America’s moms and families are urging Congress to build back better by investing in the care infrastructure our country, our economy, and our families urgently need. Millions of people are coming together on this National Care Day of Action to demand that Congress build back better with jobs, care and justice -- and to lift up the importance of care workers who are primarily women, who are disproportionately immigrants and women of color, who keep our children safe and learning, who allow seniors and people with disabilities to live with dignity and independence at home, and who are core to our communities and economy.

As part of the National Care Day of Action, 5,700 MomsRising volunteers stepped forward to handwrite postcards to members of the U.S. Senate, totalling more than 140,000 postcards, to urge them to build a care infrastructure. In addition, MomsRising has organized two dozen postcard-writing events across the country this month to send the message to U.S. Senators that we need a care infrastructure that includes paid leave when a new baby arrives or serious illness strikes, universal child care, access to home- and community-based services for people with disabilities and the aging, a permanently expanded Child Tax Credit, living wages, and a path to citizenship for care and essential workers.

“A robust care infrastructure will lift families, boost the economy, enable parents to work, and create good jobs,” said MomsRising Executive Director and CEO Kristin Rowe-Finkbeiner. “Care work is work and also makes all work possible. A care infrastructure is essential to our families and our future. It will be both job enabling and job creating, lifting businesses and keeping moms and caregivers in the jobs they need. Moms need Congress to pass the Build Back Better plans, including the American Jobs Plan and American Families Plan, so we can have a just recovery that allows families to thrive.”

The postcard-writing parties will also spread the word that the expanded Child Tax Credit benefit of up to $300 per month per child begins on July 15. Ninety percent of parents qualify for this new program, which has the potential to reduce child poverty in the United States by half, provide economic stimulus, and help parents afford child care so they can work. It can be the difference between going hungry and putting food on the table, living in a car or a home, and accessing quality child care or leaving the workforce.

As part of the push to build a care infrastructure, MomsRising members are also urging Congress to make the expanded Child Tax Credit permanent, rather than letting it end in December. The organization created a video featuring members of Congress and the administration, children, and actors America Ferrera and Alyssa Milano that provides information on how to access the newly expanded tax credit. MomsRising is planning bilingual paid and unpaid social media, twitterstorms, emails, and texts to share information about the expanded Child Tax Credit and how to access it.