Main Street

Working America Ohio Says Thanks to Occupy Cleveland

Stephanie Harig – Cleveland, Ohio

This is the time of year for being grateful, hopeful, and joyful—and Working America members in Ohio have been wholeheartedly participating by expressing their thanks and appreciation for the folks occupying public areas our cities, including Cleveland.

Occupy Cleveland has been maintaining a constant presence on Public Square for over two months. There is a dedicated group of individuals involved in occupying, but also working peacefully to prevent foreclosures in the Greater Cleveland area and participating in community events.

Working America stands with the 99 percent. But our members may not always be able to join these protests—so Ohioans are finding other ways to show that they appreciate the occupiers in Public Square.

Less than a month ago, offices across Ohio began collecting thank you notes to Occupy Cleveland by going door-to-door and making phone calls. The response was inspiring. On Saturday, Working America’s Cleveland office delivered over 200 such letters from around the state to Occupy Cleveland at a potluck event.

I attended the letter delivery with Jim, a Cleveland Working America member. After spending some time enjoying the food and interacting with Occupy Cleveland organizers, we presented the thank you notes to the group. We had put the notes in a binder, so they are able to flip through them when they are feeling discouraged, lonely, or just plain cold.

In addition to presenting the binder full of letters (to murmurs of disbelief that we had collected so many), I read a few of the most poignant ones from each office out loud. In one memorable letter, a single mom from Columbus expressed her support for Occupy because she recognized that they are addressing her day-to-day struggles. In another, Phyllis from Cleveland expressed her appreciation and ended by imploring the protestors to keep warm (important advice in a Cleveland winter!). Our members are genuinely grateful that someone is giving them a voice.

The letters were met with an overwhelming appreciation by the participants in Occupy Cleveland. Some were moved to tears, while others struggled to find the words to express how much the notes meant to them. After the presentation, they passed the binder around, and continued to express amazement at the fact that Working America had collected so many great letters. Indeed, this simple show of solidarity went a long way in boosting the morale of the organizers.

Tags: Cleveland, Corporate Accountability, Ohio, OWS