by Kyle Morehead—Missouri
Last Friday as I was canvassing in Independence, Missouri I came across two blocks that were essentially empty. It seemed that house after house was in foreclosure or just empty. When we did make contact with a resident the majority were unemployed or scared of losing their jobs. The economic situation is dire. What we do is more than going door to door to talk about health care. We are witness to the current reality of American life.
Our job is to remind the folks that there are people like us that want to help. And, that justice still means something to us. We must share the passion with the folks.
Tags: foreclosures, the economy
by Rachelle Paynter—Colorado
I’ve been in Colorado for a month now. The people here are amazing, but one woman in particular stands out in my mind. I was canvassing in Thornton, Colorado, which is an area that has been devastated by massive amounts of foreclosures. I met a woman who had been laid off at her job recently because she made too much money and they wanted to pay someone less wages to do her job. She was really thrilled that people were out in her community doing something about the issues that hit home with her, and she joined and gave a dues payment despite the fact that she lost her job.
Tags: foreclosures, Jobs, layoffs, the economy
by Angel Gober—Pennsylvania
We thought we weren’t gonna make it, my partner and I, because of all of the obstacles we faced on turf. Some other canvassers were out in the neighborhood for different purposes were knocking on doors moments before we got there, so we were starting late.
But that all changed with the amount of people who were home and so down with the urgent issues I was bringing to them.
One woman who was too excited to sign up saw her neighbors on the porch and yelled, “Hey Sharon! Talk to this girl who’s fighting to keep good jobs here!”
This started the ultimate chain reaction and tone for my night. People were grabbing the clipboard from my hands. The urgency and the need for jobs are so important to these people that they shout and holler and demand that their neighbors get involved. We need to stick with our neighbors to get what we really need for this country.
Numbers = CHANGE!!!
Tags: Jobs, membership, the economy
by Thom Mol—Pennsylvania
Sometimes it’s easy to fall into the statistics we hear everyday about disappearing jobs, the declining value of the dollar and the spider web cracks showing up in our debt-ridden society. We hear and study these things everyday….have concrete examples given at some households we visit, see them in the eyes of the people who we encounter. It can be easy to see the world through this prism, that we are staring and possibly have already started to slip into the abyss as a country. But if we carry this to the door, we lose the enthusiasm of the people we are talking to and they won’t join.
Sometimes we must remind ourselves that we represent the hope for the people we meet. If we do not believe, deep in our hearts, that our country is better than this, then we cannot make the skeptics believe…and that is our true mission. We have the true believers on our side already. We need to sway those that are starting to feel the dichotomy between how “wonderful” the economy had been and what they have been feeling and seeing for the past twelve or more years. For them, it is our belief in the power of people over money and our being able to infect them with the same mindset that gets change accomplished…something us canvassers must never forget.
Tags: membership, taking action, the economy
