Monroe County NOW is proud to support the 2024 Spencer Pride Festival! We will be tabling at the event. Interested in volunteering at our table? We need volunteers for two of our shifts. We will be registering people to vote just before the Indiana voter registration deadline. Sign up to volunteer at https://www.signupgenius.com/.../20F0E44A8A828A5F49.... See you there!

Come meet and greet candidates for Indiana Senate, Indiana House of Representatives, and Monroe County County Commissioner. Candidates will respond briefly to questions, then meet and converse with voters.

Co-sponsors: Greater Bloomington Chamber of Commerce, League of Women Voters of Bloomiongton-Monroe County, League of Women Voters of Brown County, Monroe County Branch NAACP, and Monroe County NOW

Mark your calendars! The Indiana NOW 2024 State Conference will be held Saturday, August 24, from 9:30am to 4pm at the Allen County Public Library in Fort Wayne. Our Northeast Indiana NOW chapter is hosting this year's conference.

Fort Wayne Mayor Sharon Tucker will welcome attendees. Join us for amazing speakers (others will be announced soon), motivational handouts, planning for the year ahead, and to vote for our next slate of State Council members. There will also be a PAC fundraising event on Friday, August 23. More information will follow.

You don’t want to miss this!

ARE YOU READY TO GO?

Need a place to stay? Reserve your room today! There is a reserved hotel block at the Hilton Hotel at the Grand Wayne Convention Center, located at 1020 S. Calhoun Street. The block is for Friday and/or Saturday night at $129 per night. Be sure to ask for the NOW rate if you call (260-420-1100). You can also make your reservation online at https://www.hilton.com/en/attend-my-event/fwafhhf-now-b5941977-ec6f-4fb4-856e-c384f5c84c12/.

Monroe County NOW is taking a break from Zoom meetings and we're hosting a Get Out the Vote (GOTV) event with allied friends and groups.

2024 is an Important Election Year

Our community needs to be energized.

All of our efforts to Get Out the Vote should be amplified.

Monroe County NOW invites you to a Kick-Off Picnic to Get Out the Vote.

Date: Sunday, July 28

Time: 11am-2pm

Where: Southeast YMCA Lower Shelter at 2125 S. Highland Ave. in Bloomington. This shelter has table space for about 30-40 folks under a roof, so please fee free to bring lawn chairs and/or blankets if you would like to enjoy the time outside. There is a playground right by the shelter, so feel free to bring kids!

If you plan to attend, please RSVP by July 22 via this Sign-Up Genius form to help us get numbers for plates, napkins, and utensils for enough folks. MC NOW will also provide some drinks and sandwiches.

What to Bring: Food item to share, Get Out the Vote materials your organization is using so we can amplify all our efforts, sunscreen, bug spray, and lawn chairs or blankets if you would like to enjoy the time outside the shelter. See you there!

Join Monroe County NOW at the 2024 Women's Market on Saturday, July 27, from 9am to 1pm at City Hall. The Women's Market is hosted by the City of Bloomington Commission on the Status of Women. The event will feature dozens of women's organizations, businesses, and individual creators to inspire us all to get more involved in our communities. MC NOW will be giving out information about our projects to improve the community, registering people to vote, and signing up new members.

Thank you to our tabling volunteers! Thanks to the generosity of your time, we have a fully staffed table for this event. Our treasurer Mandy Yates will be reaching out to you with specific information. We look forward to seeing all of you at the 2024 Women's Market!

Indiana NOW is pleased to announce its 2023 annual conference! Join us on Saturday, November 11, at the Monroe County History Center in Bloomington. Speakers include Indiana gubernatorial candidate Jennifer McCormick, State Senator Shelli Yoder, State Representative Carolyn B. Jackson, and Bloomington's next mayor Kerry Thomson.

Registration begins at 9:45am and the conference will conclude by 3pm. For those attending in person, IN NOW will provide coffee, water, snacks, and lunch from Hive Bloomington. The planning committee has secured a block of rooms at the Hilton Garden Inn in downtown Bloomington, only a few blocks away from the conference. There is also a Zoom option on the registration page. For those who wish to Zoom, the Planning Committee will email information out before the conference.

The Indiana NOW 2023 State Conference is a must-attend event for all advocates of gender equality and women's rights! Join us for a day filled with inspiring discussions, empowering speeches, and networking opportunities. The Monroe County History Center is located at 202 E. 6th St. in Bloomington. Register NOW, as tickets will sell out! See you there!

Monroe County NOW is excited to once again table at the Spencer Pride Festival on Saturday, October 7. We need volunteers for our table set up, shifts, and tear down. Please review the available slots at SignUpGenius and click on the button to sign up. We will reach out to our volunteers with any updates as we receive final details. Thank you for your help!

Monroe County NOW is delighted to host its first in-person chapter meeting in more than three years! Join us Thursday, June 22, from 7:30 to 9pm at the Monroe County Public Library's Downtown Branch (Meeting Room 1C). We have updates on our GOTV efforts, the July 4 Parade, Pride festival plans, and a special guest update from the Monroe County Women's Commission! Two MCNOW Board members are on the MCWC (Susan Hingle and Julie Hardesty) and they will be joined by other commission members to share the latest work from this newly-energized community group. It is a good time to gather and we hope we'll see you there!

For those who need a Zoom option, we are offering a hybrid meeting. For Zoom, advance registration is required for this meeting. Register at https://us02web.zoom.us/meeting/register/tZEsc-qvqToqHdDGG-dV_ERGfKeT1GJWh-Ov.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Women's History Month: We Cannot Go Backwards

What are our options if Roe is overturned?

Join us for our March chapter meeting on Thursday, March 31, at 7:30pm for an important panel discussion.

This month we are excited to welcome Evelyn Smith, State Programs Manager for All-Options Pregnancy Resource Center. Evelyn will talk with us about what All-Options is, what services they provide, and what is on the horizon in Indiana and for abortion rights access. There will be time for questions from the audience.

Zoom pre-registration is required. Register in advance for this meeting at MC NOW March Chapter Meeting.

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting.

Join Monroe County NOW members and friends for our June chapter meeting! We are excited to let you know what we are working on this month and beyond. Have ideas to share? Please bring them to the meeting!

For this meeting, we are hosting the League of Women Voters Bloomington-Monroe County, who will share their presentation, "Working for Fair Voting Maps in Indiana." This presentation is about redistricting reform for federal elections. We will also hear from Bloomington City Councilmember Steve Volan (District 6) about the formation of the local Citizens' Redistricting Advisory Commission regarding redistricting on the local level and what that means for us locally in 2023. Learn how to get involved with that process. Bring your questions for an informative Q & A.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we will conduct our meeting via Zoom. Register in advance for this meeting at https://iu.zoom.us/.../tZcufuytqzgiGtO9Godhq_M6stKZDZrviZva. After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. See you there!

Join Monroe County NOW for a COVID-friendly walk in support of Positive Link's Beyond the Diagnosis: Virtual HIV Visibility Walk & Festival! This is our third year participating and we are super excited to take a walk and raise money for a great cause. Positive Link offers free HIV testing and prevention in our community.

Join our team or donate (or both!) at https://secure.frontstream.com/beyond-the-diagnosis-virtual-hiv-visibility-walk/team/938498.

Meet us at Bryan Park at 5pm on Friday, April 30, for a socially distanced/masked walk. Then join the virtual party (information TBA) to celebrate raising funds for Positive Link.

To learn more about Positive Link, please visit https://iuhealth.org/find-medical-services/positive-link-hiv-services.

Join Monroe County NOW for our April chapter meeting on Sunday, the 18th, at noon! This month, LeNée Carroll, Chief of Staff of the Indiana Senate Democrats, will recap what has happened during Indiana's 2021 legislative session, and let us know what she thinks this summer and the 2022 session may look like.

For the remainder of our meeting, we will go into breakout rooms to start forming statewide coalition building strategies for this summer and beyond. Let's pool our resources and be prepared for the next session. Register in advance for this meeting below.

When: Apr 18, 2021 12:00 PM Indiana (East)

Register in advance for this meeting:
https://iu.zoom.us/.../tZ0qf-CqpjItH90EJAD6Fl_dTEfM-C77u8LC

After registering, you will receive a confirmation email containing information about joining the meeting. See you there!

For our February meeting, Monroe County NOW is proud to have representatives from the Rainbow Coalition at IU come to discuss their recent work empowering and advocating for the representation of underrepresented voices on Indiana University's campus. Come hear how the Rainbow Coalition brought together different multicultural groups as they continue their successful work in giving students of color a seat at the table.

Zoom meeting link

Topic: Monroe County NOW February Meeting
Time: Feb 21, 2021 12:00 PM Indiana (East)

Join from computer or mobile:
https://iu.zoom.us/j/87357583256...

Meeting ID: 873 5758 3256
Password: rainbow

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Join Monroe County NOW members and friends for our September chapter meeting! We will discuss what we are working on. Have ideas to share? Please bring them to the meeting!

We are excited to have Rima Shahid, Executive Director of Women4Change Indiana. Rima will talk about the Clothesline Project. We will also learn about the advocacy work of W4C and discuss ways to collaborate. To learn about W4C, please visit https://www.women4changeindiana.org.

Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, we will conduct our meeting via Zoom. Please note we will record the meeting, so if you are uncomfortable being on a recording, please mute yourself and turn the camera option off. See you then!

Join from computer or mobile:  

https://iu.zoom.us/j/95564601287?pwd=WFZFNEg2UXlEdE1BbXFyM0VQUkFDdz09

Meeting ID: 955 6460 1287

Password: mcNOW

One tap mobile

+13126266799,,95564601287# US (Chicago)

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Join Monroe County NOW for our next Contact Your Reps Party from 5-6:30pm at Cup & Kettle Tea Company! We will have postcards, scripts, and postage to contact our legislators.

Cup & Kettle is located at 208 N. Walnut Street #100 in downtown Bloomington.

Join MC NOW members and friends for our November Legislative Action Committee meeting. We will continue to work on tracking bills in Congress and strategize for taking action. The Democracy Lab is accessible and has off-street parking.

Join Monroe County NOW for our Membership Callout and Contact Your Reps Party from 5 to 7pm at Cup & Kettle Tea, located at 208 N. Walnut St. Become a dues-paying member! And we will have scripts, postage, and other materials to contact our representatives on issues important to us.

The Feminist Student Association at IU will be having its Take Back the Night event around the same time. Please consider attending their event after ours and join them for their march to the Downtown Square.

Join Monroe County NOW for our October Chapter meeting on Sunday, October 20, from 3 to 5pm! This month's meeting will include a service project to benefit Middle Way House and All-Options Pregnancy Resource Center.

Our service project will include collecting feminine hygiene products and packaging them for use by Shalom patrons. Please bring donations to the meeting and we will package them while socializing. Products needed are as follows:

* tampons
* feminine wipes
* panty liners
* underwear

Also hear from our committees to see what we're up to and learn how you can join and volunteer. Our meeting will be at Switchyard Brewing Company, located at 419 N. Walnut St.

If you cannot attend, but still want to donate supplies, please email us at monroecountynow@gmail.com. Our meeting is open to all and is kid friendly and accessible.

Join Monroe County NOW for our September Chapter meeting! Hear from our committees to see what we're up to and learn how you can volunteer and join.

We are thrilled to have special guest Nic Weinard presenting on CEDAW (Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women). To learn more about CEDAW, please visit https://www.ohchr.org/en/professionalinterest/pages/cedaw.aspx.

This meeting is open to all and is kid friendly. City Hall is an accessible building and there is free parking.

Join Monroe County NOW for our next chapter meeting on Sunday, July 28, from 3 to 5pm at the Southeast Monroe County YMCA! We will have a potluck and have our board, members, and friends present so we can socialize. If you're not currently a member, you will have the opportunity to become one.

Bring a food or beverage item to share! Let us know what you're bringing by filling out this Google sheet: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1utbQebzt6xG26Dc00-gk_3DuuLePruovOX9sUvNhFQo/edit?usp=sharing.

We will meet at the shelter by the lower playground. This event is accessible and open to all. The Southeast Monroe County YMCA is located at 2125 S. Highland Ave.

Monroe County NOW is excited to join Bloomington Moms Demand Action Members for Bloomington's Independence Day Parade on Thursday, July 4! Want to walk with us? See below for details.

We will meet in the Yellow staging area around 9:30am to help Moms Demand decorate their truck. The map for the parade can be found at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1rtnMGwidFhHROJlTUEFIbm_mQxuDQ1cT/view?usp=sharing. It includes information on where the Yellow staging are is. We will help pass out water and candy along the parade route. Feel free to bring candy if you'd like.

If you have an MC NOW or Moms Demand Action t-shirt (specifically red), please wear it.

Let's get together, have fun, and support a wonderful community organization. If you have any questions, please email commdirector.mcnow@gmail.com.

Join Monroe County NOW for our April chapter meeting!

We are thrilled to have guest speaker Debra Morrow, Executive Director of Middle Way House, for an important discussion about sexual assault awareness. For information about Middle Way House and their work, please visit https://middlewayhouse.org.

Join members and friends of Monroe County NOW for our April Justice Committee Meeting! We will discuss issues in racial justice, reproductive justice, and LGBTQ+ rights and upcoming events and actions pertaining to these issues.

Join Monroe County NOW for our next Dine and Donate at Mother Bear's Pizza on Wednesday, February 13! For each large pizza you order, MC NOW will receive $5! You must print the coupon (found at https://drive.google.com/file/d/1z9C-X9SZgUp3F3OOasy3H5vadBK_8JxB/view?usp=sharing). Electronic coupons cannot be accepted. This Dine and Donate is valid all day at both Mother Bear’s locations (Campus and West).

Join our Fundraising Committee for a Galentine's Day social event from 6:30-8:30pm at the Mother Bear’s Campus location. Pizza is on us! We'll gather for fun and to talk about fundraising efforts for our chapter!

Come meet fellow progressives at Switchyard Brewing Company! This event is an opportunity for new members to find out more information about Monroe County National Organization for Women (NOW), meet our board members and committee chairs, and hang out with us while eating delicious Valentine's Day-themed desserts!

We will also have a station with actions, contact information, postcards, and postage so we can tell our representatives our views on legislation and current events.

If you'd like to sign up to bring a dessert, please fill out the spreadsheet here: https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1YBy7tcVkAhCTY7J2zvMgAsOeL9EPhnh-jxRmkPmvfb8/edit?usp=sharing

This event is kid friendly and wheelchair accessible.