Some incredible impact to share with you today.

Thank you thank you thank you.   [Mother Jones]( MoJo Reader, You make this all possible. That’s our overwhelming feeling right now, because as we started putting together this email to report out on our fall fundraising campaign and say an immense THANK YOU, three stories about the real-world impact of our reporting came across our radar. And who doesn’t love a positive story? Like last week, when we published [a big investigation]( into a for-profit psychiatric hospital chain that uses foster children as "cash cows," and the next day a civil rights lawyer told senior reporter Julia Lurie that he was using her findings in a child’s hearing that same day. “Great journalism really does make a difference in this world: it can even save kids,” he wrote. Wow. And more on that in a minute—because first, our quick [fall fundraising]( report out. It came down to the wire, and we came up a bit short of our $253,000 goal—to the tune of about $28,000. That’s tough. It’s [unfathomably hard]( in the news business right now, and we [literally]( can’t afford to miss these fundraising goals and fall further behind than can be made up for like last year. But, and this is one of those highly uncertain buts, that gap should be manageable for now. It does mean we have to overdeliver by $28,000 for our next big push, in December. Yikes. But this a positive message, and it’s pretty freaking incredible that you, MoJo community, rallied $225,000 in a short three-week period—including $41,000 we desperately needed on the final day. It could be soooo much worse, and it is for many newsrooms that aren’t community-supported. Thank you to the 4,765 of you who pitched in with a donation during our campaign. Thank you to the 278 new [sustaining donors]( whose $3,257 each month helps us so incredibly much. Thank you to the 6,000 or so existing monthly donors whom we try not to bother during these big pushes. Thank you to those of you who didn’t or simply can’t afford to pitch in for reading and sharing our reporting in the first place—that’s what it all comes back to, journalism you don’t find elsewhere. And it matters. “It can even save kids,” like that lawyer told Julia. The backstory: For years now, Mother Jones has prioritized investigating problems in child welfare, from Julia’s last investigation of Massachusetts’[family separation disaster](, to Samantha Michaels’ huge investigation of how women who try to protect their children from abuse [end up locked up for years]( while the abusers get lighter sentences. Julia’s piece last week, “[Inside the Psychiatric Hospitals Where Foster Kids Are a ‘Gold Mine,’](” is about Universal Health Services, the nation’s largest psychiatric hospital chain, and how it profits from locking up foster kids. Here's what her editor, Ian Gordon, said when sharing it with staff: “Julia’s yearlong reporting project is based on records requests to every state, interviews with more than 50 people, and thousands of pages of medical and court records. It tells the story of Katrina Edwards, a former foster child in Alaska who spent more than three years at facilities owned by UHS, including 891 nights at North Star Behavioral Health in Anchorage. Medical and court records show that she was repeatedly physically restrained, forcibly injected with a sedative, held in seclusion, and put on potent psychiatric medications. At times, she stayed at North Star for months after she was ready for discharge, simply because there was no foster home available for her. All told, Alaska’s Medicaid program paid more than half a million dollars for Edwards’ care at UHS facilities. And there’s so much more in this deeply reported, beautifully written piece.” More than half a million dollars to hold on to a kid. Let that sink in. And let the real emotional impact hit by listening to the [radio episode]( we produced together with our friends at Reveal, from the Center for Investigative Reporting. Just last weekend it aired on nearly 600 public radio stations across the country, and it’s incredible hearing Katrina’s voice, and those of the other foster kids caught up in this system who bravely decided to tell their story. Because you made it possible. A yearlong reporting project, a newsroom-wide effort and partnering with another one, records requests to every state, 50-plus interviews, thousands of pages of court and medical records to go through. It is only because we’re supported primarily by readers that we can do deep dives like Julia’s. And it matters. Already, Julia has heard from a Senate committee investigating Universal Health Services, and the US Department of Health and Human Services sent her story out in their Child Welfare Information Gateway newsletter as just two examples. There’s no doubt her revelations will continue to have a big impact in the months and years to come. Like the next feel-good story to highlight from last week. “[The High Human Cost of America’s Sugar Habit](” was another multiyear investigation, published in 2021, and led by Sandy Tolan, who’s been reporting on sugar production for 30 years. It exposed conditions in sugar work camps in the Dominican Republic owned by Central Romana—the conglomerate behind brands like C&H and Domino, whose product ends up in our Hershey bars and other Halloween treats. It was a hard, in fact dangerous, investigation, and it also made a big splash when it first published. The House Ways and Means Subcommittee on Trade [issued a statement]( in October 2021 urging the federal government to investigate. Later, in July 2022, the subcommittee [sent a congressional delegation]( to visit the Dominican Republic and examine the abuse allegations. Last November, the Biden administration [banned]( sugar from Central Romana. And last week, [we learned of a previously undisclosed]( investigation from the Department of Homeland Security, looking into working conditions at Central Romana. How big of a deal is this? “An investigation by HSI that leads to criminal charges against Central Romana or the company’s leadership would be ‘unprecedented,’ according to [retired special agent] Kenneth Kennedy. ‘This could be the first time a corporation would be held criminally liable for forced labor in their own supply chains.’” Again: Wow. Again: You made this possible. Again: Thank you. Last one, and it’s quick—it’s also a blast from the past. Many of you might remember David Corn’s “[47 percent](” story, from September 2012, when Mother Jones obtained secret video of then–presidential candidate Mitt Romney disparaging 47 percent of Americans while speaking to a gathering of wealthy donors just two months before the election. It was a [huuuuuuuuge]( story (here’s [a nostalgic clip from The Daily Show](). Many credited the scoop as a major reason Romney went on to lose. What we didn’t know at the time was how deeply the investigation affected Romney himself. But, as we found out last week, a new book sheds light on that. It shows us a Mitt Romney who wrestled painfully with feeling inadequate and like a disappointment. David wrote a powerful, empathetic [story]( about this revelation last week, and we found it surprisingly encouraging to read about a politician who, in a very human way, is holding himself—not his staff, not his supporters, not even the journalist who exposed his misstep—accountable. We didn’t know those details until now. And my, how times have changed. But one constant remains: the importance of journalism that digs deep and exists to help bring about change like these three stories that are making waves. And that, Mother Jones community, doesn’t happen without you. You make this all possible. And we’re beyond grateful. Thank you. We won’t be making a big deal about our fundraising until December, unless, of course, something unexpected happens. But we wouldn’t be doing our jobs stewarding this incredible organization if we just sat on our hands and hoped that a good amount of donations will come in over the next month and a half—and we need donations to keep on coming in. So how about this: The next time a Mother Jones story, perhaps like the above, speaks to you, consider hitting a big red DONATE button like the one below—or like the links at the top, and bottom, of our website—and pitch in a few bucks even if we’re not urgently asking you to. We need it. And if you do, please [drop us a line here]( to let us know what moved you. Thanks for reading, and for everything you do to make Mother Jones what it is. Monika Bauerlein CEO Brian Hiatt Online Membership Director [Donate](   [Mother Jones]( [Donate]( [Donate Monthly]( [Subscribe]( This message was sent to {EMAIL}. To change the messages you receive from us, you can [edit your email preferences]( or [unsubscribe from all mailings.]( For advertising opportunities see our online [media kit.]( Were you forwarded this email? [Sign up for Mother Jones' newsletters today.]( [www.MotherJones.com]( PO Box 8539, Big Sandy, TX 75755