Laurie Julian

Hello,
I am writing with bad news. The Universal Health Care Foundation of Connecticut decided not to renew their grant to GrowJobsCT for 2008. The primary purpose of that grant was to fund the position for which we hired Laurie Julian. Without the funding, we cannot continue that position, and so Laurie will be leaving GrowJobsCT as of December 31, 2007.
Laurie has done remarkable work for us on the issue of universal health care. She deserves the thanks of not only those of us in the IAM and GrowJobsCT, but also all those who care about this issue. I greatly appreciate the time and talent she has put into this project and will miss her contributions to our efforts.
As far as the decision of the Universal Health Care Foundation, I have to state plainly that I believe it is a mistake. The explanation they have given for the cut is this: in 2007 they funded 34 organizations, using more than $2.2 million for that effort. This year they will expend $750,000 on grantees, which has meant rejecting the funding requests of 21 organizations, including GrowJobsCT.
Based on the aims of the Foundation, including their desire to bring the business community into discussions about universal health care, it is clearly a mistake to cut GrowJobsCT. Unfortunately, that decision was made and will not be undone.
Laurie can be reached at ljulian@snet.net.
Again, I thank her for her work and her contributions to the movement for universal health care, and wish her the best moving forward.
John Harrity
Director, GrowJobsCT

On behalf of all the members of Local 354, I would also like to thank Laurie for all she has done. It has been a pleasure and honor to have had her as part of our Local.