Coalition for Social Justice

Dear friend,

      While we watch events on the national front with frustration, in Massachusetts we are taking on some of the same struggles at a state level and we have achieved victories!    The Coalition for Social Justice and the Coalition against Poverty are tackling a variety of issues, ranging from stopping cuts to essential state services to worker’s rights to green justice and making significant progress!  Perhaps you are a loyal supporter of the Coalition, or you are someone we have met more recently.  We hope you will be impressed by what we are accomplishing and will be willing to make a financial contribution to support this important work.

            Our recent Annual Awards Banquet in May, attended by 360 Coalition supporters, was a huge success and a testament to our ability to build a broad-based grassroots movement throughout Southeastern Massachusetts.   A total of 132 awards were given out to people and organizations who actively participated in grassroots organizing activities in our Campaign for Working Families and CSJ’s electoral campaigns. Eighty two community organizations and unions and thirty two elected officials supported our banquet financially. 

            The first half of 2011, the Coalition for Social Justice and Coalition Against Poverty prioritized the protection of essential services for the most vulnerable Massachusetts residents:   low-income children, the homeless and low and moderate income documented immigrants. 

            Through our volunteer and action alert network we built grassroots pressure in 21 legislative districts.  Through phone calls, email alerts and face-to-face meetings we let our legislators know the extent of public concern about proposals which would have restricted eligibility for homeless shelters, eliminated health care insurance for documented immigrants, and eliminated the children’s clothing allowance for welfare recipients.  Along with others around the state we achieved important victories.

Victories that will make a real difference in people’s lives:

Protecting Access to Shelters for the Homeless

Language in the House budget would have excluded people who become homeless as a result of foreclosures, job loss, expiration of unemployment compensation, illness or disability from  access to homeless shelters.  They would have instead been given short-term housing assistance that may or may not have enabled people to find a subsidized unit on a timely basis.  We were successful in blocking these restrictions.   

Health Care for Documented Immigrants

We were successful in preserving the Commonwealth Bridge program which provides health care to over 27,000 immigrants who meet the eligibility guidelines for state-subsidized health insurance.  The program was threatened with elimination in the House budget.    

Childrens’ Clothing Allowance  - A Partial Victory

Early in the year there was an elimination of the annual $150 clothing allowance for children of welfare recipients.  By the end of the budget cycle, during Conference Committee, the House and Senate were influenced by the persistent grassroots effort of CSJ/CAP and others and the children’s clothing allowance was reinstated, although at a much reduced benefit of $40. A window was left open for full restoration of funding down the line.    

Building a grassroots movement!

            We are also organizing around our multi issue Campaign for Working Families.  Rallies and public hearings at the State House, organizing mass phone-calling to legislators at key moments, public education and campaign press events as well as mass emails to our Legislative Action Network have helped us build in-district power with 21 legislators in Southeastern Massachusetts.

In all we organized 120 people to attend key public hearings at the State House on: An Act to Invest in Our Communities and Corporate Accountability, Paid Sick Days, Green Justice, Safer Alternatives to Toxic Chemicals, Temporary Worker Rights and Children’s and Families Issues.

We sent email Legislative Action Alerts at key moments to 2,496 members alerting them to call their legislators about a variety of issues including our budget priorities:  homelessness prevention, a clothing allowance for low income children and health care for documented immigrants.  

“The Campaign For Our Communities”

We turned out 67 people to the Joint Committee on Revenue Hearing at the State House

            In the past six months we have also worked hard to advance the “Campaign for Our Communities” which is a statewide coalition of organizations working to pass “An Act to Invest in Our Communities”. This bill takes a balanced approach to the fiscal crisis by raising revenue from those who can best afford to pay, thus maintaining the services which make our state a good place to live.  CSJ chairs the Grassroots Committee of the statewide Campaign for Our Communities.   At the Revenue Hearing at the State House CSJ/CAP brought 67 volunteers and also provided a representative to testify before the Committee. Volunteers also made several hundred calls to our legislators on this issue.  We also sponsored a training on revenue and the budget with One Massachusetts attended by 40 of our volunteers, as well as lobbied legislators in over 21 districts in Southeastern Massachusetts.

          Three of our campaigns: Paid Sick Days, Green Justice and Safer Alternatives to Toxic Chemicals saw a lot of action this year with over 700 calls generated to legislators from constituents through our phone banks.  We provided 4 testifiers for separate public hearings at the State House on these issues and turned out people to the hearings as a public show of support.   

Green Justice!

            We organized a Green Justice forum at which 40 activists gathered to support the campaign.  The coalition headed by Community Labor United consists of community groups, labor and environmental groups.  We are at the forefront of shaping the rapidly growing weatherization industry in Massachusetts.  Goals of the campaign are to expand community access to energy efficiency and establish a high standard for green jobs available to local workers.

            As part of the Green Justice campaign we participated in a “charette” process which brought together community groups, government representatives and the weatherization industry including the utility companies.  MassSave’s ability to bring energy savings through weatherization to Massachusetts residents who have historically been underserved by this program was a focus of discussion.  Once a successful shift has been made it will significantly improve energy efficiency options for thousands of Massachusetts households and ensure that these communities are at the forefront of the growing green economy. 

Mobilizing our “Action Alert Network”!

            Our phone bank volunteers mobilized our Action Alert Network producing 3,826 calls to key legislators.  Not only was this the highest number of calls we have ever produced in a legislative season, but 1774 of those calls were made by people called from the voter list who are new to the legislative action network and agreed to take action after having the issues at stake explained to them.  2,879 of those calls were to advocate for vulnerable populations – the homeless, welfare recipients, and immigrants – who were the target of severe budget cuts.  This included calls to support budget amendments and calls to advocate for our priorities in the Budget Conference Committee.  The calls focused on legislators who particularly needed to hear from their constituents on these issues. 

Outreach to public housing where the issues hit home!

            In addition to our Legislative Action Network, one of our main areas of outreach is public housing, with its high concentration of low-income families who are directly affected by budget cuts.   Over the past several months, we reached out to residents in 16 public housing developments, mobilizing 511 people to contact their legislators, including organizing 351 people to write letters.  We know from feedback from legislators that the letters had a significant impact.     

Hundreds of Coalition Activists Speaking Out!

            We organized 160 people to attend and/or give testimony at our “Speak-Out for Working Families” including testimony on our full legislative agenda with a focus on the budget crisis.   This annual event both energizes our activists for the work ahead and demonstrates the breadth of public support for investing in our communities through raising revenues. People from all walks of life testified publicly about the human impact of the proposed budget cuts at these events. Six legislators attended.

            We organized over 100 people to attend “We Are One” rallies in Fall River and New Bedford and provided a speaker in both cities.  These rallies were to express solidarity with union public employees in Wisconsin as part of a national outcry of labor unions and community groups demanding an end to the attacks on workers’ rights and public services across the country.

            We organized two events for students at Bristol Community College on the national budget crisis and advocated for substantial cuts to military spending to fund critical social programs. Congressman Barney Frank was featured and over 200 people attended.

Trainings an important part of developing grassroots leaders

            Trainings play an important role in our organization as we have a large legislative agenda and our members need to keep informed and on top of the issues.   We also invest in developing our volunteers from low-income communities who are new to the political process. 

            This year, in New Bedford we conducted a Volunteer Leadership Program where 9 people participated in a 6 week program involving special organizing projects, developing public speaking and media skills and learning how effective legislative campaigns are run.  An on-going Volunteer Organizer Project currently involves 3 people who volunteer 10 or more hours a week to learn organizing skills and contribute directly to Coalition organizing.

            Our largest training was a “Voter’s Session” in Fall River, an educational event that mimicked the legislative session.  Eighty attendees were able to hear from the experts about three pending bills in the legislature:  An Act Establishing Paid Sick Days, An Act Regarding Community Access to Energy Efficiency Programs and Green Jobs and An Act Updating and Streamlining the Employment Agency Law.  There was lively discussion and then a vote on the three issues which received unanimous support.

Coalition grassroots power contributes to local issues

            Although our main focus is on state issues, the Coalition also takes up compelling local issues that affect our constituencies. In Brockton, we have been working for two years to stop the construction of a proposed power plant in a densely populated, working class community already facing high risk for asthma and other respiratory diseases. We have built up a large network of voters who oppose the power plant, who we mobilized to attend two public hearings.  One resulted in a decision from the Brockton Zoning Board of Appeals that denied plant developers permission to build a structure to house the plant’s electrical grid connection. The power company is now suing over this decision.  The other resulted in the denial by the state’s Energy Facilities Siting Board of a project change for the use of 2 million gallons a day of drinking water to cool the plant. 

            In Fall River and New Bedford, the lack of decent bus transportation has generated a coalition of organizations called Bus Riders United that is fighting to improve a system that has underserved its riders for many years.  CSJ/CAP along with labor and community groups is calling for evening and Sunday bus service and an improvement in routes that better respond to riders’ needs.  Working in both cities, CSJ/CAP has been able to significantly assist the organizing efforts through generating large numbers of cards from our door-to-door work, making calls for riders to come to meetings, providing translations of the cards, and getting organizations to sign on in support of the effort.  At the time of this writing, we are hopeful that this movement will achieve victory on these issues.

There is more work ahead…please give generously

        All of this in just the first 6 months of 2011!  We have more work to do in the months ahead.  Most of our agenda is still on the table and how much we win will depend on the strength of our grassroots efforts. 

 We ask that you give generously to the Coalition at this time. In these tough economic times your contribution is needed more than ever to help fund our existing efforts and expand our organizing in the future. 

 As long as there are powerful interests on Beacon Hill, indifferent to the needs of working families, we need to continue to make our own voices rise up more loudly and clearly than ever. We need to take effective action on issues we care deeply about – issues directly affecting the quality of life of working families and individuals across the state. 

 The Coalition for Social Justice and the Coalition Against Poverty have a track record of success built from the grassroots for over a decade.   None of these accomplishments would have been possible without your generous donations. 

 With your generosity and partnership we are truly making Democracy in Action a reality in Massachusetts. 

 Sincerely,

Debbie Fastino, Fall River

Missy GIlbarg, New Bedford

Marlene Pollock, New Bedford

Dan Gilbarg, Brockton

Michele Armour, Cape Cod