Leave a Comment

Posted on September 13, 2022

The National Abortion Hotline is fighting to make abortion care more accessible

by

Note from the CREDO team: This September, National Abortion Hotline is among three amazing groups that will receive a share of our monthly grant. Funding from the CREDO community will support the Dr. Tiller Patient Assistance Fund at the National Abortion Hotline, which covers travel and other practical support expenses for people seeking abortion care

Read this important blog post from Nora Turner, Development Coordinator at National Abortion Hotline, then click here to visit CREDODonations.com to cast your vote to help determine how we distribute our monthly grant to this organization and our other amazing grantees this September.

It is a devastating time for reproductive rights and abortion access in the United States. On June 24, 2022, the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, and in the months since we have seen 14 states severely restrict or completely ban abortion care. This decision has forced abortion seekers to travel across state lines to obtain the health care they need, which places an undue burden on the most marginalized among us and makes the reality of obtaining abortion care nearly impossible for many people nationwide.

At the National Abortion Hotline, we are dedicated to making abortion care more accessible for people no matter where they love or how much money they have. Through our Hotline, our intake counselors and case managers work one-on-one with people seeking abortion care, helping make referrals to clinics and providing financial support for procedure and travel needs. Every day, our staff is on the phone, supporting people with increasingly complex cases in need of help. Many patients who call us are unsure if abortion is accessible in their area and aren’t familiar with the minutia of complicated state laws, like mandatory waiting periods and gestational bans. Also, patients are facing increasingly complex circumstances, like the need to travel hundreds of miles for very early abortion care that might have previously been much more accessible. The dire reality of this new situation can’t be understated, however, and our team is working tirelessly to help as many people as possible access health care.

The National Abortion Hotline is proud, and determined, to support people who need to travel to obtain necessary abortion care. Through the Dr. Tiller Patient Assistance Fund and our travel coordination team, we are booking plane tickets and hotel rooms for patients, providing them with rideshare credits and gas cards, and even providing gift cards to help them cover food and other needs during their time away from home.

As we navigate the ever-changing landscape and laws that make it so difficult for so many people to access the health care they need, we are grateful for your support and belief in abortion access. This road is a long one, but we are glad to have you by our side in the fight to ensure abortion access for all who need it.

 For more information about abortion and other resources, including financial assistance, please call the National Abortion Hotline at 1-800-772-9100 or visit us on our website.

Leave a Comment

Posted on September 13, 2022

Thanks to CREDO members, the Innocence Project is restoring lives by freeing the innocent

by

Our grantee partners at the Innocence Project exonerate, free, and support the staggering number of innocent people wrongfully incarcerated. The organization envisions a criminal legal system beyond wrongful conviction and works to transform the unjust, unreliable, and racially biased systems responsible.

In February 2022, CREDO members voted to distribute $37,590 to help power the Innocence Project’s work to restore lives by freeing the innocent and supporting their reconnection to community, transform the systems responsible through policy reform, and advance the collective power of this innocence movement. In total, CREDO members have helped us donate $231,317 in total since 2000.

Here are some recent victories and highlights of the Innocence Project’s recent work, thanks to funding from CREDO members:

Recent victories

Funding from the CREDO community helped to support the Innocence Project’s work to restore lives by freeing the innocent and supporting their reconnection to community, transform the systems responsible through policy reform, and advance the collective power of the innocence movement.

The IP’s work begins with freeing the innocent and examining the root causes of each wrongful conviction. In the last year alone, eight wrongfully convicted people were freed or exonerated. Each exoneration reveals patterns of racial bias, unethical conduct, improper police procedures, prosecutorial misconduct, and invalid science — informing and driving our reform and prevention efforts.

Behind each wrongful conviction is a human being whose freedom was lost because of bias, incompetence, indifference or corruption, — a mother, brother, father, son or daughter. Their stories amplify not only the injustices they have faced, but also our clients’ perseverance and strength. It is these stories that drive our work and remind us of the immeasurable impact this work has in restoring freedom and clearing the names of those wrongfully convicted. Recent victories included:

John Galvan, Arthur Almendarez, Francisco Nanez | July 2022 | Illinois

Exonerated after the men served 105 years in prison for wrongful conviction

Cause of Wrongful Conviction: Coerced confession, eyewitness identification, junk science

Representation:

John Galvan: The Innocence Project and the Exoneration Project

Arthur Almendarez: The Exoneration Project

Francisco Nanez: the Cook County Public Defender

The three men were wrongfully convicted for an alleged aggravated arson and alleged murder in the case of 1986 apartment fire on the southwest side of Chicago in which two brothers, Julio Martinez and Guadalupe Martinez, died. Mr. Galvin was just 18, Mr. Almendarez, 20 and Mr. Nanez, 22 when they were arrested and wrongly incarcerated. The men were sentenced to life without the possibility of parole, and could have been sentenced to death. Combined, they have spent 105 years in prison for an alleged crime they didn’t commit.

Mallory Nicholson | June 2022 | Texas

Exonerated after four decades of wrongful conviction

Cause of Wrongful Conviction: State Withheld Exculpatory Evidence

Mr. Nicholson was arrested for burglary and the sexual assault of two children in June 1982. No physical evidence connected him to the crime and he has steadfastly maintained his innocence for decades. In June, as a result of a collaboration between the IP and the Dallas County Conviction Integrity Unit, Mallory Nicholson was exonerated after he spent 21 years in prison and 19 years on parole as a registered sex offender. The IP and Dallas Conviction Integrity Unit’s reinvestigation revealed that the State withheld key evidence at trial that pointed to an alternative suspect and demonstrated inconsistencies in the victims’ identifications. Mr. Nicholson is now officially eligible for compensation for the years he lost to his wrongful conviction.

Barry Jacobson | January 2022 | Massachusetts

Exonerated after nearly four decades of wrongful conviction

Cause of Wrongful Conviction: Anti-Semitism and Jury Bias, Fabricated Evidence

On January 31, 2022, Barry Jacobson’s 1983 arson conviction in Richmond, Massachusetts was vacated, and he was exonerated after nearly four decades of wrongful conviction and a month of wrongful incarceration. Mr. Jacobson was convicted in a biased trial in which jurors made anti-Semitic remarks about Mr. Jacobson, who is Jewish. Additionally, evidence strongly indicates that a key piece of the state’s case against Mr. Jacobson was fabricated. Mr. Jacobson was offered a pardon three times if he would admit guilt, but he maintained his innocence, and his pardon was denied. In January, the Commonwealth agreed with Mr. Jacobson that his conviction should be vacated on the grounds that he did not receive a trial before an impartial jury because the jury deliberations had been infected by anti-Semitic bias.

San Antonio, Texas – March 26, 2022:
Advocates of Melissa Lucio were seen during the yearly Cesar Chavez march in San Antonio, Texas on March 26, 2022.
Photo: Christopher Lee for the Innocence Project.

Recent projects

The IP’s legal staff currently represents more than 100 clients in 43 states and the District of Columbia. Moving forward, the organization intends to increase the capacity of our post-conviction legal team.

In addition, the IP has expanded its social work program to provide holistic services to clients during and after their release. Many exonerees experience depression, anxiety, and post-traumatic stress disorder. A strong community support system is critical to building recovery and healing. While some exonerees it works with have these networks of support, others have lost ties with their loved ones and communities as a result of their wrongful conviction. Many exonerees also face the formidable task of rebuilding their lives and identities. Because of the increased expense of housing (and the challenges exonerees often have in finding a place to live), the IP has created a new separate housing fund to support exonerees.

Many exonerees have lived decades within the rigid confines of prison — navigating this intense transition back into the “outside world” can be distressing and disorienting. That’s why IP’s new Re-entry Coach position is so important; and why we’ve hired exoneree Rodney Roberts as the first person to fill this key role. Mr. Roberts was an IP client who was exonerated in 2018, and he has dedicated much of his time since his release to supporting his fellow exonerees and other people reentering society.

If you’d like to learn more or get involved with the Innocence Project, please visit their website, or follow them on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Leave a Comment

Posted on September 9, 2022

Thanks to CREDO members, we’ve donated $94 million to progressive non-profits since 1985

by

We have some really exciting news to share: 

Thanks to loyal CREDO members like you, we have donated $94 MILLION since 1985 to empower incredible organizations fighting for climate justice, civil rights, economic justice, women’s rights, voting rights and peace.

In the past year, our members funded incredible nonprofit groups including the National LGBTQ Task Force, Fair Fight Action, American Civil Liberties Union, Earthjustice, Win Without War, Brady: United Against Gun Violence, 350.org, Planned Parenthood Action Fund and dozens of others organizations who share our values.

This month, you can help us distribute our monthly donations among three amazing organizations: Facing History and Ourselves, March For Our Lives, and the National Abortion Hotline. Click here to vote for one, two or all three great organizations at CREDODonations.com.

We simply cannot thank you enough for being CREDO members. Just by using our products and services every day, you are helping empower the change we want to see in the world and help make our planet a better place. So truly, thank you again — and here’s to $95 million and beyond!

Leave a Comment

Posted on September 7, 2022

Hunger Action Month with Feeding America

by

Food shouldn’t be an impossible choice.  

Last night, my family was choosing what to have for dinner. We talked through endless options. We could make pasta, but we couldn’t decide between brands of sauce we had. We could eat out, but we couldn’t decide where we all would enjoy. We ended up raiding our pantry for what each of us wanted and made four separate items to meet our individual tastes. This happens more often than I’d like to admit. The point is, though, that we had choices. Lots and lots of great choices.

For millions of people in America, a daily meal can often be an impossible choice between food and other critical needs—like medicine, utilities or childcare. It is not the choice of what to eat. The choice is if they eat. 

We know hunger exists in every community in the U.S. We also know rural communities and communities of color are disproportionately impacted by economic instability—like the soaring inflation rate that is the highest it’s been in 40 years. Neighbors who have already been working to overcome the hardships wrought by the effects of the pandemic, are now faced with a 10% increase to buy groceries for their family. When difficult times hit, food can be the first thing people forgo to make ends meet.

For many, a daily meal is a simple choice of what to eat. But for people facing hunger, a daily meal poses a very different type of choice. It’s often an impossible choice between food and other crucial needs, such as electricity, childcare or medicine. 

September is Hunger Action Month® and Feeding America wants to encourage everyone to take action to end hunger.

For millions of people in America, a daily meal is a choice between food and other critical needs—like medicine, housing, or transportation. No one should have to make those types of choices.

This September, choose to end hunger.

To learn more about how you can take action this September, please visit: https://www.feedingamerica.org/take-action/hunger-action-month

Leave a Comment

Posted on September 6, 2022

Why Teach Reconstruction in 2022

by

Note from the CREDO team: This September, Facing History and Ourselves is among three amazing groups that will receive a share of our monthly grant. Funding from the CREDO community will help educators across the country nurture students’ analytical skills, empathy, academic engagement, and civic agency—even amidst efforts to restrict teaching about race, identity, and other vital aspects of American history and life.

Read this important blog post from Facing History and Ourselves, then click here to visit CREDODonations.com to cast your vote to help determine how we distribute our monthly grant to this organization and our other amazing grantees this September.

Man representing the Freedman’s Bureau stands between armed groups of Euro-Americans and Afro-Americans.
Image used in Reconstruction video series.

“American history is longer, larger, more various, more beautiful, and more terrible than anything anyone has ever said about it.” —James Baldwin, “A Talk to Teachers” (1963)

Over the last year, we have seen an explosion of debate within the public sphere about how to teach young people about the past. From antebellum slavery to contemporary manifestations of racism and other forms of injustice, communities remain divided on the question of whether and how to introduce these dimensions of history and contemporary life into the classroom. One way to deliver meaningful instruction in the midst of these debates is to teach about the Reconstruction Era—the period that immediately followed the Civil War in which formerly enslaved people pursued meaningful freedom and equal citizenship. This period was transformative, in part, because these newly-freed people and their allies across the U.S. South helped to make profound changes to democratic institutions. During this period, African Americans achieved significant, hard-won gains that students are seldom taught about, only to be undercut by a countervailing host of regressive measures implemented by those invested in maintaining the racial and economic status quo. This period of unprecedented possibility and hope would become a time of immense injustice and violence, and the roles that actors large and small played in those events are instructive for our times.

At Facing History, we believe that much is lost when we fail to engage this history in the classroom, and that our nation at large stands to gain a great deal by recovering knowledge of this historical period and its lessons. We recently supported our partners at the Zinn Education Project in an advisory capacity with their Teach Reconstruction Report (January 2022). A core component of their Teach Reconstruction Campaign, the report offers a state-by-state analysis of the ways in which Reconstruction is addressed—or not—around the country with an emphasis on the widespread erasure of the Black freedom struggle from K-12 curricula.

Since 2014, we have helped educators adapt our curriculum on the Reconstruction Era to their classrooms and students. Our experience supporting educators on this topic has strengthened our belief that students of Reconstruction gain a host of fundamental lessons about American history and the roles they can play in the future of the nation. Here are three of those core lessons:

Interracial democracy that includes widespread Black political leadership is indeed possible

Many people are unaware that with new freedoms and Constitutional amendments, the United States saw an outpouring of Black political leadership in the aftermath of the Civil War. In communities across the South, Black people held elected office and set profound changes to their communities into motion. This basic fact is unknown to many modern Americans, perhaps in part because the American history taught in schools so often skips over this significant period, effectively advancing an understanding of the past that obscures both what has been and what could potentially be again.

Present-day barriers to interracial democracy were never inevitable

The history of Reconstruction reveals that there were alternative paths that the nation could have taken after the Civil War that may have landed us in a profoundly different present characterized by a much more robust interracial democracy. A typical account of Black history in America might highlight a linear story of gradual improvements from enslavement to emancipation to the Jim Crow Era to the Civil Rights Movement to the Obama presidency. Viewing history in this light might suggest that change can only ever come slowly but the sudden wave of Black political leadership during Reconstruction disrupts these assumptions and demands that we understand that the present-day problems we face did not have to develop and are not necessarily unshakable.

Individual choices really do matter and make history

Studying the history of Reconstruction reveals that American history is lined with recurring cycles of social progress and backlash in which everyday people have surmounted immense barriers to drive powerful change. Though some people might look at this chapter of American history as one that reveals the impossibility of fundamental and lasting change, our view at Facing History is that our history simply reveals that we must remain ever vigilant in the fight against injustice. Rather than focusing on the possibility of our gains being reversed, we ought to focus on learning from our past and from the courageous and oft-overlooked gains made by newly-freed people in the Reconstruction era for example. If we can learn from their strategies and successes as well as the violent and often devastating resistance they faced, we can better hone our approach to the collective action upon which democracy depends.

To learn more about how Facing History helps students explore complex ethical issues, reflect on choices they confront today, and embrace their civic power, visit facinghistory.org.

Leave a Comment

Posted on September 1, 2022

Need to scan a document? You can do it from your smartphone for free

by

We’ve all been there: You need to scan a document to sign, send or save — but honestly, who has an actual scanner at home?

Luckily, you can scan all of your important documents safely and securely right from your smartphone.

In this week’s tip, we’ll give you a few quick steps to scan and save documents on your iPhone and Android device for free.

Scanning documents from your iOS device

You can easily scan documents from your iPhone or iPad from right inside the Notes app. Here’s how to scan documents from your iOS device:

  1. Open the Notes app . If you can’t find the Notes app, search for it by swiping down from the middle of the home screen (on older devices, you might need to swipe right). Tap the search bar, start typing “Notes,” then open the app.
  2. Create a new Note or open an existing Note.
  3. Tap the Camera button , then tap Scan Documents
  4. Hold your phone over the document or object you want to scan and follow the instructions on the screen (for example, your device may ask you to move closer or farther away).
  5. If Auto is enabled, your device should automatically scan. If not, manually press the shutter button . Drag the corners to adjust the scanned area, and press Keep Scan. Then, scan a new document to add to the Note or press Save.
  6. In order to use the document outside of the Notes app, you may want to send it to yourself or someone else. To do that, tap the More button to bring up a list of commands, including Send a Copy.

Scanning documents from your Android device

Scanning documents and saving them as PDF files from your Android device is just as simple. Here’s how:

  1. To begin scanning, open Google Drive
  2. Next, tap Add in the bottom right corner of the app.
  3. Then, tap Scan
  4. You can now adjust the scan area, take the photo again, or scan another page.
  5. Tap Done when you’re finished. Your file will be saved in your Google Drive.

Leave a Comment

Posted on September 1, 2022

Our August grantees thank you for your support

by

Each month, CREDO members vote on how we distribute funding to three incredible nonprofits. Those small actions add up – with one click, you can help fund groups working for civil rights, climate justice and economic justice and so much more. Amid the recent unprecedented attacks on women’s rights and reproductive freedom CREDO members in August voted to distribute our monthly donation among three amazing women’s rights organizations: the Abortion Care Network, She the People and Women’s March. 

These donations are made possible by CREDO customers and the revenue they generate by using our services. The distribution depends entirely on the votes of CREDO members like you. And for that, our August grant recipients thank you.

 Abortion Care Network

“Thank you for standing up for the indie clinics who provide the majority of abortion care! CREDO grants will support the network of independent clinics & allies working to keep abortion care accessible. We are deeply grateful for your partnership.” – Nikki Madsen, Executive Director, Abortion Care Network

To learn more, visit www.abortioncarenetwork.org.

She the People

“Thank you for your partnership in this movement. CREDO members like you allow us to continue centering the narratives of women of color, and our work in building collective power to advocate for racial, economic, and gender justice.” – Aimee Allisson, Founder + President, She the People

To learn more, visit www.shethepeople.org.

Women’s March

“Thank you for your support of our movement. CREDO members like you make Women’s March’s work possible — CREDO grants have supported the millions of everyday women in our base to take action for gender, racial, and economic justice.” – Rachel O’Leary Carmona, Executive Director, Women’s March

To learn more, visit www.womensmarch.com. 

Now check out the three groups we are funding in September, and cast your vote to help distribute our donations.

CREDO members who use our products are the reason why we are able to make these donations each month. Learn more about CREDO Mobile, the carrier with a conscience.

Leave a Comment

Posted on August 25, 2022

Important security patch: It’s time to update your smartphone

by

Now is a very important time to update your smartphone.

Apple recently issued critical security updates (iOS 15.6.1) for iPhone, iPad, Mac and other Apple products to patch a vulnerability that “may have been actively exploited” by attackers who could execute malicious code on those devices.

What does this mean for you? We recommend that you update all of your devices to the latest operating system as soon as you can — even if you’re an Android user, since Google has also issued separate security patches recently.

If you’re not sure how to update your smartphone, we’ll quickly show you how.

How to update your iPhone’s operating system (iOS)

  1. Make sure to plug in your phone to a power source and ensure you’re connected to the internet through a WiFi network.
  2. Go to Settings > General > Software Update
  3. Choose Download and Install (if it’s already downloaded, choose Install Now)
  4. If you do not see the above options, it is likely your device is already updated to the latest operating system
  5. It’s also a good idea to turn on Automatic Updates, too.

How to update your Android’s operating system

  1. Make sure to plug in your phone to a power source and ensure you’re connected to the internet through a WiFi network.
  2. Open Settings > System > System Update, then follow the directions on your screen
  3. Now, check for security and Google Play updates. 
  4. Open Settings > Security
  5. If a security update is available, tap Google Security checkup.
  6. To check if a Google Play system update is available, tap Google Play system update.
  7. Follow the directions on the screen.

Leave a Comment

Posted on August 18, 2022

How to stop smartphone apps from collecting your personal data

by

Smartphone apps can collect a whole lot of data about you: 

Your name and email address, location history, personal contacts, photos and videos, purchases, health and fitness data, financial information, browsing and search history, your IP address and other sensitive data.

Why? Your personal data is worth money — and although Apple and Google are working to crack down, these companies may share and sell your data to third-parties, usually without you even knowing.

If you’re concerned about your privacy, here are a few steps you can take to further protect your data on your smartphone.

Stop third-party apps from collecting data on iPhone

  1. Limit app tracking, to prevent apps from tracking your activity across other companies’ apps and websites:
    • Go to Settings > Privacy > Tracking > Toggle off “Allow Apps to Request to Track”
    • Toggle any app in the list below to “off” as well
  2. Limit app access, , to contacts, microphone, photos, health, etc:
    • Go to Settings > Privacy 
    • Click on the category you would like to limit app access (for example, Photos)
    • Click on an app in the list and change the permissions
  3. Limit location sharing
    • Go to Settings > Privacy > Location Services (Note: Location services may be essential for some apps to function properly or as expected, think ride-sharing, mileage tracking or weather apps.)
    • Choose an app to change its permissions

Stop third-party apps from collecting data on Android

  1. Limit location sharing:
    • Go to Settings > Location
    • Choose specific apps to modify their location permissions
  2. Turn off diagnostic data sharing and marketing information:
    • Go to Settings > Privacy
    • Toggle off Send diagnostic data & Receive marketing information
  3. Turn off ads personalization:
    • Go to Settings > Google
    • Tap Ads. Toggle on Opt out of ads personalization
    • Depending on your Android model, you may need to go to Settings > Privacy to access this option
    • Delete or reset your Advertising ID.
  4. Remove permissions from apps:
    • Go to Settings > Privacy > Permission manager
    • Choose and tap a permission to modify settings
    • Choose the app and tap Don’t Allow, Ask every time or Allow only while using the app
About CREDO Mobile
Most companies go into business to make money. Over thirty-five years ago, we went into business to make change, offering services to make it easy for you to make a difference. That’s why, since day one, we’ve donated a portion of our revenue to progressive causes — $95 million since our founding in 1985.
CREDO Links

CREDO Mobile · Terms of Use

Copyright © 2024 · All Rights Reserved · CREDO Mobile Blog