Press release send out after the workshop:
Independence, Virginia - Saturday morning (7/5/25) about a dozen people gathered at the Independence library. The first Common Sense Coalition meeting was part of the hundreds of Women's March Free America actions across the country starting on July 4th and continuing through the weekend.
The participants were eager to share their stories and concerns. One major concern is how the new budget was going to impact their community. They're worried about losing their local hospital, Twin County Regional Healthcare. Cindy Rowe, a local healthcare worker, said 39% of their local population is on Cardinal Care, Virginia's Medicaid, which is much higher than the national average. Even though the "reforms" to Medicaid aren't scheduled to begin until after the midterms, hospitals have to plan now on how or if they are going to be able to keep their doors open. One rural hospital in Nebraska has already announced it will be closing because of the projected loss of Medicaid reimbursement.
Another issue, constitutional rights, intersected with many of their other concerns. One woman said that she had trouble sleeping at night because of how migrants are being treated in our country. Another woman spoke about how her grandparents survived a German death camp during the Holocaust. She said how the demonization and cruelty towards migrants reminded her of what her grandparents had suffered. Migrants without a criminal record who had lived for years in their communities were being rounded up and put in jails ("detention centers"). One breastfeeding mother was even separated from her baby without warning. Federal and state legislators with the legal responsibility of providing oversight to the "detention centers" were being denied access to them.
Many wondered if their neighbors knew about the cruelty migrants and even citizens were experiencing from I.C.E. raids. It appears that I.C.E. agents aren't required to wear identifying uniforms, show their faces and use marked cars. There have been people impersonating I.C.E. agents kidnapping people. This is creating chaos and terror in communities. A member of the group told how she had downloaded the ICEblock app onto her Iphone so she would know how to avoid confrontations with I.C.E. or people impersonating I.C.E.
They discussed how "Fox News" is an entertainment network and not a reliable news source. "Fox News" lawyers have successfully testified in court that a reasonable person should know that some Fox shows don't have factual information and aren't news programs. It's easy to encourage people to look up these facts for themselves instead of wasting time debating them.
Thomas Paine's Common Sense pamphlet that inspired the American Revolution was grounded in biblical values:
"As the exalting one man so greatly above the rest cannot be justified on the equal rights of nature, so neither can it be defended on the authority of scripture; for the will of the Almighty as declared by Gideon, and the prophet Samuel, expressly disapproves of government by Kings."
The group discussed their disappointment with Rep. Morgan Griffith for not protecting their interests. They want him to fight for their community in DC. The budget bill was a betrayal to the hard working people whose costs are expected to increase while billionaires are going to get tax cuts. They want to continue to work together to hold Griffith accountable for voting for the bill and demand that he starts to protect the working poor.
Freeda Cathcart, the facilitator, said, "The group was well informed on many issues and enthusiastic to figure out how they can help their community."
Cathcart encouraged them to utilize national mass protests like the recent No Kings one to help connect with other concerned citizens, but they didn't need to wait for a national mass protest to take action locally.
"The meeting gave me some real hope knowing what assets were available to us as protesters in rural southwest Virginia, thanks to Freeda Cathcart, launching the Independence Common Sense Coalition." said Pastor Mark Windraven.
The group has plans to work on creating local protests for the issues they care about, hosting teach-ins for the community to learn about how the budget bill is going to impact their community and raising money to help the local food pantry.
The group hopes that more people and organizations will join their Common Sense Coalition. (Contact information was provided for the Independece coordinator.)