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<\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n\nGrassroots organizing is where it’s at, and I’ve gotten involved with Airlift<\/a>, which raises funds to support some amazing organizations doing crucial work to turn non-voters into voters in key areas throughout the country. Check out this latest in my “On the Ground” series.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n 2020 is here, a hugely consequential year for our country and the world. As we welcome the New Year with hope and renewed determination for the work ahead, we also welcome a new organization into the fold that Airlift funds: Down Home North Carolina<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Down Home exemplifies the winning strategy of building political power from the ground up by engaging and expanding the electorate with those who have been most marginalized. Founded in June 2017 by organizers Todd Zimmer and Brigid Flaherty, Down Home\u2019s focus is on building long-term, progressive infrastructure to empower working families in rural and small-town communities across North Carolina. \u00a0The co-directors both have deep roots in the state, and have witnessed how well-funded, right-wing interests have exploited racial differences and the rural\/urban divide, pitting white, black, immigrant, and LGBTQ working families against one another to maintain power. Since 80 out of 100 North Carolina counties are rural, the balance of power won\u2019t shift without investing in the vast people power ready to be unlocked in these long-neglected regions. After learning how to organize for issue advocacy and<\/em> electoral success, Zimmer and Flaherty returned home to North Carolina to do \u201cthe heart work\u201d necessary for making local, state, and national government serve the people\u2019s interests, not the rich and powerful.<\/p>\n\n\n\n One of Down Home\u2019s major undertakings was a Deep\nListening Canvass, with trained canvassers holding more than 1,000 conversations\nacross the political, racial, and economic spectrum in rural areas. Through\nnonjudgmental listening and sharing personal stories, those who commonly\ndistrust one another discovered shared values and interests, coming together to\nforcefully advocate for Medicaid expansion, fair wages, education, the end of\ncash bail, and solutions to the opioid crisis. \n<\/p>\n\n\n\n These issues matter to communities that have been\ndevastated by the grinding poverty brought about by a hollowed-out economy and the\ndefunding of education and social programs under Republican rule. Listening\nmakes a huge difference: \u201cNo one\u2019s ever asked me before,\u201d was a common refrain\namong Deep Canvass participants. Such respectful engagement shifts not only\nhearts and minds, but participation: People who have never before paid\nattention to politics are now attending Town Halls and Leadership Trainings,\nchallenging their elected representatives and injustice in the courts,\neducating their neighbors, working hard for electoral change, even running\nfor\u2014and winning!\u2014office. DHNC-supported candidates won six out of eight local\nraces\u2014and would have won another had a tie-breaking coin toss gone the other\nway! On a state-wide basis, DHNC has joined Democratic Governor Roy Cooper in\nsupport of Medicaid expansion, and continue to fight the Republican-controlled\nlegislators who consistently block healthcare for half a million North\nCarolinians. Member efforts have been featured in a New\nYork Times op-doc<\/a><\/em>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n Down Home also provides on-the-ground services to\nthose in need. Through distributing clean syringes and Naloxone, the antidote\nto an opioid overdose, more than 130 lives have been saved. Coordinator Mary Kate\nCrisp says, \u201cI lived with active addiction for three years, and when I stopped\nusing, I started going out into the community to volunteer. It was a big piece\nof my recovery, and I was thrilled when I was hired by Down Home this summer.\u201d\nIn addition to distributing life-saving interventions, Crisp and her team work\ntirelessly to educate, break down stigma, direct people to services, and\norganize direct advocacy actions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n Another major DHNC campaign is fighting the cash bail\nsystem through court-watching, advocacy, and raising money to pay bail for\nthose whose lives will be devastated simply because they cannot pay to stay out\nof jail while their cases are adjudicated. Such programs are not obviously\n\u201cpolitical,\u201d but working to improve peoples\u2019 lives is a powerful antidote to\ndisengagement, and brings important electoral shifts that benefit those who\nhave been left behind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n In it for the long haul, Down Home North Carolina has\ndemonstrated astonishing growth and success in a very short time. Their\nmembership has doubled, there are chapters in five counties with plans for\nanother five, and they have knocked on thousands of doors and gotten more than\n1,000 low-propensity voters to cast ballots. With engagement comes hope, and a\ntransformation within rural communities ground down by poverty and division\nfrom survival mode to enthusiastic participation and leadership. Goals for 2020\ninclude flipping the State House from Red to Blue; protecting Governor Roy\nCooper; defeating Senator Thom Tillis, and expanding the vote in rural\ncommunities to put North Carolina back into the blue column of the Electoral\nCollege. <\/p>\n\n\n\n With your help, all of this is within reach, in this\ncrucial year and over the long-term. As Airlift founder Danny Altman says about\nDown Home North Carolina, \u201cThey\nhave the smarts, the organizing skills, the allies, the data, the plan. All\nthey need is the money.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n *<\/p>\n\n\n\n Your generosity makes a difference. Please support Down Home North Carolina and all the other great grassroots organizations Airlift funds by donating at https:\/\/secure.actblue.com\/donate\/airlift<\/a>. Thank you!<\/em><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" Grassroots organizing is where it’s at, and I’ve gotten involved with Airlift, which raises funds to support some amazing organizations doing crucial work to turn non-voters into voters in key areas throughout the country. Check out this latest in my … Continue reading