Usually, our Monday emails are more of a “welcome to the week,” but with everything going on in the world over the past few weeks, I couldn’t help but wonder this afternoon if you’re feeling as “blah” about things as I am? I don’t mean that in a pessimistic way; in fact, I sometimes wonder if there’s anything more I could do to make a brighter impact for the people I care about. And yes, that includes you. 

In that spirit, something I tend to hear a lot is “I want to get involved, but I don’t know what to do.” Sure, we can vote when elections occur—and that’s great, but those tend to be few and far between. Today, I’m encouraging you—no, I’m challenging you—to use your voice to make a positive difference. 

If there’s something pressing on your heart, I’m going to do my best to help equip you with the confidence, knowledge, and resources to be able to contact your local lawmaker by the end of today’s newsletter. I hope this sparks a productive and cordial conversation—because there’s no time like the present to work together toward a better Virginia. I’m so glad you’re here and part of it.

Welcome to our weekly advice column, courtesy of Grace: She’s the big sister who shares her own mistakes so you can avoid making them, the coworker who builds you up to ask for the raise you deserve, and the friend who is always happy to listen.

We all need someone like Grace in our corner. Submit your own questions here.

Typically, we reserve this final section on Monday to highlight events happening throughout Virginia that you can use as a resource to get involved. That’ll be back next week—because today, I’m encouraging you to use the momentum from the Question of the Week posed above to reach out from wherever you are right now. 

Whatever issue has been on your mind recently, your Virginia lawmakers have a really good process set up to hear about your concerns.

Your federal congressional representatives (Senate and House) are available at this link, and here’s a contact list for the Virginia House of Delegates and the Virginia Senate. Have a question about who represents you? Here’s a tool to help. 

Never contacted your representative before? Americans of Conscience Checklist provides five tips for making stress-free calls. Let me know at at amie@couriernewsroom.com if this information was helpful for you—and if you’d like to see similar calls to action like this in the future. 

Thanks for reading. This newsletter was written by Amie Knowles. Amie is a lifelong Virginia resident and mom to a fantastic 8-year-old who loves Pokémon. This edition includes a story from Galvanize Together. It was edited by Brook Bolen.

Dogwood is free for everyone. Your support makes our work possible.