“How we spend our days is, of course, how we spend our lives,” writes Annie Dillard. In short, small actions add up to the legacy that speaks to our values and impact.
Many don’t know what the League of Women Voters’ values and impact are — what it does.
It helps to look at what we choose to study, fund and educate the community regarding. Those priorities are decided upon at each May’s annual meeting. This year’s meeting on Tuesday, May 12, focused on what makes democracy work—voter education, voter services, supporting our positions on housing, land use, climate, education, health care, and access to transportation.
In adopting our local program for 2026–27, we members voted to retain our position on the economic health of Montgomery County, but with a sharpened focus on housing. That shift reflects a growing recognition that jobs and investment mean little if people cannot afford to live safely and stably in the community where they work. League members spoke of this as “the next big one,” a study area where research and advocacy could actually change local policy, not just generate discussion.
We paired that with a decision to continue long-running work on land use and planning. For decades, the League has pushed for a thoughtful county comprehensive plan. We are committed to holding the local government accountable for its plan and how it is actually being used — and whether zoning is being wielded to block projects like solar and wind.
Climate is woven through this issue. Members voted to retain their climate change position, with thanks to leaders like John Smilie—among others—who have already helped move the county toward sustainable energy, including solar installations on the library, Boys and Girls Club, Youth Services Bureau and the Free Clinic. In the coming year, the League’s Climate Committee will keep that focus alive with public education efforts, including three summer films on “green issues” to be announced soon, as well as education and work towards more sustainable, no-emission energy sources.
K-12 and college education is another area where the League plans deeper study. We renewed our committee’s education study and discussed how quickly state policies—like Indiana’s “science of reading” initiative—are reshaping classrooms. Members raised questions about whether literacy reforms are rolling out effectively in local districts and suggested observing classrooms, talking with superintendents, and drawing on both retired teachers and parents with professional experience in early childhood and special education. The goal is not to micromanage schools, but to ensure the public understands how quickly these changes are improving children’s ability to read and succeed.
On health care, the League is adapting to healthcare concerns emerging in the face of large funding cuts across social services. Free “period packs” for women to pick up at local food pantries and resource centers remains an initiative—menstrual products are costly and still taxed in Indiana. We are brainstorming ways to expand access to free period products in public settings, potentially in partnership with mutual aid and other outlets. Some members are aware of new grant opportunities for programs that address chronic disease prevention, healthy relationships, and mental wellness—opportunities the League hopes to facilitate, perhaps as a partner or through letters of support, to help the Free Clinic. The health study they voted to continue is a framework for these hands-on efforts.
Undergirding all of this is the League’s commitment to transportation as a pillar of economic health and civic life. Over the past two years, League members—especially David and Sheridan Hadley—championed public transit, helping move the Crawfordsville Area Transportation (CAT) system from an idea to an operating service. Even now, the League is funding reusable shopping bags for CAT riders, a small but symbolic way of encouraging residents to use the system and to see it as theirs. Transportation, to this group, is not a side project; it’s infrastructure for democracy, enabling people to get to work, school, medical appointments, and civic events.
Finally, there is the quiet but constant work that never makes big headlines: voter outreach and civic education. The League’s president underscored that “at the heart of our work is voter outreach,” and asked for more volunteers to help with Vote411, the nonpartisan voter information platform that ramps up again this fall. Lunch with the League will continue to bring local officials and experts to the table, while book clubs and film series give residents ways to learn and talk about complex issues in an informal setting.
The program the League adopted maps the actions we’ll take in the coming year. We want a Montgomery County where housing is more secure, land use is more transparent, climate action is more visible, education is better understood, health care is more accessible, and public transit is a given, not a luxury. In each area, the League is doing what it has always done best: studying issues carefully, inviting the community into the conversation, and then rolling up its sleeves to help turn good ideas into everyday realities.