This was a hard election cycle. Nationwide, many were distressed and turned off by the tenor of the campaigns. And today, while millions of Americans celebrate, millions more feel defeated. But regardless of which candidate you supported and whether you’re celebrating or somber today, this fact remains: millions of Americans are still counting on us to continue our work together. More than 43 million adults and children live in poverty in our country. Children remain more likely to be poor in America than any other age group, with nearly one in five in poverty last year. One in five children. For African-American children, it’s nearly one in three.

We know from the Coalition on Human Needs' recent national and state reports that it’s expensive to be poor in our country. We also know that effective anti-poverty programs like housing assistance, low-income tax credits, child care subsidies and SNAP lift millions out of poverty and reduce the cost of poverty for millions more. But more needs to be done to reduce the burden of poverty even further, and for more of our neighbors living in and near poverty every day.

That’s why the Coalition on Human Needs is committed to continuing our work to protect low-income and other vulnerable populations. We’re committed to pushing the new Congress and the Trump Administration to continue the progress we’ve made in reducing poverty and raising median household income and the ranks of Americans with health insurance. We’ll continue to fight for investments in broadly-shared prosperity and an economy that works for everyone, securing fair and adequate revenues, and securing responsible savings from wasteful spending in the Pentagon and elsewhere. Within this framework, we’ll continue to fight for a host of issues that could improve the lives of millions of Americans. These are right and essential principles to fight for. This is the work CHN has long done, and this is the work we’ll continue to do going forward.

Stayed tuned for more information in the coming days about ways you can stay in this fight with us. We’re counting on you to continue our work together.

This post was originally published on the Coalition on Human Needs' blog, Voices for Human Needs. Receive similar articles in your inbox by subscribing today, and follow CHN on Facebook and Twitter.