October 07, 2016 02:30 PM UTC

Melissa’s Story

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• by: ProgressNow Colorado

(Promoted by Colorado Pols)

ProgressNow Colorado Education, the state’s largest online progressive advocacy organization, scored a viral hit with a new video ad highlighting the story of a Colorado single mom who “can’t survive on $8.31 an hour.” The video has been viewed over 60,000 times in less than 48 hours on social media.

“Everyone in Colorado needs to hear Melissa’s story,” said ProgressNow Colorado executive director Ian Silverii. “But the truth is that thousands of Colorado families deserve better for the hard work they do every day. They deserve to be able to feed their family and pay their bills. No one who works hard in Colorado should live in poverty. We need a wage in Colorado that Melissa can count on to feed and shelter her children.”

“Hard-working Coloradans earning minimum wage are not just kids working summer jobs, they are real people trying to support real families,” said Silverii. “Colorado has acted to raise the minimum wage before, but it hasn’t kept pace with increases in the cost of living. We know that low-wage workers who get a raise plow that money right back into the economy, which benefits us all. But most importantly, families are better able to afford the necessities of life they work so hard to provide.”

“Telling the stories of families like Melissa’s will help Coloradans understand that the talking points pushed by pundits and the special interests who want to keep wages low hurt real people who work hard every day,” said Silverii. “Colorado can’t get by on $8.31 an hour.”