MOMentum — to change the game to benefit kids, women, and families this fall. With your contribution, we’re going to drive massive mom turnout for the midterm elections through our #MomsVote program.

Thank you for all you do. 

- Kristin, Karen, Gloria, Khadija, Xochitl, Elyssa, Nate, and the MomsRising Team

P.S. This entire list is also on the MomsRising.org blog here. Be sure to share the link with family and friends!