Archive for year: 2013

Books, toolkits on CO

June 16, 2013/in Resources /by admin

The guide provides you with the basic know-how and resources needed to have a greater say in the policies that affect your communities. An initiative of the Office of the Public Advocate’s new Community Organizing and Constituent Services Department, this guide gives individual New Yorkers and community groups a better understanding of how New York City government works, what you can do to make your government more responsive, and how you can help make this a better city. Central to that process are the organizing efforts of people like you.

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Community Organizing Manual

This manual will provide a starting point from which you can learn to identify an issue and begin to organize in order to shift the existing power relations and begin to effect real, tangible change in your community. The concepts presented here are adapted from Organizing for Social Change: Midwest Academy Manual for Activists (2001) by Kim Bobo, Jackie Kendall, and Steve Max. All references here are to this book. Bobo, Kendall, and Max take a Direct Action approach to organizing. This approach differs from other approaches in that is organizing done by the people with the problem, instead of an outside organization fighting on their behalf.

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Handbook on Community Organizing

When it was decided to develop this handbook, it was agreed that the concept of a community organizer would be something that may need some explanation. The word “organizer” may conjure up negative images, but those images are not the reality. A community organizer is a person that listens to, and mobilizes, people to make their community a better place. Some people may call this a community builder or a community coordinator. In this section you will learn about the history of community organizing. You will also be introduced to some tools and strategies that can help you organize your community.

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Community Organzing as Practiced in the United States- A Description With Examples By Rev. Paul Cromwel

Community organizing as practiced in the United States has as its roots the work of Saul Alinsky (1909 -1972). Alinsky’s work, begun in Chicago and then moved to other American cities, can most simply be described as the transferring of concepts and strategies used in the American labor movement for greater worker justice, to poor and ethnically diverse large urban neighborhoods in order to improve city services and the quality of life in these residential neighborhoods.

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Community Organizing: People Power from the Grassroot

The present paper written by Dave Beckwith is talking about the Four Strategies, What is Community Organizing, The Principles of Community Organizing, The Ten Rules of Community Organizing and Defining an Action.

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Occasional Paper Series

A series of papers aiming to capture and document growing knowledge around youth organizing, and address key issues and questions commonly posed by funders and practitioners about the work and field overall. You’ll find a full list and summary descriptions of the Occasional Paper Series on the link above.

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Community Organizing Toolkit

The Toolkit is a set of resources that supports face-to-face training for residents and community leaders. The computer-based component (the “Organizing Game”) is used to introduce concepts, prompt discussion, and allow residents to practice skills in a safe, non-threatening environment. The initial focus of the Toolkit is teaching Doorknocking, an organizing technique that’s particularly effective in moving issues within a local community.

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Take Action – Create Change, A Community Organizing Toolkit

The toolkit represents an assemblage of exercises and tips created by LCAT, as well as, a range of advocacy sources and are divided into six sections from topics on “Defining an Issue” to “Mobilizing the People”. Through the use of this toolkit you can begin to work successfully in engaging communities around a common goal. Historically disadvantaged communities have been under-represented or misrepresented for too long. Our communities have always held the power to rise up and take action for their rights. This toolkit offers ways to help communities recognize this power, use it, and bring about social change.

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Racial Equity Tools

A web site designed to support people and groups who are working for inclusion, racial equity and social justice. The site includes ideas, strategies and tips, as well as a clearinghouse of resources and links from many sources. Racial Equity Tools is organized into four main areas. The first page of each section has an overview of the resources and tools in that section. Several also have questions or suggestions to help you think about what needs to happen at this point in a change process. At the end of each section are Tip sheets. Tip sheets provide more detail about one topic, often a particular part of a change process.

ORGANIZING FOR SOCIAL CHANGE – Midwest Academy Manual for Activists

Now in its fourth edition, here is the comprehensive manual for grassroots organizers working for social, racial, environmental and economic justice at the local, state and national levels. This Midwest Academy Manual for Activists is central to its training programs and seminars, and it provides an invaluable reference source for organizers throughout their careers. Also included are anecdotes about a wide variety of real organizations working on issues concerning labor, the environment, health care, racism, immigration, peace, religion, energy, public campaign financing and more. Whatever the progressive cause, this is the manual that can help guide organizers and ensure that they continue to reach their goals with efficiency and dignity.

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Rules for Radicals: A Pragmatic Primer for Realistic Radicals

First published in 1971, Rules for Radicals is Saul Alinsky’s impassioned counsel to young radicals on how to effect constructive social change and know “the difference between being a realistic radical and being a rhetorical one.” Written in the midst of radical political developments whose direction Alinsky was one of the first to question, this volume exhibits his style at its best. Like Thomas Paine before him, Alinsky was able to combine, both in his person and his writing, the intensity of political engagement with an absolute insistence on rational political discourse and adherence to the American democratic tradition.

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Creative Community Organizing: A Guide for Rabble-Rousers, Activists, and Quiet Lovers of Justice

On a casual level, it is a story or biography covering his involvement in the civil rights movement, his influence from his family and rabbi father, friendships and connections he made. Plus a little side trip to seduction and firearms. It is also a mini history lesson from a personal viewpoint about a critical time in the growth of this country’s awakening to civil rights and justice. If you yearn to help make the world a better place but wonder how to do it, look no further. In this unique book, legendary organizer and musician Si Kahn regales us with entertaining, funny, sad, dramatic, and inspiring tales of his work in some of the most important progressive struggles of the past fifty years. Si addresses not just strategies and tactics but how creative community organizing can prod us to learn new skills, encourage us to take risks, and transform us into practical visionaries for justice.

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Lessons from the Field: Organizing in Rural Communities

A new collection of essays by organizers, brought to you by Social Policy Magazine. Lessons from the Field captures the unique nature of organizing in rural communities, and outlines successful campaigns and strategies with national impact. The essays include hard-earned stories of reflection and experience from lifelong organizers while bringing together a diverse range of voices from across America to examine the challenges and opportunities for building progressive movements in the “red states.”

Community Organizing in U.S.

June 13, 2013/in Resources /by admin

The Lakeview Action Coalition (LAC) in Chicago is a non-profit, multi-issue community organization. The Coalition is comprised of 49 institutional members, including religious congregations, non-profit agencies, banks, business associations, a credit union and a senior citizens caucus. These diverse institutions are stakeholders in the Chicago communities of Lakeview, Lincoln Park and North Center. Since the founding establishment in 1993, they have fought for justice, solidarity and diversity.

City: Chicago, IL
e-mail: jenrg@lakeviewaction.org
Web: http://www.lakeviewaction.org

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Since 1980, the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless (CCH) has followed a clear mission: “We organize and advocate to prevent and end homelessness, because we believe housing is a human right in a just society.” We are the only non-profit in Illinois dedicated to advocating for public policies that curb and can ultimately end homelessness. Our organization leads strategic campaigns, community outreach, and public policy initiatives that target the lack of affordable housing in metropolitan Chicago and across Illinois. In addition, CCH presses for access to jobs, training, and public schools.

City: Chicago, IL
E-mail: michael@chicagohomeless.org
Web: www.chicagohomeless.org/

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National People’s Action (NPA) is a network of grassroots organizations with a fierce reputation for direct action from across the country that work to advance a national economic and racial justice agenda. Founded in 1972, National People’s Action’s (NPA) core purpose is to develop the ideas, talent, and organizations that will help reclaim our democracy and advance racial and economic justice. NPA has over 200 organizers working to unite everyday people in cities, towns, and rural communities throughout the United States through direct-action, house meetings and community organizing.

City: Chicago, IL
E-mail: nfo@npa-us.org
Web: http://www.npa-us.org

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Founded in 1962, The Logan Square Neighborhood Association is a nonprofit, multi-issue, grassroots community organization serving the multi-ethnic communities of Logan Square and the Lathrop Homes area of Chicago. The LSNA’s mission is to convene networks of neighbors, schools, businesses, social service agencies, faith communities, and other organizations to collaborate for thriving communities in Logan Square, Avondale, and Lathrop Homes. LSNA is committed to empowering and maintaining these communities as diverse, safe, and affordable neighborhoods in which to live and work, learn and grow. LSNA develops local leadership to identify, strategize, and organize around significant community issues that impact their lives such as affordable housing, school reform, living-wage jobs, land-use and zoning, economic development, health care, and neighborhood safety.

City: Chicago, IL
E-mail: naardema@lsna.net
Web: http://www.lsna.net

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The Harriet Tubman Center was founded in 2006 to fill a void in the recruitment and development of professional community organizers. The Center began with conversations among congregation centered community-organizers, university students and professors, union organizers, and independent young organizers seeking solidarity, professional development and wider career options. The vision of the center is that: organized individuals can collectively improve the quality of life in their community. Through their work in faith communities, neighborhoods, on college campuses and in workplaces, intern organizers of the Harriet Tubman Center recruit leaders to build the power of communities to create positive change.

City: Detroit, MI
E-mail: info@tubmanorganizing.org
Web: http://tubmanorganizing.org

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Founded in 2008, the Mahoning Valley Organizing Collaborative (MVOC) is an innovative community organization that brings together neighbourhood, faith-based and labor groups in Trumbull, Mahoning, and Columbiana counties to build the capacity necessary to create sustainable change in our community. At MVOC, we are dedicated to improving the quality of life throughout the Mahoning Valley by identifying and developing grassroots leaders, cultivating healthy neighbourhoods, and building power to address inequality and promote racial, social, and economic justice.

City: Youngstown, OH
E-mail: info@mvorganizing.org
Web: http://www.mvorganizing.org/

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Community Voices Heard (CVH) is an organization of low-income people, predominantly women with experience on welfare, working to build power in New York City and State to improve the lives of our families and communities. We are working to accomplish this through a multi-pronged strategy, including public education, grassroots organizing, leadership development, training low-income people about their rights, political education, civic engagement and direct-action issue campaigns. We are currently working on welfare reform, job creation, public housing and other economic justice issues that affect low-income people, particularly low-income women of color.

City: New York
E-mail: Sondra@CVHaction.org
Web: http://www.cvhaction.org

Paraquad is a nonprofit organization whose mission is to empower people with disabilities to increase their independence through choice and opportunity. Founded in 1970 in St. Louis, Mo., by Max and Colleen Starkloff, we are one of the oldest non-residential Centers for Independent Living in the country. Paraquad’s guiding principle is to advance the independent living philosophy. We look toward an integrated community in which people with disabilities are valued and participate in all aspects of society. We strive to make St. Louis more accessible for all people. A city that is more accessible is appealing to all members, not just people with disabilities who need more accessible areas.

City: St. Louis, MO
E-mail: contactus@paraquad.org
Web: http://www.paraquad.org

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Virginia Organizing, founded in August 1995, is a state-wide grassroots organization dedicated to challenging injustice by empowering people in local communities to address issues that affect the quality of their lives. Virginia Organizing especially encourages the participation of those who have traditionally had little or no voice in our society. By building relationships with diverse individuals and groups throughout Virginia, Virginia Organizing enhances their ability to work together at a state-wide level, democratically and non-violently, for change. The overall purpose of Virginia Organizing is to create a strong political force for long-term change which has a diverse grassroots base and includes people who have not been active before.

City: Charlottesville, Virginia
E-mail: http://www.virginia-organizing.org/contact
Web: http://www.virginia-organizing.org

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Illinois People’s Action (IPA) is the state’s largest faith-based community organization. The mission of IPA is to organize for justice in local communities and throughout Illinois’ urban and rural communities. IPA works with local grassroots and faith leaders on wide variety of justice issues they themselves identify. IPA provides leadership training and development, staff support and consultation, and access to institutional and financial resources. IPA uses the democratic power of the people to engage in civic dialogue with decision-makers.

City: Bloomington, IL
E-mail: don@illinoispeoplesaction.org
Web: http://www.illinoispeoplesaction.org

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Now celebrating its 25th anniversary, Step by Step, Inc. is a regional, grassroots, non-profit organization serving eight counties in rural and urban West Virginia. Step by Step ensures that disadvantaged children living in geographically and culturally-isolated communities receive continuous, comprehensive care from birth to independent adulthood. Whether at our community centers, in our after-school and summer programs, or as part of our home visits, at-risk children, youth, and their families have access to free education services, healthcare, economic support, and an array of training and advocacy resources. Along with a broad network of local, state, and regional partners, Step by Step empower children and their families to “dream, work, and grow” together.

City: Charleston, West Virginia
E-mail: sbsadmin@stepbystepwv.org
Web: http://www.stepbystepwv.org/

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Since 1979, Sisters Of The Road has been an essential part of the Old Town/Chinatown neighbourhood. Sisters offers a space to build community, empower ourselves, learn from one another, dine with dignity and organize for justice and human rights for all.

Sisters’ Mission: Sisters Of The Road exists to build authentic relationships and alleviate the hunger of isolation in an atmosphere of non-violence and gentle personalism that nurtures the whole individual, while seeking systemic solutions that reach the roots of homelessness and poverty to end them forever.

City: Portland, Oregon
E-mail: info@sistersoftheroad.org
Web: http://sistersoftheroad.org

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Bread & Roses is a non-profit intentional community. We are dedicated to creating a world that is organized by the principle of generosity rather than self-interest. Bread & Roses has lovingly served the homeless, the poor, and the marginalized of Thurston County for over a quarter century. Bread & Roses is, first and foremost, an intentional community. Our commitment to social justice is realized in the daily hospitality that we offer to the homeless – a warm, comfortable, and nurturing home in which to heal from the traumas of street life. From civil rights to community planning, and from volunteerism to community organizing, Bread & Roses has reminded us all of our obligations to our neighbours in need.

City: Olympia, WA
E-mail: admin@breadandrosesolympia.org
Web: http://breadandrosesolympia.org

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Maine People’s Alliance was founded in 1982 (and officially incorporated in 1983) in the Lewiston/Auburn area with a focus on housing, rent and utility rate reform issues. In 1984, our sister organization, the Maine People’s Resource Center, was created. MPA’s purpose is to bring individuals and organizations together to realize shared goals. We focus on leadership development to increase the number of citizen leaders prepared to work for positive social change. We are known for our ability to do grassroots organizing and education that reaches more than 100,000 Mainers each year with direct personal contact and quality leadership development work that has yielded dozens of leaders and staff for MPA and other organizations.

City: Portland, Maine
E-mail: amy@mainepeoplesalliance.org
Web: https://www.mainepeoplesalliance.org

Sunflower Community Action is a Kansas-wide, non-profit, grassroots organization. We’re brown and black and white. We’re young and old, and have low to moderate incomes. We’re recent immigrants and families who have lived in Kansas for generations. Because we love Kansas and our communities, we bring a variety of issues that concern us. Together we take action for racial and economic equity. Our mission is to unite and empower people to achieve justice and equality for all, changing lives by developing grassroots leaders who identify problems and seek lasting solutions. Sunflower members build power by taking action and holding decision-makers accountable.

City: Wichita, Kansas
E-mail: info@sunfloweract.org
Web: http://sunfloweract.org

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The ONE Village Council (OVC) is comprised of individuals living in ONE Village who are committed to encouraging residents, businesses and government to be more responsive to the needs of our ONE Village neighborhoods. The ONE Village Council strives to strengthen ONE Village socially, economically and politically. And, thanks to the unrelenting push from OVC members to improve the neighborhood, an increased quality of life is more than a dream – it is becoming a reality. Organization membership serves as a power base of neighborhood residents who are willing to come together to implement change for the good of the entire neighborhood. Members donate their time and efforts to the organization. They do research, study the root causes of problems, learn how to bring about change, explore solutions, and take action

City: Toledo, Ohio
E-mail: mwasylecki@unitednorth.org
Web: http://www.unitednorth.org

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ACCESS is dedicated to empowering and enabling individuals, families, and communities to lead informed, productive, culturally sensitive and fulfilling lives. ACCESS has been serving the community for more than 40 years. Started by a group of volunteers in 1971 out of a storefront in Dearborn’s impoverished south end, ACCESS was created to assist the Arab immigrant population adapt to life in the United States. Today, ACCESS is the largest Arab American human services nonprofit in the United States. With eight locations and more than 100 programs serving metro Detroit, ACCESS offers a wide range of services to a diverse population.

City: Toledo, Ohio
E-mail: hjaber@accesscommunity.org
Web: http://www.accesscommunity.org

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NEOGAP is organized to educate, empower, and advocate for the citizens of Ohio who are facing threats to health, safety, and property rights posed by oil and gas development.

Vision Statement: We envision Ohio as a place where property rights and local control are fully respected; where oil and gas development throughout the state occurs using only methods that protect water, air, soil quality, and human health and safety; and where laws and regulations support this vision.

City: Cleveland, Ohio
E-mail: hjaber@accesscommunity.org
Web: http://www.neogap.org

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Concerned Citizens Ohio is non-profit, grassroots group of small networks of citizens across Ohio dedicated to educating ourselves and others about deep shale petroleum production. Our mission is to collect scientifically based information about petroleum production with a particular emphasis on shale gas and oil drilling and production and to freely disseminate this information. We do our best to check sources to find information as reliable as possible. Our goal is to peacefully disseminate accurate information about all the aspects of petroleum extraction to as wide an audience as possible. We set that goal because we value our communities, our environment, our health, and believe that for citizens to make good judgments; complete, accurate information is essential.

City: Portage County, OH
E-mail: concernedcitizensohio@gmail.com
Web: http://www.concernedcitizensohio.org

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The mission of the Ohio Environmental Council is to secure healthy air, land, and water for all who call Ohio home. We help individuals, communities, and businesses go green, save money, and live healthier. Using legislative initiatives, legal action, scientific principles, and state-wide partnerships, we secure a healthier environment for Ohio’s families and communities. The Ohio Environmental Council is the state’s most comprehensive, effective and respected environmental advocate for a healthier, more sustainable Ohio. Our experts work daily to restore, protect and strengthen the quality of life for families and communities—from the air we breathe and the water we drink to the food we eat and natural resources we enjoy.

City: Columbus, Ohio
E-mail: OEC@theOEC.org
Web: http://www.theoec.org

A Just Harvest’s mission is to fight poverty and hunger in the Rogers Park and greater Chicago community by providing nutritious meals daily while cultivating community and economic development and organizing across racial, cultural and socioeconomic lines in order to create a more just society. Through Northside P.O.W.E.R., created in 2004, as a result of a strategic planning process undertaken by A Just Harvest’s board of directors we want to be a powerful organization so that we can improve our community and be effective in the fight against hunger and poverty. We also want to provide opportunities for people in relatively powerful positions to be effective voices for social change through our work.

City: Chicago, IL
E-mail: info@ajustharvest.org
Web: http://www.ajustharvest.org/

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SOUL is a social justice organization on the South Side and South Suburbs dedicated to the belief that all people ought to have decent, affordable housing, access to healthy, nutritious food in every neighborhood, a clean environment so our children will be able to breathe the air and drink the water, public transit that allows us to get to job opportunities, a full employment economy so everyone has the opportunity to work, and living wages so people who work full-time do not remain poor. SOUL is working to build a movement to create change, starting on the South Side and South Suburbs. SOUL’s inclusive, multi-generational membership includes religious congregations, affordable housing groups, block clubs, students, and neighborhood groups across the South Side and South Suburbs.

City: Chicago, IL
E-mail: wtanzman@soulinchicago.org
Web: http://www.soulinchicago.org/

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Action NC is a grassroots community organization that empowers low to moderate-income communities to take action and win victories on issues of concern to our communities. Action NC’s mission is to confront and reduce the root causes of poverty, underdevelopment, and social and economic inequality through grassroots education, training, organization and mobilization. Our priorities include: better housing conditions for tenants, living wages for low-wage workers, affordable health care, more investment in our communities from banks and governments, comprehensive immigration reform, and better public schools. We achieve these goals by building community organizations that have the power to win changes — through community direct action, negotiation, legislation, and voter participation.

City: Charlotte, North Carolina
E-mail: info@actionnc.org
Web: http://www.soulinchicago.org/

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ACTION United was formed in January, 2010 by former members of PA ACORN and other concerned people in the state. Action United is a membership organization of low and moderate income Pennsylvanians working to build power through organizing communities to win changes on the issues that are important to them. ACTION United was formed to advance the interests of low and moderate income families around Pennsylvania on the issues that are of critical importance to us: economic justice for low income and working families; fair lending practices and a real solution to the foreclosure crisis; good schools; clean air and a safe environment ; and quality affordable health care. Action United’s 35,000 members are organized into 17 neighborhood chapters throughout the state.

City: Philadelphia, PA
E-mail: http://actionunited.org/contact
Web: http://actionunited.org

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The Alliance for a Just Society’s mission is to execute regional and national campaigns and build strong state affiliate organizations and partnerships that address economic, racial, and social inequities. The Alliance (formerly the Northwest Federation of Community Organizations), is a national coalition of eight state-based grassroots community organizations. Our goal is to make the movement stronger by stimulating growth in others and promoting the collective work of our partners. No amount of individual good work will ever transform our society, nor can they equal or replace the efforts that build movement consciousness and capability in others.

City: Seattle, WA
E-mail: info@allianceforajustsociety.org
Web: http://allianceforajustsociety.org

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Arkansas Public Policy Panel is a non-profit organization founded in 1963. Arkansas Public Policy Panel is a state-wide organization dedicated to achieving social and economic justice by organizing citizen groups around the state, educating and supporting them to be more effective and powerful, and linking them with one another in coalitions and networks. The Panel seeks to bring balance to the public policy process in Arkansas. We work for social justice by helping community people to organize, to grow as leaders, and to influence public policy at the local level and the state level. The Panel provides organizing, training, leader development and strategic planning services.

In addition, the Panel also supports a diverse coalition of community groups and organizations that develop campaigns and lobby at the legislature as the Arkansas Citizens First Congress.

City: Little Rock, AR
E-mail: info@arpanel.org
Web: http://arpanel.org/

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The Granite State Organizing Project is the largest grassroots community organization in New Hampshire. We are comprised of 29 religious, community, and labor organizations, representing 40,000 New Hampshire families. Guided by faith and democratic values, we mobilize our many voices on issue oriented actions, building strong relationships and stronger communities. As the largest grassroots community organization in New Hampshire, GSOP unites to strengthen community members’ voices in decisions that shape their communities by taking issue-oriented actions. By doing so, GSOP broadens and deepens our own organizations’ leadership, builds community, and promotes a just society. The organization strives to create communities in which residents accept, respect, and value one another; justice, equity, and the democratic process are upheld in all interactions.

City: Manchester, New Hampshire
E-mail: Granitestateop@comcast.net
Web: http://www.granitestateorganizing.org

Illinois Coalition for Immigrant Refugee Rights is dedicated to promoting the rights of immigrants and refugees to full and equal participation in the civic, cultural, social, and political life of our diverse society. ICIRR under the direction of our member organizations works on various programs and campaigns that empower the immigrant community in Illinois. In partnership with our member organizations, the Coalition educates and organizes immigrant and refugee communities to assert their rights; promotes citizenship and civic participation; monitors, analyzes, and advocates on immigrant-related issues; and, informs the general public about the contributions of immigrants and refugees.

City: Chicago, IL
E-mail: lbenito@icirr.org
Web: http://icirr.org

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Massachusetts Communities Action Network (MCAN) is the federation of our Massachusetts affiliated organizations taking action together on statewide issues. The Organizing and Leadership Training Center (OLTC) provides support to community organizations in New England states. We are a federation of community improvement organizations working for social and economic justice by putting our religious faith values and our democratic values into action. The organizations focus on leadership development as the key to building large scale involvement which gives the organizations the “people power” to gain support for their proposals for solving community and work problems.

City: Boston, MA
E-mail: LewFinfer@gmail.com
Web: http://mcan-oltc.org

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Missourians Organizing for Reform and Empowerment (MORE) believes that Missouri is positioned at a unique intersection of social, economic and environmental injustice. We believe that as corporate power continues unabated expansion and the gap between the rich and the poor widens, there has never been a better time for our low-income communities to come together and fight back. MORE seeks to be a powerful organization of low- and moderate-income people, building strength in our communities. We work in relationship with other organizations pushing our allies to engage in creative direct action with us to foster good policy changes. MORE seeks to be part of a movement that cuts across, class, age and race lines that is envisioning and building the world in which we would like to live.

City: St. Louis, MO
E-mail: join@organizemo.org
Web: http://organizemo.org

Out Bound Delegation

June 13, 2013/in Achievements 2013 /by admin

Meet the 1st U.S. mentors traveling to Europe in June-July 2013

Read the 1st U.S. mentors traveling to Europe in August-September 2013

Meet the 2nd U.S. mentors traveling to Europe in August 2013

1st In Bound Delegation

June 13, 2013/in Achievements 2013 /by admin

1st In-Bound Newsletter – Participants

1st In-Bound Newsletter – Direct Action

1st In-Bound Newsletter – Volunteering

1st In-Bound Newsletter – Professional Fellowship Congress

1st In-Bound Newsletter – Testimony

Meet the first U.S. mentor group traveling to Europe

June 7, 2013/in News /by admin

The first delegation with a total of 19 fellows from Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia visited the U.S. from April 1 – May 11, 2013 and participated in group seminars, round-table discussions, site visits, and had have interactions with United States leaders..

U.S. mentors will travel for a reciprocal visit to Europe. The Out-Bound component will include at least two American mentors’ teams to travel to Europe (between June 2013 and March 2014) for up to 21 days to provide joint workshops with the alumni and on-site consultation and fieldwork, and conduct wider outreach programs. The first U.S. mentor group will travel to Europe from June 19 through July 17, 2013 with 8 Americans who hosted, trained, worked with the European participants of the Spring 2013 delegation. Americans will work with the European alumni in providing workshops, assist with consulting and mentoring. They will be involved in field experience and learn about best kayak reviews minority issues and gain cultural experience in Europe. They will have an opportunity to share professional expertise and gain a deeper understanding of the societies, cultures and people of other countries. This citizen civic exchange will promote mutual understanding, create long-term professional ties, enhance the collaboration between GLC and its partners.

The second European delegation is expected in the U.S. from September 29 – November 9, 2013.

The Great Lakes Consortium – through WSOS Community Action Commission, Inc. – as Contract Agent and Manager – received a grant for a two-way exchange between September 2012 and August 2014 from the U.S. Department of State for the “Building Grassroots Democracy in Minority Communities” with at least 32 participants from four countries of Europe and for 18 U.S. mentors.

Meet the U.S. Mentors:

BG Organizations working with Roma

May 4, 2013/in Resources /by admin

“Association Integro” was registered in 2002 as a non-profit organization under the legal non-profit organization. The association’s activities is aimed to build structures of active citizenship in Roma communities, uniting the efforts of these structures for adequate gm diet plans representation of Roma at all levels of decision-making and responsibilities and create conditions for dialogue and cooperation with local authorities and national institutions.

City: Razgrad
е-mail: info@integrobg.org
web: http://www.integrobg.org/

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Amalipe Center for Interethnic Dialogue and Tolerance is a leading Roma organization, working for the equal integration of Roma in Bulgarian Society. The organization plays a central role in organizing a Roma civic movement and advocating for Roma integration within the state institutions. Amalipe believes in the equal integration of the Roma people in society by focusing on the preservation of the Roma identity and on the modernization of the Roma communities.

City: Veliko Turnovo
e-mail: center_amalipe@yahoo.com
web: http://amalipe.com/

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Areté Youth Foundation is a 501(c)(3) organization supporting high-potential youth who are limited by social and economic barriers in Bulgaria and the Balkans. We envision a Roma community of engaged citizens and positive role models who support each other to achieve educational, financial, and personal success. Our Mission is to build sustainable social networks that encourage educational pursuits, instill a culture of giving back and promote mentorship.

City: Sofia
e-mail: info@areteyouth.org
web: http://www.areteyouth.org/

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Student Society for the Development of Interthnic Dialogue – We are a non-governmental and politically independent organization. Our mission is to realize a complete social-educational cycle for the young Roma – popularization of education, carrying out pre-application preparation for entering high schools, carrying out pre-university application preparation, organizing scholarship competitions, motivating young people to acquire the highest possible degree of education, dissemination of information on competitions, scholarships, qualification courses, apprenticeships.

City: Sofia
e-mail: roma_students_org@abv.bg
web: http://ssdid.org/en

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The organization Drom is a Vidin based non-governmental non-profit organization and aims to support the integration of Roma within Bulgarian society, thus helping the process of democratization and European integration. In 2000 the organization started the desegregation process with the idea to provide free access to quality education for Romani children from the all-Romani segregated „Nov Pat” quarter to the mainstream schooling system.

City: Vidin
e-mail: office@drom-vidin.org
web: http://www.drom-vidin.org

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The mission of Roma Destiny is to help the personal development and social integration of children, youth and adults from Roma origin; to promote the equal access of the Roma to quality education, employment and social services; to promote convergence of ethnic groups in the region of Stara Zagora and nationwide, and to build the spiritual values and the virtues of the civil society by implementing programs and developing partnerships. Roma Destiny connects the different generations with one purpose alone – the Roma to have a better future and Bulgaria to become a model in the area of the uniting of the different ethnicities.

City: Stara Zagora
e-mail: romadestiny@gmail.com
web: http://www.romadestiny.org

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Creating Effective Grassroots Alternatives works for capacity building in different levels, changing attitudes and improvement of policies for social inclusion of disadvantaged communities. The organization works in 4 main fields: 1) Capacity building for social inclusion of disadvantaged communities; 2) Improvement of policies for social inclusion of disadvantaged communities; 3) Changing attitudes for social inclusion of disadvantaged communities and 4) International development. Young people are cross-cutting priority target group in all fields and activities.

City: Sofia
e-mail: cega@cega.bg
web: http://www.cega.bg

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The Association Youth Club “Roma Stolipinovo” is youth oriented non-governmental organization established in 1996. The vision of the Youth Club is to improve the quality life and social inclusion of the Roma youth from Plovdiv and its district through implementing sustainable mechanisms for building capacity, increasing the potential and the self-confidence of the young Roma.

The priorities of the Association are focused on changing the negative attitudes towards the Roma and other ethnic minorities through active participation and engagement of the youth from those societies in the social and cultural life of the country, promoting human rights, education and protection.

City: Plovdiv
e-mail: mkrs@abv.bg
web: http://www.youthclub-roma.org

Anita Vodal reflects on her time in the US

May 3, 2013/in News /by admin

My name is Anita Vodál, and I’m a trainee lawyer at the Hungarian Civil Liberties Union. I came to the U.S. through an international community organizing exchange. My previous intention was to learn how to combine legal empowerment with community organizing back in Hungary. Surprisingly, I learned that you cannot empower people without organizing them – making them aware of their own power.

I was so absorbed in the issues and social problems of Hungary that I didn’t have much time before I arrived to think about how things would be in the U.S. I spend most of my time in the “world as it is,” instead of the “world as it should be,” which means that I was complaining about social injustice all the time without taking any action.

Five weeks ago, I arrived in the U.S. with 18 other fellows from Central European countries with the enthusiasm to learn community organizing and how grassroots democracy functions. Our training included a three-week internship during which our group split up and each of us went to different organizations in various states across the country. We all work with minority groups back in our countries (Bulgaria, Hungary, Romania and Slovakia) as part of the legal, social worker or organizing staff. I was placed for my internship at the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless (CCH), along with Miro Ragac from Slovakia.

This exchange program, funded and organized by the U.S. State Department, also allows community organizers from the U.S. go to Central Europe in order to learn how things work there, how powerful organizations operate, what are the biggest social challenges organizers have to face, etc. Europeans try to get the same answers from American organizations and participants during the six weeks spent in the U.S.

I was completely aware that there are homeless people on the streets in the U.S. too, and that people are concerned about various social issues. However, I never thought that Americans struggle with the same challenges as we do in the middle of Europe – after 40 years of Socialism – nor that in the U.S. people also have to fight for democratic values and against racism. I had to realize that discrimination remains an issue even if we are across the ocean in a country ruled by a democratic leader. It seems to me that this struggle is something that we have to fight for, no matter where we live.

In Hungary, Roma people are the biggest ethnic minority, or about 10% of the entire population. The Roma community faces an enormous level of discrimination in every facet of life, including housing, employment, and education. They live in very poor living conditions, lots of them have no running water in their houses, the unemployment rate is almost 90%, and most of the Roma children go to segregated schools or classes. The far-right political party, Jobbik, has 20% of the representatives in the Parliament. This ruling conservative government supports the idea of “gypsy criminality.” This concept has significantly increased the level of racism experienced by Roma people in the last few years.

During my stay I the U.S., I have realized that this country also faces serious problems of discrimination and segregation, even though it is ruled by a democratic government.

I would like highlight the issue that surprised me the most.

If a person has a criminal background in the U.S., they have to carry this felony through their entire life as a stamp on their forehead. It stays there forever; anyone can have access to their criminal record. Related to homelessness, these people are excluded from public housing through the Chicago Housing Authority for at least five years, and have to wait at least another couple of years on the housing choice wait list until they can access an apartment. They cannot rejoin family living in public housing just because of the felony. They can hardly get a job, since their future employee can easily do a background check on them. What is the point of letting people out of prison if they are excluded from most services and their fundamental rights are curtailed? In Hungary, you can get rid of the felony after a certain amount of time, depending on the crime. There are some extensions, but in most of the cases your criminal record becomes blank and nobody can check it except certain authorities. It is your private information. It seems that there are regulations that are more humane in Central Europe and the U.S. has to improve.

Besides plenty of best practices, useful tools and great advice that I can take back home with me, I’ve learned during my time in Chicago to live sometimes in “the world as it should be.”

Short picture’s story from our fellows

April 20, 2013/in News /by admin

On 12th of April our fellows safety arrived to their fellowship placement site in 9 states at 11 hosting organizations. Read some of their first actions/meetings and impressions:

Raluca Negulescu, Romania

My first day at the Granite State Organizing Project was delightful. I met a group of fantastic Latin-American women from Nashua and we discussed about the main issues in their community. In the evening, I attended a fundraising event – the 2nd Annual Spaghetti Supper organised by Holy Cross Family Learning Center in Manchester. I met the Mayor of the city and enjoyed a Bhutanese dance show.

Raluca Negulescu, Romania

Martin Klus, Slovakia

I had a “sharp start” here in Little Rock and today became part of very strong state-wide initiative within Arkansas State Congress and will be famous for couple of seconds even in local TV.

Martin Klus, Slovakia

Dzhevid Mahmud, Bulgaria
Csaba and Dzhevid met with senator Kennedy in Brockton, Boston during interfaith community action meeting.

Dzhevid & Csaba

Simona Barbu, Romania

Two very interesting meetings today in Seattle, the first one at CASA LATINA, where the Care Council meet to discuss about the national updates on the law of immigration and the activities they prepare for the next period: on the 9th of May they will put together and action called Mothers Day in order to highlight the role of the mothers in immigration.

Later on, in the Industrial district (aka China Town) we had the opportunity to participate at the meeting of the coalition for preparing May Day in Seattle, a totally different concept that what we usually celebrate in Romania. May Day is the Immigrant’s Day and will be celebrated by marching on the main important boulevards of the city and organizing the members of the immigrant communities to participate.

Together with Kovács Tímea Éva , we’ll be peace keepers during the march on the 1st of May! We are looking forward to it!

Simona & Timea

Miroslav Ragac, Slovakia

Very successful day today! Our S.A.G.E group (Survivor Advocacy Group Empowered) met with several members of the Illinois House of Representatives in Springfield and they got their support and commitment to vote for SB 1872!!! Well done girls!!!

Miroslav Ragac, Slovakia

Books, toolkits on CO

Community Organizing in U.S.

Out Bound Delegation

1st In Bound Delegation

Meet the first U.S. mentor group traveling to Europe

BG Organizations working with Roma

Anita Vodal reflects on her time in the US

Short picture’s story from our fellows

INFO

GLCAP in Fremont, Ohio

Funding

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