LETTERS

Why RI needs Joy Fox in Congress

Posted 8/17/22

To the Editor,

How do you vote?

I trust a candidate who’s been around long enough to know the score. So given our mutual values she knows what counts.

But she also needs to know …

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LETTERS

Why RI needs Joy Fox in Congress

Posted

To the Editor,


How do you vote?

I trust a candidate who’s been around long enough to know the score. So given our mutual values she knows what counts.

But she also needs to know the ropes. Knowing how, when and where to pull them, and with whom, makes her a lot more likely to realize my values at a particular level of government.

Who will be ready to represent RI’s Congressional District #2 – from Burrillville to Block Island – on Day #1?

I find Joy Fox uniquely qualified to build on Jim Langevin’s legacy. Why?

  1. For six years she worked for and with our Congressman in RI and DC.
  2. So Joy Fox already knows how a team can cut through red tape to assure access to federal benefits, especially for those of us who are disabled, veterans, and seniors.
  3. She already knows how to build coalitions in Congress to pass complex legislation, especially expanding coverage for affordable health care.
  4. I, moreover, know her – and you probably do, too. That’s worth an explanation.

This oldest of five who now lives in Warwick but commuted from Cranston to get her degree at RI College, as well as her whole family, has lived here in District #2 her whole life. And for the last 28+ years she has communicated with so many of us, publicly and clearly.

Joy Fox began her career in communications reporting local and statewide news for the Cranston Herald, Warwick Beacon and RI Business News and as an assignment editor for NBC10. Then she enabled our RI Department of Corrections, Treasurer and Governor Gina Raimondo, and Congressman Langevin to go about and to talk about their work for us.

And she’s very good at it. Even now while campaigning full time, she presides over the Clarendon Group, her own successful small business advising RI public and private leaders, universities and non-profits.

So Joy Fox knows firsthand the problems of our families and businesses. She understands our needs for good jobs and education, for healthcare and housing, and to sleep peacefully assured our security – internationally and in cyberspace – is in good hands.

Especially in tiny RI, Joy’s unique experiences, qualifications, and perspective on issues can so impact our lives! For example, when I told her over coffee at Warwick’s Café Tempo last weekend about my mid-70’s outreach to Eddie Beard through Mike Lenihan so that folks in every American community can now qualify for rent subsidies, she understood and added, “Yes, and I know Eddie Beard and Mike Lenihan” – mid-70’s RI Congressman and State Senator. It helps to have been here.

Shouldn’t caregiving, e.g., count? Given the “Silver Tsunami” of our aging parents and grandparents, ought the training and salaries of our nurses and aides be among our nation’s top priorities? Ought kind and able family members and neighbors be justly paid and backed by decent family leave programs so that Boomers+ like me can more likely age well at home?

“I’ll be so honored,” Joy told me, “to serve in Congress as District #2’s first female Democratic Representative.” Her voice and ours can enlarge our nation’s conversations.

I’ll be honored to vote for Joy Fox – by mail ballot, or early in person at my local city or town hall as of August 24, or in person at RI’s Primary on September 13.


Your vote counts, too.

Marie Hennedy


Marie Hennedy, 81 and now of Warwick, a mother of five and grandmother of 15, earned her Ph.D. at URI at the age of 52 and taught English at Providence College from 1987-2010.

letters, editorial

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