Citizen Action Weekend 2025 Newsletter, Friday, October 31st
Happy Halloween!
Join Citizen Action of Wisconsin Today!
Citizen Action organizes against SNAP food assistance cut offs and encourages members to donate to food banks.
In Milwaukee, Citizen Action North Side Rising attended a media event at the Milwaukee Teachers’ Education Association in Milwaukee today to announce donations from multiple organizations to the Hunger Task Force in the face of SNAP food assistance cut offs on November 1st.
Citizen Action North Side Rising organizer Maletha Jones spoke at the media event about the calls she is answering from families who are scared and angry. Watch video of Maletha speaking.
The collective effort is to show support for Milwaukee Public School families and our neighbors who depend on these benefits to feed their families.
Watch video of the entire media event.
Read Milwaukee Journal Sentinel article.
Citizen Action Northwest Wisconsin Organizing Cooperative co-hosted a media event in Eau Claire on Wednesday about the devastating cuts to SNAP food assistance at the Community Table (See photo below of Citizen Action member Julia Bennker speaking at the media event.)
Millions of American families are bracing for the country’s largest food assistance program to run dry Nov. 1. Please do what you can to support families in your community.
Citizen Action welcomes Aron Newberry as the new Citizen Action Driftless Co-op Organizer
Aron Newberry brings over four years of organizing experience, building coalitions, and mobilizing communities across Wisconsin. A combat veteran and Bronze Star recipient, he learned early that real leadership means putting the mission and your team above yourself — a principle that continues to guide his work.
After military service, Aron spent more than six years in public health, where he led county-wide COVID vaccination campaigns, reorganized emergency response operations, and coordinated multi-agency partnerships. In a rural county with strong anti-vaccine sentiment, he out-organized the opposition to achieve a top-10% vaccination rate in Wisconsin. By the time critics realized they were losing, it was too late. He partnered with the WI DOT, DHS, and UW-La Crosse to open the state’s first competitive mass vaccination facility, proving his ability to build coalitions and deliver results under pressure.
As Workforce Development Manager for Great Rivers United Way, Aron helped organize statewide efforts to expand the Community Health Worker workforce. He coordinated legislative appropriation requests for CHW Medicaid reimbursement and built the Coulee Region CHW Network to advance health equity across the Driftless region.
Aron now serves on the La Crosse City Council, where he builds consensus on complex policy issues and represents working-class families. He is also pursuing an MBA in Healthcare Management at UW-Eau Claire.
Deeply rooted in the Driftless region, Aron believes that real leadership means standing up for what’s right, building teams willing to do hard work, and prioritizing service to the community over personal ambition. He knows lasting change doesn’t come from individual heroes — it comes from organized people building collective power.
Aron lives in La Crosse with his wife and two children.
You can contact him at: Aron.Newberry@citizenactionwi.org
Citizen Action on the doors talking to voters
Attend Climate and Utility Justice Lobby Day, Tuesday, November 11th
Join Citizen Action of Wisconsin and partners from across the state for Climate and Utility Justice Lobby Day on Tuesday, November 11, 2025, from 9:30 AM to 3:00 PM at the Wisconsin State Capitol in Madison.
Citizen Action members will advocate for the Climate Accountability Act, and 2% of Income Utility Rate Cap, while also uplifting additional priorities from our partners working for justice and sustainability.
Participants will receive training and materials before heading into meetings in small teams to share stories, push for a statewide climate plan, a constitutional right to clean air and water, and a utility rate cap to keep energy affordable.
Free transportation is available, including a bus from Milwaukee and carpools from across Wisconsin, with lunch provided. This is your chance to be part of a movement that is holding utilities and state agencies accountable while fighting for equity and environmental justice.
For more information, contact: Kat.Klawes@citizenactionwi.org
Join Citizen Action Healthcare State Action Team!
For too many Wisconsinites, high quality, affordable health coverage is simply out of reach. Even having health insurance does not make health care affordable. Too many of us do not use our insurance because of a well-founded fear of unaffordable deductibles, co-pays, medications, and surprise medical bills.
Many of us are uninsured because we do not get insurance from work, cannot afford the monthly insurance premiums, and don’t qualify for BadgerCare.
Our country’s health care system is driven by profit, prioritizing the interests of the Medical Industrial Complex (insurance conglomerates, Big Pharma, and hospital monopolies) over the health and well being of the American people.
Join us to change it!
If you want to join our Healthcare for All organizing, contact: Kristie.Tweed@citizenactionwi.org
Attend Our Power, Our Future: The People’s Audit of We Energies
Milwaukee neighbors, community partners, and elected leaders are coming together to launch a community-led People’s Audit of We Energies. We’ll outline why this audit matters, the specific data we’re requesting on shutoffs, bills, and reliability, and how those facts will drive concrete solutions like income-based affordability and stronger reliability investments.
When/Where: Saturday, November 1, 9:30 a.m.–12:00 p.m., North Division High School, 1011 W. Center St., Milwaukee. Program runs 10:00–11:30 with an optional story-collection workshop 11:30–12:00.
Attend Citizen Action Health Care Town Hall in Eau Claire, Wednesday, November 5th, 6pm
Citizen Action of Wisconsin’s Northwestern Organizing Cooperative is hosting a Health Care Town Hall community call to action event in Eau Claire on Wednesday, November 5th from 6:00pm-7:30pm in the Riverview Room of the L.E. Phillips Memorial Public Library (400 Eau Claire St).
Citizen Action of Wisconsin is leading the fight in Wisconsin to stop devastating healthcare cuts from the Big Ugly Law (HR1) and to create a system where everyone has access to affordable healthcare. FREE and open to the public!
RSVP appreciated but not required.
Contact Jeremy Gragert for more information: jeremy.gragert@citizenactionwi.org
Attend Housing & Energy Resource Fair in Milwaukee, Thursday, November 6th, 2–4 pm
Citizen Action of Wisconsin and Riverworks Development Corporation are hosting a neighborhood fair to help City of Milwaukee residents in Harambee and Riverwest make homes safer, more efficient, and more affordable, next Thursday, November 6th, 2–4 pm, at Kuumba Juice & Coffee, 274 E Keefe Ave.
Attendees can learn how to use weatherization grants, Focus on Energy rebates, and IRA tax credits to reduce energy bills and tackle repairs like insulation, air sealing, and HVAC or heat pump upgrades. Staff and partners will be on site to check eligibility, start applications, and map out next steps. Residents are encouraged to bring a recent utility bill to receive practical guidance tailored to their home.
For more information, contact: Kat.Klawes@citizenactionwi.org
Citizen Action Southeast Organizing Co-op Weekly Update
Our organizing keeps growing stronger across the Southeast region! From health care to climate justice and neighborhood outreach, we’re continuing to move people into action.
🏥 Health Care Team – Wednesday, November 12 at 6 PM (Citizen Action office)
Our Health Care Town Hall has been rescheduled for January, giving us more time to make it even more powerful! The Health Care Team meeting is still on for November 12 at 6 PM — join us as we plan our next steps to defend Medicaid and expand access to quality care for all.
🌿 Climate Team – Wednesday, November 5 at 6 PM (Citizen Action office)
Our first Climate Team meeting is almost here! We’ll dig into plans for clean energy, transportation, and climate resilience, and prepare for the big Climate & Utility Justice Lobby Day coming up in November.
🚪 Canvassing
Canvassing continues to grow every week! We’re out in neighborhoods connecting with community members, having meaningful conversations, and building our movement from the ground up. It’s fun, energizing, and effective — join us for a shift!
🏛️ Climate & Utility Justice Lobby Day – November 11 in Madison
Citizen Action members from across Wisconsin will unite in Madison for our Climate & Utility Justice Lobby Day! We’ll meet with legislators and demand real investments in clean energy, affordable utilities, and public health.
For more information, contact ruben.aquino@citizenactionwi.org.
Citizen Action in the News
Citizen Action’s Robert Kraig was on the Earl Ingram Show to discuss the rise of autocratic forces in the U.S. and Wisconsin, and what each of us needs to do to prevent the consolidation of authoritarian rule.
Summary of interview here.
Listen here.
Listen to “A.I. data centers & democracy” Battleground Wisconsin Podcast
We take a deep dive into the escalating data center debate in Wisconsin for the entire show.
We welcome IUPAT District Council No. 7, Director of Governmental Affairs Office, Andy Buck to tell us why their union supports the current data centers that will be built union and how IUPAT members get work and sustain work.
Next, State Senator Chris Larson joins us to provide his political perspective and educate us on the state’s role in enabling the current dynamic and how we need to see the populist organizing opportunity the data centers provide.
Finally, 620AM WTMJ’s Kristin Brey returns to the show to discuss her insightful observation that there is a unique coalition of political forces aligned against the new data centers and what it says about the current political environment.
Listen to the show.
Social media post of the week
