11/7/2005
----National TRIO Community Call In Day -----
Please get involved!
Thursday, November 10th is the national TRIO call-in day to Capitol Hill. Please call your Members of Congress and Senators and address the TRIO talking points listed below. The toll-free number is:
800-426-8073
You will be calling the US Capitol switch board. Once you get an operator; please ask to be connected to your Representative's or Senator's office. (If you are unsure about your Representative's name, you can visit www.congress.org where you can insert your home address and identify your member of the House.)
Once you have been connected to your Member's or Senator's office, please state the following.
My name is ____ and I live in _____. I am a TRIO (director, student, alumni, parent, friend, etc) and am calling on behalf of the __#__ TRIO students that live in Mr./Mrs./Ms. ______ district/state.
I am calling to express my concern over the possibility that there will be an across-the-board budget cut of up to 5% to the Labor/HHS/Education bill, a cut that would affect the TRIO programs. Although TRIO has a demonstrated record of success, the current funding level only allows approximately 6 percent of the eligible population to be served. Any across-the-board cut would jeopardize current, successful programs in (your city or state).
(Please add any personal anecdotes about how these drastic cuts will affect you and your community.) Please also address the following three important TRIO characteristics:
1. Focused on Early Intervention
Two of the TRIO Programs, Talent Search and Upward Bound, are early intervention programs. These programs effectively reach students in grades six through 12 who have college potential but often do not recognize or understand their academic and career options beyond high school. Each year, these two programs keep thousands of promising young low-income and minority students in school and focused on career and college success.
2. TRIO Programs are Designed for First-Generation & Low-Income
Two-thirds of the students in the TRIO Programs come from families with incomes under $24,000 (family of four), where neither parent graduated from college. In most cases, parents have no higher education experience, do not understand the postsecondary process and do not necessarily value a higher education.
3. TRIO Effectiveness is Built on Relationships
Over a period of several months or years, TRIO Professionals build both personal and professional relationships with their students. Such positive relationships are critical to the success of every TRIO Program. The staff of each TRIO Program creates a climate of support for students as they strive to move out of poverty and dependence. As a result of these strong positive relationships, many TRIO college graduates periodically return to their programs to encourage and inspire current students.
It is important that we get as many people to call on Thursday as possible. Please pass this along to your friends, neighbors and others in your community who have been affected by the TRIO programs.
Attached to this email is also a list of the TRIO programs and students by District and State. Please use this information when speaking with the Congressional staffer to personalize the programs to the area.