Shelby Ramirez wears many hats: mother of two, daughter, worker and full time student. After a recent experience of taking time off work to care for sick family members-and facing poverty as a result-Shelby questions if she should add another hat to the list: activist.

Watch Shelby’s Story, one of the latest from Family Values @ Work. In the short video, Shelby explains the tough choices she faced after taking 2.5 weeks off of work to care for her sick dad and daughter when they both needed surgery in the same week.

Unfortunately, Shelby’s story of struggle is not uncommon. Across the United States, too often workers are faced with the impossible choice between providing for their family or caring for them when they need it most. Whether it’s caring for a new infant, a sick child, or an aging parent, we all have moments where family must come first.

Access to paid family leave could have made all the difference to Shelby and her family, and we know thousands of working families across Washington are in need of it too. Here in Washington, our Work and Family Coalition is fighting hard for Family and Medical Leave Insurance, as well as other progressive policies like paid sick time, paycheck transparency and other policies that help Washington’s working families thrive.

Do you know someone who needs to hear Shelby’s story? Share this powerful video with your friends and neighbors (or maybe even your boss!) and help support the effort to pass paid family leave in Washington.

By Graduate Intern Sam Hatzenbeler, MPHc