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APRIL 2021 IMPACT REPORT

APRIL 2021 IMPACT REPORT
POWERING OUR MOVEMENT FORWARD

OUR WORK IN 2021 (SO FAR).

This year, we’re reaching big milestones fast. Our organizing work is hitting record numbers and we’ve almost doubled the size of our staff.

Making the calls and effectively moving people.

Deep canvassing was first developed during the marriage equality referendum in California. Organizers wanted to find a way to get people to change their minds about gay marriage. Reading from a script wasn’t cutting it, so they developed a new model to effectively move people. And this one did. Since then, deep canvassing has been used by other issue and political campaigns.

250,000

Deep Canvassing Calls Made

Deep canvassing works.

We’ve been putting this method to use in our work, with over 1,000 volunteers since January spending time talking to people across the Hudson Valley about the issues we’re facing and what it will take to solve them. So far, we’ve gotten 75% of the people we’ve spoken to to support our fights for healthcare and housing for all, leading to hundreds of calls to legislators and volunteer sign ups.

102x

More Effective

We endorsed 8 candidates in local 2021 primary elections.

These endorsements were crucial. These seats have the potential to impact powerful decisions about our daily lives and the future of our communities. And big developers, corporations, and special interests know that. For years, we’ve seen them use their money and power in local elections so they can use our communities to turn a quick profit.

7/8

won their primary elections
FREEDOM IS PROGRESS

OUR 2020 ACCOMPLISHMENTS.

Making an Impact

Our electoral work

Elected Democratic State Senator Michelle Hinchey in a rural seat held by Republicans for 6 years and was only one of five districts to flip statewide. Senator Hinchey is a co-sponsor of the New York Health Act which would guarantee healthcare to all New Yorkers, including undocumented immigrants!

600

Volunteers

300,000

Calls Made

1.2M

Texts Sent
OUR FUNDRAISING EFFORTS

How we’re funding the fight.

Our fundraising model is unlike any other organization’s. By harnessing the grassroots energy of volunteers around the country, we have built a sustainable movement of small dollar donors who are able to power our work forward for years to come.

800

Volunteers

14,000

Donations

58%

of 2021 budget raised
The impact of everyday people

Improving the lives of our neighbors

By working to elect Senator Michelle Hinchey, we secured a supermajority in the State legislature which allows the Senate and Assembly to override the governor’s veto and pass bills that improve the lives of regular New Yorkers.

Excluded Workers Fund

Securing a $2.1 Billion fund

We fought alongside more than 200 member groups and countless advocates, organizers, political leaders, and workers to secure a $2.1 billion fund which will provide eligible workers with relief payments retroactive to the beginning of the pandemic. This is an incredible win that will offer vital support to hundreds of thousands of workers across the state of New York, and thousands across the Hudson Valley who have been left to fend for themselves during the pandemic. 

Our work in action

Criminal Justice Reform

Criminal Justice Reform

New York State recently passed two historic bills aimed at reforming our broken criminal justice system. We will finally limit the use of solitary confinement to a maximum of 15 days while also establishing guidelines for humane conditions and recognize segregated confinement for more than 15 days as the torture that it is. The State also passed the legalization of marijuana, along with expunging all marijuana-related convictions. The racist enforcement of marijuana laws cannot be understated — in 2020, 94% of marijuana-related arrests in New York were people of color.

Our work in action