YE/YB REPORTS: 2006

TABLE OF CONTENTS 2007 Calendar YE/YB Agenda Chief Organizer Report Natl Ops/Exec. Director Report Natl Field Operations Natl Field Coordinator Natl Campaigns Financial Justice Research Legislative Communications Social Policy magazine Technology KABF KNON CCI Legal Training Living Wage Resource Center Fair Housing Development Local 880 SEIU Local 100 SEIU Political Operations Pol. Ops Field Pol. Ops. SWORD Project Vote Election Admin. Project Vote AZ Homeownership Program Arkansas ACORN California ACORN 3 4 10 43 48 53 55 63 66 68 73 76 79 81 83 88 92 93 95 99 101 102 121 125 130 133 137 138 142 143 146 Colorado ACORN Connecticut ACORN D.C. ACORN Florida ACORN Georgia ACORN Hawaii ACORN Iowa ACORN Indiana ACORN Kansas ACORN Louisiana ACORN Massachusetts ACORN 218 Michigan ACORN Minnesota ACORN Mississippi ACORN Missouri ACORN Nebraska ACORN New Jersey ACORN New Mexico ACORN North Carolina ACORN Ohio ACORN Pennsylvania ACORN Rhode Island ACORN South Carolina Texas ACORN Midwest Region Southern Region North Atlantic Region Western Region Canada Latin America 167 172 178 189 202 205 208 210 212 215

220 221 226 230 234 236 242 247 250 259 272 274 278 281 287 292 299 302 307

GENERAL ORGANIZATIONAL CALENDAR **2007** January 1 January 6 January 15 January 21-25 February 20 March 3-4 March 9 March 11-15 March 31 April 6 April 14-15 May 3-4 Methods Montana May 28 June 1-2 June 16 June 18 June 23-24 July 1-6 July 4 July 21 July 28 July 28-29 August 3-8 August 26-27 August 30-31 September 3 Sept 10 September 14 Sept 24 Sept 28 Oct 6-7 Oct 13-14 November 22 Dec 13-14 Dec 14-15 Dec 24-28 December 25 New Years Day Offices Closed -- Holiday ACORN Executive Board New Orleans Martin Luther King Day Offices Closed Holiday World Social Forum Nairobi, Kenya Mardi Gras LA Offices Closed Holiday Organizing Dialogue San Antonio Management Staff Council New York City ACORN Legislative/Political Conf Washington, DC Field Operations New Orleans Good Friday -Or Equiv. Non-LA Offices Closed Holiday Association Board Little Rock, Arkansas Organizers Forum Dialogue XI Training Practices and Memorial Day Observed Offices Closed New Holiday Mid-Year Management Santa Fe, New Mexico - TBA ACORN National Nhood Cleanup Day Everywhere! th Anniversary ACORN 37 All Offices Recognition Local 100-880 Staff/Board Retreat TBA ACORN Leadership School Detroit Independence Day Offices Closed Holiday Local 100 Leadership Conference Lake Charles ACORN Canada Board Toronto ACORN International Board Toronto Annual Organizer Training Los Angeles Colby Ranch Management Training Santa Fe Site Fighters III Conference San Francisco Bay Area Labor Day Offices Closed Holiday ACORN National Schools Day Everywhere Management Staff Council Denver Organizers Forum Global Dialogue Russia ACORN Field Operations New Orleans Association Board Meeting TBA Thanksgiving Day Offices Closed Holiday Organizers Forum Board Meeting New Orleans Year End Year Begin Meeting New Orleans Local 100 Shutdown Week All Local 100 Offices Skeleton Crew Christmas Day Holiday Offices Closed Holiday 3

YEAR END YEAR BEGIN 2006 December 14-17, 2006 Sheraton Hotel Canal Street New Orleans, Louisiana PRE-MEETING, December 12-13, 2006 ACORN Housing Staff House Gutting and Cleaning (optional) Contact: supportrebuildingnola@acorn.org ACORN and Other Staff House Gutting and Cleaning (optional) Tours of New Orleans Neighborhoods and the 9th Ward (optional) Contact: laacornlower9@yahoo.com THURSDAY, December 14, 2006 8:30 AM -9:00 PM 9:00 AM -12:00 PM 9:00 AM -12:00 PM 1:00 PM -9:00 PM 1:00 PM -8:00 PM 9:30 PM -until FRIDAY, December 15, 2006 8:30 AM -11:30 AM 8:30 AM -11:30 AM 9:00 AM -11:30 AM 8:30 AM -11:30 AM 12:00 PM -2:00 PM

ACORN Housing Counselors Meeting Big State Head Organizers Meeting LEAP II - Lead Heads Meeting Field Operations Meeting and Training Political Operations Small Group Meeting Womens Caucus

ACORN Housing Counselor Meeting Political Operations Meeting A-CLOC Meeting Head Organizers Meeting Plenary Introduction and Welcome Discussion of Agenda & Goals for the Meeting Chief Organizer Report Field Director Report Political Director Report

2:00 PM

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2:45 PM

Organizing on the Web!

Justin Ruben, Organizing Director, Move On - Austin 4

2:45 PM

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3:15 PM

Housing Director Report Executive Director Report Re-thinking Education for Low Income Families

3:15 PM

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4:00 PM

Mike Feinberg, Co-Founder, KIPP Schools, Superintendent - Houston 4:00 PM -6:00 PM Operational Meetings Financial Operations Field Operations Political Operations Communications Operations

Housing Operations National Operations Labor Operations International Operations (w/

Field) 6:00 PM 7:30 PM --7:30 PM 8:30 PM Dinner Break Preparing for Power: The Next Cycle? John Podesta, Center for American Progress 8:30 PM -10:00 PM Campaign Workshops

Money Mart / Payday Lending: Jordan Ash (Financial Justice Center), Matthew Henderson (New Mexico, Southwest Region), Katrina McKeown (Vancouver) Pressing Ahead to Combat Neighborhood Violence: John Eller (San Francisco), Robin Hood (Chicago), Liz Kropp (Cleveland), and Ben Winthrop (Tampa) Healthcare Expansion & Environmental Health Campaigns: Jose Manuel Escobedo (El Paso), Derrick Jessup (Baltimore), Beth Butler (Louisiana), and David Sharples (San Mateo) Targeting Developers in the Housing Market: Anthony Panarese (Oakland), Harold Miller (New York), Peter Kuhns (Los Angeles) Tenant Organizing Lupita Gonzalez (Los Angeles), Ryan Spangler (Madison), and Julie Roberts (Paterson), Sergio Aguirre (NY) Getting 150,000 Votes on Your Own Ballot Line: The WFP Story! Emma Wolfe (Organizing Director NY/WFP), Theo Moore (NYC Organizer, NY/WFP), Louisa Pacheco (Upstate NY, NY/WFP)

Research for campaigns Liz Wolff (Research Dept), Val Coffin (Fair Housing Dept), Marc Seiden (Campaign Dept), Gina Vickery (New Orleans Katrina Projects), and Greg Mellowe (WARN Research Director Orlando) Wal-Mart Rick Smith (WARN Florida), Wendy Torrez (WARN-Merced), and Madeline Talbott (Illinois) From Living Wage to Paid Sick Days a Working Families Agenda: Jen Kern (Living Wage Resource Ctr), Mimi Ramos (Massachusetts), Neil Sealy (Arkansas), Orell Fitzsimmons (Local 100 Houston) Working with Unions Leslie Mendoza Kamstra (CLOC), Brandon Nesson (Minnesota), America Canas (NY Childcare Organizing Project), and Myra Glassman (Local 880) Taking on the Utility Companies Eric Weathersby (Northern Indiana), Allison Brim (Dallas/Ft.Worth), Deidre Murch (Lansing) Building Organizational Power Through Ballot Initiatives Katy Gall (Ohio), Ben Hanna (Colorado), Andrew Ginsberg (Kansas City, MO) Building the Working Families Party - Clare Crawford (WFP Field Director 07) , Dan Cantor (Director, NY WFP) Immigrant Organizing Plans for 2007 Brenda Muniz (Legislative Director), Damaris Rostran (New Jersey), Alain Cisneros (Houston), Teresa Castro (New Orleans) Building the Base and Moving Campaigns through VITA and Benefit Centers: Jayne Junkin (Houston), Laura Godines (San Francisco), Urell Spain (Philadelphia), Marie Flores (Dallas) Organizing Against Voter Suppression Efforts Mike Slater (Project Vote National), Ali Kronley (Philadelphia) Campaign Finance 101 the Rules of the Game Jeff Robinson (Deputy Political Director / Electoral DC), Steve Bachmann (General Counsel IN), Hollis Shepherd (CCI Legal New Orleans), Brian Mellor (Legal Political, Boston), Jessica Kudji (CCI) Brave New World: Campaigning On-line -- Kevin Whelan (Communications), Nathan Henderson-James (Oakland Political), Tunde Obaze (KNON) AHC Converting Production to Leadership in the Housing Industry Richard Hayes (DC, Moderator), Bruce Dorpalen (Philadelphia), and others TBA

10:00 PM

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Queer Caucus 6

Organizers of Color Caucus I 10:00 PM -Until Solidarity

Saturday, December 16, 2006 8:00 AM -9:00 AM Dawn Patrol: Special Session with Nathan and Denis on Using the Database More Effectively 9:00 AM -9:20 AM Media Communications Report CCI Report Shelter from the Storm: Explanation and Response to Steve Bachmann, General Counsel & Kevin Whelan, Comm Director 10:00 AM -12:00 PM Services and Skills Workshops

9:20 AM Attack

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10:00 AM

Performance Based Management Beth Butler (Middle South Region) and Matthew Luskin (SEIU 880) Basics in Using your Local Website: What to Do and How to Do it! - Mark Madere (Webmaster), Nathan Waldrip-Fruin (Communications), Laura Goodhue (Florida) Design Upgrades: Help to Create Better Fliers and Materials! Reico Robichaux (Communications Dept - Designer), Jewel Bush (Communications Writer/Editor) Getting Good Press: Charles Jackson (Communications Dept) , Sonya Murphy (Jackson) Innovative Electoral Campaign Tactics: Dear Neighbor and Friends & Neighbor Programs Emma Wolfe (Organizing Director NY WFP), Bill Lipton (Deputy Director NY WFP) Building and Maintaining Large Electoral Canvass Programs Johanna Sharrard (Pol Ops CO/MO), Debaniesha Wright (Pol Ops OH), Beth Berendsen (Pol Ops OH), Jake Olsen (Pol Ops MO) AHC Managers (ONLY): Increasing Local Capacity and Time Management Jean Withers (Seattle) (Moderator), Rosalind Carroll (Philly), Alex Dicotighano (Las Vegas), and Ernie Boyd (Seattle) AHC: Creating Successful Post-Purchase Classes Tara Benigno (Moderator Brooklyn), Reagan Brewer (Chicago), Fantaye Akbar (Dallas), Alexa Milton (St. Paul) , Munai Newash (Chicago) 7

AHC: Housing Counseling 101: Making the Most Out of Our Lending Agreements Doris La Torre (Moderator - Bridgeport), Christy Leffall (Oakland), Raquel Ravelo (Brooklyn) Fundraising from Issue Campaigns Steve Bradberry (New Orleans), Maryellen Hayden (Pittsburgh), Dave Lagstein (Detroit) Working with Navision Denis Petrov (CCI), Mary Ann LeBlanc (CCI), and Irvine Figueroa (CCI) How to Build Power in your City and State Jon Kest (New York), Ginny Goldman (Texas), Derecka Mehrens (California) Event Based Fundraising Dave Chaos (KNON), Sara Albee (New Orleans Rebuilding Program) Moving Members to be Volunteer Organizers Chris Entrikin (Pol Ops Los Angeles), David Perkins (Albuquerque), Carrie Guzman (Michigan), Amanda Thorson (AZ), Tai Smith (Cleveland), Becky Wagner (Rhode Island); Amy Teitleman (Cincinnati) Alternative Membership Strategies / house meetings Alain Cisneros (Houston), Barbara Clark (Cleveland) How to Pass State Legislation: Brian Kettenring (SE RD/ Miami), Amy Schur (Campaign Director), Ronald Coleman ( New Orleans) AHC: Get Ready for 2007: Organizing Successful Fundraising Events Jose Luis Trevino (Moderator San Jose), Munai Newash (Chicago), Sherry Randall (Dallas), Pam Beard (San Diego), Lydia Lopez (Fresno), Susan Wayman (New Orleans) AHC: 2006 Production Cinderellas: How to Blow Away Everyones Expectations! Angie Oliver (Moderator - Boston), Jorge Guerrero (Dallas), Alex Dicogtinano (Las Vegas), Theresa Naylor (Springfield), Carmen Blatt (Kansas City), Michelle Celestin (Ft. Lauderdale) Housing Development: How 2006 Experience Informs 2007 Plans Mary Shalloo (Development Director, Chicago), Ismene Speliotis (MHANY, NY), Marie Lee (New Orleans), Marilyn Perez (Phoenix), Tony Fuller (Chicago) Mind Meld: Researchers Coordination Meeting (Invitation Only) Liz Wolff, Research Director Dues and Donts Without Bargaining Barbara Watson (Wal-Mart Workers Association Orlando), Rosa Hines (Local 100 NO), Maria Castilleja (Working Families Association Houston) 8

12:00 PM

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1:30 PM

Lunch Break

Special Meeting: ACORN and Allied Tech Staff Discussion Place TBA Special Caucus: Footprint Meeting to Discuss Citigroup and ACORN Partnership with Eric Eve 1:30 PM -2:00 PM You Should Have Been There When Dramatic Re-creations of the Best of 2006! Labor Report 880 Labor Report 100 ACORN Community Labor Organizing Center (AACORN International Report 2:30 PM -3:30 PM New Initiatives Corporate and Volunteer Contributions Mitch Klein (Office of Chief Organizer) and Darryl Durham (NO Clean-out Program) Katrina Update Wade Rathke and Steve Bradberry Organizing Workshops

2:00 PM

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2:30 PM

CLOC)

3:30 PM -5:30 PM

Organizing and Operating VITA and Benefit Sites-- Jeff Karlson (New Orleans), Maryellen Hayden (Pittsburgh), Urell Spain (Philly), Tanya Hicks (Cincinnati) Moving Volunteers Sara Albee (New Orleans Gutting), Karen Elben (ACORN Tax and Benefit Centers New Orleans) Working with Clergy -- Leiland Woods (Dayton), Bertha Lewis (New York) Working in Coalitions Dave Lagstein (Michigan), Katy Gall (Ohio), Anthony Panarese (Oakland) Building Organization from Provisional Members Brennan Griffin (CO Office / NO), Ali Kronley (PA), James Wardlaw (Toronto), Jeff Partridge (Rhode Island) How to Fundraise Canvass John Anderson (Ottawa), Kris Harsh (OH), Ryan Spangler (Madison) Intakes and Membership Tiffany Jones (WARN), Mimi Ramos (Massachusetts), and Eric Weathersby (NW Indiana) 9

Creating Big Turnouts: Aimee Olin (Providence), Derrick Jessup (Baltimore), Christina Spach (Atlanta) Organizing in Middle-Income Communities: Antoinette Krause (SE PA), Amanda Thorson (Mesa), Brandon Nessen (Minneapolis) Associate Membership Canvass Greg Basta (New York), Neil Herman (SE PA), Brittany Petit (RI)

Organizing Informal Workers Brynne Seibert (880-Chi), Julie Roberts (Paterson), Organizing Partnerships with Labor -- Derecka Mehrens (California), Ross Fitzgerald (ACLOC), Rosa Hines (SEIU 100 New Orleans) Getting the message: Working with leaders to build ACORN's Brand -- Kevin Whelan (Communications Director), Toni McElroy (Houston), Developing International and National Campaign Strategies: Amy Schur (Campaign Director) and Judy Duncan (Canada), and Dine Butler (Argentina) Writing Grants -- Janet Reasoner (Wyoming), Camellia Phillips (New York), Carolyn Carr (DC) 6:30 PM -9:00 PM 6:30 PM 7:00 PM 7:45 PM Awards: Dinner and Banquet Seating and Social Dinner Served Program ACORN President Maude Hurd Local 100 SEIU President Mildred Edmond Local 880 SEIU President Helen Miller AHC President Alton Bennett

Special Guest Speaker: Eric Eve, Senior Vice-President, Citigroup on the Value of Partnerships Sunday, December 17th 9:00 AM -3:00 PM Political Operations Meeting

ORGANIZE EVERYTHING THAT MOVES! BEST WISHES FOR A GREAT 2007!

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CHIEF ORGANIZER REPORT

YEAR END YEAR BEGIN 2006

11

December 10, 2006

Staffing
Helene OBrien Zach Polett Mike Shea Steve Kest Jules Nunn Donna Pharr James Smith Steve Bachmann Jordan Ash Judy Duncan Ercilia Sahores Reena Desai Barbara Bowen Amy Schur Kevin Whelan Liz Wolff Ross Fitzgerald Field Director Phoenix/NOLA Political Director Little Rock Housing Director Chicago Executive Director New York CCI Controller New Orleans CCI Administrative Director New Orleans CCI Internal Auditor New Orleans General Counsel South Bend (IN) ACORN Financial Justice Center St. Paul ACORN Canada Head Organizer Toronto Latin American Director Buenos Aires ACORN India FDI Watch Mumbai Coordinator, Organizers Forum San Francisco Campaign Director Los Angeles Communications Director Minneapolis / NOLA Research Director Dallas / NOLA A-CLOC Field Director Houston 12

Rick Smith Jeff Karlson Dale Rathke Brennan Griffin Mitch Klein Lorette Orodgne John Proulx Darryl Durham Wade Rathke

WARN Florida Director ACORN Tax & Benefit Access Chief Organizer Assistant - Finance Chief Organizer Assistant - Labor Chief Organizer Assistant - Field Chief Organizer Assistant Support ACORN Services, Inc. ACORN Home Gutting Program Chief Organizer

St. Petersburg New Orleans New Orleans Baton Rouge New Orleans New Orleans New Orleans New Orleans New Orleans

National Operations
New Offices 2006 Quad Cities (IA) Saginaw (MI) Northwest (IN) Omaha (NE) Columbia (SC) Des Moines (IA) Lansing (MI) Springfield (MA) El Paso (TX) Formerly Davenport, IA Office

New State New State State Capitol State Capitol

Re-Opened Offices 2006

New Loan Counseling

New Housing Development New Orleans (LA) Paterson (NJ) New Field Offices for 2007 Salt Lake City (UT) New State / State Capital Boise (ID) New State / State Capital Riverside (CA) Tacoma (WA) Spokane (WA) Re-Opened Offices 2007 International Operations New Offices 2006 Ottawa, Canada (July) Buenos Aires, Argentina (July) Mexico City, Mexico (July) Montreal, Canada (July) Mumbai, India (March) 13 None Scheduled

New Offices 2007

Campaign Offices 2006

Delhi, India (April) Bangalore, India (November)

Directions and Priorities in Field Operations

Breaking 400 Field Organizers: We come into the YEYB with more than 350 organizers thanks to the partnership of field and political and the conversion of 06 cycle capacity into field organizers. Opening new offices: As we have discussed throughout the year, the pace of expansion has slowed to allow for us to stabilize growth and procedures, while restructuring operations as well. The inventory of offices is now at 107 offices in the US (with 3 in Canada, 3 in Latin America, and 3 in India). Expanding Canvass Via Field Operations: With the assistance and support of New York, field operations is envisioning major growth in associate membership categories around base operations through establishment of dedicated canvass operations. The goals are significant: Boston Suburbs: Up to Lowell and Lawrence Detroit Suburbs: Warren, Sterling Heights, and others Bay Area Suburbs: Fremont and Heyward particularly Twin City Suburbs: Seven County Area St. Louis Suburbs Los Angeles Suburbs: Inglewood and other parts of Los Angeles County Phoenix Suburbs Cleveland Suburbs: Including Lorain Dallas Suburbs: Re-staffing Fort Worth, Arlington, Irving, and opening Grand Prairie Stabilization Program in Field Operations: By revising new office expansion goals, Field intends to concentrate this program in North Carolina, Tennessee, Alabama, Virginia, Orange County, Oklahoma, Florida, and Hawaii. More detailed plans are being made for this program during the end of the year meetings. Joint Projects and Partnerships: We continue to explore strategic alliances with other community networks and with labor unions that would help us grow where we are and where we want to be.
We held a series of meetings to consolidate the partnership between SEIU and ACORN and executed new improvements to the master agreement in 2006. Our relationship continues to also deepen with the Gameliel network. Work in New Jersey was added to the work in San Diego. I attended the 3rd DLA and thanked the leaders and staff for their generous contributions to our Rebuilding and Recovery Fund. In Canada we have an emerging partnership with the British Columbia Government Employees Union (BCGEU).

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Katrina Rebuilding allowed us to consolidate a joint project with the Canadian Automobile Workers (CAW) which will help us in both countries.

Service Based Support: We continue to push a services-based model in addition to the campaign-based model using both our EITC work and ACORN Tax Access Centers and adding ACORN Benefit Access Centers as a year-round addition in many locations in 2006. We continue to find offices willing to fully exploit the potential to tap non-traditional sources have achieved significant support. We need to accelerate. At the same time we are increasingly aware that we are going to have to move this program to a more performance based system. Too many offices are hardly using the benefit access at all, so the cost per member for development and implement is still excessive. We need to integrate this more fully. The ACORN Tax Access and Benefit Centers are now not supporting offices achieving under a baseline performance standard, and this needs to continue to increase as an accountable program with clear production. Figure: New Orleans ACORN members celebrate the opening of their local VITA site in 2005.

Campaign Based Support: We have seen significant progress in recent years in this area and continue to believe the long term prospects are significant. Mitch Kleins movement to headquarters sees him focusing significant amounts of time in research and development in this area. Short term there are some issues we found in 2006 that were disconcerting. Our expenditures of almost $250,000 for tax prep campaigns in 2006 yield almost nothing for us. The most significant expenditure in the Amscot in the central and bay area of Florida in fact saw us spend significantly for a campaign that never really happened and a payoff received before an agreement was consolidated, and the whole thing ended up as a huge lesson. But the rest of the work was marginal as well on all targets and produced in all honesty, less if anything. Candidly confusion between good faith campaigns designed to win industry standards and support future work and infrastructure became confused as if it were little more than an office income supplement. We have to battle this tendency and review the future. In 2007 we are also looking at the end of the Household campaign support, though we are still hopeful of renegotiating at some level, even the most optimistic have to realize the number will deteriorate substantially. Partnership Based Support: In moving forward to develop new and nontraditional resources, we are seeking to identify corporations and other institutions that intersect with our constituency base as potential partners that can unite with us 15

programmatically to create a mutually beneficial result and accompanying resources to allow for our expansion and core support. Over recent years the development of the partnerships produced from the struggle of campaigns with various corporations offer constructive learning models about the multiplier effects of such relationships forged in conflict. This is no more evident than in the developing relationship with Citigroup and H&R Block as two examples. Continuing the work the partnerships aggressively and across operations has paid significant benefits throughout the ACORN family and continues to do so. The supplemental side letter being finalized with Citigroup during the 1st week of 2007 to add 10 offices with an elastic footprint for the agreement is very important. Citigroups interest in adding support and discussion of international operations to the relationship meeting at the same time in order to discuss partnerships in Latin America, India, and Africa with ACORN could be significant in stabilizing resources capacity for expansion and maintenance in these emerging ACORN International operations. None of this is every sure fire or guaranteed. We still seemingly have a long way to go to create a stable and sustainable relationship across operations with Household and HSBC, but the point of this discussion is that we are targeting this sector1 for aggressive exploration around resource development. This corporate and related assault has been tasked to Mitch Klein as my assistant in the Office of Chief Organizer. Thus far we have either met or have meetings scheduled with Entergy, Allstate, Florida Power & Light, Prudential, General Services, GMAC, 2 and Mitsubishi for example. The broad discussions are around our interests and their interests, partnership intersections around our constituency and their customers, followed by our submission of a concept paper, further discussions, and development of partnership agreements and support. The response has been most enthusiastic on adaptations and extensions of the ACORN Tax and Benefit Centers. This is not something you should try at home! These are not local options for development, but are field support systems, meaning that offices broadly will benefit and receive support as these partnerships are developed. Grassroots Base Development: A companion program that we are developing is based on deepening the utilization of both partnership institutions and their employees in volunteer activity and support as well as activating these volunteers and our own members to more aggressively pursue work-based fundraising opportunities. One of the lessons learned from the Katrina experience came from Starbucks (developed by one of Mitchs predecessors) which has become the primary monthly sponsor of the New Orleans Home Gutting program. Anyone who volunteers in certain periods with us and registers through a Starbucks outlet anywhere in Louisiana triggers a payment by the company of something on the order of $25 per hour. We have gotten checks on a monthly basis from Starbucks of between $10-12K per month! Similarly, we have been able to pursue oil companies like Shell, Chevron, and so forth that will match both sweat and/or financial contributions made to us on a proportionate basis depending on the company.

The notable exceptionality is around traditional mortgage banks where AHC is going to largely continue to lead based on an inter-operational agreement made between housing and field in Santa Fe in mid-2006.
2 Auto

insurance issues.

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Citigroup now continually asks us their employee volunteers in our programs, and we are going to have to start measuring as well as joining with them to encourage such support particularly in the ATBAC operations in 07. We believe working partnerships at the grassroots level with many companies with similar programs could make the difference in many of our offices between running in the red and breaking even. We have developed a list of thousands of businesses with similar programs which we are in the process of databasing, sorting by office and interest, and preparing for all operations utilization. We argue on the grassroots level that this program needs to be combined with the workplace activism and giving programs accessible in other ways to our members as well3 through both the Combined Federal Campaign (our ACORN Institute application is currently being prepared) and aggressive utilization of United Way donor directed programs where they already are mandatory (Seattle, Portland, Bay Area, etc) or available (everywhere based on applications which the Office of Chief Organizer will support working with Field Operations). Yes, all of this is work, but it is work, that privileges the base and our local operations programs and is totally holistic and sustainable. Mitch is also at the point here as part of his responsibilities in field support. In short though this is something that you will have to do at home! ACORN International Operations The highlights of the year were the effective reorganization of the management of our program both in Canada under Judy Duncan as head organizer and in Latin America under Ercilia Sahores. Our offices are stabilizing, though not sustainable at this point. We suffered terribly from the learning curve at CCI in handling our international business on a financial and legal front and significant resources and time was lost on basic business, particularly in Mexico. The actual work, as reflected in the reports 4, indicates that the response and demand for ACORN in other countries is deep and real, but our efforts are still embryonic and our aspirations huge. Certainly one of the personal highlights of my year was spending several weeks helping open the Buenos Aires office! Some brief notes are offered below about where we are going here, since this question is often asked me. ACORN Canada An early 2006 reorganization of staff was critical in Canada to finally consolidating our gains and allowing the field program to take priority in the organization. An obnoxious amount of time in the wake of this relief though has been spent maintaining the important stability of the breakthrough grant from the McConnell Foundation, the largest foundation in Canada (based in Montreal) and perhaps the most chauvinistic. Judy, our lawyers, and the foundation have been in a constant mode of re-establishing core trusts and understandings. Additional resources are now forthcoming from the Atkinson Foundation (Toronto) and others which should put us in good stead for the future, as well as allow ACORN

Remember some of them will be eligible on the former front as well. Talking to some of the MN ACORN leadership a couple of days ago about this program several responded immediately that their companies had had such programs (UM, 3M, etc) and one had been a loaned executive once to the United Way!
4

Separate country and operations reports in this area have been written of course by Ecilia and Judy.

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Canada to steadily resolve family debt obligations and anchor growth of the entire international operation. ACORN Latin America ACORN Mexico The costs in Mexico are exorbitant compared to the rest of our Latin American operations (1/2 US payroll costs) and there had developed a mismatch between expenditures, resources and dues levels, along with significant mismanagement of registration and resources by CCI. The staff has now been rightsized somewhat, and we are trying to increase membership production and finally raise the profile of the operation on issues and campaigns. Efforts to support WalMart sitefights in Baja could be helpful in this regard, as was recent exploration and meetings in Mexico City (and press Mexican and US press!) around our role in the Wal-Mart efforts. Timing on opening the office in the DF rests on staff training and development as well as resource stabilization. Citigroup financing uneven but important. ACORN Peru Registration was finally completed with much work. Groups are now expanding more rapidly. Campaign profile needs to increase at this point. Joint project with FENTAP on water privatization continues to find support from Panta Rhea. Overall budget in reasonable shape externally because of support from Ameriquest,5 but this requires constant diligence and is totally an ACORN relationship play.

Figure: Actions were made across the Americas on November 29th for a coordinated international campaign against Shermin Williams. Sherman Williams representative admitted to ACORN Per that they still sell lead-based paint.

Instability of the company could threaten budget stability in Peru in 2007-8.

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ACORN Argentina Office has now been open less than 6 months and continues to grow. Staff has been remarkably stable. First actions are generating attention. Resources provided for the opening of the office from the Frontera Fund of the Tides Foundation. Great hopes remain here for the future. Additional Latin America Training being done by Ismene Speliotis and Ercilia 6 may provide support for operations as well as begin Sahores in Puerto Rico introduction of ACORN more directly there. Recruiting finally moving up the list of priorities for Dominican Republic, so if a staff person is identified and trained in Peru or Argentina in 2007, office opening could be late 2007 or early 2008.

ACORN Africa An invitation is being evaluated seriously for ACORN Nigeria. Bertha Lewis of NY ACORN visited over Thanksgiving week and was very impressed with front end work having been already done by former Brooklyn ACORN leaders, including potential donation of a piece of land to provide resource support for the first 2 years of the organization on the proposal we have made to the Nigerian sponsoring committee. I am visiting late in January to also assess. Meetings with Sunday Alabie (MN ACORN) and Tunde of KNON hopefully will create a US based ACORN Nigeria support committee to raise money for the ongoing organizing to supplement dues.7 ACORN Asia 2007 should see further developments of the partnership relationships between training centers in Korea and the Philippines and our operations. These will be determined by meetings tentatively scheduled with a network of community organizations in March 2007 where both training and direct affiliation and/or joint campaign work with ACORN is on the agenda. We have also committed to a joint training week sometime in 2007 with both organizations to be held in Korea with participants from the Philippines and from Thailand to learn our training methodology. It is unlikely that these efforts will mature fully to the point of work in individual countries or direct registrations and membership until 2008. ACORN India The first project under the auspices of ACORN India is under discussion for the famous Mills area of Mumbai for sometime beginning perhaps as early as the spring of 2007. Potential organizers are also being identified for hire in Delhi.8

6 7

Supported by Mott Foundation.

The local non-resident immigrant community support model is one that we are trying to build to support India and Africa expansion currently.
8

See more discussion of India under the Wal-Mart section on ACORN-India FDI Watch.

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Figure: ACORN volunteers at the India Social Forum. FDI Watch organizers hosted a table at

the forum to help extend outreach for the campaign.

National Staffing
Staff Training and Development The 15th Annual Organizer Training and the 14th Advanced Organizer Training were held at Colby Ranch in no-cell phone country supposedly in Los Angeles, but about as far as you can get and still be in the county. We had in St. Petersburg on training models in 2006. Training programs are part of the upgraded agenda for 2007, though we will have a dialogue in San Antonio early in the year while the plans are being made. Mid-Year Management Meeting The 13th such meeting was held in Santa Fe, NM. Highlights were Zephyr Teachout on internet campaigning and the presentation of the preliminary results branding exercise along with the preview of the Sage Partners consultation on field operations. Structure Herb and Marian Sandler provided generous support for an outside review of ACORN Field Operations and related activity in order to allow us with help! to assess our infrastructure requirements and needs. Many of the recommendations were based on common sense conclusions rooted in fundamental efficiencies to Field Operations, including increased centralization, streamlined and direct management accountability, upgrades in training, recruitment, and placement, among other suggestions. Additionally, there were important analytical insights achieved which have made planning more realistic and achievable, especially around growth goals. The calculation and identification of a 5-year financial breakeven average for new offices was an important conclusion, particularly in an area where conjecture can be disconcerting and consistency to goal can be challenging. As importantly, the process has finely focused operations at all levels on the gap in finances that must be developed in order to achieve overall organizational goals, since the numbers are huge. We continue to be highly engaged in

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puzzling out some of the programs, including examining structural issues around management operations, departmental organizations, and other areas with institutional importance and support. We also are still working with the Sandlers to come to an understanding of where they may be willing to support increased field capacity. Departments We will be convening departmental meetings on a regular basis in 2007 to achieve greater coordination between field and non-field operations and within support functions in general. Additionally, there will be a process of budget and revenue generation limits and goals established for departments in 2007. Office of Chief Organizer We have taken important steps here particularly in recent months with the full addition of both Brennan Griffin and Mitch Klein to upgrade ability of overall management, development and support operations of the Chief Organizer. We are still seeking to find the right replacement for Sharon Kerry, now trapped indefinitely on the West Coast. There is likely to be an addition on the international side here, but nothing much more expected, since many of the other goals will be achieved early in 07 and throughout the first quarter through centralization in New Orleans.

National Budget Developments

Here are the bottom lines on the challenges before us financially: A five-year sustainability timeline on US-Canada based offices requires more resources for support of below average offices. We can not run development that is unable to pitch and sell the entire ACORN program more aggressively, as opposed to shifting through the prism of politics or campaigns. We face the challenge of raising huge numbers (over $50 M gaps) to achieve our goals and no systems or personnel in place have the ability currently to achieve these goals, nor have we identified sources sufficient create such revenues. We have to expand the size of the pie. We have in place elements that with proper support and management can create sustainable offices if we can achieve the discipline to run the program. We can not move to the next institutional level without more clarity around institutional vehicles (separations and relationships of c3, c4, and other instruments), constructive and holistic integration as well as full communication and transparency across all operations, and rigor in finances, back office, and legal support (i.e. the CCI functionality). Where we do not have this, we have to achieve it. Where we have managers uncomfortable with this, we have to overcome resistance or replace. Where we have problems, we have to have solutions. Our ambitions continue to outstrip our resources. Culturally, we have traditionally been slow to invest in capacity. We can not achieve efficiencies of scale, operations or personnel without centralization. 21

Development activity must be constant and robust and succeeds better when creative and innovative as well. Success is a total and collective effort. Silos have to be collapsed so that information can flow.

Saying all of this the template from last years report still is true for our sustainability efforts.9 Many of the initiatives around resource generation on a number of fronts are elsewhere in the report, but there are few areas where we are more focused than this.

National Actions and Conferences

The Columbus 2006 ACORN National Convention was an excellent event. Old timers might grouse at the lack of a target honored by time-honored tradition of these affairs, but the membership was ecstatic with the affair. Equally valuable for the resources and expense was the huge press boost, particularly to the Ohio minimum wage effort and the great internal recognition of the organizations, its members, and leadership by public figures and leading future candidates. We arrived in an additional way by having attracted for the first time our own counter demonstration both at the convention and at the In seeking to achieve both growth and sustainability we continue to support and expand initiatives around (1) field operations budget modeling, though a real system of subsidy versus scale and sustainability; (2) we have deepened partnership work; (3) we have continued to privilege our base and the labor collaborations are the best examples; (4) we have continued to integrate core operations and the Katrina work and response has been the biggest success; (5) agreement based work and campaigns continue to be core; and (6) we have to make progress in solidifying our service and intake based operations. 22
9

state capitol with a rolling billboard truck attacking the organization. Now, if we can just finally pay off the last $140,000 in bills. 2006 saw the sixth annual ACORN Community Clean-up Day and the ACORN Schools Day continue to be interesting without really getting traction, or institutional investment and replication. In 2007 we are looking to reprogram these events as opportunities for community and corporate volunteerism in a program that Mitch Klein will be supporting. With the changing dynamics in Washington beginning to make Congress a place of some interest rather than continued dread, the 2007 Legislative Conference is likely to be an important opportunity for the organization to imprint our special brand on emerging events, especially with concessions everywhere that the minimum wage will be an important first step in new legislation. In conjunction with our Wal-Mart organizing in Florida as well as ACORN and our allies extensive work around big box siting, where we have developed unparalleled expertise, as well as the riveting interest Chicago ACORN and allies were able to create in the struggle to win a big box wage rate in that city for retail, WARN, the Wal-Mart Workers Association, and ACORN among others sponsored the early September Site Fighters Conference II in Sacramento, California bringing together all elements of the Wal-Mart campaign. The most important outcomes of the meeting were our ability to showcase our Florida work along with the Merced work to halt development of a distribution center, and the combination of these forces to begin to create a more intense and productive relationship with the Teamsters around distribution issues and interests. Focusing our Katrina work in 2006 around the right to return and the issues of Katrina Survivors in a number of Gulf South cities, led to a wintry pilgrimage to Washington on busses from the diaspora. Great work by the national and DC based staff, as well as hard sweat and great luck in equal measure delivered by the communications department, saw the ACORN Katrina Survivors March on Washington on the front page of the Washington Post, as well as in a host of critical meetings that gave us some credibility on the happy coincidence and confluence of events that ended shortly after our return home with final passage of financial commitments for the disaster.

Political Development
The political department under Zach Poletts leadership continues to be a juggernaut and expanded its capacity and reach significantly in 2006. The milestones will be covered in the political report no doubt, but the highlight film would include obviously the 4 successful initiative petitions for minimum wage, more than 500,000 new voters registered, millions of dollars raised on all fronts 10, highly successful recruiting and placement in management positions, and clearly thats not even the whole story. The political posture and position of the

10

In partnership with Steve Kest.

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organization is such that we have been the first friend of progressives and the scourge of the right and the Wall Street Journal. In 2007 we are looking position ourselves even more deeply. Conversations before the election focused on assembling a meeting of more than 1000 members, likely in Vegas, to vet the key candidates from both parties (if they will come), and move towards an early engagement and endorsement significantly before the run-up to the primaries. We have already begun conversations with key allies (like SEIU) about how to segue our programs with others to create momentum for preferable policies and the people willing to embrace them publicly and commit politically. The 07-08 cycle challenges us to continue to expand our capacity and clout, while at the same time always keeping in mind that the machinery rests and only operates well when firmly attached to the growing membership base throughout the country. Continuing the encouraging integration of recent years continues to be a high priority of mine, and certainly of both the field and political departments. The Working Families Party in New York and Connecticut continued to establish themselves shrewdly as political forces. The ballot project in Massachusetts to advance election opportunities (read fusion) made it to the ballot, which was never easy, but unfortunately could not overcome some of its negatives, so lost decidedly by a woeful margin, even in the trenches of liberalism. This will be something that we will have to answer in the future. South Carolina moved forward smartly in 07 as a small consolation. Efforts to move ballot coalitions forward in Washington and Oregon showed promise but were never able to muster up on a short timeline, so decision points for 08 remain in the northwest. Field operations have been assumed by Clare Crawford for 07, who will be missed in the ACORN Field Operations, but understood the priority and the challenge on this frontier. The integration of the WPF into the COUNCIL and the overall ACORN family of organizations made such a transfer possible, and one recognizes many names from ACORN in any stroll through the WFP Empire. Discussions about both the need to mop-up on minimum wage initiatives in states where the opportunity still avails, particularly for indexing, which seems unlikely in the near term from our friends in Congress, as well as starting the next generation of initiatives around health care based issues seems important now. Additionally, looking in 07 at opportunities in local areas should keep our skills well hewn. Los Angeles sill looms large as a place where we need to do a local minimum wage very badly to finally position ourselves where we need to be in the 2nd city, and the addition of the field membership canvass in Bay Area cities (as well as Wal-Mart and other work) could make a host of smaller communities targets for exciting local initiatives. New Mexico continues to be a dog with a bone on this issue pushing to expand to every nook and cranny of their state, as rightly they should. National Campaigns Predatory Lending This is an area where the ACORN Financial Justice Center continues to concentrate across various fronts. 24

Wells Fargo has continued to persistently avoid either justice or peace with honor. We continue to pursue enough public activity at board meetings, press statements, and selected events to keep a fire burning to help light the path, but most of our hopes lie in a settlement of our legal claims. The Board voted to approve negotiations for a heavily California weighted class to enliven the hopes for settlement, but prospects remain tenuous and uneven. Canada and the US had entered direct meetings with Money Mart and some of the payday lenders and Canada particularly continues to lead on this effort, but again any resolution has been illusive. Changes in the law at the national level under the Harper government seem to be rationalizing the ability for provinces to move model programs, so there is discussion here and possibly some action coming in 2007, where we will play a key role. Our office in Ottawa and research and legislative capacity there should be helpful on this score. An action on the US side at the board meeting of Money Marts owners hopefully augurs for more interest in taking up the scourge of payday lending more broadly. The concentration of the sub-prime industry in southern California, particularly in Orange County, has argued for several years that we needed a significant southern California initiative by the ACORN Financial Justice Center. Earlier in 2006 we did a round of meetings to open up direct negotiations around reforms with New Century (now the largest sub-prime lender), Option One (a unit of H&R Block, we have been pursuing), and others. Several meetings with New Century have now moved us to an early 07 decision point or more public engagement as we euphemistically argue. Assistance from cy pres monies from the Cachet firm, has now allowed us to finally hire staff in California for the AFJC, as we expand this effort. The strategy is to bring all major subprimes under the same rules and regimes. 2007 will see how close we can get in continued jawboning and legal feints before more direct engagement. Living Wages See political discussion earlier.

Education Last year I remarked here about the quip of an unnamed ACORN organizer quoted at the Hartford conference as having called education campaigns, the Viet Nam of organizing. Perhaps as our understanding continues to deepen with greater experience in Iraq, we are coming to the point where it will be more accurate to refer to our dilemma here as Iraq of organizing. I mentioned last year in this report that, The increasing list of nonperforming schools is not being met by a campaign of outrage and anger equal to the problem yet. Another year has gone by and it is even truer now. Part of what has been immobilizing us is our own version of sectarian problems. Our allies in the main, both on the left and in labor, have been unwilling to break out of existing patterns to assess the drastic need for a new strategy. We are now absolutely and categorically there. The question is where. I had hoped a joint education meeting that had been proposed for 2006 between ACORN cities with education projects and PICO cities with strong education work would produce some insights and direction in this regard, but the meeting did not come together. One of the co-founders of the KIPP schools is coming to the YE/YB and will be meeting with education organizers. We have to nationalize our work in an effective program for our constituency, and we simply are not there today. 25

Tax Preparers RALs We entered 2006 with the cry of give us Liberty, or give us death! Thankfully, Liberty gave in relatively quickly when finally realizing through field and other action that we were not going away and were intensifying our campaign. Jordan Ash and I met with representatives of Liberty early in the year and managed to bring them into the pattern. The demonstration city will be Raleigh, North Carolina. This settlement (notwithstanding the lessons learned from the Liberty experience!) allowed us to look to complete the pattern. Amscot, headquartered in the Tampa Bay area Ive already discussed, and they have come into line after a fashion and we are still trying to pull them to plump. Other large companies in a highly disaggregated industry are as much payday operations or purveyors of other financial services as they are tax preparers. The long and short of it, is that we did not make progress sufficient to justify the investment. The results of the ACORN Tax and Benefit Centers were so significant that we were surprised to get a renewal request from Marguerite Casey for this combination of service and campaigning, because they feel it is perhaps the most clearly successful program they have funded. We asked for $1.3 M over 2 years and have recently heard that we will receive $1.5M over 3 years. Our efforts are likely to concentrate (in addition to expanding ATBC) on moving upstream on the preparers and the RALS by targeting the factors supplying the money and adding the fees we have not been able to negotiate away! particularly HSBC and Santa Barbara Trust.11 Wal-Mart Campaign 2005 was the startup year for our Wal-Mart organizing, and 2006 gave us a full year of experience on a number of fronts. The developments have been fascinating, and we (both through WARN and ACORN) continue to be at ground zero in the real campaign that is engaging this company, and in our case we would argue in fact is winning against the company, but the work is uneven and still hangs in the balance to determine the end results, which need several more years to bring to fruition. Wal-Mart Workers Association The heartland of our strength continues to be around the Orlando area. Activity maintains strength with steady store based results. Membership has not achieved stability against turnover or scale because of unresolved list problems. We are looking to finally invest in additional lists in early 2007 as delayed resources become available in order to more robustly test our original proposition and climb over the hump. This has been the most difficult piece of our project. WARN / Florida Here we have rocked! We won the big box moratorium in Orange County (Orlando) and our record in blocking Wal-Mart construction is around 12-0 now since the beginning of the project. We have arguable the strongest research team per person and pound in the our work now in our Tampa and Orlando offices, combining straight research with organizing and campaign skills, and led by the uniquely methodical, Greg Mellowe. Our software development on predictive siting, database to messaging, and other tools have put us in a position to win and the strength of this operation and the record Florida under Rick Smiths overall direction have given us huge traction in the work. We are moving to ballot initiatives in 2007 in Sarasota and hopefully St. Petersburg which will combine big box restrictions with requirements for

11

More details on the strategic thinking and planning will be furnished no doubt in Jordans AFJC report

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higher minimum wages in any publicly subsidized project (a loophole in the Florida local restrictions around local living wages!). WARN / Merced Relationships built in the Bay Area by ACORN led us into a series of meetings that culminated in a contract between UFCW locals, the UFCW, and IBT locals to support research, community and other organizing to seek to block construction of planned Wal-Mart distribution center. The project is more than six months old. Project staffing has finally stabilized, and we are continuing to move well on the ground. The eventual outcome of the work is hard to predict, but we are fully engaged in a strategy to deny the company the ability upstream to expand operations. WARN / Expansion Following the Merced and other California discussions and experience on the ground, we are finally moving forward to propose expansion of the WARN-ACORN program in other designated areas. We have had some problems with the primary outside funder for this strategy, the Panta Rhea Foundation, but are hoping to work these issues out going into 2007. Meetings are being organized in Denver, Michigan, and Ohio to present the program tailored to expansion by Wal-Mart in key markets in these areas where UFCW and other labor local interests with both appreciation of the threat and resource capacity to engage.12 Continue to see to expand WARN into the Bay Area, but are now worried about resources in California Healthy Communities, our partner in this project. Teamsters / Distribution Centers Program 2007 Following meetings at the Site Fighters Conference with the IBT organizing director and staff for warehousing at their request we submitted a M proposal and plan for organizing our site fight WARN program targeted at blocking predicted sites and projects for distribution centers in 7 western states and 5 specific targets. We have also argued that we create Wal-Mart Workers Associations at the existing distribution centers in order to create membership pressure within the company. Our proposal is premised on what we believed will be higher community density for distribution workers in the smaller towns where they are located. The organizing department of the warehouse division has endorsed the proposal and is taking it to President Hoffa before the end of the year, so we are hopeful that with his approval of the entire program or some phases of the program, we will be able to implement in early 2007. ACORN India FDI Watch Campaign As part of our overall Wal-Mart campaign our work in India has been important and assisted in delaying expansion into this 1+ billion person market an additional year. In some ways with our allies we have perhaps been too successful, because the denial of Wal-Marts direct entry with the firestorm we assisted in creating around the governments unilateral approval of single brand retail earlier in 2006 forced any approval of significant FDI (foreign direct investment) modifications to be shelved because of the evaporation of political support from the left parties and the continued opposition by the right all of whom have significantly assisted

12

UFCW locals spent approximately $7 M per year on site fights with Wal-Mart so our premise is based on the belief that any real success is more likely achievable with full local union commitment and investment, rather than believing that this is something that can be shouldered by the International.

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our campaign. The entry into retail of the Indian utility giant, Reliance, on the classic Wal-Mart business model of distribution hubs and large stores, finally forced the companys hands, and realizing that the modifications of FDI were now significantly blocked, the company announced a joint venture, which is regulated differently, with the Bharti group (cell phones and communications) to attempt to enter the market by the middle of 2007. We have staff and operations in Mumbai, Delhi, and Bangalore and finally secured some separate funding from Change to Win to support this work directly. Building our credibility and profile in India as ACORN has been a huge benefit derived through the campaign. Meetings with party leaders, heads of other social movements, unions, and both community based and trader based organizations have all been at a level that would have been inconceivable had our entry into India been simply at the grassroots level. We have now begun the application process for ACORN India and see spring boarding the continued campaign work in coming years into building ACORN India on the ground with membership in both Mumbai and Delhi potentially as early as mid-2007. Katrina Rebuilding and Recovery Campaign Fifteen months and counting from the storm, New Orleans and many of our operations are still, as we say here, all Katrina, all the time! The city seems perpetually on the verge of rebuilding and recovery, but as many of you will see as YE/YB 06 returns to the Sheraton, this is often more mirage than vision. All of this work is done with the full cooperation and support of the New Orleans and Louisiana ACORN staff and leadership and supplements the continuingly amazing membership and field organizing that they do in New Orleans, as well as the great work throughout diaspora, particularly in Houston and throughout Texas. There are major developments that are still huge in our contributions to this work, and importantly, though often uneasily, none of these achievements have been possible without the full integration of field, communications, national, housing, and other operations. ACORN Home Gutting Program This has been a fascinating learning curve but has become arguably the program which defines for many supporters as well as much of power structure of New Orleans, the overarching contribution that ACORN has made in an unparalleled way to the recovery. We have now gutted perhaps as many as 2000 homes and have a waiting list of almost as many as 2000 homes still to go with a deadline for demolition often looming ominously before us, and often forestalled by quick actions and rebukes from ACORNs neighborhood leaders and members. The program is now being ably managed by Darryl Durham, the former head organizer of Atlanta ACORN,13 with fundraising support from Sara Albee, one of my former assistants. The effort is volunteer-based at this point, and there have been several thousand volunteers who have been parts of the gutting from all over the US, Canada, and elsewhere. The good will has generated has been widespread and enormous.

13

Darryl was also ACORN Organizer of the Year 2004 when he was in Houston.

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Figure: New York ACORN volunteer gutting homes with Canadian volunteers. ACORN Services, Inc (ASI) ASI has been the vehicle for rebuilding and rehabbing houses (and the ACORN office!) ever since the arrival of Scott Hagy from Wyoming. The transition of ASI to more intensive rehab of member houses was facilitated by the joint partnership between ACORN and the Canadian Auto Workers (CAW) discussed earlier on two showcase houses, one on Alvar Street and the other on Congress Street, which have gained great attention and support. We are also converting this partnership in New Orleans into a similar effort with the United Auto Workers (UAW) and their Ford Division and Skilled Trades Department under VP Bob King which seems highly likely for the early part of 2007 as they absorb the downsizing of Ford. We are now trying to create an on-going role for ASI moving into 2007 in the rehabbing of houses where members are trying to come home, have or get obtain resources, but need sensitive and professional work in order to come home. The day to day operation of ASI is being increasingly handled by John Proulx, as Scott sorts out his future role in ASI and building operations. ACORN Housing AHC has been a warrior in the rebuilding often taking on roles and responsibilities where they either had little experience, but knew there was an urgent need (planning!) or projects where they knew better but jumped into the fray anyway because it was necessary to do so, regardless of the operational and financial consequences (early home building partnerships). The results at the end of the day continue to speak to AHC having still been at the right place at the right time, and the benefits in terms of full appreciation of AHCs capacity and abilities writ large from the New Orleans experience will redound to their long term operational benefit. AHC has led the partnership with LSU, ASI, ACORN, and others which will 29

complete the rebuilding of the first 2 new houses on Delery Street in the lower 9th ward since the storm and perhaps for decades. AHC led the partnership with Cornell,

Figure: ACORN Housing works in partnership to build the 3301 Delery St house for ACORN members. Pratt, ACORN and others that won the right to be the district planner for both the upper and lower 9th ward (in a contested process against 65 of the top architectural and planning firms in the country where we were rated among the top and polled the highest!) only to see the contract rescinded as fears of ACORNs role forced the yuppies and elites to panic. AHC was able to secure 150 adjudicated properties in the lower 9th and New Orleans East which should be a key component in the comeback in 2007. None of this has been easy, but all of it has been important. Media and Reputation A year ago as some of my brothers and sisters were dogging blog-bullets, it would have perhaps been inconceivable to think that at this point our institutional reputation has been virtually guaranteed as one of the heroes of Katrina not only in New Orleans but throughout the country 14 based on all that we have collectively done in the aftermath of the storm. In the same way that Katrina has become a iconic about race and poverty in the United States, so has Katrina become part of the standard description of ACORN and its work from foe and friend. This has been perhaps the only area in which both our work and hegemony is simply categorical and unquestioned. We have answered and asked questions of community organizing that others will have to try and meet with a response for decades to come as the full institutional weight of the organization was found to be necessary in dealing with our
14 And

the world, though it seems presumptuous to say so, but our invitation at the World Urban Forum in Vancouver and reports from our colleagues in both Indonesia in the wake of the tsunami and the Philippines all report to us having heard everywhere about the great work and unparalleled work that ACORN has done in New Orleans in the wake of Katrina.

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membership. Press work continues to be begrudging but nonetheless in no small part due to an excellent job by communications, remains voluminous. A piece in the current issue of Tikkun by John Atlas and Peter Drier that essentially argues that the untold and hidden story of the aftermath of Katrina is in the work of community organizations, especially ACORN, will find a powerful audience. Sherwin-Williams and the Expanding Lead Camapign As an outgrowth of the neighborhood lead-based campaigns in recent years, the profile of our lead work leaped forward targeting giant paint manufacturer SherwinWilliams. Legal settlements in Rhode Island most notably gave us encouragement that some level of victory was possible in finally winning remediation for the impacts of lead paint. The initial gamut of the company and others was to attempt to force us to tread water with the trade association, but meetings won through early actions produced nothing. Amy Schur, directing this effort, was vigilant, and

Figure: Ohio ACORN floats giant balloons and banners were floated in front of CEO Chris Conner's house. Ohio leaders directly confront a Sherman Williams representative.

having dogged them all year, has constructed a legal strategy with ALERT and the Cachet firm that has now brought the cities of San Diego and Los Angeles into the lawsuit. Actions in Buenos Aires and Lima are now potentially internationalizing the campaign and reports from these countries and Mexico indicate that SherwinWilliams may still be selling lead-based paint, despite the known impacts and legal restrictions in Latin America. Aggressive movement in ACORNs Latin American operation along with the important legal fronts now opening could finally lead the company to the place where we need them to be. 31

Building Community Institutions and Resources Our efforts are concentrated on housing counseling, housing development, media, and schools. We made continued progress in most areas in 2006 perhaps with the exception in schools, which separate reports will detail. Special note must be made of the progress in housing development, which continued to accelerate throughout the year especially in New Orleans and the expansion from New Yorks experience. Jeff Karlson directs the ACORN Tax and Benefit Access Centers nationally and was able to establish significantly more VITA sites in almost 70 ACORN cities in the 2006 season with support of resources from Marguerite Casey, H&R Block, and the Citigroup Partnership. Importantly, we handled more than 20,000 tax returns last year and delivered more than $20 M in refunds about half of which were on EITC. We have now become after AARP and the military, the 3rd largest non-profit operator of VITA sites in the country according to the IRS. We continue to push for sites in all of our offices in order to institutionalize this program and its support as part of our office sustainability model. Though there continual problems and delays, we were finally able to add the benefits screening to a number of offices in 10 states, which was a critical 2006 breakthrough. Most of these additions came after the tax season when the flow is most significant, so the utilization rates on the benefit access has been minimal to date, so impossible to quantify in terms of entitlements received, though we will do better recording these take-up rates in 2007. We intend to add more states rapidly to the benefit side of the program, and see utilization rates seek to hit near 100% for all EITC eligible participants in the ATBAC and 20% for non-EITC eligibles for 2007. The enthusiasm and 3 years of additional support for building this infrastructure and capacity from Marguerite Casey is critical and has been previously discussed. We may be able in some markets (New Orleans for one) to add work keys which allows job screening and certification, which would add yet more power to our service access center programs, but we are still trying to merge these programs together more effectively and resource them separately.

Labor Collaboratives Our program continues to be that we will work with any federation and any union committed to a major organizing program, and that will continue to be our message and program in 2007 and beyond. This area of our work has also become very large for us in a very short time. Not surprisingly because of our history, the most significant partner continues to be SEIU. An attack editorial in the Wall Street Journal drawing from 2005 Labor Management reports indicated that we had done more than $2.5 million worth of business with SEIU over that period, so besides being good work in the main, our collaboratives are producing important and critical capacity and infrastructure support for the organization. Ross Fitzgerald continues to do yeomans work on the implementation side of this work. 32

ACORN-SEIU Partnership In early 2006 we renegotiated the terms of the master agreement to expand the purposes and application of the partnership. Flexibility in the work has now increased since amendments only need a work order appendix to move forward. Our work in the partnership has expanded from its original design in the public sector to also now include expanding work with the building services division and discussions of future work with the healthcare division that have not yet materialized.

Figure: Labor Staff Board Retreat: members from SEIU Local 100, Local 880, ACLOC, AWA, WARN, and WWA meet to collaborate and critique strategies and campaigns. ACORN-SEIU Childcare Partnership: Public Division15 Since 2004 we have had an active partnership around childcare workers organizing with SEIU. In 2006 the profile of this work altered and receded as strategic concerns gained longer shadows in SEIU planning and in other cases SEIU used local capacity to mount efforts with mixed results. We revived the partnership in Massachusetts on the short term and continue to find Maryland and California confused. There continues to be conversations about our moving forward with work in this area in both Arizona and Colorado in 2007, which we are hoping to confirm before the end of the year. We have tried to move childcare work that was suspended in Iowa and Ohio to other unions without success to date. Losses on ballot initiatives in Massachusetts

15

In somewhat of an irony our only other significant public division contract was first signing up Houston city workers SEIU, then re-signing up city workers for the HOPE arrangement between SEIU and AFSMCE, and potentially later expecting more work on the contract campaign and membership sign-up efforts. The irony being that we could have done with SEIU Local 100 years ago, but..

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and Rhode Island may impact on SEIU thinking about this work, but we continue to seek to have this constituency organized broadly throughout the country. ACORN-SEIU Building Services Partnerships Having moved the partnership over into a 2nd critical division with SEIU, we saw work develop on a number of different fronts, though in some cases not without some difficulty. Houston Janitors: We played a critical role in organizing janitors both in the strike and contract campaign training and supervising a staff of a half-dozen that we developed, and now in all likelihood continuing in another phase in the membership signup in early 2007. Much of this work flowed importantly through the historic relationships with Local 1 in Chicago as well as the overall divisions support. Simon Malls: The Midwest footprint and the national relationship fashioned a contract that developed an ACORN campaign around Simon Malls. The good news is that the work provided important support for organizational growth and SEIU last week won an agreement with Simon. The downside is that ACORN has had real difficulty in maintaining organizational integrity and consistent campaign management on our own business. We now are finally setting a national meeting with Simon Malls for Indianapolis in 1/07, but have lost much of our leverage with SEIU having settled early. This was not an A-CLOC contract for staffing or campaign support, but actually involved ACORN in a direct campaign, so raises more difficult issues at every level. More Malls: SEIU has indicated an interest in future malls work both at the regional and national level, but at this point any future work is on hold until we resolve the campaign problems on the ACORN side. We are seeking to do so now. ACORN-SEIU Health Care Division Partnerships There have been several discussions in 2006 about campaign support and other ACLOC work with the health care division but most have not matured to date. General: Work to support organizing membership based nurses alliances was discussed at a preliminary level. If this work becomes a higher budget priority for 2007, it could lead to good work in Missouri, Colorado, and other states. Additional work to support hospital organizing campaigns was agreed in California with United Healthcare West (SEIU 250) in Los Angeles and San Diego, but had mixed reviews. Local Unions: The big breakthrough has been the agreement with President Tyrone Freeman to move an 18-month partnership between ACORN and Local 434B in California to build home health care worker support and ACORN chapters in counties both where we have current chapters as well as in many areas where we do not. This work is valued at close to $1.5 M over the period and supports the 34

expansion of 434Bs acquisition of homecare jurisdiction within SEIU and former AFSCME areas and its membership reach of over 200,000. The primary work is being done here by California ACORN supported by A-CLOC. Through A-CLOC we also continue to provide supplemental staffing and drive support to our own brothers and sisters at Local 880. ACORN-AFT Childcare Partnership New York Our partnership with United Federation of Teachers (UFT) and AFT to organize over 50,000 home child care workers in NY continues to develop. AFSCME and AFT split jurisdiction in an agreement in 2006, but our partnership continued to maintain numbers that could yield between 25 and 30000 workers in the metro NYC area once the unit is incorporated. Legislative action achieved a near victory to yield a process for recognition that hopefully will either be secured before year end or reset in early 2007 through an executive order. Working with NY ACORN, the re-signing required continues to move forward. With the stars and moons aligned we could see this project brought in fully in 2007. We continue to be hopeful that we can construct a permanent partnership in the ongoing organizational maintenance and support for this unit as well. ACORN-CWA Childcare Partnership New Jersey Our organizing partnership with the Communications Workers of America (CWA) in New Jersey has secured next level recognition here and bargaining. We have not been successful in leveraging this partnership into further work with CWA in NJ or elsewhere to date, though it is worth more work in 2007. A-CLOC/SEIU Canada Training In 2006 we continued our training agreement in Canada and transitioned successfully. Work moving along a number of lines that could involve both training and campaign work for 2007, but planning still not complete. A-CLOC Apprenticeship Program We continue to do well with the apprenticeship program utilized by SEIU and administered by Pa McCoy, ACORNs Training Director. In 06 we finally got the website up and are moving, though slowly, to create more of a face, form, and brand for the program. We have not figured out yet how to move this other unions which remains the largest priority for 07. Working Families Association This pilot among largely mexicano immigrants in hospitality, food service, and construction work has been supported by CCHD. Membership growth has resisted reaching scale and visibility has been marginal in Houston even in a period when the 35

profile for immigrants and their issues has been rising. We hope to meet both of these challenges in 2007. American Workers Association We closed down this pilot in Dallas in 2006 until we could re-staff with project management with community organizing background and clearer recognition of project goals and objections, as well as resource support. The location for any future pilot in 2007 is currently not determined, but under review. Change to Win Federation Partnerships The biggest project under discussion has focused on a C2W full court press across various sectors in Miami. We have done some limited preliminary work with the SEIU building services piece there, but the project has had the usual difficult path to implementation. We understand in recent weeks that more of the C2W leadership has come on board around the effort so we are hopeful that by March 2007 we will see a major effort involving A-CLOC and Florida ACORN across the footprint of our southern Florida offices. UFCW-Arizona Campaign Support Excellent local relationships with the head of the UFCW local in Phoenix and ACORN at the state and national level, led to a proposal by A-CLOC and AZ ACORN to provide staffing and support work to pressure organizing targets, especially Food City. The work has been uneven, but current plans have been prioritized to succeed in this important area. Other Internal and External Developments and Initiatives Archives Development The Wisconsin State Historical Society handles all of our archives in their Social Change Collection. Carolyn Carr handles all questions in this area. 16 Technical Developments We now have more than 250000 names in the ANDB. Some of the redundancy for emergency preparations has still not been completed and awaits work on the overall new building construction in New Orleans. We have a full-tech team under Mark Madere. Thank goodness when even the front page of the New York Times notes the
16

This note is in my reports annually because Im certain that many do not realize that our records are our history and need to be forwarded to Madison regularly from all of our offices with Carolyns help.

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incredible multiplying capacity of spam these days! We are examining ways to move faster to support all of our operations. Training This is a priority area for increased development and capacity for 2007.

Figure: Organizers learn from Bertha Lewis in Colby Ranch, California. Communication There is simply no comparison to the seamless ability we mastered in handling 06 communications under the harshest glare compared to the mayhem of message from the 04 election. The priority here continues to be to stabilizing the team, move on increasing priorities, participate in resource development, integrate radio more effectively, and continue to hone overall departmental skills and capacity. The addition of more effective ability in web campaigning is a key priority for 07 as well. Organizers Forum The Organizers Forum implemented two dialogues for senior community and labor organizers in 2006: one in Minneapolis on the theme of communications and technology and another in Ankara and Istanbul, Turkey 17 around the issues of mass organization and globalization. The Board met again in New Orleans after the Katrina hiatus in Chicago to plan the program for 2007. The program will include a dialogue in Montana first among elite organizer training programs on an invitation only and potentially for additional days with a larger group on best practices on training. The International dialogue for 2007 will likely be in Russia. Results of the dialogues are summarized and published in Social Policy as well as on the web at www.organziersforum.org.

17 ACORNs

participants were Judy Duncan (Toronto) and Ali Kronley (Philadelphia).

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Figure: Delegations from the Organizers Forum meet with organizers in a Roma village in Istanbul. Relationships with Other Organizing Networks There is some progress to report here, but nothing overwhelming. Work around immigration with Gamaliel, particularly in San Diego with JOB, has meant a lot to them, and having just returned from another National Leadership Assembly, they continue to value the relationship. PICO has been more symbolic than substantive, and having carried weight in some areas for them in New Orleans, we felt abandoned when we found that they had not covered our back on the planning contract issue. Nonetheless, nationally they did respond quickly and appropriately to the problem. We have (with nudging from Herb Sandler) gotten Scott Reed of PICO to finally join the board for 07 for the Organizers Forum. Jobs with Justice continued to be our partner on some Wal-Mart work and were both accountable and supportive. We are still trying to determine the future here and what makes sense for both of us. We are also trying to see if there is work we can do together in India and other parts of Asia. The IAF had someone join the Turkey trip for the Organizers Forum, and certainly met with our New Orleans team, particularly Steve Bradberry, frequently. We are getting better at all of this, but the rewards in some cases must be found in the future. Enlace We are pushing them to be more helpful as we expand in Mexico, so we will see how this values. Building International Membership Bridges and Strategies
ACORN Dominican Council: DR in 07. Nominal, but we will see as we begin recruiting in the

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World Social Forum: We passed on the WSF in Caracas in 06. We are part of the play in 07 combining a number of agendas. Habitat International Coalition: We joined this international lower income based housing coalition at the October board meeting. We were impressed with some of their reach in Vancouver and in Santiago and have agreed to participate in their program in Nairobi. World Urban Forum Vancouver: This was basically a good experience for Katrina work and ACORN Canada exposure and introduced us to helpful allies for our international work. SEIU and C2W: We are seeking to work out arrangements between both of our international operations that are mutually beneficial. Training: We participated in advocacy training for NGOs in Tajikistan (Matthew Henderson, NM) and Russia (Neil Sealy, AR), and are trying to figure out a way to develop our own capacity and resources here on an international basis through partnerships or our own institutions.

Leadership Maude Hurd, as President, and her team continue to be somewhat embattled but opposition has become more specific and marginalized on many issues. It is easiest to understand the national board though these days as having two parties: the ruling party and the opposition party. Some progress was made in some ways in the October meeting in moving the opposition party to being more of a loyal opposition, and that is a hopeful sign, if it continues to trend. On the level of staff to board communications we continue to make progress, but there are bridges we can not cross. Less happily, the President with full board backing had to impose Article XIII administratorship procedures in St. Louis for the first utilization of this bylaw in decades18 while also appointing Bertha Lewis from New York as the trustee. This situation is still seeking stability, but we are weathering the storm. The leadership has established a committee to consider succession issues in the staff and will begin this process in January and April. Branding This continues to be an obsessional theme for communications and myself, and I like to delude myself that we are making progress, especially in the winter when the black polartecs come out and now the new red sweatshirts and when I see the New Orleans based organizing staff in constant uniform, but in my travels I can tell that we are still not winning enough of these battles. This has to be a priority for field as well as communications in 2007. Social Policy Magazine Some highs and some lows in 2006. We caught up, we continue to grow on the web version and are now over 2500 readers per month, we are breaking even financially, and we are finding a place for the magazine. The issues were uneven in some ways perhaps because of the catch-up which meant any copy available was likely to find its way into the magazine. Luckily we have achieved some stability here, so we confident of finding our footing ever firmly and continuing to advance in the future.

18

Reno was the last instance in the late 70s.

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Mass Membership Experiments Last year this was in my report as a marker of progress and now this is an organizational program that says something quite fine about 2006 and the field programs progress on this front!

Disasters One lesson of Katrina is that we need to be ready for the next time and not just in New Orleans. We are developing (with Mitch on point) a proposal and strategy for offices, particularly in Florida, California, and along the Gulf Coast, for disaster prevention and preparedness, and seeing whether we can first get a planning grant and then build some real capacity in this area to support these offices. We are making progress on the paper, and I am hoping to intrigue Marguerite Casey on the overlap of footprint for the planning, and we believe that this could be important in developing both resources, infrastructure and capacity for the future.

Figure: Louisiana Head Organizer Steve Bradberry leading a Planning Commission for the rebuilding of New Orleans. Threats and Challenges The Fredrick Douglass quote that essentially power concedes nothing without struggle is a byword for this current passage of the organization as we amass a larger and more powerful role in public affairs in the United States. ACORN is now seen as a central and indispensable -- component of the progressive coalition. The conclusion of the Democracy Alliance process of creating infrastructure was summed up for me recently by SEIUs Andy Stern, as having concluded that there simply were only a few institutions that were capable of sustainable activity, and ACORN was on that short list. The same conclusion has been made by the right as we saw in the coordinated and direct pre-election attacks on ACORN on websites, blogs, and at our own

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convention as well as on the editorial pages of the Wall Street Journal, the FEC complaints filed by the Republican party in Pennsylvania, Florida, and Missouri, and the partisan accusations of voter fraud by conservative, party line hunkering ideologues in Kansas City and St. Louis. The fine point of this attack were the requests for voluminous records by then Chairman and Senator Charles Grassley of the Senate Finance Committee from ACORN that are in fact still on-going. If it were not so tedious and expensive organizationally and angering and insulting personally, it would certainly be a damned fine honor! Being of the school that when they want you, they will get you does not mean that we should not learn from this as we go forward and tighten up our internal procedures, inspect the borders and retaining walls between various organizations, and in some cases change what we are doing and the personnel in such a way to limit exposure and clarify operations, both for offense and defense. This review is still continuing in the immediate aftermath and mop-up from the exhilaration of the election, but internally this was the subject of leadership and management staff even before the ballots opened. Once all the information is in, all opinions are weighed, and counsel of various persuasions have spoken, we will shore up the operations to prepare for the continued onslaught that building and exercising real power will involve. All of this in some ways is past due, but none of it will be without change, some pleasant and some more persnickety. If this represents the major threat externally to the organization, my inability to convince SEIU 880 not to leave the shared collective of our family of organizations around the shared services of CCI was my major disappointment of the year and represents in a small way the largest internal threat to our family of organizations. In the simplest of terms it costs everyone money to have 880 leave, but that loss is negligible and inconsequential compared to the loss of unity and shared vision of both risks and rewards from collective enterprise. Equally disappointing was what we discovered about the weakness of our internal process at any level of management to find a voice for such a departure. It became a matter of a notice from a lawyer, rather than even an announcement at a meeting of managers, thereby sounding the death knell to many of our structures as lacking even the formality and manners of respect and accountability. No one structure was inadequate to this problem, but all of our structures were too weak in this instance and most of our top managers were unable to separate our great friendships from our awesome responsibilities to the collective. SEIU 880 is of course a vital part of our family of organizations, and states that it intends to maintain its place at the forefront of our COUNCIL and that is both appreciated and immensely valued. Nevertheless this is a difficult passage, and it would be a lie to state otherwise. One can only hope that as chains are broken, they are welded even more strongly together for the future. We will see as this unfolds in the future and hope for the best. Cultural Development This fits no section well, so one is added here as a basket to hold this work and report. There are a number of developments on the intellectual front which we are supporting at different levels that are worth common knowledge as well as an understanding that we are 41

coordinating them through my office, and that is where questions, suggestions, and comments should go. Some of these things will happen and some are in development, so god knows? Fisher 35th Anniversary Book Professor Robert Fisher of the University Connecticut School of Social Work in Hartford continues to struggle forward now in league with Temple University Press -- in assembling a group of scholars to look at Research ACORN: Past, Present, and Future tied to the 35th anniversary of the organization. This is the backwash from the conference he hosted a year ago in December. He now has a number of pieces in hand and is moving towards a January 07 deadline, and fond hopes of publishing something before the end of 2007 or in early 2008. Atlas ACORN Book To his credit as much as we shake our legs, John has been a bulldog on this project and somehow got Mott support and perhaps some other resources to keep his hopes for a book about ACORN alive. He has talked to everyone often and knows no boundaries, so we all cringe at what might eventually emerge, but to his credit he has stuck with it, is public about it, and even sent me a note after the WSJ attack that he was part of the cult. John will actually be around the YE/YB 06, and then says he is going to really start writing. Dont know the timetable, but 07-08 is likely. The Tikkun piece was standup and has earned us some affection for John and this project, so its ours now, one way or another. Russell ACORN Book Dan Russell is now planning to update his earlier volume with what he wants to be the definitive history of ACORN. Not likely before 2010. Hes not in a rush and neither are we. Luisa Dantus Katrina Film Our Wal-Mart filmmaker friend (remember the India footage from last years YE/YB) has been hard at work on a Katrina film. ACORN of course plays a major role in the picture in her work, but shes trying to find the resources to edit the thousands of feet of film she has and reality could be wrenching. Speaking of Katrina Everyone and their cousins are trying to write (or film, i.e. Spike Lee did you see Tanya Harris!) about Katrina, and in spite of the observations in the Tikkun article, ACORN will be part of the story in a number of these works. There is No Such Thing as a Natural Disaster: Race, Class, and Hurricane Katrina, edited by Chester Hartman and Gregory D. Squires Recent volume published with these point of views on the Katrina story. A chapter on The Role of Local Organizing: House-to-House with Boots on the Ground was included by me and longtime Louisiana ACORN leader, Beulah Laboistrie. Mike Davis We are madly trying to revive Mikes interest and willingness to expand on his great Nation article to tell the story of Katrina from the perspective of ACORN. He had originally proposed the book to us, which we encouraged. His publisher was less interested. We believe he is spectacularly able to tell the story of the travesty around the planning process, so we are continuing to try and convince him to make the time available and he is talking to other publishers where he has 42

contacts. We need someone to tell the definitive story of ACORN and our Katrina work, and Mike would be perfect! Wal-Mart: The Face of 21st Century Capitalism, edited by Nelson Litchtenstein This piece on the many faces of Wal-Mart was published in 2006. The final chapter: A Wal-Mart Workers Association? An Organizing Plan was written by me. Writing Nuts and Bolts: The ACORN Fundamentals of Organizing Spent some time while in Buenos Aires this August reviving this project. Now have a good piece of work done, some of which we used as training material with the Advanced Organizers at Colby Ranch outside of Los Angeles this summer. Now have about 70-80000 words done with a long way to go. Figure based on my pace in Argentina and 3 years earlier at the camp, that it would take me 3 hours a day for 3 months to finish. Unclear when that time opens up, but am looking at this more seriously now that I think Im coming closer to seeing some light in the tunnel. Frozen in Place: Stories from the Captive Class Am now on the second draft of the outline for Berrett-Koehler Publishers for a book about the crises that freeze our constituency in place from predatory lending to RALs to low paid jobs to stunted educational systems and so forth through the voices of ACORN members and their experiences. If it falls in place it would be serve as a combination manifesto and policy prescription coming out during the primaries in 08 at the most optimistically. Blog beast. Averaging 2700 individual readers per month, so continuing to feed the

Summary 2005 meant Katrina and all that went with it. 2006 was a homecoming both literally and in the reopening of our national headquarters in New Orleans. How could this not have been a better year! Any year which saw us get 5,000,000 votes for living wages and deliver raises to more than 4.5 million workers at a cost of hardly $1.20 per person to yield $1000 or more (at least $5 billion!) worth of benefits, has to be a good year. This has also been a year of tension and stress as we try to retool and reorganize internally to meet the changes in scale and ambition that increasingly define the total overall organizational project. The Sage study pried open some windows that had been painted and nailed shut, so we could rearrange the furniture and living arrangements more appropriately for the future. None of this is an exact science and dedicated comrades-in-arms can disagree on both principle and process, until finally there is only the driving principle of final responsibility left and the need for decisions and direction no matter where we might have stood in the Sierra Madres. I may not always like this job, but I understand my responsibilities within it pretty well at this point and accept them fully. 43

It was sobering to look at various Sage charts and see some with my name on them and the next pages with my name suddenly gone. Rather than depression, I found it liberating to realize that my time is fixed I no longer have forever to get it all done, but have to make sure it happens and happens pretty damn quick! By my lights and in my direct discussions with the board, I would love to be able to continue in this job at least until the 50th Anniversary of ACORN -- another 14 years on the calendar. As organizers though there are some small things you learn in this work, and one is that there are simply things we do not control no matter how hard we work, how much we prepare, or how much we hope and dream. One is life itself and of course another is the overall arc and times in which we work. Nonetheless, I have less time left than I have spent, so if anything, I am more in a hurry now. Im not sure that this was a lesson I was supposed to extract from the process, but it is one that lingers nonetheless. So, I look forward to making sure that the Board and staff are responsibly involved in coming years in the full preparation for the future that is needed, but mainly I find myself continually reinvigorated by the work itself and the place we have come now through the collective fruits of our labor. These are our best times! Every year seems to surpass the one before and to redefine the outer limits of our imagination of the possible in our work. These are the times that my generation of organizers have worked their whole mature lives to achieve, and, WOW, is this great! How could any of us feel otherwise? And, the future looks like one fast ramp going steadily up, and a heck of a ride! 2006 was a wonderful and watershed year, and personally (and professionally) I was simply honored to have been able to suck my piece of the air around us and play a part in so many of these historic achievements!

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YEAR END/YEAR BEGIN REPORT

December 15-16, 2006 NATIONAL OPERATIONS STEVEN KEST, EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR ___________________________________________________________________________ The staff, and responsibilities, of the National Operations Division include the following: Mildred Brown Carolyn Carr Valerie Coffin Denise Johnson Elyssa Koidin Jen Kern Brenda Muniz Camellia Phillips Tom Santilli Piper Stannard Ron Sykes Legislative representative/ALAC coordinator Special projects/AISJ director Fair housing director Administrative assistant Legislative representative Living Wage Resource Center director Legislative Director National Operations Development director Development staff Development staff Whipple-Bell fellow

There are detailed reports from lead staff in most of these areas.

1. Legislative Department: Dealing with Congress and the Administration The first 10 months of 2006 were in some ways similar to the past six years: our legislative program was primarily focused on stopping bad things from passing. Since November 7, in contrast, we have been working closely with the Democratic leadership in Congress to develop a proactive agenda including a minimum wage increase that will be on the top of the new Congress program in January 2007. The challenge for the coming year will be to capitalize on our relationships with Democratic leadership and our role in the 2006 election in order to gain support for own organizational priorities. Significant elements of our program in 2006 included: 45

Working with Louisiana and Texas ACORN and the ACORN Katrina Survivors Association to promote a Katrina return and rebuilding agenda. This campaign included multiple visits to DC; work with key members of Congress and staff; actions on and negotiations with FEMA; litigation; participation in hearings; mobilization of allies; and a major DC event with 400+ Katrina survivors in February. Our work contributed to the passage of legislation that provided billions of dollars for reconstruction, as well as a variety of procedural and programmatic victories. A strong Legislative Conference in March, which focused on building relationships with key members of Congress, and supporting organizational priorities including an increase in the minimum wage, immigration reform, and support for Katrina rebuilding. A significant role in DC and in the field in promoting immigration reform. A leadership role in developing and leading a multi-organizational campaign that succeeded in stopping the passage of a minimum wage increase that was encumbered by massive tax cuts for the wealthy. (This effort was critically important to the eventual success of our minimum wage ballot initiatives: had this federal measure passed, it would have made it extremely difficult to continue with our state ballot campaigns.)

Since Election Day, we have been engaged in a flurry of meetings with senior staff in the offices of Speaker-to-be Pelosi and Majority Leader-to-be Reid, as well as the many friends of ACORN who will now become Chairmen of important Committee and Subcommittees in the House and the Senate. In addition, we organized a successful post-election press event with Senators Kennedy, Schumer, and Clinton that celebrated our minimum wage victories and unveiled our Working Families Agenda. In 2007, for the first time in 12 years, we will be working with a Democratic controlled Congress. Without being overly optimistic (after all, it takes 60 votes to pass anything controversial in the Senate, and Bush is still President), we are developing an ambitious agenda of programs and priorities that we will be pushing for. In particular, we will be paying attention to how our allies in Congress can assist us in our campaign work by holding hearings and otherwise shining a spotlight on our issues and targets something that only the majority party can do. Furthermore, we are working to make sure that key leaders in Congress fully understand the role that ACORN played in the 2006 elections: we are working collaboratively with the political department to ensure that the impact of our political work is widely known and appreciated. Legislative priorities will include: ACORN Working Families Agenda, including an increase in the minimum wage, paid sick days, expanded EITC, and Childcare assistance. Immigration reform, which may actually move early next year. 46

Legislation outlawing predatory lending practices (as opposed to just stopping bad preemptive legislation). Additional funding for housing counseling, and a separate pool of funding for delinquency/foreclosure counseling and outreach. A housing trust fund which will make funding available for our development program. Possible legislation on RALs, payday lending, and other predatory financial practices, as well as support for our VITA and benefit access centers. Election reform, on voting machines, voter registration issues, etc. Possible work on No Child Left Behind reauthorization. Possible work on CHIP reauthorization.

Meanwhile, in the short-term, we are working with a broad coalition of unions and other organizations on a project organized by Speaker-to-be Pelosi to build support in targeted Congressional districts for the Democrats 100-hour agenda (which includes raising the minimum wage).

2. National Campaigns and Campaign Support/Research National Operations continued to provide support to field operations on national campaigns and high-priority local campaigns, including: predatory lending, EITC/RALs, living wage/minimum wage, education, healthcare, and fair housing issues. See the relevant reports for details. Two major priorities have been: working with New Orleans and field operations to develop and promote a national response to Katrina; and providing policy, political, and fundraising support for our minimum wage ballot initiatives. We expect to continue this work in 2007, with particular focus on our working families agenda campaigns.

3. Development/fundraising National operations was responsible for raising about $8.6 million in new money in 2006. Of this, about $3.2 million was for our core program, and about $5 million for our civic engagement work reflecting the fact that many of the funders we dealt with (individual donors in particular, but also some foundations) were heavily motivated by the 2006 elections, and especially by our minimum wage ballot initiatives. 47

In addition, and not included in these totals, we had our best year ever with CCHD, with over 40 grants totaling more than $1 million. Unfortunately, there are dark clouds on the horizon for CCHD, as the Catholic Church hierarchy becomes more conservative, and it is unlikely we will be able to count on this source of funding for too many more years. Other significant accomplishments for the year included: becoming a Democracy Alliance-funded organization (which gives us access to a growing list of individual wealthy donors); systematizing our grant reporting process; putting out (in collaboration with the Communications Department) high-quality materials for donors (including the annual report, and reports on our civic engagement and minimum wage campaigns); and moving our national fundraising records onto a new database which should help us better manage existing grants and approach new funders. For 2007, priorities include: hiring a highly-experienced national development director who can help us maximize and systematize our fundraising from both foundations and individual donors; developing the capacity and program to do significantly more high donor fundraising, especially through the Democracy Alliance; and increasing the frequency and sophistication of our communications with donors and potential donors.

4. Partnerships, Allies, Relationships, and Coalitions National operations continues to place a high priority on developing and maintaining partnerships and alliances with key national organizations that can assist ACORN in campaigns, politics, field expansion, and resource development. Key partners include: the AFL-CIO and Change to Win, as well as individual unions, whether affiliated with the AFL or not, including SEIU, AFT, NEA, AFSCME, and others: campaign coalitions such as the New American Opportunity Campaign, Americans United, and the Emergency Campaign for American Priorities; think tanks and policy shops such as the Center for American Progress, the Campaign for Americas Future, the Economic Policy Institute, PolicyLink, and the Center for Responsible Lending; political organizations such as MoveOn; intermediaries such as the Center for Community Change; religious organizations including the National Council of Churches and Call to Renewal/Sojourners; and other community organizing networks.

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ACORN National Field Operations Year End/ Year Begin Report 2006

Staff: Helene OBrien Craig Robbins Jeff Ordower Brian Kettenring Clare Crawford Amy Schur Liz Wolff Janet Reasoner Jilnar Mansour Florencio Othon Becky Mansour National Field Director Deputy Field Director Midwest Regional Director Southern Regional Director Western Regional Director National Campaign Director National Research Director National Field Coordinator National Field Assistant National Recruiter National Recruiter

State of ACORN Field Operations December 2006: ACORN now has 109 offices in 38 States (inc. DC). We have 10 States plus Canada with 3 or more offices in them. We have 4 Regional Directors, plus California (which is like its own region with 14 offices). We have 55 city head organizers and 11 State Head Organizers. We currently have 368 field organizers, although we averaged 289 field organizers during the year. We have 3 canvass directors running Associate Membership Canvasses (NY, Suburban Philadelphia, and Providence). We signed up 23,186 full members, 21,685 associate members, and 98, 287 provisional members. Thats 143,158 new members for 2006. We turned out 85,510 people to events this year. 2006 has been a transitional year for us. It was the first year that we had a full recognition that this was not our mothers ACORN. We had gotten so big, and as a result so different, that it took some help to step back and see clearly where we were and where we needed to go. We were able to see that many of the strategies we used historically to overcome our challenges were

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inadequate. We had to start thinking in huge terms, especially around recruiting and developing organizers, as well as around raising the money we need to sustain our operation. We had to continue to develop organizers capacity to manage at a new, broader level. Expansion: As promised, we continued to expand, but we slowed down a bit this year to stabilize some of our weaker operations. The new offices we opened or re-opened this year are: Springfield, MA Ottawa, CN Columbia, SC Quad Cities, IA Saginaw, MI Grand Rapids, MI Northwest, IN Omaha, NE We definitely had a strong showing in the Midwest, where we also stabilized Des Moines, IA this year. In order to expand, we need strong, committed community organizers to run our operations. This year, we raised standards for organizers wanting to be head organizers. As a result, while we have fewer new head organizers, they have more organizing experience. Our new Head Organizers are: Alex King (King County, WA) Gabe Strachota (Springfield, MA) Belinda Ferrell(Washington, DC) Bea Flores (San Antonio, TX) Allison Brim (Dallas, TX) Jeff Partridge (RI) Antoinette Kraus (Southeast PA) Eric Weathersby (Northwest IN) Amy Teitelman (Cincinnati, OH) Jayne Junkin (Houston, TX) Rachel Hayman (Bridgeport, CT) Damaris Rostran (Hudson County, NJ) Tatiana Ron (Essex County, NJ) Tanya Harris (New Orleans, LA)

We also added two new big State (States with 3 or more offices in them) head organizers this year: Steve Bradberry (Louisiana) Ginny Goldman (Texas)

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To support our continued growth as we expand and deepen, weve added more regions, and more regional directors, for 2007. Clare Crawford, the Western Regional Director, will be leaving us to run the Working Families Party Expansion efforts. Weve divided her region into two regions, and weve added two more regions. The Regional Directors and their regions are now: Northwest and Pacific Region (HI, WA, OR, UT, ID, AK, ND, SD, MT, WY) Aimee Olin (formerly of Rhode Island fame) Southwest (NM, AZ, CO, NV, OK) Matthew Henderson (of New Mexico) Mid-South (AR, LA, MS) Beth Butler (from Louisiana) Tri-State Area (NY, CT, NJ) Bertha Lewis (from New York) South (TN, AL, KY, GA, NC, SC, VA) Brian Kettenring Midwest (WI, IA, NE, IL, MO, IN, MI, MN, KS) Jeff Ordower North Atlantic (DC, MD, DE, PA, OH, RI, MA, TX, FL, CN, NH, ME, VT) Craig Robbins Field Performance: Overall, our field performance was not strong. Full membership numbers were very low in most places. The get-out-the-vote work we did, as well as the campaigning for our Minimum Wage ballot initiatives, definitely built us some power. However, our organization suffered for it in the field. For two months, at least, before Election Day, our local operations were distracted from building membership. This is definitely something we need to address in 2007. We averaged a measly 7.29 new full members per month per organizer. The associate membership numbers helped a bit, but the majority of those members were signed up through our canvasses. We signed up almost 100,000 provisional members, which is a major improvement, but were only in the beginning stages of organizing them.19 Staff Development: Looking at our staffing numbers and our performance numbers, the only conclusion one can draw is to beef up our staff development. To reach 2.5 million members, we need lots of field organizers, lots of head organizers, lots of canvass directors, and lots of canvassers. To hire and train these multitudes, we need everyone to recruit staff, but we also need a new national program. The National Recruitment Department in 2006 expanded its role in hiring. Not only do they place ads and schedule interviews for expansion and unstaffed cities, they are now in many cases doing phone interviews, reading resumes, scheduling observations days, and doing a much better job at tracking calls and applications from the website. We now have a database of almost 10,000 people (many with email addresses) whove applied to ACORN in 2006. Florencio Othon and Becky Mansour have done a good job of creating order from chaos.

19

We just ran a series of field tests of our provisional membership in Ohio, Missouri, and Colorado. We will continue testing in January. Results are not available yet.

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Training is also essential. Here, were drawing lessons from the Training Academies we ran in November 2004 and November 2006. We are looking to run all year many 4-week academies for new hires, where they learn the basics of community organizing. Graduates from those academies will then do 3-month organizing drives. Those organizers on a track to become a head organizer would receive additional training. Another area of training we will develop in 2007 is more advanced training for head organizers on building power. As noted above, we have 10 States and 1 country with 3 offices or more. We also are in a position in at least 10 other states to build relationships with other major players and win some big things for our constituency. To be a head organizer at this level, our staff need to know how power works and how to access it issue-wise, politically, with major institutions, etc. Jon Kest, Head Organizer of New York, will be helping to do this (among other things) in his new role as National Strategic Campaigns Director. Only 33% of our local head organizers are people of color, which is a decrease from 40% last year. Our goal this year was 50%, and we moved in the opposite direction. We see this as a reflection of our larger challenges in expanding and growing the staff, since many of our management of color are newer on staff. It reflects our need for more recruitment, training, and fundraising. Our goal this year is to reach the 50% we were supposed to have reached this in 2006. Another area of training we began is of State and local administrative staff. Too many head organizers not only have to train their organizers, raise money, and build power, they also have to process payroll and allocations, enter the members on the database, and monitor Navision. Jilnar Mansour and Janet Reasoner ran a training for the field operations administrative staff in New Orleans in October, and will run another this month. They continue to develop the job description and protocol for these essential staff. The numbers of organizers we need to hire and train are astronomical. Nationally, for the expansion and understaffed offices, we need to hire 2000 people in 2007 (that would last 3 days minimum). That does not include what many local operations will need to hire to staff out their key areas. This will be a major focus of 2007. Key Initiatives for 2007: As I mentioned above, recruiting 2,000 organizer wanna-bes and training many of them is a key priority in 2007. Canvass: Another key initiative will be the expansion of the Associate Membership Canvass pioneered in NY. Greg Basta, NY Canvass Director, is now training 5 canvassers from various places. In January, hell train another round. Metropolitan areas where we will set up canvasses in 2007 are: Detroit and Suburbs Cleveland and Suburbs 52

Dallas and Suburbs Phoenix and Suburbs Los Angeles Suburbs Boston Suburbs Denver Suburbs St. Louis County Miami-Dade County

There will probably be several others, too. ACORN Benefits Centers: Another area of major focus will be our ACORN Benefits Centers. In 2006, we made progress in our VITA sites overall, with many sites, even new ones, bringing in big numbers. In 2007, we need to boost our numbers in the VITA sites more dramatically, as well as develop our yearround services capacity. All offices can run the ACORN Financial Justice Center, where we offer consumer education classes and help people access free or low-cost credit reports. Currently 13 States are on the ACORN Benefits Access System. In 2007, we will add many more. Planning: In 2007, we will develop a Five-Year Plan for Field Operations. Through many local meetings among staff and members, we will have a plan for the Association Board meeting in April 2007 to review and approve. These plans include goals for staffing, membership, and turnout, as well as expansion and campaign directions. As well as goal setting and directions for the local, state, and national organizations, these plans should have extensive power plans politically and otherwise. Campaign Work: In 2007, many States are moving legislative campaigns aggressively, using the mandate our minimum wage campaigns gave us in 2006 to win State Earned Income Tax Credits, Paid Sick Days, and Child Care Credits and Subsidies for our constituency. Many States are hiring Legislative Coordinators. Nationally, we are developing plans to beef up our campaign capacity. In 2007, we will make progress in this area. Money: Money continues to be the biggest obstacle to our growth. 2006 saw some States fall on very hard times, and its not really over (we still have to finish paying for the Convention). The successful fundraising for our Minimum Wage campaigns helped some places a lot, but it has not been enough. We continue to work on this intensely. In particular, we will be raising money around our benefits centers. 2007 should see some breakthroughs, especially since much of our national campaign settlement income has run out. Necessity is the mother of invention. Well be doing a lot of inventing in 2007. 53

Goals for 2007: We will reach 128 offices (open 19 new ones). These include: o Salt Lake City, UT o Boise, ID o Riverside, CA o Tacoma, WA o Spokane, WA o Lowell/ Lawrence, MA o South New Jersey. o Suburban satellite offices for many of the canvass operations. We will increase and stabilize staff : o TN o AL o VA o KS o OK o HI o Orange County, CA o Bakersfield, CA o Long Beach, CA o St. Petersburg, FL o Broward County, FL o Palm Beach, FL o Rio Grand Valley, TX o Austin, TX o Fort Worth, TX o Milwaukee, WI o Indianapolis, IN o Portland, OR o St. Louis, MO We will have 12 strong Associate Membership Canvasses (9 new ones). We will develop 30 local Head Organizers. We will develop 6 new State Head Organizers. We will average 375 organizers on the charts. We will sign up 40,000 full members. We will sign up a total of 210,000 members next year.

Conclusion: Rattling off a variety of numbers, cities, and states is not very interesting. But when you pull it all together, as we did in this years National Convention in Columbus, OH, it is amazing to see what ACORN has become. The 2,500 people packed into the hall at the Convention seemed to me the culmination of the hard work performed by hundreds of organizers and others in ACORN. Four years ago we had practically nothing in Ohio. Now we have 6 offices, talented staff, great leadership, and money in the bank. When we ran our post54

election academies in 2004, we struggled to train the numbers we hired. This year, we were well staffed and ran excellent academies in a variety of places (MN; Dayton, Cincinnati, and Cleveland, OH; Denver, CO; Phoenix, AZ; Albuquerque, NM; Kansas City, MO; among others). Despite the seemingly insurmountable obstacles, we continue to build roots in metropolitan areas across the country. In 2007, well continue to build on these roots. Well have to operate at a scale weve never operated before. Itll be messy at times. But by next year, well be bigger, stronger, and shooting with a much bigger gun.

National Field Coordinator Report City and State: National Staff based in Wyoming
Name: Janet Reasoner All staff and positions: Janet Reasoner, Field Coordinator Chad Deininger, Grantwriter since August 29 Colleen Leggett, California Grantwriter since November 15 Grants #s for 2006 and goals for 2007 # of grants written: Actual in 2006: As of December 15, we will have written 106 grants for 31 cities, plus two statewide grants for California and one statewide proposal for South Carolina. In addition, we assisted several offices who are not on the regular grant list with their CCHD full applications. Goal for 2007: 250 proposals for field, 120 for California 55

$ amt grants written: Actual in 2006: The total amount requested: $3,864,031 Goal for 2007: $4,500,000 for field; 2,250,000 for California Total grants funded: Actual in 2006: 19 (18%), with 64 pending. Plus, we received 12 2006 CCHD grants from the 2005 list. Goal for 2007: 50 (20%) for field; 25 for California $ awarded: Actual in 2006: $442,500 (includes 2006 CCHD grants written in 2005) Goal for 2006: $900,000 for field; $450,000 for California Highlights for 2006: There was some transition with the grantwriting operation again in 2006. The one grantwriter in Wyoming left in May and I wrote grants until late August, when Chad Deininger was hired to work out of the Denver office. He has written 20 proposals so far, two of which have been funded already for a total of $32,000. We then hired a full-time grantwriter for California, Colleen Leggett, who jumped right in and wrote five CCHD reapplications in two weeks followed by one major proposal for San Diego in three days. CCHD continues to be a significant source of external funding for our new and emerging operations. Because of the change in deadlines to December from January, grantwriting numbers are low for 2006 when CCHD is not figured in. In addition to holding weekly calls with the Head Organizers on my list, I worked with several offices on bank and EITC funding, as well as providing assistance with various internal fundraising strategies. I developed a set of monthly stats reports that compare the numbers reported on stats with what is actually entered into the ANDB; compare the current months stats and BD deposit to the previous month; and provide numbers of bankdraft returns for prenotes and live drafts. I wrote boilerplate proposals and sponsor letters for the Financial Justice Centers and assisted with the PowerPoint presentations and handouts that offices use for the workshops. Jilnar Monsour and I organized and ran a two-day training for state and local administrative staff in conjunction with the Field Ops meeting in October. This was so successful that we have planned another training just before YE/YB. The real highlight of the year was coordinating housing for convention. The totally outstanding housing crew (special thanks to Piper and Josh) ensured that we had beds for everyone who showed up.

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2007 Goals: Develop a set of boilerplates on various campaign and project topics, such as general organizing, leadership development, financial justice, state EITC, paid sick time, inclusionary zoning, etc. This will provide HOs with a framework to talk to funders on these topics, as well as providing continuity in our proposals to foundations. Develop a system for tracking reporting from field offices on grants, so that we can get caught up on various national funders and ensure that all of the foundations who fund field offices receive timely and accurate reports. Work with CCI so that I can produce accurate financial reports for proposals and grant reports. Develop a list of national foundations that have not been approached in the past for funding for our new/emerging offices and our support operations and begin calling them and submitting proposals. Continue to work with HOs and grantwriting staff to produce tighter, more fundable proposals. Continue to work with HOs, particularly new HOs, on ways to talk with funders and approach foundations locally. Continue to work with grantwriters and HOs on how to write AISJ and ACORN Institute proposals in a way that will make everyone (CCI, AISJ or AI, the office that gets funded) happy.

National Campaign Department ~ YE/YB 2006

Amy Schur, National Campaign Director Marc Seiden, Campaign Field Coordinator Ronald Coleman, State Legislative Coordinator

OVERVIEW Katrina organizing in the diaspora early in the year, lead paint poisoning campaign mid-year, moving into support on our four state minimum wage ballot initiatives in the fall, followed by 57

work to start up our state-level working families agenda as we move into the 07, (can I leave it at that?!). Beyond our corporate campaign against Sherwin-Williams and the paint industry, this was a year of supporting several key organizing projects and working to insure baseline participation of all offices in various organizational priorities throughout the year, from Katrina and immigrant rights, to pay day lending work and the launch of our Working Families Agenda.

TAKING ON THE ISSUE OF LEAD PAINT & THE SHERWIN-WILLIAMS COMPANY

Our members care a great deal about this issue. Considered one of the most significant environmental health hazards affecting children in the U.S, many of our members have family or friends who are dealing with effects of lead paint poisoning. And over the last year or so, with legal actions against the paint industry finally getting somewhere, there has appeared an opening that may provide a way to proactively deal with the problem once and for all. Going into 06 we were up to 14 ACORN cities receiving funds from HUD to work on lead paint issue. The internal discussion was that a number of cities would be doing local lead campaigns, and therefore layering on a national demand/campaign made particular sense. We would be building a base in a number of cities, raising money with the HUD funds as leverage, and winning local campaigns against landlords and cities. The national campaign would raise the profile of our work and might lead to resources to grow our work. The local work failed to gain traction in most places, which made it more difficult to move the national campaign with vigor, (only regional actions saved us on the turn-out front). Nevertheless, weve run decent campaign this year, and end they year we some exciting prospects for a way in which the work we have done can both deliver significant results in removing lead paint in our communities as well as resources for the organization. National, International and coordinated actions and activities in 06 have included:

500-person rally outside of National Paint & Coatings Association national headquarters during Legislative Conference in March Local actions at Sherwin Williams stores in 23 cities in April and May 100 Ohio members show up at their shareholders meeting in late April June 28th release of report, & offices of SW Bad Neighbor of the Year award Engagement of local elected officials, to consider divestment and legal action - The first to take action have been Providence RI and El Paso TX - City Councils voted to divest Actions and other pressure on SW Board members - Between June & August we did actions at the homes of four board members and the CEO two at the National Convention, two more by Cleveland and Columbus members, and one in NYC. - Flyering at grocery stores around the country connected Smuckers Jam with lead paint poisoning, as Richard Smucker, CEO of that company sits on the Sherwin Williams board. Flyering at the Cleveland Cavaliers basketball game targeted Cavaliers VP, another SW board member. October - 85+ southern region members disrupt the annual meeting of the NPCA in Nashville November the campaign goes international with actions on Sherwin Williams in Toronto & Vancouver, Canada; Tijuana, Mex; Lima, Peru; and Buenos Aires, Argentina. Five countries!

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December - ACORN gets 2 cities and 2 school districts in CA to join a lawsuit against paint companies

We knew going into this campaign that we faced a particular challenge in the current environment. They can settle with ACORN, but still havent gotten rid of their biggest problem the city and state lawsuits. Over the last 6 months our primary strategy has been to demonstrate to Sherwin-Williams that ACORN has the capacity to compound their legal problems, primarily by getting more cities and states to sue. While right now there is a chance that the companys legal problems will grow significantly, ACORNs work could almost ensure that this would be the case. So, deal with ACORN to take out that factor, and they might hope to beat back the worst of what could come. Sherwin-Williams hasnt wanted to deal, so we now either give up or make good on our threat. The problem is, while we can get more state lawsuits moving, and these very well may lead to the homes in our neighborhoods being made lead safe, securing the final victory is in the hands of the AGs and how do we benefit organizationally? Luck would have it that the major CA lawsuit against the paint industry is being handled by the same law firm handling our Wells Fargo case and they want to work together on the lead case. Over the last month we have been able to convince several major CA cities and school districts to join the lawsuit. In a potentially important precedent for our role in these types of cases, we are in the final stages of negotiating a seat for ALERT (ACORN Law for Education, Representation & Training) on the legal team for the case, which puts us at the table - and in the settlement negotiations.

2007 Goals

Work to find a second large law firm willing to develop a partnership along the lines of the one being negotiated in CA and get several more state AGs (or cities) to work with us on a lawsuit strategy. Use the issue of on-going sale of lead-based in Latin America to build broader public opposition to Sherwin Williams, identifying sectors that could have some impact on their business and people and sectors where this will most be a political embarrassment.

MINIMUM WAGE CAMPAIGNS & AN EXPANDED WORKING FAMILIES AGENDA

In ballot initiatives campaigns, and electoral work more generally, weve often been forced to put all hands on deck doing the core GOTV work for the final weeks or month. This year, our Political and National offices were able to raise enough money to allow some number of organizers to stay focused on how to make the most of these campaigns to build and grow the organization. The Campaign Dept. provided some support and supervision around implementing these pieces. Plans varied state by state, but beyond an increased number of rallies and other press events, it included: 59

A more aggressive media plan, including more frequent press releases and more work on Op Eds and Letters to the Editor. A concerted effort to identify and develop a # of min wage workers as spokespeople (not as easy as youd think, or we thought!) Regular e-mail updates to statewide e-mail lists of allies, pols, .. Building a base of support in churches, adding clergy breakfasts & press events to flyers and announcements for GOTV (Ohio) City council resolutions in support (throughout the state of OH!)

(Perhaps even more important was the PAL program working to increase the trained pool of ACORN members mobilizing their own communities to vote. This Dept. wasnt involved in that project, so see PAL report for more details)

In 2006, we raised the wages of over 4.9 million workers in the U.S. We were involved in 7 state legislative wins, our citywide increase in the City of Albuquerque (which was the resulted of a great, determined, campaign), as well as living wage in Pine Bluff, AR via initiative on Nov 7th. Combined with our 4 of 4 state minimum wage victories at the ballot box, we see this as a mandate to advance a working families agenda and this is just what ACORN is doing. In mid-November, we announced the launch of our Working Families Agenda for 07. Minimum Wage, expanded EITC, Paid Sick Days and expanded State Child Tax Credits & subsidies. In DC, where US Senators Kennedy, Schumer and Clinton and allies John Sweeney and others joined us, our state minimum wage victories were celebrated and commitment was made to raise it federally in the months to come. Now were busy working with states as they meet with key allies, choose priorities and get bills introduced. Ronald Coleman joined our staff a month ago to help move this big project forward, and is off to a good start researching the recent history of these issues in our states, finding helpful policy information to support our campaigns and preparing fact sheets and other materials to help us get started. In 45 days we will more or less know how many bills we were successful in getting introduced. Our hope is that we will have upwards of 10 states moving state EITC and 5+ states moving paid sick days. We will be working with states on their campaign plans to move these through to passage!

Also important is a plan to introduce an anti-predatory lending bill in 3-5 states with a new approach to tackling the growing problem of ARMs and other mortgage loans that lured people in with low rates that soon will shoot up and cause many to lose their homes. In addition, several states are looking at pay day lending legislation, and several at fair utilities issues.

UTILITIES CAMPAIGNS
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Many ACORN cities continued to work on utilities campaigns in 06, including statewide efforts in FL, TX, MD, MI and DE. Almost everywhere we managed to win a company liaison assigned to help us negotiate payment plans for our members our goal of course being to use this to build our base that will fight the utility company on the policy changes that will really make a difference. In some places the commitment from the company was not real, and in other places it was more our failure to figure out how to use this to build something. With the Research Department in the lead, we provided support on various utilities campaigns, and produced a Utilities Campaign Guide as well. Liz Wolff has increasingly made herself an expert on this issue (well she might claim shes not quite there yet, but she can certainly fool us!) and has provided invaluable help to offices in figuring out smart and potentially winnable demands on this difficult issue. Texas had a great win where the public utilities commission declared a moratorium on shut-offs for the 06 summer months for seniors and low income families, followed by a special payment plan/ Dallas and Houston were able to do outreach on this, sign people as members and help them get into the program. Houston even opened up an ACORN Utilities Center to facilitate building the base off of this win. Florida carried out a spirited campaign that successfully reduced by $500 million a proposed utilities surcharge, but we couldnt get to the table for serious negotiations. Maryland, in coalition with others, cleverly leveraged a pending merger between MD and FL utility companies to involve state legislators in the merger and significantly reduce the amount of a proposed utility rate increase. IMMIGRANT RIGHTS Immigrant rights supporters took to the streets by the tens of thousands, and in a number of cities hundreds of thousands, in March, April and May. In many cities ACORN members participated. and in some ACORN members were in steering committees helping to coordinate. Notably, in Chicago and San Diego, where these mobilizations were huge, ACORN was one of several groups playing a real leadership role. Some of our newer operations, like Raleigh, NC and Las Vegas, NV took the lead in putting marches together. We, like others, failed to figure out how to keep the momentum going. Now we are regrouping and working to develop some models with some local targets both political and issue-based - in several cities to help lead the way here. ORGANIZING KATRINA SURVIVORS In the early months of 2006, a significant amount of the Campaign Departments time went into helping coordinate the organizing of ACORN Katrina Survivors Association (AKSA) chapters outside of Louisiana. This included regular calls with organizers doing this work and staffing regular leadership calls to help direct coordinated plans. Two big highlights were: 61

1) The DC rally February 8-9 where over 400 Katrina survivors traveled to DC from Louisiana, Texas, Arkansas and elsewhere to demand the right to return. 2) The Get Out The Vote effort for the April 22nd and May 20th Mayoral and City Council elections in New Orleans. Once again, Katrina survivors were on busses from 3 cities in Texas and Arkansas to get to satellite voting locations within Louisiana to exercise their right to vote and their commitment to continue having a voice in their city that they still cannot return to. A two-week stint in Louisiana in April helped our efforts to impact the housing plan coming out of the Louisiana Recovery Authority. And while in some ways no accomplishments seem significant given the magnitude of the problem, weve continued to have some campaign successes (with less involvement from this Dept. the 2nd half of the year). New Orleans ACORN fought hard against an August 29th deadline to gut and clean ones home or risk losing it and won. Houston ACORN led the way in a lawsuit against FEMA behalf of thousands of Katrina survivors wrongly cut off of housing assistance and won (or course FEMA is now appealing).

FINANCIAL JUSTICE CENTER CAMPAIGNS Campaigns against Money Mart and New Century helped the FJC to get offices finding victims, doing actions and otherwise moving the campaigns forward. See the FJC report for campaign details!

HEALTH CARE ACCESS CAMPAIGNS

A big highlight on the health care front for ACORN was the passage of a universal healthcare ordinance in San Francisco (now of course this is SF, but still) ACORN was the only community group with a seat at the Mayors task force to develop this plan, and did campaign work in the district of a swing vote that made the difference. There was also great work in Illinois, where as part of our campaign together with SEIU dealing with Advocate, we prevented them from closing on of their hospitals! San Diego has carried the charity care banner this year, with excellent working dealing with 4 or 5 hospitals. Theyve used the issue of charity care to 1) get tens of thousands of dollars in medical debt reduced for our members, 2) a several month contract with SEIU that included actions and a community forum, and 3) start up a partnership with at least one hospital that includes improved policies on their end and In 2007 we will be working to further develop hospital partnerships with the goals of improving health access for our members and securing a role and funding for ACORN in shaping the hospitals responsiveness to the community 62

Raised $375,000 over 2 years from the Kellogg Foundation to support this kind of community/ hospital partnership in several locations.

Marc Seiden, National Campaigns Field Coordinator YE/YB Report December 2006
FINANCIAL JUSTICE Payday Lending & RALs Coordination: - Worked with offices on planning & implementing events & flyering at Money Mart and World Financial branches. Monitored offices progress on this campaign Worked with offices on conducting a neighborhood payday lending survey to be used for local reports payday lendings affects on the community Helped plan and coordinate action on shareholders meeting Support: - Developed & distributed materials for the campaign Victims: - Worked with offices on identifying victims New Century Victims: - Developed rap, materials, and plan for finding victims Did numerous phone trainings with staff on signing up victims Worked with offices on identifying victims Coordination: - Worked with offices on planning and implementing actions CAMPAIGN Hospitals Field:- Worked with El Paso staff on how to ID victims & sign them up through visits Legislative:- Assisted El Paso in meeting with 2 council members about TIF for Tenet hosp.l Support:- Worked with offices on making & implementing campaign plans Worked with offices on doing research for hospital campaigns Wage Campaigns Field: - Helped train Chicago staff on field work for Big Box Living Wage Campaign Coordination:- Worked with offices on planning and implementing actions against Target Research: - Compiled a list of Ohio pastors & churches for minimum wage outreach Lead-based Paint Actions:- CEO: helped with plan, materials, preps, & balloons holding large banner Shareholders Meeting: helped coordinate turnout, produce materials, & scout Paint Assoc annual mtg: Helped with plan, materials, & logistics Produced materials for actions on board members in OH & NY Research:- Areas in cities that are high-risk for lead poisoning Best examples of state & local lead legislation to develop model legislation Cities & states whose pension funds have invested in Sherwin-Williams Documentation of Sherwin-Williams role in causing childhood lead poisoning Documented victims stories Sherwin-Williams environmental violations at facilities in various cities Costs of lead paint poisoning Coordination:- Worked with offices on planning & implementing events & regular flyering at Sherwin-Williams stores

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Worked with offices on events to release Sherwin-Williams study Worked with offices on reaching out to electeds to pressure Sherwin-Williams Helped do press work for Sherwin-Williams study Website:- Developed website for campaign Immigration Coordination: - Coordinated regional event in DC with prep session, lobby visits & participation in a coalition rally Worked with offices on implementing district visits to congress members Support: - Coordinated massive order of t-shirts for large rallies across country

Katrina Field: - Organized DC-based survivors to participate in national events in DC Developed West Bank constituent canvass rap & materials for blitz w/TX staff Helped with rap, materials, & training for fundraising canvass blitz in NOLA Canvassed personal daily record of $570, entire crew raised over $7k in 4 days GOTV: - Coordinated absentee ballot GOTV with DC survivors for NOLA primary Coordinated GOTV for general election in NOLA Helped coordinate getting TX-based survivors to the NOLA polls on E-day DC Rally:- Coordinated lobby visits Coordination:- Worked with offices on planning & implementing anniversary events Organized DC anniversary event Allies:- Prepped DC-based survivor to speak at NAHT (HUD Tenants) conference FEMA Lawsuit: - Prepped DC-based survivors on lawsuit & coordinated turnout to hearings Coordinated press conference with US. Reps. after ruling to pressure FEMA Utilities Field:- Worked with Louisville on field program, materials, strategy and actions Support:- Helped with research & materials for the campaign guide Simon Malls Support:- Worked with offices on doing disparity research in malls to support SEIU drive Local Campaigns Field: - Researched large landlords, developed materials, & provided field support to Philadelphia tenant organizing & lead testing campaigns Support:- Did research & materials for Jackson mailbox campaign HMDA Coordination:- Worked with offices on planning study release events & press work Support:- Helped proof and edit the study RESEARCH Campaign Reports: helped document and write-up quarterly reports of field office activity NATIONAL

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Convention Responsible for all meals Coordinated workshop on Building ACORN & the mass membership initiative Leg Conf Helped coordinate lead-paint rally: did materials, sound, and press work Working Families Agenda Kickoff Worked with offices to ID leaders & helped with logistics for DC event POLITICAL GOTV Maryland:- Worked a poll in Montgomery Cty primary for Donna Edwards (US Rep race.) Pennsylvania:- Helped with preparations for Election Day in Norristown (State Rep races) Led Election Day canvass crew in Norristown doing GOTV for Netta Hughes FIELD I have provided some field support to the DC local office in addition to assisting on campaign work Ran a two-day recruitment academy in Honolulu

ACORN Financial Justice Center Year End/ Year Beginning 2006-2007

St. Paul, MN Staff: Jordan Ash Katie Hausenbauer

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PREDATORY MORTGAGE LENDING

2006 There is little progress to report on the Wells Fargo campaign. They have gradually been making the changes we have demanded from them, and taken away our steam. The lawsuits and any possible settlement are progressing slowly. For the third straight year we had a presence at Wells Fargos annual shareholder meeting in San Francisco. We were able to have about 20 people go inside the meeting thanks to our allies at Responsible Wealth who had their members give our members their proxies. Our website wellsfargoproblems.org has been getting some consistent traffic and has been driving Wells Fargo crazy. Our campaign against New Century got pre-empted when after just a few small actions the company begged for negotiations. The mini actions got them to stop their lobbying for a bad federal pred lending bill, which was a significant thing. They have already agreed to make some changes, but not yet close to all that we want. Negotiations have kind of stalled and we need to jumpstart them again and see if we can get a good agreement. We initiatied conversations with H&R Block about their affiliate, Option One, although now it appears that Block will sell off Option One. The big issue in mortgage lending in 2006 was Adjustable Rate Mortgages (ARMs) and the rate shock that homeowners are starting to feel. Unfortunately, we were not as big a voice in this discussion as we should have been. Having negotiations rather than demonstrations with New Century, meant that we didnt put the campaign out in the media, and so ACORN wasnt the one defining the problem. (A bright spot for ACORN on this though was Valerie Coffins annual predatory lending study, which got an extra boost this year by linking it to the issue of ARMs and getting lots of media attention.) Our multiyear effort in Rhode Island culminated in winning legislation that finally passed during the last days of the session. Despite a last minute change that the other side snuck in, the law is among the strongest in the country, and ACORN was clearly seen as the leader in getting it done thanks to the great job by Aimee Olin! 2007 In 2006 we saw the cracks begin to form in the subprime mortgage market with foreclosures on the rise and hundreds of billions of dollars in ARMs resetting. All signs indicate that in 2007 things will be even worse and the system could rupture. We need to be right there when it does. We need to be organizing borrowers with ARMs from additional companies that we can go after, and we need to meet with the rest of the largest subprime lenders and give them the same demands that we gave to New Century. We will pursue legislation in a number of states tyring to win a new type of law that will get at the problem of ARMs as well as abusive practices by brokers and lenders in general by requiring them to have a duty of good faith and fair dealing with their customers. 66

In a few pilot cities with mass foreclosures, we need to organize these folks and see if we can create a situation where we win major strucural and systemic changes. All of these activites will also help create the field pressure that will be necessary to pass a strong federal bill against predatory lending. With the Dems in control, and Barney Frank chair of the House Banking Committee, there may never be a better opportunity.

REFUND ANTICIPATION LOANS, EITC, AND VITA SITES 2006 Once again through the work of Jeff Karlson and a talented and dedicated group of head organizers, regional directors, and tax site staff, we made great strides in this program, running VITA sites in 72 cities, up from 45 cities the year before, and filed tax returns for about 30,000 low-income families almost double the number from last year. This made us the IRSs third largest VITA partner behind only the military and AARP. We got people $38 million in refunds, including $18 million in EITC and more than $7 million for the Child Tax Credit. H&R Block continued on the path that we set them on in 2004-05. They received a charter this year for their own bank and when tax customers dont have a bank account, Block can open a low-cost one and have their refund direct deposited into the account. Customers can continue to use the accounts afterwards. We will likely do a pilot and use these accounts with our clients at two of our VITA sites in 2007. Block is not legally allowed to make their own refund anticipation loans (RALs), but customers will have the option to get their RAL via a Block bank account, which will lower the cost to the customer, and the customes can also continue to use the account even after the RAL. Finally, it appears Block will be an ally in our state EITC work.

Jackson Hewitt has now eliminated the application fee at all 5,000 of their stores, which translates into annual savings of $114 million for the 2.8 million customers who buy a Refund Anticipation Loan (RAL) or other refund product at Jackson Hewitt. Whodathunkit? Less than a year after the Virgina Beach fallout, we reached an agreement with Liberty Tax, the 3rd largest tax preparer in the country and the only other national company. Starting last tax season, Liberty eliminated the application fee at all of their 2,000+ stores, almost all of which were franchises. This agreement will save their customers about $50 million a year. As with Block and Jackson Hewitt, Liberty agreed to change their disclosures, and in fact adopted verbatim what we proposed.

2007 We need this year to take it to the banks that make the RALs and win changes that lower the costs even more and that will apply to all of the tens of thousands of tax preparers out there. 67

PAYDAY LENDING
2006 We entered into a new arena in taking on payday lending and spent most of our time this year slipping and sliding and trying to gain a solid footing. Canada continued to get lots of press on the issue, and the highlight on this side of the border was the action on the Money Mart Annual Meeting where the protesters outnumbered the shareholders in attendance 4 to 1. We learned a lot during the year, and working with the Campaign Department and a group of key Head Organizers are now moving on what should be a winning plan. 2007 In addition to advancing the Money Mart campaign, we will be involved in a number of state legislative battles on a level that we havent before.

THE BIG PICTURE

There is a common thread that runs through all of these and other issues. As banks and other mainstream financial insitutions have abandoned low-income and minority communities and neglected their needs, a predatory economy has emerged made up of check-cashers, pawnshops, payday and car title lenders. These shadow banks are siphoning off billions of dollars from our neighborhoods by making the poor pay more for less. Not only have banks and mainstream insitutions created the void for these predators to fill, but these same banks provide the financing and insitutional support that has fueled the growth of these predatory institutions. We need to engage in a strategy that simultaneously: 1) Confronts the predators directly to bring attention to the issue, win changes in their practices, and get money for our programs. 2) Targets mainstream institutions for their involvement with financial predators and their failure to serve our communities, and demands programs and partnerships to address these problems.

Research Department
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YE/YB Report
Staff: Liz Wolff, National Gina Vickery, New Orleans/Katrina

12/15/06

Overall
Overall the Research Department has been focused on reports, support for bigger campaigns (lead, utilities and the emerging Working Families Agenda), and general campaign support. Good support was provided on these campaign as well as some local campaigns. We are making progress, but need more work on, producing a usable set of model demands to be used in our campaigns across the country. With the implementation of the Working Families Agenda there are some parts of the work that can be better predicted.

Work on major campaigns:

A. Utilities -- Helped find materials on PIPPs and other utility policies. -- Worked with Amy Schur on the Utility Campaign Guide. -- Built relationships with utility experts. -- Did a special meeting in the fall to work with HOs in states on utility campaigns. The meeting pointed out that we were going to need political clout to change the rate structures to make utility bills affordable. -- Worked directly with campaigns in FL, MD, AZ, MI, TX, MN, NE, IN DE, PA -- Learned more about utility mergers and how those work. B. Working Families Agenda -- With Jen Kern did the position papers on our four issues of minimum wage, paid sick days, state EITC expansion and child care. -- Figured out and built relationships with people in the child care tax credit world. -- Put together the leadership training in DC on the WF Agenda. C. Katrina and New Orleans -- Did a one year anniversary report on our work. -- Worked to examine ongoing policy issues and craft responses. -- Worked with Lisa Donner, Amy Schur and others on the February DC event. -- Did fact sheets on benefit programs, the Stafford Act and other items. -- Did a report on Katrina and poverty for the one year anniversary. -- Did regular newsletters to ASKA members. -- Provided daily news clips to staff about New Orleans and Katrina related stories -- Provided research to Louisiana ACORN on property rights, affordable housing, homeowners insurance, and health care. -- Did work to position us for opportunities on workforce training programs. -- Did work on post-Katrina voting procedures. -- Did an analysis of the LRA Road Home Program. D. Health Care campaigns 69

-- Worked on charity care with San Diego, El Paso and Ohio. -- Monitored the health care proposals in Louisiana. -- Worked with Amy Schur and Steve Kest to raise funds through Kellogg. -- Started research on health insurance products (especially Blue Cross and Blue Shield) and looked at low cost options for our constituency (more needs to be done on this). -- Maintained relationships with outside groups including Community Catalyst and the Access Project. E. Lead / Sherwin-Williams -- Produced report for release in June -- Did company, investor and other research and back up for the campaign F. Education campaign -- Worked with MA, California, Cleveland, and New Orleans. G. Support for other campaigns -- Worked on inclusionary zoning -- Did corporate research for payday lending, Simon Malls, and New Century. -- We are developing state and federal legislative options to keep homeowners insurance available and affordable nationally and in Louisiana. Other work in 2005 A. Campaign reports Four campaign reports of work done by ACORN were produced. These are time consuming but useful. B. Materials and lists -- Continued to maintain the http://cammat.acorn.org website, although it needs more materials added. -- Internally for national field staff we have put up a data base of contacts. Currently these are mostly my contacts and those of Lisa Donner, but our plan is to consolidate as many names and phone numbers as possible so that these will be available as necessary and not be just on any one hard drive. C. Work with local offices -- Did support work and campaign planning with the following local offices including: San Francisco on grocery stores, Las Vegas on development, California on their state-wide futures plan, D. Maintained external relations with other policy groups, especially on health and utility issues. E. Support for fundraising -- Did research on various corporate targets for fundraising purposes F. Support for staffing -- Helped with training for the new state legislative person 70

-- Supported Dallas staff during HOs leave

2006 YEYB Report: Legislative Department

Budget/Tax

We have worked with the Emergency Campaign on Americas Priorities (ECAP) on various budget and tax issues, especially those relating to the labor/health and human services/education spending bill. We also held a rally against the Administrations Fiscal Year 2007 Budget during the 2006 Legislative Conference. Immigration

ACORN activated its legislative hotline, posted action alerts on its website, called key members of Congress, and mobilized our field membership through our APAL phone tree system in response to congressional consideration of the following bills:

H.R.4437 Commonly referred to as the Sensenbrenner bill, the measure would have authorized an enforcement-only approach to illegal immigration that failed to include any effective solutions to the current immigration system. Specifically, the bill would have made it harder for legal permanent residents to become citizens, would have allowed local police to become de facto immigration officials, and would have criminalized those who provide charitable assistance to undocumented immigrants, including religious providers, without providing legalization for any of the 12 million undocumented immigrants who currently reside in the country. ACORN opposed the bill. S. 2611- Provided for a three-tier legalization system that would have granted different paths to legalization for certain undocumented immigrants depending on the number of years they have lived in the country. While the compromise legislation was comprehensive, the bill was criticized for limiting due process rights for immigrants and for its treatment of different groups of undocumented immigrants. For more information on specific amendments of interest, see ACORNs Legislative Scorecard at http:// www.acorn.org/fileadmin/Centers/Press/Report/ACORN_Scorecard-ltr.pdf. H.R. 6061 (The Secure Fence Act) - Approved 700 miles of fence on the U.S./Mexico border. Congress approved the legislation and the President signed the bill into law on October 26, 2006. ACORN opposed the measure. HR 6094 The bill would have expanded the Administrations ability to lock people up indefinitely with no end in sight. Additionally, it would have allowed the Administrations Attorney General to simply designate people as gang members without a trial, without giving them their day in court. ACORN opposed. This bill was not considered by the Senate. 71

HR 6095 Would have given the Administrations Department of Homeland Security the unchecked power to deport people without their day in court. It also would have included a provision that would give local police departments more authority in enforcing federal immigration laws. ACORN opposed. This bill was not considered by the Senate.

Minimum Wage H.R. 5970 (Minimum Wage /Estate Tax Bill)- In an attempt to repeal the estate tax, the Republican Leadership crafted legislation that combined a partial repeal of the estate tax with an increase in the federal minimum wage. The Senate Republican Leadership attempted to pass the bill, which had been approved by the House of Representatives, but needed 60 senators to approve taking up the bill (also known as invoking cloture on the Motion to Proceed). While ACORN has strongly supported legislation that would increase the federal minimum wage, we could not support coupling the minimum wage with a bad tax bill that would have benefited only a small group of very wealthy taxpayers. ACORN mobilized our membership in key target states, including Rhode Island, Washington, Colorado, Ohio, Louisiana, and Arkansas. Ultimately, our efforts, along with those of our allies, resulted in the defeat of this motion and legislation. Housing Predatory Lending- There was discussion this summer that a federal predatory lending bill would be considered in the House Financial Services Subcommittee on Financial Institutions and Consumer Credit. ACORN, along with its coalition partners, visited with key Committee and Member staff to discuss concerns with the proposal as well as must-haves in any mortgage lending bill, including suitability language, limits on mortgage broker fees and prepayment penalties, and a private right of action, among other items. Hurricane Katrina

In February, 500 members of the ACORN Katrina Survivors Association came to DC to make sure our "return and rebuilding" issues were on the nation's agenda. Turnout came from Louisiana, Houston, Dallas, San Antonio, Little Rock, New York, Jackson, and Atlanta. Events included: * Democratic Leadership Hearing on Katrina: our members crowded into a giant House hearing room and two AKSA leaders presented testimony to a panel of Democratic Members of Congress, including Democratic Leader Nancy Pelosi, Barney Frank, Maxine Waters, Mel Watt, and many more. Our members gave the Congressmen red ACORN visors, and most wore them throughout the hearing. * A small group meeting (40 AKSA members) with the head of FEMA. * A rally and vigil at the White House, followed by a reception at the AFL-CIO. 72

* A rally with the Senate Democratic leadership, with Democratic Senate leader Harry Reid, LA Senator Mary Landrieu, and Hillary Clinton. Tons of TV cameras at this event. * Substantive meetings/accountability sessions with Louisiana's Republican Senator Vitter; top officials from HUD; the Gulf Coast director of President Bush's Gulf Coast Rebuilding office; and the Chief of Staff of the Senate Banking Committee. * Speeches of support from various Senators who dropped by our event during the day, including Barack Obama, Sarbanes, Lautenberg, Lieberman, and Dorgan. * Scores of individual lobby visits to Congressional offices, which included personal meetings with a number of key members of Congress including Senators Clinton and Landrieu.

--ACORN staff has also lobbied on extending Unemployment Insurance benefits to survivors as well as implementing changes to the Stafford Act that would shift responsibility of disasterrelated housing from FEMA to HUD. --On December 7, Congresswoman Maxine Waters, Congressman Al Green, Congresswoman Barbara Lee, and Congresswoman Sheila Jackson Lee joined AKSA member Bob Coakely and DC Leader Mary Spencer to denounce FEMAs decision to appeal a favorable ruling in ACORN v. FEMA, which ordered FEMA to restore housing assistance to certain evacuees. Voting issues H.R. 4844, the so-called "Federal Election Integrity Act- Would have required all voters to obtain and show government-issued photo ID proving their citizenship before they would be allowed to vote. If passed, H.R. 4844 would have prevented many voters who are less likely to carry a photo ID from exercising their right to vote, while doing nothing to combat voter fraud. ACORN opposed this measure. VRA Reauthorization - See ACORN Legislative Scorecard at http://www.acorn.org/fileadmin/ Centers/Press/Report/ACORN_Scorecard-ltr.pdf for more information. Other Issues

--Legislative Conference- This past Legislative Conference was the most successful with approximately 150 members in attendance. We arranged for 180 lobby visits- 30 of which were with actual Members of Congress. For the Day of Action, approximately 300+ people participated. 73

--Take Back America Conference- We brought in a handful of members to attend this progressive ideas conference. During this time, lobby visits were scheduled on a variety of issues. Relationships with Congress

Staff has attended weekly meetings with Democratic Leadership staff. Overall, relationships with Pelosi, Reid, and other key congressional members have improved tremendously, resulting in greater support for our issues and events as well as greater consultation on issues of mutual interest. Participation in Coalitions ACORN is a member of the following coalitions: Coalition on Human Needs (CHN), CAN, Emergency Campaign for Americas Priorities (ECAP), National American Opportunity Campaign (NAOC), and Comprehensive Immigration Reform (CIR) Now. Publications Legislative Scorecardavailable at http://www.acorn.org/fileadmin/Centers/Press/ Report/ACORN_Scorecard-ltr.pdf ACORN Legislative Agenda for 2007 Working Families Agenda Minimum Wage Soon after the new Congress gets to work in January, both the House and the Senate are expected to move bills to increase the minimum wage to $7.25 an hours in three steps by 2009. While almost everyone believes this will pass (and Bush has indicated he will sign an increase), the fight will be over getting a clean bill without poison pill amendments such as small business tax breaks or protection of small business from health insurance costs (read: higher premiums and insurance cut offs for our members). ACORN will take a leadership role in both raising the profile of the issue with our friends in Congress in select Congressional Districts in Dec and Jan AND targeting some moderate Republicans and weak Dems who are more likely to go along with the poison pills. Soon after we get the $7.25, Sen. Kennedy will introduce a more ambitious bill to restore the value of the minimum wage to its historic levels (more like $9.00/hr.) AND index it to inflation. Well likely have to fight for this bill for many years, and it is not likely to be a very big priority in year one, 2007. Paid Sick Days ACORN intends to make the fight for paid sick day a big one in 2007. To supplement our city and state campaigns on this issue, we will push for the Healthy Families Act (introduced by Sen. Kennedy and Rep. DeLauro), which would require employers to provide 7 paid sick days a year. EITC- While we are not sure what the exact vehicle is this year and how viable it is, we will explore avenues to expand both EITC eligibility and benefits. 74

Child Care/Dependent Care tax credits- While this is mostly a state priority, we will explore opportunities to push to have these federal tax credits be fully refundable (which puts money in peoples pockets no matter how much tax is owed) and to better target benefits to the lowest income working parents. EducationNCLB reauthorization HealthSCHIP reauthorization Immigration--National Campaign discussion with key ACORN offices --Gear up for comprehensive immigration reform debate. The Senate is expected to consider a proposal in the first few months of the new session. Hurricane Katrina--Disaster housing issues --Rebuilding issues Financial Services --Home Mortgage Disclosure Act (HMDA) --Credit --Insurance Housing --Predatory Lending --Housing Trust Fund --Foreclosure Prevention --Housing Counseling Funding Voting/Electoral Issues Congressional Relationships in 2007--Encourage certain oversight hearings and ACORN member participation in hearing relevant to our issues --Strengthen relationships with Democratic Leadership. For example, ACORN will be actively participating in CAN-Pelosis 100 Hour Plan, which includes an increase in federal minimum wage. Other items: Interaction with ACORN Precinct Action Leader (APAL) Program: Goals: 75

1. Bridge gaps within the APAL Program between the Legislative, and Political operations. 2. Improve continuity of Phone Tree operation by developing a committee of Legislative Conference attendees, who are PALs, and have a quarterly Phone conference with updates from the Legislative Director and Legislative Campaign director.

3. Build and Prep PALs for the 2007 transition in the House and Senate as well as for the 2008 Elections.

4. Build a database of APAL membership for the national Legislative office to utilize to contact PAL Phone tree participants. ACORN Communications Department Year End Year Beginning Report 2006-7
Staff: Kevin Whelan Communications Director communications@acorn.org Jewel Bush Writer communications2@acorn.org Caitlin Corrigan Social Policy Managing Editor; Communications Special Projects - communications@acorn.org and mngeditor@socialpolicy.org Jeff Karlson ACORN United and Design acorn@acorn.org Charles Jackson Press Coordinator acorncomm@acorn.org Reico Robichaux Graphic Designer design@acorn.org Tech Dept: - helpdesk@acorn.org Mark Madere Webmaster and Admin Janet LaTour Helpdesk Chi Chan New Orleans Tech Database: Nathan Wardrip-Fruin National Database andb@acorn.org

Summary In 2006 the Communications Department settled back in to the New Orleans Headquarters and stabilized its staff after some early and mid-year turnover. The communications highlights for the year came when some major achievementsincluding minimum wage campaigns, the Rally for Return and Rebuilding and the ACORN Convention actually got the press they deserved. We have become increasingly successful in moving our message systematically across many mediums, using leadership preps, materials, web and email, and the press to present a coherent picture of the organization and our campaigns. Publicationsincluding the e-news, ACORN United, and Social Policy are on now being published on schedule. The Communications Department produced numerous written materials for the full range of the organizations campaignstalking points, press releases, and brochures, completed hundreds of design assignments, large and small and distributed ACORN-branded products. Online Communications The main ACORN site www.acorn.org is updated with new news, press releases and local events every day. Traffic has leveled off somewhat at 39,000 48,400 unique visitors per month. 76

Regular trainings are now schedule to show local offices how to use their local pages. An updated join page reflects the mass membership program, and can be customized to collect different types of donations. Some important web projects have not come to fruition, however: local campaign and event features and better set up for state pages are still in the works. Jewel Bush, a writer who joined the department this year, produces new stories for the web and enews daily. Mark Madere is webmaster and Reico Robichaux provides design help for this and many other projects. They continue to design, maintain, and help update a variety of other websites including: www.warnwalmart.org ; www.walmartwork.org; www.fdiwatch.org; www.wellsfargoproblems.org; www.sitefighters.org ; www.acorninstitute.org ; www.aisj.org ; www.chieforganizer.org; www.waderathke.com; www.projectvote.org* ; www.organizersforum.org ; www.leaders.acorn.org; www.socialpolicy.org*; www.raisewages.org*; www.livingwagecampaign.org; www.knon.org and www.kabf.org* and my personal favorite, www.sherwinwilliamspoisonpaint.com*. * New and or redesigned this year. Video and Web-casting: Two major events successfully used online video to get our message out. The ACORN National Convention was webcast liveseveral thousand people watched. A team of consultants in DC, helped ACORN to produce www.sevendaysatminimumwage.org , an online video event hosted by Roseanne Barr that profiled seven different minimum wage workers. It got over 50,000 views and was a highly-rated feature on u-tube. Fundraising: Web and email appeals raised over $84,000 in national donations mostly for the ACORN Hurricane Recovery and Rebuilding Fund (not counting mail-ins); far less than our big post-Katrina push in 2005. Email lists: Our regular e-news letter and action alerts continue to be an important way to get our word outbut there could be so much more. The biggest lists we have are 18,421 - ACORN updates (main e-news list) and 8,499 - member updates. Our total lists add up to about 60,000 contacts. Membership: Adding provisional membership option increase the number of people joining online though not the money collected. Between 70 and 170 join online each month--of all types, provisional being the majority. Very soon, we should move this (and other under-attended to priorities) forward by filling the Web Campaigner position and fixing the ACORN database so that web members are automatically addedvery soon we hope. Our online communications work has been especially useful when we are not getting the press we want on a given issue, and when we need to claim victories or establish our turf on an issue. We have received a lot of good advice in a number of forums about how much more we could do in this areawe hope for great things in the coming year. Publications ACORN United: Jeff Karlson has continued to take the lead on ACORN United. The paper is now back on schedule; more Spanish will be standard starting with the next issues; we have adapted a more photo-oriented, tabloid-style cover as a sort of down-payment on a redesign. Social Policy Magazine: Caitlin Corrigan moved up to Managing Editor of Social Policy, handling the business end and coordinates editorial work working with Wade Rathke and Kevin Whelan. Special editions on Wal-Mart organizing and Rebuilding New Orleans were editorial highlights. Marketing work helped boost the magazines visibility online and with some potential institutional 77

customers. But the business of gaining new readers didnt get very far past straightening out database issues to figure out how small the individual subscription really isaround 1,000. Press A combination of extraordinary organizing work and dogged pursuit of the press by both national Communications staff and many others 20 earned ACORN some exceptionally good press this year. In 2006 four events gave us very widespread national coverage, 3 of them Katrinarelated: the ACORN Rally for Return and Rebuilding, ACORNs GOTV effort for the New Orleans municipal election, the ACORN National Convention, and the victory in ACORN vs. FEMA lawsuit. The first of these was a capstone event for outgoing Communications Coordination Allison Conyers, who moved on to other opportunities after several years of able service in our DC office. Charles Jackson handled the second as a sort of observation day (or week)earning widespread and pitch-perfect national media coverage; he thus landed the position of Press Coordinator, based in our New Orleans office. Charles has been particularly effective at developing strong working relationships with key staff and leaders, allowing for a rapid response to many press opportunities. ACORN garnered front page coverage in the New York Times twice on wage campaignswhen the Chicago City Council passed the Big Box Living Wage Ordinance and on Election Day. Other press highlights included a positive feature story and a magazine cover story in the NYT, an excellent CBS evening news feature on the Ohio minimum wage campaign, and two Katrinarelated front page stories in the Washington Post. A media team organized by media consultant Ray Abernathy supplemented our staffs work with a promotional project to brand the minimum wage ballot initiatives as the work of ACORN and the AFL-CIO. Sadly, the usual election year attacks on our voter registration work also gained national attention mostly via some widely distributed AP articles, a concerted campaign by a number of our enemies in Missouri, all augmented by some particularly viscous Wall Street Journal editorials. Staff across the organization responded in a disciplined and positive waywhich helped keep some things from blowing up much worse than they did. But, faced with adversaries who have unlimited resources and no regard for the truth, we were inevitably going to take some hits. For the next election cycle, we will need a more comprehensive strategy to get out positive stories about our election-related work before we are attacked. Leadership Training and Message Development We have developed some good habits working with the Campaigns Department and others to prepare members for media events members in a more thorough way than in the past. Most national events now have not only talking points, but prep calls for leaders and staff, and leaders prep other members to stay on message, and do so in a compelling way. ACORN leaders ran effective media training workshops at the ACORN Convention and the Working Families Event in DC with some assistance from Charles and Kevin. Staff got ongoing media training, including a session at mid-level organizer training. Our Image Branding

20

Jen Kern, Amy Schur, Ginny Goldman, Katy Gall and the New Orleans ACORN operation in particular all played key roles in landing a number of on-message national stories.

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An effort that began in 2005 with a branding workshop and good advice from many others has pushed us to try to have ACORNs public image better reflect who we really are. This means working to project the feelings of hope, pride, and accomplishment that our members feel from their community work, and not just being pigeon-holed as protestors. A branding training with Board members this spring focused on this point. In large part this work falls to the design staff and to picture-takers in the fieldto come up with images that capture the many aspects of our work and the emotions of our leaders. The 2005 Annual Report and 2007 ACORN Wall Calendar, designed by Jeff Karlson, are good examples here. Reico Robichaux has handled the challenge of designing and getting produced a huge range of materials for many branches of ACORN and its affiliates. 21 Radio KNON continues to serve as the voice of the people in Dallas, but be felt well beyond there. Station Manager Dave Chaos, Empowerment Radio producer Tunde Obaze and other KNON staff have traveled to cover events like the Katrina anniversary and ACORN Convention. Their coverage has an extended an useful life on the web. KABF in Little Rock continues to do more with less. Attempts to hire and retrain a full time station manager have yet to succeed, but a dedicated local staff, support from AR ACORN staff and leaders, and Liz Wolffs continued support and organizing work there keep them keeping on. Database and Tech Database: Nathan Wardrip-Fruin manages the ACORN National Database, supervising the vendors who do the programming, and interfacing with Field and CCI and handling day to day accesses issues and training. He has pushed through some crucial improvements, but we remain a long way from the flexible, comprehensive and reliable tool we need. What is next has been thought about and discussed, but stayed at that stage. Tech: The roles of the various folks in the Tech Department in New Orleans have shifted into a pretty workable system: - Chi Chan is the go to person for tech issues in the New Orleans officesparticularly CCI. - Janet LaTour is the front line Help Desk/Tech support person. (She can be reached a helpdesk@acorn.org or ext 170.) - Mark Madere is the webmaster, administration of our email lists and servers, and senior member of the department. In reality all three work together to resolve issues that come in via helpdesk@acorn.org. Tech priorities for the coming here include getting the spam problem under control, setting a new and setting up a more automated and sophisticated system for local e-news letters.

Social Policy Report: 2006

STAFF Caitlin Corrigan Managing Editor (full-time)
21

Reico is available to help with projects large and small for all offices and operations, time permitting. He can be reached at design@acorn.org or ext 174. To order items that are already in stock, contact Caitlin Corrigan ext 105 or communications4@acorn.org.

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Jeff Karlson Design (support) Wade Rathke Publisher and Editor-in-Chief Reico Robichaux Layout Kevin Whelan Associate Editor, marketing support OVERVIEW We ended 2005 with high hopes for getting Social Policy, ACORNs quarterly journal on community and labor organizing, back on schedule and in the hands of more readers in 2006. Hurricane Katrina delayed our publication schedule, just after wed caught up a backlog of late issues inherited when we purchased the magazine. In 2006, weve published five issues, effectively catching ourselves up to a seasonal publication schedule: February 2006: Vol. 36#1 (Fall 2005): Organizing Wal-Mart May 2006: Vol. 36#2 (Winter 2005-06): Rebuilding New Orleans, Indonesia Org. Forum August 2006: Vol. 36#3 (Spring 2006): Immigration Reform, Technology & Organizing October 2006: Vol. 36#4 (Summer 2006): International Organizing, Media Activism December 2006: Vol. 37#1 (Fall 2006): Labor, Business & Organizing, Fair Trade Despite this success, out circulation has not increased significantly, and we look towards 2007 with an eye on how to continually increase editorial and design quality, plus develop effective marketing strategies to get the magazine greater exposure and a more diverse range of contributors. We currently have a list of 1,000 subscribers, but remain solvent since the majority of these are institutional subscriptions who pay up to $200 per subscription. EDITORIAL In March, the Communications Dept. hired Reico Robichaux as a freelancer, and in April he became both full-time staff and main designer for Social Policy. Jeff Karlson continues to advise and contribute to layout. In July, Caitlin Corrigan took over the duties of Managing Editor, continuing to receive support and guidance from Kevin Whelan in the role of Associate Editor, and Wade Rathke as Editor-in-Chief. Jewel Bush joined the Communications staff in August and has since been valuable as a keen set of proofreading eyes. In our attempt to play catch-up, we published five short issues of an average of 40-50 pages each vs. previous issue lengths of 60-80. We have begun to publish book reviews and interviews, and look to include more regular features, including photo pages and profiles of interesting organizers and campaigns. We continually seek contributors from the front lines and well as more objective analysis, and in 2006, we relied more heavily on the front line (aka, self promoting) work from active organizers, which made for practical, applicable articles, but not a lot of meaty academic substance, which appeals to our longtime institutional subscribers. MARKETING We succeeded in a number of ad trades in the earlier part of this year, but the number of ads diminished as 2006 wore on. A goal in 2007 is to both solicit and place more advertisements in and for Social Policy, to increase revenue and exposure. In May, we became sending out HTML 80

rich emails to our list, and have received a handful of paid subscriptions in response to each mailing. A goal for 2007 is to distribute this mailing more widely on the internet, including posting in appropriate websites and blogs to increase our web traffic and ultimately lead to more paid subscribers. In July, Caitlin attended the Librarians Conference in New Orleans to promote Social Policy. While we secured few subscriptions, we made contacts with other magazine promotion agencies, and weve since used their services to promote Social Policy at additional conferences. Towards the end of 2006, we began partnering with several ACORN offices to use organizers as commissioned sales agents of Social Policy. It is still too soon to tell how effective this method will be, but we invite all organizers to get involved for the chance to earn hundreds for your office (details: info@socialpolicy.org). We also sent a large mass renewal mailing in November of 2006, which yielded a few paid subscriptions. In 2007, we look to sending out quarterly calls for renewals to maintain and build on our current subscribers. Social Policy is also now distributed by Ubiquity Distributors, though again, it is too early to tell if this partnership will prove successful in getting more subscriptions and dollars to the magazine. Our plan in 2007 involves marketing the magazine to more groups and organizations committed to social and economic justice. We hope to increase exposure online, and better establish ourselves as a vital media resource for organizers and academics. We hope to maintain and grow our list of both institutional and individual subscribers by continuously increasing the quality and timeliness of the magazine, and exposing it to more and more readers and contributors. ADMINISTRATION Weve been able to manage the day-to-day administration of the magazine fairly wellsending out claimed issues, inputting orders, and maintaining correspondence with customers. It has proved surprisingly difficult to detangle some of the old data to find the true list of subscribers though, and at the end of 2006, we are still operating our database on a shoestring Excel document! Butweve made an investment in a copy of Filemaker Pro, and hope to start 2007 with a functioning, effective database with beautiful hygiene and order. Scratch thatwe know we will have a functioning database soon! Right? Right! In addition, the team working from the Local 100 office in New Orleans recently unearthed some old copies of Social Policy, which will prove very effective in sending out claimed issues and making our subscribers happy. So thanks, yall. SOCIAL POLICY Budget Estimate: 2007 Estimated Revenue Subscriptions $100,000.00 Advertising $500.00 Copyright Royalties $250.00 Total revenue $100,750.00

Estimated Expenditures Audit services $250.00 81

Bookkeeping services $2,500.00 Bank charges $50.00 Corporate services $500.00 Editorial services $19,500.00 E-mail/internet $5,000.00 Express mail $150.00 Personnel services $4,800.00 Postage $2,500.00 Printing $30,000.00 Promotion $5,000.00 Shipping/freight $5,000.00 Supplies $200.00 Travel -- staff $350.00 Total expenditures Estimated Net $75,800.00 $24,950.00

ACORN Technology 2006-2007 YE/YB Report

ACORN Tech department has rebounded in 2006 following its home based being returned to 1024/1016 Elysian Fields. Getting Back Home The Tech department finalized the journey for ACORN's return to New Orleans. Weeks before the ACORN office re-opened the Tech department setup temporary Internet access for 1016 Elysian Fields. The network in 1024 Elysian Fields was completely dismantled and rebuilt from the ground up in time for CCI, SEIU100, Louisiana ACORN, New Orleans ACORN and ACORN National to return for January 2, 2006. Unfortunately phone service was not restored until the end of January. The ACORN Help Desk The ACORN Institute began operating the ACORN Help Desk in 2006 with additional support from CCI. The Help Desk is a one stop shop for computer support. The Help Desk is currently staffed by Janet LaTour, Chih Chan and Mark Madere. There are two ways to contact the Help Desk: Support by phone (504) 943-5954 opt 6 (extensions 122 or 170)

Support by email helpdesk@acorn.org

Working Smarter This summer the Tech department introduced OTRS, the Open source Ticket Request System which is a freely available tool to track trouble tickets. This system allows the Help Desk to ensure all computer problems are resolved. To open a trouble ticket email helpdesk@acorn.org with a description of the problem. In the event that a problem reoccurs the ticket can be reopened by replying to an email with the ticket number as part of the subject. 82

The Tech department also introduced a new way to fix problems with remote access. Some things have to been seen to be understood. If the offending computer can be connected to the Internet it can also be connected directly to the Help Desk. Once connected the Help Desk can see the remote desktop and can control the keyboard and mouse. The program can be downloaded here: www.acorn.org/helpdesk.exe. Breaking the Server Barrier This Summer the Tech Department began using a virtual server, which is a computer that can be many computers at once. This server is hosted in a secure facility in California. It is currently running 8 virtual computers performing the following duties: ACORN Member Benefits Screening server (http://abas.acorn.org)

Benefits Screening testing server (http://abas.acorn.org:81) Four ACORN training computers (vnc.training.acorn.org) Open source Ticket Request System server (http://otrs.acorn.org) Help Desk remote access server (vnc.helpdesk.acorn.org) Pfsense a UNIX/BSD Firewall to protect above servers

Dealing With Spam The overall volume of spam has doubled in 2006 versus 2005. At this time the Tech department has employed two new server based spam solutions. The first is Spam Assasian which is a filter that analyzes the emails and tries to determine if the mail is spam or not. This solution also supports an always accept and an always block email list. These lists are referred to as a whitelist and blacklist respectively. Since this filter needs to be configured for each email addresses, the Tech department has been looking into other solutions. The second solution is to employ two global blacklists, provided by Spamhaus. The first is called the Spam Blacklist, or SBL, which is a list of servers which are known to send spam. The second list is the Dynamic Blacklist, or XBL, which is an ever changing list of personal computers that have conscripted into sending spam for other servers. These lists have just been installed and are not having much effect at present. However, within a few weeks the level of spam being blocked should surely increase.

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KABF Community Radio YE/YB Report 12/15/06

Staff: Tennille Burks John Cain James Googe Sabra Miller Pledge drive and office staff Volunteer and program manager Stamp Out Smoking Program Coordinator Stamp Out Smoking Outreach Coordinator

Overview: This year at KABF saw steady work mostly in a holding pattern for the year. We were able to get some outside help in moving toward having more community news, especially in the Spanish language format. We did start streaming out signal over the internet which fulfills a long held goal. We were a major part of the outreach work for the immigrant rights marches and events in Arkansas saw, which is a new role for us. We have continued to do good outreach through our Stamp Out Smoking Program. On the downside, we needed to have done better in fundraising. We still need to hire a station manager. Programming: For the most part we have had stable programming this year. We added late night rock programming and have struggled to hold these folks accountable. We have been regularly broadcasting Empowerment Radio produced at KNKON in Dallas. ACORN has been doing a good job in having interesting shows that advance their campaigns and generate calls. 84

We have been able to get a renewed commitment from the Little Rock AFL-CIO to do their labor show on Friday evenings on a regular basis. This is an important continuing relationship for us. The station was very active in informing the immigrant community about the May 1st and other rallies. We are seen as a lead in providing the community information in Spanish. The board President, Lucho Reyes, was one of the key speakers at the rally on May 1st and has worked closely on these events with Arkansas ACORN. Outreach: Our Stamp Out Smoking program has continued to do a large number of events and presentations in Little Rock as well as in the surrounding counties. These presentations are usually at least once a week. We distribute information about tobacco as well as about our station. All of these events have been helpful in building up our name recognition and listenership. Volunteers: All through the year John Cain has done his usual good job of keeping volunteers on the air. As was set for a goal for this year we still need to figure out how to keep enough DJs for the daytime hours and work to get all DJs to come to volunteer meetings and to help with the work it takes to keep the station going. This continues to be a problem. Staffing: We are pleased to have had three of our staff people all year long. One person left, and her replacement, Sabra Miller, has been a wonderful addition to our staff. The board has hired several new station managers, but none of them stuck with the job. Budget: With the help of our Stamp Out Smoking grants, for the third year we have increased our internal fundraising, although just slightly. We did not make the goals that set from last year. We have done all of the pledge drives for this year, although the November drive was disappointing. We need to do a retraining with the DJs before the first drive of 2007. We have continued to receive funding from the Arkansas Humanities Council which provides funding for overhead costs. We continued to qualify for the higher level of CPB funds and with thanks to the CCI staff we got our reports in on time to CPB. The numbers shown below are the fundraising figures for January through November 2006 in comparison to the previous 3 years (although January through November). The numbers do not include CPB funds.
2006 Underwriting Benefits Pledge Grants Tower Rent Other TOTAL 24,961 545 21,783 82,627 14,894 495 163,305 2005 32,811 2,223 21,675 84,535 15,550 483 159,277 2004 57,875 2,417 28,228 25,360 13,776 0 127,656 2003 28,219 245 23,940 0 6,700 200 59,304

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We have many more opportunities to raise funds from the Hispanic market than we have been taking advantage of. We still need to build stable fundraising system. We still owe a lot of money to AMFM and to KNON which needs to be repaid. Our goals for 2006 were: -- Increase underwriting to $80,000. We raised $42,961, an increase of $8,000 over the prior year. -- Increase pledge drive to $60,000 in funds received. We brought in $21,783 which is essentially flat for the last 4 years. -- Keep grants at $70,000. We hit this goal. -- Increase benefits to $10,000. We brought in over $545 and really have no program or plan here. Fundraising goals for 2007 are (assuming hiring 1 more person): -- Underwriting $75,000 -- Pledge Drive $35,000 -- Benefits $ 5,500 -- Grants $85,000 Other projects and priorities: 1) We have started broadcasting on the internet which had been a goal from last year. Check us out at www.kabf.org. 2) We still need to raise $10,000 to get a new board in the main studio. We made no progress on this during the year. 3) We did a set of filings with the FCC to keep up our records there. 4) We added one new person to the board. KNON Community Radio Dallas, Texas YE/YB Report 12/16/06 Staff: Dave Chaos Christian Elliott Trevor Fought Thomas Fearson Tunde Obazee Station Manager Pledge Drive Coordinator Sales manager Morning Show Producer National Programming Director

Overview: KNON had an exciting year in 2006. The station continued to grow setting records at our festivals and with our pledge drive. Our new board members who joined last year have proven to be an asset to the stations efforts in addressing our mission and reaching out to our listeners. KNON Community Advisory Board has brought new fundraising strategies and creative ideas to the station. We have added The Voice of the People to our latest bumper sticker design per advice 86

from an Advisory Board meeting and it is proven to be a very popular design showing up immediately on vehicles throughout the metroplex. KNON continues down the road to a digital conversion of the stations signal. Part of going digital involves getting a new transmitter. Our current transmitter is over 20 years old. A digital signal also enables us to broadcast more then one station on the digital format. In the near future both radio and television will be broadcasting in the digital format. KNON does not want to get left behind as these changes occur. This effort was launched last year with grant funding from the Corporation for Public Broadcasting and we are working at getting the matching funds required to complete the project. Another recent station upgrade effort is a new computer and the software needed to convert our broadcast studio to digital automation. It will take us from tape to digital in the broadcast of KNON P.S.As and Underwriting announcements. The system will also make available a music library that can hold a 10,000 plus catalog for DJs to select music from. We continue to cover Hurricane Katrina issues. Tunde Obazee host of KNON national program Empowerment Radio has been to New Orleans on 3 separate occasions and Washington DC working on the story. We posted pictures from the opening of the 9th Ward on our web site. Material gathered both on the web and for broadcast is shared with all of our talk shows. The impact continues to be felt and we are determined to keep covering the struggle for justice in New Orleans.

Programming: KNON programming highlights and new additions this year include: 1) Adding another hour to Empowerment Radio. 2) Podcasting of Empowerment Radio 3) New Teen Talk hosts 4) Interviews with Eddie Bernice Johnson, John Edwards, Hillary Clinton, Hugo Chavez, 5) Covering the 2006 ACORN National Convention in Columbus Ohio. 6) Election 2006 Coverage 7) Thanksgiving Blues Broadcast with a live studio audience Public Service Announcements aired in 2006 for ACORN, ACORN Housing, and Local 100. These Announcements covered Minimum Wage, Get out the Vote, Tax Payers Assistance, Predatory Lending, the Katrina Survivors Association, and more. Volunteers KNON base of volunteers in 2006 continued to grow with only three turnovers of DJ talent. Staffing KNON hired a new Morning Show Producer in 2006. Thomas Fearson had been volunteering for KNON Empowerment Radio show, doing a great job and putting in regular hours very early in the morning. He comes to us from the American Broadcasting School in Arlington. As an intern he had a long list of accomplishments. As a staff person he has already made major improvements in KNON production of announcements resulting in a better sounding KNON. Thomas works with interns and produces KNON Teen Talk show working with an all new crew. And he still comes in very early. 87

Budget KNON budget has increased to 600,000 this year. The station has maintained balanced books for 2006. Fundraising: KNON benefits did well in 2006. We have started broadcasting live from the KNON live music room (which doubles as a conference room when KNON is not having a benefit). We can now put a live audience on the air along with the artist performing and the DJ. The first event was during a Thanksgiving Morning Blues show and it sold out. KNON Latin Energy Festival drew 9000 to people to a new venue, Dallas Fair Park. Same space the Texas State Fair is held. Volunteers from all of the stations formats and all of the station staff joined together to make this festival a success. 12,000 is the goal for 2007. Station underwriting sales were strong in 2006 with many formats selling out on a regular basis. Sales of the stations Blues CD were steady. People keep donating cars to our car donation program. Other projects and priorities: 1) Digital signal 2) Digital studio 3) Outdoor advertising 4) Purchase research numbers to learn more about KNON listeners.

KNON 89.3FM Dallas Texas Empowerment Radio / National Programming 2006 YEYB Report. Report Author: Exec Producer/Host Tunde A. Obazee 2006 In Review In 2006, KNON 89.3FM saw a growth in its National Programming format. The addition of The Tavis Smiley Show in early February has definitely thrown KNON community radio into a class by itself. Both shows (Empowerment Radio and The Tavis Smiley Show) are designed to empower everyday people everywhere. KNONs Empowerment Radio with Tunde Obazee covers national issues of concern affecting working people and our nation. The program discusses how the issues of the day affect real people and what all of us can do to change things for the better in our country. It is produced and aired on KNON 89.3fm and streamed live on www.knon.org from 7-8AM (central Time) every Monday. Since the first airdate of December 2003, Empowerment Radio continues to offer a unique perspective that is rare in most radio talk shows in America. The first of this weekly two-hour talk show from 7-8AM, features in-depth 88

interviews with citizens across the social and political spectrum while the second hour from 8-9AM, engages the listening audience live over the telephone. The Tavis Smiley Show, is a weekly two-hour show produced by The Tavis Smiley Group. The Tavis Smiley Show was added to KNONs national programming line up early February 2006. It is geared to enlighten, encourage and empower. KNON is proud to claim being the first in the nation to air each weekly show every Friday from 7-9AM. Achievements, Empowerment has just completed it third year on the air on KNON. Produced over 48 new episodes this year, adding up to approximately 145 episodes. There are currently over 139 audio achieves of past shows on Empowerment Radio web page. Airtime on KNON has increased from one to two hours every Monday. Empowerment Radio took interviews and recording to a new level by going completely digital in recording, processing and delivery. Empowerment Radio traveled around the nation to acquire contents first hand from congressional hearing to crisis in the gulf. Increased affiliation in addition to PRX is PRI and Pacifica Radio. Pod casting has just been implemented for our on-demand audience. Itunes store began featuring weekly episodes of Empowerment Radio on its podcast site. Future Goals: Take interview and show recording out to the communities nationwide Increase marketing efforts To continue to seek increased audience Acquire 800 number to engage a wider audience

Year End Report 2006 Christian Lee Pledge Drive Coordinator/Benefits/Sales/Music Director KNON averaged $55,227 per quarterly pledge drive, for a total of $221,000. 2006 was the highest paid in pledge year in KNON history. 2007 is fast approaching. We are already in the works of coming up with new pledge concepts. Also, we are coming up with new designs to be placed on our various pledge items: T-shirts, hats, jackets, aprons, mugs, etc. The biggest goal for 2007 will be finding part-time help in the pledge department. This should help increase pledge money, underwriting/sales, and KNON benefits. Another priority will be finding a new Music Director, enabling me to concentrate on pledge drive. I have been volunteer music director for 9 years now. It has been a great experience, but time has not allowed me to maximize our potential in the radio/music industry and fundraising. My underwriting, merchandising, and benefit funds 89

for the station totaled over $22,000. This amount alone has helped pay for most of my salary. Pledge Drive is almost half of the KNON budget. Thus the overall goal will be to tap into areas of pledge drive fundraising we have not yet explored and follow through on ideas we have already imagined. KNON has been on the air for over 23 years and I am proud to have been on staff for over a third of that time. We are truly the voice of the people. I will continue to spread the word and do my part until there is no more blood, sweat, and tears to give. Year end year beginning report Trevor Fought 2006 was a pretty normal year for me. I was responsible for about fifty thousand in revenues plus, once again, one of my regular accounts (DMX) bought the pouring rights sponsorship for Energyfest; which was another ten thousand dollars (house). This is right at twice my income for the year. I did not engage in any benefits, but have plans in the works for one major event next year. I am also working on proposals for yearly sponsorships from a couple of accounts which have been periodic in nature. As a volunteer programmer my show was also responsible for close to another eight thousand in pledge revenues. I would like to bring these figures up, but do consider myself to be an asset to the station and the organization.

Thomas Fearson, KNON Morning Show Producer 2006 YE/YB Report

KNON's local morning talk shows continue to focus on issues of concern to the low and moderate income community. Subjects that generate the most call-in response from listeners include debates over immigration, high utilities, the recent elections, community involvement and personal accountability. Our /ACORN Hour/ program is hosted by ACORN members and highlights ACORN initiatives locally and nationwide, as well as serving as a recruitment tool to increase membership. Our /Worker's Beat/ show spotlights labor issues in Dallas/Ft. Worth and around the country, as well as stressing the importance of activism and organizing in a broad range of progressive issues. KNON's talk show format also provides opportunities for young people wishing to begin a career in radio. The format allows any committed volunteer to get free training and hands-on experience in radio broadcasting, public affairs programming, production work, and a chance to get directly involved in serving the community. All-new hosts for /Teen Talk/, a youth-oriented program, began this year. 90

KNON also works with ACORN, ACORN Housing and Local 100 to air public service announcements, spreading the word about upcoming actions, rallies, protests and marches. Announcements directing people to ACORN for help dealing with high utility bills generated a great deal of response from the community, as well as new members. Other messages dealt with housing discrimination, union organizing, organizer recruitment, as well as encouraging people to vote. Other developments during this year included several new computers that have enabled vast improvements in production quality, allowed easier archiving of past programs and better internet capabilities, including the podcasting of /Empowerment Radio/. Future plans include increased internet presence as well as station-wide digital upgrades.

YE/YB 2006

Citizens Consulting, Inc.

Jules Nunn, Comptroller (October, 2006-present) Donna L. Pharr, Director of Administration (June, 2006-present) Michael Jones, Internal Auditor MaryAnn LeBlanc, Budget Analyst General Ledger Kimberly Brister, Senior Accountant

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Karen Diaz, Shared Cost Jr. Accountant Yolanda Gilmore, Accountant Stephanie Jones, Accountant Jessica Kudji, Accountant Jill Ready, Accountant Judy Agrawal, International Accountant Elvis Harris, Intern Cash Management Eileen Rogers, Cash Management Bookkeeper Jennifer Armant, Cash Management Clerk Accounts Payable/Disbursements Nancy Boykins, Accounts Payable Bookkeeper Summer Deas, Accounts Payable Clerk Tyaisiha Moses, Accounts Payable Clerk Mary Maxwell, Accounts Payable Clerk General Ledger/Housing Irvine Figueira, Senior Accountant Peggy Battle, Accountant Romonda Harrison, Accountant Francis Durand, Accountant Paula Matthews, Accountant Ida Scineaux, Administrative Assistant Technical Support Denis Petrov, Information Technology Manager Chih Chan, Systems Operations Andrew Barkley, IT Assistant Payroll Department Sydney Sheperd, Payroll Manager Alicia Jones, Payroll Clerk Hoa Truong, Payroll Clerk Miffany Thompson, Payroll Clerk Tax Department Anita Schexnider, Tax Accountant Pamela Davis, Tax Assistant Khristian Johnson, Tax Assistant Human Resources Department Sondleta Johnson, HR Manager Lisa Renard, HR Coordinator Michele Matthews, HR Assistant Insurance Department 92

Sanda Dunbar, Insurance Specialist Special Projects Patrick Winogrond Office Support Yvonne Benjamin, Admin. Assistant Gustavia Reed, File Clerk CITIZENS CONSULTING, INC. GENERAL In the absence of a full staff for CCI, the year 2006 found many of the current employees filling in where needed in tasks that may or may not have been their areas of expertise. Hurricane Katrina virtually wreaked havoc on the organization by inhibiting its ability to both relocate previous staff members and recruit for well-qualified staff for positions left vacant by those who were unable to return. During the first month of 2006, CCI moved back to its base in New Orleans working with a limited amount of staff. The previous comptroller, then did what was necessary to get through the day-to-day transactions as well as managing and dealing with field crises. May, 2006, the Comptroller for the past several years resigned and CCI was then placed in a period of transition. Two co-directors were appointed to assist in the transition while they continued to search for a Comptroller. In late October, 2006, a new Comptroller was hired as well as an Internal Auditor and the remaining co-director was named Director of Administration. This new structure should allow management to better serve in tackling the overwhelming issues associated with the overall growth of the companies we service. There have been many obstacles to overcome since May, 2006, which left the codirectors with the supervision of bookkeeping personnel, dealing with field requests and crises, all reporting matters and audit responsibilities. Much of the priorities for 2006 have focused on trying to maintain a level of stability while fighting the enormous number of turnovers this year. Locating and organizing records, coordinating correspondence to let the rest of the world know exactly where we are and where to send our mail literally took the first six or seven months of this year. The ongoing focus also continues to the hiring of qualified staff in the midst of the continuing local area personnel shortages and housing availability/affordability issues. ACCOUNTING The continuing focus in the accounting area has to be the accuracy of the available data in our computer system, proper training, and the availability of regular period reports so that management is better able to make projections and decisions that affect further growth. 93

To that end, during the last quarter of this year we have worked diligently to provide each office with current financial information (October, 2006). The goal is to provide these reports on a monthly basis initially. Within the first quarter of 2007, the goal is to work with the Field Operations areas to establish and regularly report budget versus actual information. One of the biggest priorities and struggles has been in the audit preparation process. With limited staff, limited missing information, previous late filings, a huge burden has been placed upon the current staff to both catch up and make sure that current payments and reporting are done timely. This will continue to present a challenge through the upcoming year(s); however, we are constructing a plan to get and stay current. As many of you already know, the lack of current audits presents all sorts of problems, but among these is the ability to maintain current charitable registrations. Your continued cooperation is appreciated in submitting all supplemental documentation with all deposits to assist us in our strive for accuracy in reporting. INFORMATION TECHNOLOGY Obviously, all have experienced problems with Navision. During 2006, we saw the upgrade of Navision to 4.01. This conversion definitely presented its share of problems, but most importantly many, if not all of the custom-made reports were not able to transfer to this new system. Instead, these reports are having to be re-built on an as-needed basis (as problems occur). This creates problems in many areas, including payroll tax transfers, tax rate calculations, employee seniority dates, servicing fees, and various others.. CCI has made advancements in reporting through the implementation of Jet Reports. Jet Reports has allowed us to break through barriers in reporting that we previously faced with Navision. CCI now has the ability to create reports based on all information stored within Navision. We will continue to develop this area and make the necessary adjustments to give more timely and accurate information. On another note, the Online Management System (OMS) was put into place and has significantly contributed to our ability to process employees in a timely manner and was a real life saver during election time. We will continue to refine this system and make the necessary adjustments; in addition, we will be adding the accounts payable function to this process. The other key accomplishment for this year was the development of a comprehensive disaster recovery plan which includes full backup of all computer systems as well as vaulted storage for archived computer data.

BANKING 94

The modernization of the existing bank procedures will be a top priority in the upcoming months. Emphasis will be placed on converting more routine tasks to electronic transfers (ie. Internal transfers and servicing fees), where possible. In addition we are reviewing the possibility of utilizing ACH debits where allowable and appropriate. These processes will ultimately result in the elimination of enormous UPS charges and checkwriting costs (ie. Checks, printers, etc.).

PAYROLL DEPARTMENT The Payroll Department has made tremendous strides in 2006. Having to construct a completely new department, we began the year with novices, staff who had never processed payroll before. Through trial and error, many growing pains, and intensive training sessions, we now have an extremely competent four-person team. Each payroll representative has specific companies and offices for which she is responsible. This allows the clerk to provide personalized attention to the local office. With the aid of other CCI departments, we are able to process checks and resolve outstanding issues quicker and get payrolls released sooner. We are also currently working on providing direct deposit for all employees to, again, eliminate the costs associated with paper checks, UPS, etc.

HUMAN RESOURCES DEPARTMENT The Human Resources department has had its share of turnover, resulting in some lack of continuity in services provided. With every employee turnover, there was virtually no transition to provide the stability needed. This resulted in multiple transactions being processed for some accounts and even some missed payments incurred during the Katrina era. These are areas that are being thoroughly reviewed and reconciled, so that the upcoming year starts everyone on the same page. During the first quarter of 2007, many of these processes will be overhauled to provide a reporting mechanism to offices to eliminate haphazard billings and payments. During the election period, we were better prepared for the overload in the hiring process of temporary part-time employees. Further, with the roll out of full-time staff being added to the OMS, the human resources department will be able to focus on many of the other difficult issues surrounding our department. We will continue to work diligently to find better ways of serving our client base and provide employee incentives.

Legal Operations: Steve Bachmann (Indiana), Hollis Shepherd (NOLA)

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RE: YEYB 2006/2007 DATE: December 6, 2006 YEAR 2006 GOALS 1. Prepare for Columbus, Ohio, Convention 2. Consolidate, re-build, internal systems (especially corporate) 3. Prepare for 2006 elections 4. Defend Liberty Tax lawsuit and/or sue rightwing attorneys 5. Situate ACORN in Canada, Mexico, etc. YEAR 2006 If we had a surprise in 2006, it related to the degree that CCILegal lost staff like the rest of CCI. The good news was that CCILegal was able to continue to deal with a lot of COUNCIL legal work (including employment issues, contracts, corporate, etc., etc.)(thanks and a tip of the hat to Hollis Shepherd). The bad news is that much remains to be done, and a high priority for Year 2007 is to re-build the CCILegal Staff, and ensure that we do not lose too much of what we have learned in terms of dealing with weird states, the EEOC, the FEC, the IRS, etc., etc., On other fronts: The Columbus Convention saw no arrests, but did provide two new twists for legal: an airplane with ACORN members was delayed out of Phoenix because of an INS raid; and Bachmann spent more time talking with the new Homeland Security Terrorist Liason than he did with Columbus Police. Its a post 9/11 world. The 2006 election saw ACORN and its allies make a strong impact around the nation, to the degree that ACORN was mentioned on the front page of the NYT on Election Day. Naturally our enemies were not amused. In 2004, voter registration quality control lapses led to some 20 criminal investigations around the nation and private lawsuits in Florida and Ohio. In 2006, much quality control around the nation was improved, but where there were failures, they were impressive (particularly in Missouri), and had national repercussions. In 2007 we face one grand jury investigation, 3 FEC complaints, and a possible investigation by the Senate and/or the IRS. Internationally, ACORN Canada now seems legally set. This is NOT the case in other extra-USA ACORN operations. Solving these problems will be a major matter for 2007. In 2006 we settled out the Liberty Tax case. We were unable to secure support for suing various of our rightwing enemies. Year 2007 may see us involved in some productive class action litigation. YEAR 2007 GOALS 1. Re-build CCILegal staff 2. Preserve, improve internal systems 3. Deal with election (2006) aftermath 4. Situate ACORN beyond Canada 5. pursue offensive litigation

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Training Department Report YE/YB 2006 Pat McCoy, Training Director Work in 2006 With Staff: Created Field Operations Managers Manual websiteincludes all current training materials for Field Operations, many old and many generated this year for inclusion. Created Head Organizers Administrative Manuala comprehensive guide to the least glamorous and most mystifying part of an HOs job. This was largely the work of Brennan Griffin. New Head Organizer Development Programworked with Helene and RDs to devise a onemonth training agenda for prospective HOs, a three-day training curriculum for HOs in new offices, and an annual schedule of orientation trainings for new HOs that we have implemented quarterly at Field Ops meetings. Spanish training materials translationssome completed and many at the translators and on the way. Training field tripsmade one to the Deep South in late spring. With Membership: Worked with staff and leadership team to update materials and sessions for Leadership School this past summer. Credit to Maud, Toni McElroy, Mildred and Ron Sykes for a very productive week. With other Groups: We continued our successful administration through ACLOC of the SEIU Apprentice Program. Credit goes to Sondleta Johnson and Jessica Kudjil for working out a lot of post-Katrina kinks and making this program work very smoothly during the second half of the year. ACLOC organizer training for SEIU in Canada ran for 10 months this year. Brennan did the training for the first few months, then we relied on folks from Ross ACLOC staff. Weve helped SEIU develop a cadre of new organizers there, and they seem happy with our work, but internal divisions on their end make it unclear if this program will continue in 2007. Did World Savings Bank management training in San Antonio in June with Helene. Learned a few things weve worked into our training system, and worked with a consultant of theirs for a few months thereafter on improving our management training.

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Have been communicating with a community development and organizing group in San Juan, PR about doing a Mott-funded training for them. Originally set for early December, but theyre having scheduling problems and we hope it will happen now in March 07.

Plans for 2007 Staff Training: Take training materials we have on the website, and with some additions, organize them into a Core Training Curriculum with documents and other materials for trainers and trainees, and training schedules and agendas for Field Organizers, for Lead Organizers, and for Head Organizers. Work with Helene and RDs on more regional trainings, and improved management training for local HOs and for HOs with multiple office responsibilitie. Involve the training department more in planning and executing training academies. Complete and make available new office support package, and work with RDs to implement new office orientation training. Work with Communications to incorporate a broader array of media into our training materials and sessions, particularly the Core Training Curriculum mentioned above. Continue new HO trainings, and offer more Lead Organizer trainings. Membership Training: Work again with staff and leadership on summer Leadership School. Work with this same group to conduct an advanced leadership traininglikely time is late winter/early spring. Create Core Training Curriculum for new member orientations and for Board members. Other Groups: Beyond the current apprentice work for SEIU, well keep looking for more administrative and training opportunities with labor and other allies. We could use a marketing plan for this work and for general organizer training, both here and abroad. Were discussing doing another Education Organizing Institute with PICO, probably late in spring if it happens. Numerical Goals for 2007: 12 staff training sessions conducted by or participated in by Training Department 250K in external training/administrative business beyond current SEIU contract 98

ACORN Living Wage Resource Center -- Jen Kern ACORNs Living Wage Resource Center is now in its tenth year - providing assistance to ACORN and non-ACORN living wage, minimum wage and other labor standards campaigns. With only one full time staff person, LWRC draws heavily on ACORN organizing field staff as well as the Campaign Director, Research Director, National Legislative and Communications Teams to do its work. I. State of the Living Wage Movement This year marked a shameful milestone in our nations labor history: the longest period since its enactment in 1938 that the minimum wage has gone without being raised (actual date: Dec. 2). ACORN and our allies turned this pathetic fact into an incredible opportunity for organizing and had unquestionable the best year of wage organizing in the field.

ACORNs 2006 wage campaigns delivered a raise to over 5 million workers!

This year, the focus of the living wage movement defined over the last decade largely by local living wage campaigns shifted dramatically (and victoriously) to the state level where statewide minimum wage campaigns and victories far outstripped local living wage campaigns as the focus on the movement. As a result, some stats: The number of new traditional local living wage laws this year severely dropped off with only 8 new local laws hitting the books. This was an unprecedented year in terms of state minimum wage increases with a whopping 17 states enacting increases (11 legislative, 6 by ballot) bringing the total to 28 states with higher than federal minimum wages. The number of state minimum wage increases since our FL victory in 2004? 26!

II. ACORN Wage Campaigns I. Local Wins 99

In a year dominated by state wage campaigns, ACORN managed a handful of notable local victories. Where our wage work was local this year, it had a cutting edge. Albuquerque Citywide Minimum Wage: Albuquerque became only the 4th city in the nation to win an across-the board minimum wage law this April, after a long-fought battle (including a narrow ballot loss last October). The law, enacted by city council, will push the citys minimum wage to $6.75 on January 1, 2007, $7.15 in 2008, $7.50 in 2009. 43,000 workers will benefit. Chicago Big Box Living Wage: Always ahead of the curve, Illinois ACORN parlayed its LW expertise, allies and power into the first ever big box living wage victory this summer in a fight against Wal-Marts incursion into our neighborhoods that captured national attention for weeks. Though eventually overturned by a Mayor Daley veto, the campaign put ACORN on the map at the forefront of a cutting edge approach both to beating Wal-Mart and to expanding the living wage concept into targeted low wage sectors (retail). Under the terms of the proposed ordinance (which we will continue to push for while exacting political payback from turncoats and opponents), large retail stores locating in Chicago would have to pay at least $10/hr. plus $3 per hour worth of benefits. Pine Bluff Living Wage: On Nov. 7th the voters of Pine Bluff overwhelming enacted a living wage law at the ballot with 75% of the vote. The win comes after years of campaigning on this issue in Pine Bluff at the city council and a narrow ballot loss two years ago. The ordinance requires that city service contractors and recipients of city grants and loans pay their employees at least $9.30 with benefits or $10.55 if they dont provide benefits. This victory claims the mantle as the first local living wage victory in the real South.

II. State Wins Legislative victories Though less sexy than our ballot work, ACORN had a huge year on the legislative minimum wage front this year as well, working with our allies to pass a stunning 8 state minimum wage increases. Heres what we racked up: MD - Jan = $6.15 MI - March = $6.75, $7.15 in July 2007, $7.40 in July 2008: (500,000 will get raise) AR - April = $6.25 (127,000 will get raise) PA July = $6.25 as of Jan. 2007, will rise to $7.15 July 2007: (754,000 will get raise) NC July = $6.15: (300,000 will get raise) MA July = $6.75, $7.50 in Jan. 2007 and $8.00 by Jan. 2008: (315,000 will get raise) CA- August = $6.75, then $7.50 Jan. 2007 and $8.00 Jan. 2008 (1.4 million) IL December = $7.50 in 2007, phased to $8.25 by 2010

Ballot Initiatives

Summary: WE WON!

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This topic is already well covered, so I will just list the highlights below here. The work of LWRC in these campaigns included coordinating some of the legal/drafting work with the Brennan Center, coordinating the research pieces with our think tank friends, working with PR people on messages and helping prepare ACORN leaders to talk to the press. Heres what we racked up:

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 Missouri: 76% Wage: $6.50 plus indexing Workers: 256,000 Arizona: 66% Wage: $6.75 plus indexing Workers: 345,000 Ohio: 56% Wage: $6.85 plus indexing Workers: 720,000 Colorado: 53% Wage: $6.85 plus indexing III. Federal Minimum Wage Though the Republicans had no intention of raising the minimum wage this year, they could hardly ignore the issue as the midterm election neared and polls in the states continued to show broad popular support. This led to some minimum wage shenanigans that had us scrambling and leading a quicklyassembled national coalition to stop the Rs from hijacking the issue and our state ballot campaigns for their political gain. In August, the Republicans tried to attach a $7.25 minimum wage increase (with poison pills for tipped employees) to their much-sought-after Estate Tax Repeal. ACORN members and national legislative staff lobbied and rallied both at home and DC and organized a national sign-on letter to oppose such a move, which was eventually defeated. Whew.

IV. Other Resource Center Business Relationships Our two primary external relationships this year were with the Brennan Center for Justice and the Economic Policy Institute who helped in an ongoing capacity and in countless ways to provide support to our MW ballot campaigns and advance the campaigns with the outside world and press (we also raised a bit if joint money with them, though not as much as we hoped). Late in the year, we pursued an exciting and effective short-term partnership with the AFL-CIO, designed to raise brand the national MW ballot push as an ACORN/AFL-driven campaign. The work boiled down to hiring long time labor PR consultant Ray Abernathy, sharing staff for a month, producing the 7 Days@ Minimum Wage blog (see below), and getting out a thrice-weekly media release with updates on the state ballot fights (dubbed The Daily Dose) to a large list national labor and political reporters and progressive columnists.

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Other important partnerships this year included the Fairness Initiative on Low Wage Work (a Fordfunded national media strategies working group that focuses on minimum wage and paid sick leave and has committed). We also remained close to the Center for American Progress, which helped highlight our ballot strategy in an early DC forum and paid for an economic impact study for our AZ campaign. Other partners in the MW ballot fights included Let Justice Roll, Ballot Initiatives Strategy Center. Media ACORNs wage campaigns got a good amount of press coverage this year though its hard to say we got our share, as we continued to suffer the slings and arrows of outrageous egoism by our coalition partners (in the state ballot fights especially) who seemed bent sometimes on shutting us out. We mostly prevailed being named in a handful of important post-election articles about the impact of the MW initiatives on the election. Media highlights this year included our foray into the blogosphere with our joint AFL-CIO project 7 Days @ Minimum Wage (hosted by Roseanne Barr, the 7 day blog event featured video interviews with 7 minimum wage workers, 5 of them generated by ACORN), a NYT piece on the Chicago Big Box Living Wage victory, complete with online pictures of ACORN members at the historic city council meeting, and a January New York Times Magazine cover story detailing the history of the living wage movement and setting up the then-upcoming state ballot fights and the moral-political economic justice fight of the mid-term election. Money We raised $280,000 in the name of the Living Wage Resource Center this year. Next year the challenge will be positioning LWRC to get funded for providing the same T.A. to a broadening movement of wage/labor standards/income support campaigns, including campaigns around paid sick days, community benefits agreements, big box living wage and EITC. V. The Road Ahead Federal Minimum Wage Soon after the new Congress gets to work in January, both the House and the Senate are expected to move bills to increase the minimum wage to $7.25 an hours in three steps by 2009. While almost everyone believes this will pass (and Bush has indicated he will sign an increase), the fight will be over getting a clean bill without poison pill amendments such as small business tax breaks or protection of small business from health insurance costs (read: higher premiums and insurance cut offs for our members). ACORN will take a leadership role in both raising the profile of the issue with our friends in Congress in select Congressional Districts in Dec and Jan AND targeting some moderate Republicans and weak Dems who are more likely to go along with the poison pills. Soon after we get the $7.25, Sen. Kennedy will introduce a more ambitious bill to restore the value of the minimum wage to its historic levels (more like $9.00/hr.) AND index it to inflation. Well likely have to fight for this bill for many years, and it is not likely to be a very big priority in year one, 2007. Defending What Weve Won Theres some indication already (Ohio) that we will spend some time defending the minimum wage increases we have won from legislative attack.

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Paid Sick Days ACORN intends to make the fight for paid sick day a big one in 2007. To supplement our city and state campaigns on this issue, we will push for the Healthy Families Act (introduced by Sen. Kennedy and Rep. DeLauro), which would require employers to provide 7 paid sick days a year.

ACORN Fair Housing Year End/Year Begin Report December 2006 Staff: Valerie Coffin, Director Maxine Vasquez, Research Assistant Overall evaluation: Despite having a rather successful year with five simultaneous fair housing projects, were ending on a sour note by having problems with HUD to receive 3 of 6 grants we were originally awarded for the coming year. Continuing work will be done with testing and identification of fair housing issues as part of tenant campaigns in Los Angeles and work on insurance issues in various cities. Other areas of work including the annual lending study, and GIS/Mapping have had no major changes. Fair Housing Projects: In 2006, we managed six fair housing projects conducting work in 10 cities. The level of management and support varied from one project to another but included a base level of support with providing outreach materials, administrative support, assistance with reporting to HUD, and weekly progress reports. All projects but one have received good to excellent interim reviews from HUD.
AISJ CT/RI Locations Fair Housing Inquiries Complaints to HUD Presentations (people attended) Doors knocked Htfd, Bpt, Prov. 96 7 (12 pending) 72 565 200 MTJRP KC & St. Louis 78 2 (10 pending) 38 600 4000 ACHC LR & PB 435 10 36 400 n/a AI 220 35 60 NYACA 187 4 21 272 273 ACLALA Los Angeles 98 6

Dallas Metro Long Island

n/a

AISJ CT& RI We severely damaged our relationship with HUD by having no staff in Connecticut for three months to fill three positions on this project. Despite this problem, we have been on-schedule with our project activities and goals thanks in part to the continued good work in Providence by Becky Waggner and the ability of Nicholas Graber-Grace and Rachel Haymann to pick up the ball in Connecticut. MTJRP- Anne Chilson did an excellent job maintaining a relationship with HUD despite being behind on our project activities for most of the year and despite turmoil in the local office. Staff in both Kansas City and St. Louis really pulled it through in the last month to meet project goals by finding tenant cases in KC as well as predatory lending and insurance cases in St. Louis. AI Dallas- Allison Brimm made excellent progress in the first half of the year before changing jobs to become Dallas HO. Because her work resulted in us attaining more than half of our total goal for the year, it was much easier for Marie to step in for the second half of the year as project director. We recently filed an organizational complaint in addition to 12 individual complaints against an apartment complex for discriminating against Latino residents in their parking policies. ACHC- The big weaknesses in Arkansas is not having enough funding to sustain both loan counseling and fair housing work. Despite Dicksons good work, we have been unable to find as many housing

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discrimination victims as we should and we were unable to move on finding a significant number of insurance problems with people coming through loan counseling or from past clients. NYACA We provided less national support on this project which is carrying out work that began with a local campaign in Hempstead around real estate steering. They had some staffing stability issues but were able to ACLALA Los Angeles This project is moving us beyond outreach and into enforcement. We received funding to develop a testing program to use in uncovering, investigating, and litigating housing discrimination cases. We began later in the year on this project but have integrated fair housing into our tenant intakes and will conduct a rental audit in January about housing discrimination against families with children. We anticipate discrimination by major developers that are creating expensive housing downtown and plan to use the resulting report as part of the inclusionary zoning campaign in an effort to create more units for families with children that are affordable. New grant applications- We were originally awarded five FY2006 FHIP grants totally $450,000 for projects in Louisiana, Maryland, Denver, Las Vegas, and New Mexico. Shortly afterwards we awarded an additional $100,000 for the 2005 application in Louisiana bringing the new grant total to $550,000. However, we have only negotiated three projects with HUD (NM & 2 LA) and are running into problems with the other three (CO, MD, NV) that appear to be a result of both local HUD incompetence and larger political motives. It is unclear if we will be able to save this funding. Outlook- Insurance issues in MO and AR are giving us the ability to continue to work on fair housing in those areas as insurance becomes part of a larger national campaign. We still need to get past the complaint stage to get some real wins but staffing stability has been a major impediment in some locations. HUD is taking very seriously GAO critiques of need to have measurable outcomes for fair housing outreach meaning we have to move beyond just counting people reached towards measuring whether they actually learned something. We are also under greater scrutiny from HUD because of the impact of our non-FHIP related work making it more tedious to keep track of detailed documentation. Lending Study This is a major project that begins in February to produce a report in August that is over 650 pages long including the summary data for all 130 cities. This year we requested data from 461 lenders, received data from 409 and analyzed lending data of 275 individual lenders owned by 15 parent companies. We have successfully developed a specialized web-based database to analyze this data more efficiently. This is important so we can push the timeline as early as possible to release the report before other organizations and so we can beat the federal release of the complete dataset. Without pushing this timeframe, we run the risk of getting no press on the issue and losing dominance in this area to other organizations. The report message was about a timely issue of rate shock as subprime adjustable rate loans will be resetting to higher rates and higher monthly payments that are unaffordable. There were other recent reports about increases in foreclosure rates making this a particularly timely issue for the press. The release of the study resulted in 39 press hits in 30 cities plus trade press. Although the numbers are better than last year, the number of press hits is still disappointing for established ACORN cities that should have been able to take advantage of the new angle. By region, the South and Florida got the most press. Although we can create maps of the data for all our metropolitan areas, we do not have the staff capacity to create them in time for the release of the study without putting us in danger of getting scooped by another organization or by the Fed data release. Other: GIS/Mapping - Produced maps to assist field operations with long-term expansion of organizing into densely populated counties across the country. This resulted in over 100 maps for 26 states. Insurance- Have begun insurance surveys of members in Maryland and Missouri to determine insurance issues and discriminatory impact Bank Mergers- Provided HMDA data assistance for PNC-Mercantile merger. Outlook for 2007 Three FHIP grants are entirely up in the air right now making it difficult to make too many definite plans other than fighting to maintain the funding that HUD already awarded us. Its a reminder that we need to maintain

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tight record-keeping on federal-funded projects and offices awarded these grants need to take them very seriously.

ACORN National Development YEYB Report 2006

Assistant Director of Development: Camellia Phillips Development Staff/Grantwriters: Tom Santilli, Piper Stannard, Molly McCloy (1st half of year), Andrea Gabbidon-Levene Summary: In 2006, the national operations development department has played an important role in raising funds for ACORNs work. National development staff have been involved in helping raise several million dollars from individuals, foundations, and federal programs. We provided ongoing support on proposal writing and reporting for a significant amount of the $8.6 million raised by national operations overall in 2006. Highlights follow. Annual Report: We completed the 2005 ACORN annual report email and print versions, and are now hard at work on the 2006 ACORN annual report. Fundraising: We have written a number of national grants for various projects, including Ford, Mott, OSI, Carnegie, Arca, Tides, Veatch, and others. We also continued to assist with proposals and grant reporting to funders for ACORNs work in response to Hurricane Katrina. Federal Funding: In 2006, we helped win grant awards for $912,378 in federal funding from HUD. Overall, we helped write and submit 13 federal grants to HUD for FY2006, four of which are still outstanding. With Valerie Coffin, Fair Housing Director, we helped raise $450,000 in FY2006 FHIP funding for fair housing education and outreach. This year New Orleans also received an additional $100,000 in new funding from reallocated FY2005 FHIP funding. In Dallas, the ACORN Institute received a ROSS grant for $362,378 over three years from reallocated FY2005 funds to provide services and training to public housing residents in that city. We have also continued to provide support on reporting and other requirements for approximately $4 million in LEAP grant funds (FY2004 and FY2005). Grant Reporting: We have prepared reports for a number of major national funders, including Marguerite Casey, Annie E. Casey, Ford, Mott, Veatch, OSI, and others. Funder Contact Materials: Building on the success of the annual report, national development has also been working on increasing our funder contact and cultivation materials program. Most recently, we successfully wrote and printed a report on ACORNs state minimum wage campaigns for a series of events following the election. We have also taken important steps on maintaining and updating mailing lists of funders and donors for materials distribution. We intend to continue expanding our funder contact and materials program with upcoming reports on ACORNs political program as well as other campaign areas.

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 Database: In 2006, working with Project Vote, we also got a fundraising database up and running with the goal of tracking national grants, national grant reporting, and major donor contacts. While we continue to refine the database, we have made a successful transition to managing our grant reporting and deadlines directly through the new database.

Local 880 Service Employees International Union Year End/Year Begin Report December 15, 2006 Staff Chicago and Northern Illinois Keith Kelleher, Head Organizer Myra Glassman, Chief of Staff Maggie Laslo, Campaign Director Matthew Luskin, Organizing Director Terri Harkin, Internal Organizing Director Rochelle Prather, Political Director Jeremy Schroeder, Legislative Director Margot Riphagen, Contracts Administrator (effective 12.1.06) Brynn Seibert, Communications Director, Chicago Emily Sharp, Communications, Chicago Elaine Torres-Janus, Controller, Chicago Tamora Britton, Financial Director, Chicago Michelle Cross, Administrative Assistant, Chicago Marsha Henley, Office Director, Chicago Latonya Harris, Support Staff Lead Supervisor Milagros Quiroga, Clerical Support Staff, Chicago Glenda Devito, Clerical Support Staff, Chicago April Montgomery, Clerical Support Staff, Chicago Annette Paschal, Clerical Support Staff, Chicago Leticia Estrada, Clerical Support Staff, Chicago Anthony Guest, Northern Illinois Regional Director, Chicago Alisa Tennessen, Field Organizer (FO), Childcare, Chicago Ruth Golden, Field Organizer (FO), Homecare, Chicago James Morrow, Field Organizer(FO), Homecare, Chicago 107

Pauline Richard, Member Center Director, Chicago Angelique Irving, Call Center, Chicago Ponchita Thomas, Call Center, Chicago

Ruth Hemingway, Grievance Center Organizer Jackie Rodriguez, Grievance Center Organizer

Angela Bailey, Lead Organizer, Rockford Linda Lane, Field Organizer, Rockford Phil Beamus, Field Organizer, Rockford Paul Gordon, South Suburban Lead Organizer, Harvey Sandy Craig, Lead Organizer, New Organizing, Chicago Beth Malinowski, Field Organizer, New Organizing, Chicago Craig Davidson, Field Organizer, New Organizing, Chicago Reggie Oliphant, Field Organizer, New Organizing, Chicago Central and Southern Illinois Wendy Voegele, Regional Director, Central and Southern Illinois Yvette Susan Cagle, Lead Organizer, Peoria Tina Randle, Field Organizer, Peoria Ben Tracey, Lead Organizer, Springfield Eugene Collins, Field Organizer, Springfield Kelly Matthews, Field Organizer, Springfield Gina Jones, Field Organizer, Metro East St. Louis Alicia Johnson, Field Organizer, ESL Gretchen Lamke, Lead Organizer, Mt. Vernon Jerry Beckham, Field Organizer, Mt. Vernon Indiana Crystal Garrott, Field Organizer, New Organizing, Indiana International Staff Meighan Davis, Lead Organizer, Indiana Erica Bland, Lead Organizer, Chicago Sonnie Berringer, FO, Outstate 108

Overall 2006 Highlights

1) VICTORY IS MINE! Signing the 40,000 Worker Home Childcare Contract! After months of furious bargaining in late 2005, we finally signed the home childcare contract in March of 2006 bringing an average 36% rate increase over three years, a health insurance fund, and tiered reimbursement, or increased pay for increased education, to over 40,000 childcare providers in Illinois. The contract was approved overwhelmingly in a mailed ballot election and passed by a vote of 6738 YES, 27 NO, and 13 VOID thats a 99.6% YES VOTE. This increase will cost the state over $250 million over the next three years, and is the largest single increase in funding to the program in history. And we signed this in style on March 9th: marching into the state of Illinois Building locked arm-in-arm singing Victory is Mine, led by SEIU President Andy Stern and Local 880 childcare leaders Angenita Tanner, Martina Casey, Alma McIntosh, Maria Velasquez, and scores of others from across the state. All the while, we were being filmed by 60 Minutes and were broadcast on the show in May of 2006 another first! And we had a great blowout of a party afterwards when hundreds of homecare and childcare leaders from across the state celebrated the victory with a party across the street from the state of Illinois Building where we were joined by Governor Blagojevich, State Senate President Emil Jones, and President Stern! Best of all, this victory in Illinois was followed up by other organizing and contract victories in Oregon, Washington, and New York, with another ten states with hundreds of thousands of childcare providers in the organizing process! Much praise goes to former Childcare Organizing Director (now Communications Director) Brynn Seibert, RDs Anthony Guest and Wendy Voegele, Leads Angela Bailey, Margot Riphagen, Rochelle Prather (now political director) who made the bargaining training and turnout happen - and last but certainly not least, Maggie Laslo, our Campaign Director. 2) Membership Growth 2006 - Membership Increase Record in 2006! Local 880 becomes 5th Largest SEIU Local - What follows is the average monthly membership for 880 in 2006: Month December (05) January February March April May June July August September October November December (06) Membership (with Childcare*) 31203 31199 31129 31010 31131 31482 31364 30924 69708 68074 67613 67194

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*NOTE - Denotes that we started paying $1 Organizing Committee per cap on average of @650-700 Home Childcare members for December August; many of these were signed up over the past several years, but were just counted here because we started paying $1 per cap on them in 03. After August, 06, we paid full per cap tax on all (bundled). Avg. Membership 06 Avg. Membership 05 Avg. Membership 04 Avg. Membership 03 Avg. Membership 02 Avg. Membership 01 Avg. Membership 00 Avg. Membership 99 Avg. Membership 98 Avg. Membership 97 43503/mo 30642/mo 27327/mo 14231/mo/14519 with HCC mems. 12845/mo 10832/mo. 9815/mo. 9238/mo. 10307/mo. 11947/mo.

We increased our membership by 12861 on average in 2006 thats about 387% of the average net increase in 2005 (3315) - Almost all of the increase can be attributed to the increased membership brought in our DHS childcare unit and by new private sector growth. We also increased our membership from 31203 in 11/05 to 67194 in 11/06 - an increase of 35991 members - which is about a 215% increase from the previous year. Again, we did this mostly by increasing our membership and fair share at DHS childcare and victories in the private homecare sector. This is the single best year in our history in terms of gross numerical growth (35991) as well as percentage! Still, our biggest dues-paying unit prior to the childcare victory, DHS/ORS, showed only a slight increase from 23274 in 12/05 to 23638 in 12/06 - a net increase of 364 (but only 11080 of the 23638 or 47% were members a big drop from 49.5% last year!). Prior to 2004, this unit had been growing by 1-2000 workers per year. But we still grew this year, which is an improvement over 2005.This unit was dwarfed in size by our newly organized childcare unit but brings in way more dues per member because of the large numbers of extremely low-wage childcare members. There is also trouble on the horizon in this DHS childcare unit because in just four months, we dropped from 38503 total (with 2642 members or 6.9%) in August, to 36066 total (with 3700 members or 10.2%) in November, for a net loss of 2437 total dues/fee payers. Most of this can be attributed to new program rules designed to eliminate fraud but we are looking into it to stop this freefall in this unit. But even with this, there was good news in these numbers because our membership increased by over 1000 and the percentage increased to over 10% - still not great but a significant increase in just four months! Because of this growth, we jumped from the 13th largest local in the International Union to 5th largest local were in the top five now! 3) Signing National Addus Collective Bargaining Agreement For the first time in history, Local 880 led the way with bargaining and winning a national SEIU Addus Collective Bargaining Agreement it took twenty years, but we finally did it! This agreement brings all of Addus six or seven contracts with SEIU in various states under one nationwide collective bargaining agreement covering approximately 5000 of their 10-12000 homecare workers nationally. In addition, this agreement lays out an accelerated 110

organizing agreement that will eventually lead to organizing an additional 5000 workers as well as potentially thousands more workers in newly opened offices in new states. For 880 in Illinois, this led to a statewide master contract and accelerated organizing rights in eleven new offices with the potential for1200-1500 new members! We finished negotiations and ratifications in late 05 and signed the contract in January, 06 with SEIU President, Andy Stern, in for the signing. Almost half of the new members organized by 880 in 2006 came off of this agreement! 4) New Organizing - Private Sector NLRB Election Results- Significant neutrality agreements that were won by Local 880 in 2003-2004 and expanded and strengthened in 05 have allowed us to make great strides in the private sector this year: COMPANY LOCATION UNIT VOTE DATE Addus Help at Home Help at Home Help at Home Help at Home TOTAL Niles Ottawa Danville Skokie Pekin, Pitts,VG 474 64(NLRB) 46(NLRB) 443(NLRB) 84(NLRB) 1111 296/57% 1.26.06 (Card Check) 26y-6n 1.9.06 32y-7n 3.27.06 133y-10n-16V 6.20.06 28y-22n-2V 7.6.06

Congratulations on bringing home these units goes to SEIU Local 880 Organizing Director Matt Luskin plus our International Organizers. Our new organizing team led by 880 lead Sandy Craig, SEIU Lead Erica Bland; FOs Crystal Garrot, Reggie Oliphant, Shane Gallaher, Ruth Golden; and outstate Regional Director Wendy Voegele, and FO (now lead) Ben Tracey; as well as International FO Sonnie Berringer. 5) National Home Child Care Organizing - From the first pioneering home child care organizing we did in the mid-90's, to the work of California and later ACORNs, to the national campaign started off with the seminal memo written by yours truly in March, 2002, we have been at the forefront of the home child care organizing. Because we were key in the early organizing and moving this national campaign by both ACORN and SEIU, we were well-positioned to win. Our early support of Governor Blagojevich and his commitment to support an Executive Order allowing homecare and home child care workers to organize put us far ahead of the other states. It is no accident that once Illinois Governor signed the Executive Order and helped pass the enabling legislation granting home child care providers organizing rights, that states like Washington, Oregon, Iowa, New York and others did the same thing. 880 has been and will be key in consulting and assisting other states in their organizing drives to bring in these hundreds of thousands of members. Although we have had some stumbles in 06, we go forward knowing that each state is different, but knowing that if we can capitalize on our success, we could help organize a whole industry! 6) Raising the State Minimum Wage to $7.50 per hour effective July 1, 2007! Up to $8.25 by 2010 Before we started our living wage campaigns, Illinois Minimum Wage had NEVER been higher than the federal minimum wage but we were able to raise it to $5.50 in January, 2004 and then to $6.50 in January, 2005. This year, thanks to a flawless campaign led by Illinois ACORN, Local 880, and the SEIU Illinois Council and our allies, on July 1st, 2007 the Illinois minimum wage will rise to $7.50 per 111

hour and then rise in three other steps to $8.25 by 2010. This is a $1.75 increase over the present state minimum wage of $6.50 and $3.10 over the present federal minimum wage of $5.15. This increase will do more than raise over 600,000 Illinoisans over the current minimum wage. It will also force the state to raise reimbursement rates for thousands of homecare and other workers and trigger increases in all of our contracts. If not for the work of our sister organization, ACORN, this would never have happened. Although we wanted to get a yearly COLA, we did get four increases that are almost equal to the COLA. Although we could not win it this time, we hope to in 2010 when the Dems will use this once again as a key platform. This increase could help us immeasurably in securing future wage and benefit increases for our over 10,000 private sector and 30,000 public and private sector homecare workers combined. 7) Second Biggest Private Sector Homemaker Rate Increase in the History of the state homecare program_- $1.00 PER HOUR effective 6/1/06! - Because of ACORNs first minimum wage campaign and an excellent campaign headed by SEIU Local 880s former political director, Alicia Weber, we were able to parlay a bill that called for a $1.16 per hour rate increase (of which at least 73% has to go to the worker wage and benefit package) over one year into a commitment of a $2.56 per hour rate increase over 18 months: 1/1/05 - $1.56 rate increase; 6/1/06 - $ 1.00 rate increase; for a total of $2.56 per hour of which at least 73% has to go to the worker. We won the $1.56 as promised on 1/1/05 and then negotiated with the union homecare agencies for wage increases of .50 cents to over $1 per hour as well as other benefit improvements on mileage, cost of travel and other key benefits. Although it was touch and go for awhile there, we finally did win the second $1.00 per hour effective June 1, 2006, and are securing good settlements with many of our union agencies: Addus has settled, Bethel has settled, as has Shawnee, and several agencies at Addus alone, members will get over $1million in back pay! Still out there are Help at Home, Community care, and a few other companies. Excellent work by Local 880s new Internal Organizing Director, Terri Harkin, as well as RDs Anthony Guest and all of the leads and field staff who have been turning out Bargaining committee members across the state. 8) Winning IDOA Rate Change from 73/27 to the worker to 77/23 to the workers! Ever since 1986, the rate split for homecare workers who work for private agencies under contract to the Illinois Department on Aging (IDOA) was 73% to the worker for wages and benefits, and 27% to the company for overhead. But because of 880s campaign to win bargaining rights at more agencies, we won a rate change from 73% to the workers to 77% to the workers! We would have wanted to win more bargaining rights, but since the companies would not agree, we were forced to pull the trigger and the state raised the % to the workers. This was an important move because the agencies did not believe we could do it. But once again, we did, and proved that the workers should get a bigger part of the pie maybe next time, theyll come to their senses and stop fighting us and agree to work with us. 9) BIG BOX LIVING WAGE CAMPAIGN! - Surely our most exciting campaign this year. It should probably be in the top five, but we had so many other victories, it only made it to nine - but its ranking does not belie its importance! Illinois ACORNs staff really made this campaign happen in a big way with excellent actions, press, and coalition building all through the winter and spring. Because of ACORNs aggressive canvassing in the wards of targetted aldermen and a multi-level campaign bringing 112

together labor, community, and clergy, we were able to join our forces 880 and ACORN together - and move big turnout when we needed it. Because of this, we won the first vote in August and made national and international headlines when we passed a veto-proof majority. But the mayor came back and vetoed in September, and was able to turn the three votes he needed to stop our override and sustain his veto. Although we lost the first round, the aldermanic elections in February and April will give us a chance to get even with some of the flip-floppers and others who voted against us. We may have lost in council, but we won the people, with polls after the veto still holding strong - 74% in favor even after a multimillion dollar media blitz by Wal Mart and Big Boxers. The Peoples Tide Will Rise and Win and Woe to Those Who Cannot Swim! 10) EXPANSION - Jurisdiction Opportunities KANSAS AND INDIANA , Local 880s jurisdiction is limited to organizing homecare, childcare, and low-wage workers in Illinois. Now, the International has increased our jurisdiction in Illinois homecare and childcare, Indiana homecare, and most interestingly, Kansas homecare. We started Indiana homecare with a bang and signed up over 100 full members and over 500 provisional members with a blitz in Indianapolis mid-year we now think we can move these members to Addus and Help at Home, two regional homecare companies we have contracts with in Illinois and organize their approximately 500 members, plus hundreds and eventually thousands more. Our political work there, also helped the Dems pick up three new CDs and take back the House! Our earlier forays and alliances in Kansas, however, turned south on us mid-year right after we put an organizer there. But now in an amazing post-election turnabout, it looks like we may be able to get a list and checkoff from the state of Kansas. While its too early to tell, these opportunities, over time, could bring thousands more members into 880 and allow us to be an anchor local, not just in Illinois, but in the Midwest, Great Lakes and Great Plains. Well keep you posted. Indiana All-Stars include Sandy Craig, Meighan Davis, Reggie Oliphant (who moved there for three months), and Crystal Garrott (who has moved there full-time!). Also working on the Indiana organizing and political campaigns were Beth Malinowski, Alisa Tennessen, and Ruth Golden. 11)Helen Miller=s Election to the SEIU International Executive Board - SEIU Local 880 president, Helen Miller, was elected to the SEIU International Executive Board(IEB) at the SEIU convention in June, 2004 in San Francisco. Since then, Helen has ably represented L880 on the IEB and grown tremendously as a leader representing Local 880. I was appointed to the Long Term Care Division Steering Committee, have served on the Community Strength Committee of the Board throughout 2006, and was recently added to the Organizing and Growth Committee and serve on a subcommittee.

12) COPE (Committee on Political Education) Goals We were plagued with reporting and transmission problems all year with COPE because of CCI transfer problems, we also lost the ability to claim about $30,000 in COPE funds that went beyond the 30 day turnover period and may have to pay a penalty for it. We increased slightly this year but not as well as last. Considering all the organizing activity, though, we were able to improve. L880 Political Director Rochelle Prather took over mid-year and was able to increase COPE signups, but still not where we need to be. We moved from @3000 COPE-payers paying @$8000 per month average in >04, to almost 3200 paying over $11,000 in 05. To about 3400 in 06 paying about $12000 per month.

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We have moved a lot of people from the $2 per month range to the $5 per month range. We had some months where we averaged the goal we needed to hit - 300-400 COPE checkoffs that would allow us to move ahead enough to net new COPE income. However, because of our great membership increases, our goal for >07 rises to an average of 30% of our members paying an average of $3 per month - which means we would need to NET an additional 18,000 COPE signups by 2008. Although considering our great membership growth, we may get more time to implement this, these signups will have to become an increasing part of our work in 2007, 2008 and beyond. 13) Lobby Days, Marches, and Events - - Did one major lobby day this year and lots of smaller events turnout is as follows: March 2nd 880 Lobby Day 388 mbrs/282 allies + @30 staff = 700 March 9th Contract Signing 225 mbrs/guests + @30 staff = 255 November 14th Min Wage Lobby Day 68 mbrs + @10 staff = 78 November 28th Min Wage 78 mbrs + @10 staff = 88 Although didn=t come close to the large Spring Lobby Day we had in 03 with over 560, we did have a good March Lobby Day with 700 (418 SEIU 880 Members and staff) total attending (out of our goal of 1000) and got some good response and built our political capital in the capitol. This was the first major lobby day we did with allied support and we had over 280 allies with us. We also beat our best Lobby Day from 05, surpassing it by about 30 members. We averaged about 200 members per month at our membership meetings around the state, which is about the same, but it is clear that now that we have over 67000 members, we are going to have to improve on our membership turnout operation and keep 880 s turnout reputation alive!

14). Integrated Campaigns with ACORN - While we didn=t turnout 10,000 to an Amnesty March in >04 as we did in >00, or turnout 5000 with ACORN on the march on Springfield in 2002 we did have a decent year of joint campaigns together. Among our joint campaigns: * BIG BOX LIVING WAGE See #10 above A great campaign. If you were anywhere in the world last August and September, you heard about it and thats nuff said. Now, its to the ballot box, electing some new aldermen and getting ready to change city council. * $10 Living Wage Rate Passed by Ordinance to Homecare Workers_ Again, thanks to the living wage campaign in 2002, that we passed through City Council with ACORN - we won indexing the living wage rate to the federal poverty level - so that each July 1st, the living wage increases in tandem with the poverty level. Because of that victory, over 500 of our members who work under city contracts saw their wages increase from $9.68 to $10 per hour this past July 1, 2006. Not bad for folks who had been making only $5.30 per hour just four years before. *$6.50 Minimum Wage takes effect January 1, 2005 - Once again, thanks to a mostly ACORN joint campaign in 2003, the minimum wage in Illinois rose to $6.50 per hour effective January 1, 2005. Continuing a string of living wage victories in 2004, and the threat of a looming minimum wage increase itself was key in local 880's winning a $1.56 rate increase from the state of Illinois effective January 1, 2005 and another $1 per hour increase June 1, 2006! Now we hope to use the same threat of 114

future minimum wage increases to move up our members pay in the private sector contracts over the coming years as the Illinois minimum wage rises to $8.25 by 2010. *Immigration Campaign ACORN led the way with this campaign, turning out thousands to both the March and May 1st Immigration Marches, and more importantly, being on the leadership and steering committee to turn out hundreds of thousands more. Local 880 turned out, but much smaller groups of our Latino and other members, as President Helen Miller shared the stage with luminaries as she spoke out for black-brown unity around immigration at the 700,000 person May 1st March and Rally. She also got good coverage on several tv stations in Chgo. 15) Statewide Leadership Training this was better in quantity and quality than our last statewide leadership training in 05. We had 61 leaders at the training this year versus 58 in 05 (although we cheated a little in 05 and had @30 leaders from childcare bargaining there), and 33 in 03. We had leaders from all parts of the state involved. The training received very high marks from members and the highlights were the passage of the minimum wage bill as we stacked the committee room in the Senate, as well as the Political Reception we held on the first night of the training @15 state reps and senators came this year vs 28 last year, but we had given them awards last year. The pols, as usual, loved us to death. Members really loved it, too, and it gave the pols a chance to see real people for a change and be accountable to our statewide leadership. We plan to continue these but we need to seriously improve our turnout to this and other leadership events while the training was very good and got high marks, we need to turn out more than just 2-3 per organizer. 16) Member Center Reorganization: from Member Center and Stewards= Nights to Call Center and Member Grievance Center - With the advent of our new homecare contract with the state in 2003 that doubled our membership, and our new private sector organizing; and with the added burden of thousands more calls and hundreds more grievances every week, our old maintenance operation was breaking down in 03 and 04. Into this void stepped SEIU Local 880 Field Director (now chief of staff), Myra Glassman, who hired Local 880 member Ruth Hemingway in late 2003, and Jackie Rodriguez early in 2004 to staff our new SEIU Local 880 Member Center. The original idea around the member center was to replace the stewards nights with a member center where stewards and members could come and assist with fielding phone calls, filing grievances at the first step, farming them out to organizers, and then turning out members and stewards to do turnout phone calls, take the grievances to the next step, and get active on internal and external organizing drives and campaigns. We have failed miserably in getting stewards trained and into the member center like we used to, and using the center as a steward and member involvement tool. With the signing of the new childcare contract in 2006 and the doubling of our membership once again to almost 70,000 members, the member call center was in danger of being swamped in fact, it was swamped! In one three day period, we had over 1500 calls that we know of and many others that overloaded the system. But into this void this time stepped former 880 Member Coordinator/Organizer Paula Richard with a new title Member Center Director and new assignment fix it! And that she did by separating the member center into a Call Center to handle calls and a separate Member Grievance Center to handle grievances. She hired and trained new call center staff who handled the thousands of new incoming calls in a more timely, professional, and courteous manner. The Call Center alone now has three staff (one bilingual Spanish and we are hoping to recruit a Russian speaker) answering phones. Calls have almost tripled from 300-400 per month to an average of @800-1200/month. In addition, the new member grievance center handled any calls that were real grievances (as opposed to requests for contracts, contract info, member packets, etc) and assisted members with filing those grievances . Our weak point is getting the stewards in to take the grievances from the initial step to a 115

win. Most of the grievances are won at the first step, so that is not as much of a problem now but may be in the future. We are also experimenting with outgoing calls for member events these show some promise and have helped increase attendance at some events. Now our challenge will be to upgrade our technology and staff to make this call center work even better as we go forward with this very promising technology. We also have a staff team reviewing some of the other SEIU Call Centers to make recommendations on how to make ours perform even better.

17) WOW These trainings totally fell apart in 2006. We had several good WOW (Workers= Organizing Workers) trainings in 05 but none this year. Have to get back on a regular schedule here in 07, set the trainings and make this work or were in danger of becoming a totally staff-run operation. 18) Hiring Hall - Maintained this year by Member Center Director Paula Richard, but we have not been able to expand the way we would like. We would like to make it work with our new Member Education and Training Center and train and assign our folks in homecare and childcare careers (see below). 19) Member Training and Education Center We have talked about this for years and have now hired a director, Angela Mojekwu, courtesy of the ACORN Grow Your Own Teacher program. We see this not only as a training arm for our members where we could recruit and train our members for childcare and homecare jobs as well as Aupskill@ folks for higher paying jobs in the childcare and health care industry, but we also see it as a way to identify and train future union leaders and staff. Angela has taken the bull by the horns and has already scheduled the first training center classes to start this January with GED, Computer literacy and CPR classes that our homecare and childcare members identified in a recent survey. We are also in discussions with several employers to begin an industry-funded worker training and education trust fund for homecare and possibly childcare members. Further, the State of Illinois workforce training folks are also interested in funding the training center. The center will be run out of a newly renovated suite of offices on the 3rd floor of 209 West Jackson and we eagerly look forward to getting bigger and better. 20) Health Benefit - This agreement with Mt. Sinai hospitals has brought over 1000 ACORN and 880 family members onto a very good out-patient health benefit for our members. Mt Sinai cutbacks late in 04, however, led to the loss of the membership card and benefit book in 05 and weakening of the benefit, but it is still a good plan that some members use until we can win the health insurance. 21) Childcare Health Fund - Contained within our most recent contract covering the 40,000 childcare providers, there is a provision guaranteeing $27 million paid out over 18 months (beginning in July, 2007) to local 880 to set up a health benefit for the childcare providers. We had wanted $150 million over three years, but only won $27 million. We believe that we can cover thousands of providers, depending on the plan and schedule of benefits. Preliminary numbers show that about 8000 providers would qualify and about 4000 would use this comprehensive benefit we are putting together now. Toward that end, we are in the negotiating process with United Healthcare, the largest insurer in the world to fashion a plan like this for our members. It is scary and hopeful at the same time, that we could fashion a health benefit for thousands and bring much-needed health care to a population that has been denied health care for so long. 22) ACORN Convention Hit our goal for the convention and members and staff all had a good time in Columbus and enjoyed being part of the Living Wage march to the state capitol, and especially being a part of passing the initiative. 116

23) Minimum Dues Increases/Structural Relief - Approved by the membership in >03 and last increase was in September, >05. We had our hearing before SEIU=s Resource and Structural Relief Committee in 06 and were approved for significant reductions in our Unity Fund and other obligations. We hope to receive similar breaks in 07 and in the near future for our low-wage homecare and childcare members. If we do not, we may have to raise the minimum even more in the future and possibly raise the percentage dues many members pay. The Board approved an equivalent dues rate for childcare providers once the contract was approved in 06 and it went into effect May 1st, 2006. Despite the usual screwups by the state, it went somewhat smoothly. Our challenge in the future is to continue getting structural relief with this very low-wage workforce. If not for the dues rebates/structural relief we get, we would be unable to keep the lights on. Even with these rebates, almost .45 cents of every dollar we get goes to various per capita taxing bodies: the state AFL, CFL, SEIU International, SEIU state council, etc. That is unsustainable in the long term. 24) New Controller Bringing Finances In-House We are pleased to announce that we have a new Controller, Elaine Torres-Janus, who has over 25 years in accounting and related work in the business world and who started in October, 2006. She has most ably shepherded our finances to the point where we can now bring in-house most of the functions we contracted for with CCI. Elaine is busily assembling a team and we plan to start cutting our own payroll (through ADP), allocations, and reporting functions effective 1.1.07. Welcome aboard to Elaine! 25) Institute for Change The Institute for Change (IFC) is a full-time department within SEIU with over 50 faculty and a curriculum dedicated to training locals to deal with the changing nature of our work in many different fields. Specifically, the IFC is now in a process involving the twelve top locals in SEIU and helping us to come to agreement on a Ten Year Vision for each local. This is a two year training period consisting of regular national and regional retreats of the top eight to ten staff in each local where we put together a Ten Year Vision within a staff, membership, and leadership process to prepare locals on how to deal with future challenges in internal and external organizing, politics, technology, etc. within our Ten Year Vision. Once we have fine-tuned our vision, then we do a retrapolation exercise to see how we can implement this vision as we move ahead. There is a system of mentoring and coaching that is quite good and has been helpful for our leaders and staff to come to agreement around this common Ten Year Vision. So far, so good and well let you know how it comes out! 26) 2006 Budget The budget in past ye/yb reports has almost always been a weakness at 880 either because of the hand-to-mouth nature of the organizing we were doing or the absence of a steady dues income or the large deficits we had year-to-year. Although that changed and improved somewhat once we started winning the big units homecare and childcare we will always have some instability due to the nature of our very low wage membership and dues income. But the signing of the homecare agreement in 2004 and the childcare agreement in 2006, has now made us much more self-sufficient than ever before in the history of the local. We are now in the process of reviewing the budget numbers for 2006 and projected numbers for 2007 and beyond and hope to be in a period of relative self-sufficiency that can fund all the new homecare and childcare organizing in Illinois, Indiana, and Kansas, as well as fund the other new initiatives mentioned in this report now, and well into the future. Because of this, the Budget for 2006 is definitely a highlight! Overall 2006 Weaknesses 117

1)Turnout In 2005, we turned out over 4000 members to some type of event, of those about 1560 were distinct individuals meaning that many of our regulars turned out several times to get us over 4000 total turning out to something. Preliminary 2006 numbers from Terri and Tonya are not encouraging: the total turnout for 2006 is only 1630 with only 829 unique individuals; monthly meeting turnout is only 677 with 447 unique individuals; SAB turnout is only 677, with only 447 unique individuals; and WOW turnout is 99, with just 28 unique individuals. The final numbers are not in, yet, but we hope to have done at least as well in 2006. 2)Dues Charts on the Conference - Still on paper but hope to get it on the conferences at some point. 3) Servicing/Member Engagement- Although the reorganization of the Member Center into a Call Center and Member Grievance Center has done a lot to improve our intake on grievances and other service-related calls, there=s still a lot for us to do here. We are still trying to wrap our heads around how we can keep up the servicing and maintenance, while moving an aggressive organizing, political, legislative, and community program and meeting our responsibilities under the International Union=s political program. Whatever, when compared to other unions, our servicing is very good and while there are negative complaints sometimes, we constantly hear positive anecdotes about 880 members and victories we have won. Polling done by the International Union and Long Term Care Division confirms that members are satisfied that they are getting their moneys worth on dues and other indicators, but focus groups also show that its not all sweetness and light out there. We hope with some of the new initiatives we find out about through the IFC process and the Long Term Care Divisions IP Local Workgroup, we will be able to improve or member engagement even more. 4) New Contract Administrator In order to get a tighter hand on our Contract Administration, Lead Organizer Margot Riphagen has just moved from the Chicago lead position to the newly created position of Contract Administrator it will be Margots job to improve upon some of our more standard Servicing around grievances, call center, and the like. But more importantly, she will be working with the organizers and the companies on tightening up the enforcement of our current agreements around violations as well as making sure that COPE and membership dues deduction is happening, contracts are up to date and accurate, and available for members, etc. 5) CHD and other Foundation Funding - Again, thanks to Myra=s great work with the Weiboldt Foundation, Ms., and other foundations, she has been able to breakthrough where we could never get funding for small initiatives in the past. She had a great win in 05 that continues through 06 with a proposal we did to the University of Maryland for bloodborne disease control that will bring in $70,000 per year for four years for a total of $280,000 - this will definitely help with our research, education and training needs. But I think the future probably does not hold much in the way of foundation funding for our organizing like it might have years ago. Increasingly, I see funding for member education and training to be more available and in larger amounts for our training center. I. Performance - 2006 Other Performance Related Stats What follows is a list of other statistics to give you an idea of what kind of year we had: Monthly Meetings: - Our monthly meetings in Chicago, Harvey-South Suburbs, Metro East St. Louis, and other outstate offices are where we keep it all together and turnout here is vital to our organizational well-being as well as an important part of our organizational culture. Still dont have the final numbers: 118

2005 doubled monthly turnout over 2004, but I dont think we can say that in 2006. On the positive side, we did have some large office-by-office turnout meetings in 2006 mostly around negotiations but still more anecdotal than fact. Hopefully, well have more fact-based reporting for the YE/YB. Christmas Party and Anniversary Party - Continues to be a source of COPE and general money, solidarity for ACORN and 880 members and leaders, and an all around good time. We did not have an anniversary party this year, but may next, and 2008 will be our 25th year! Still haven=t been able to bust this Christmas Party wide open like NY, but it would be nice to try in 2007.

Field Reports Been very weak on reporting this year and have not been able to get reports in a timely manner and when we do, our numbers are not as good as they should or could be. Weve dropped our membership signup performance at our large homecare unit DHS/ORS from 49.5% to 46.9%, and thats not a good place to be when we are only about 12 months away from renegotiating the contract. BIG IMPROVEMENT! Private Sector Union Membership and Density Thanks to some number crunching by new Local 880 Internal Organizing Director, Terri Harkin, we do have some good news to report in this section of the YE/YB report. Terry compared local 880s private sector contracts and union security and found that not only had all of the companies grown by an average of 18% increase, but that the percentages on dues payers and card signers grew to the highest levels in the past five years up to 74% and 82% respectively. In addition, we topped 10,000 private sector members and came in at 10,710 total members! Further, the growth in the units means that there are 1702 workers in the newly organized shops that we could sign up right now who have not started paying dues! Great work Terri Harkin!

II. General Developments in Negotiations, Servicing and Organizing Minority Unionism Organizing There are other units that are coming into the picture that we may also begin with a minority union organizing model like we did at DHS/ORS and DHS/Childcare Kansas is a right to work state and the best we could get would be checkoff and a list, which is what seems to be happening well know in a little while but that would be a clear minority target at first, until we could sign up a majority of them and win recognition. It goes the same for childcare, too. As a matter of fact, you could envision a Homecare and childcare minority union campaign in both Indiana and Kansas, that could sign up thousands of workers there as well. On a sidenote: I will be on a panel about Minority Union organizing this January at a national labor educators meeting in Chicago should be interesting, Nursing Homes/ Community Homes - Ex-Local 100 state director Hal Ruddick did take over the reins at Local 4. We hope to merge this in the future and have had some exploratory discussions to date, but nothing concrete so far..As reported earlier, we did win that seat on the Steering Committee of the Long Term Care Division and hope that this seat will help us accomplish this and lead to cooperative work and perhaps a merger if it makes sense for both locals= comfort levels. Other Homecare and Childcare - Local 880 Organizing Director Matthew Luskin, had set an ambitious goal of 2850 new members through the execution of Addus and HH Neutrality agreements for 06 and to 119

date he has hit 1111 with another @1000 or so in play including organizing the 600 CNA=s employed by DHS, and other targets. We have more than enough to chew on now, but in the future, our new jurisdiction in Kansas and other midwestern states as well as our Medicare and Medicaid home health care and adult daycare are possibilities for future growth as may be other childcare organizing possibilities. NEGOTIATIONS, SERVICING AND SUPPORT

Contract Campaigns for 2006 - The $1.56 rate increase we received in early 2005 kept us busy early in 2005 negotiating all of our agreements with record-setting settlements. An additional $1.00 per hour rate increase that we won on June 1, 2006 has dominated much of our contract negotiations in 2006. Good settlements have happened at Addus, where 4000 workers just shared over $1 million in back pay right before Christmas! Other contracts that are settled or tentatively settled are : Homecare Personal Services (HCPS), Bethel New Life, Chicago Commons, and Shawnee in Southern Illinois. Still not settled but close are Help at Home and maybe Community Care. Interim is still way out and far from a settlement we are moving forward with a member education and action plan there. Newsletter/Communications - Brynn Seibert, switching over to assume the Communications Director position from her prior Childcare Organizing Director position, has really done a great job here. She has already made great leaps forward upgrading our newsletter and messaging and framing our childcare literature and mailings. She has totally turned around the Communications Department - has greatly improved our literature, website, video, press conferences, action communications, and every other aspect of our member communications. She has also hired another Communications staffperson, Emily Sharp, who has helped with newsletter production, and other improvements. Last but not least, Brynn has also taken the lead in writing and editing the many drafts of our Ten Year Vision Plan. In the International and state councils polling this year, our communications got consistently high ratings from homecare and childcare members. The one area where we could improve would be the website and Im sure they have a plan there, too. 2007 can only get better on the Communications front. Computers, Lists and Recordkeeping After years of trying to deal with database needs we took the big step and with the combined talents of Brynn and Maggie, we were able to locate a new union database company that has worked with some of the larger SEIU locals. The vendor is called Union Ware and its product seems to be the best. After years of trying to create our own data base and then expanding it, we have decided to go with a standard package that seems to suit our needs the best. We should know better by this time next year if it works or not! Professional Contractual Staff: Lobbyist, Video Person - Our lobbyist has served us well in the past and we tried in 2006 to use her many talents with assisting on some of our allies legislative races and she really came through. She was put into one of our allies, state rep Mike Smith of Macomb, campaign and got consistent high marks on the political work she was doing. He went from being an underdog, to a decisive victory. Still have not solved our problem with locating a good video person for the locals needs. Our Living wage video has still not been updated and could use an overhaul, but need to locate the person and financing to do it. We need to put some of our video shots of our actions and demos on our website as well as on cable tv access and should also be a goal for 2006. It would be nice to locate a video person and look forward to doing this either in-house or subcontracting it in 07. Legal Representation - In the past we have used Steve Bachmann and the CCI legal team; SEIU counsel, Craig Becker; Art Martin in Southern Illinois; and most recently, ex-ACORN head organizer, 120

Robert Blochs law firm. We plan to continue using these legal resources in the future. But we have been increasingly using Robert Bloch=s law firm for a lot of legal needs in 2006. Robert=s firm has been a key help in FLSA and neutrality wins. We are moving more business their way and will continue to do so. Diversity Overall, of our current 49 staff people (not including 3 SEIU organizers), 29 are AfricanAmerican, Latino or Asian (60%); 34 are women (70%). Of our 21 field staff (MRP and Organizers), 11 are African-American, Latino or Asian (52%); and 12 are women (57%). Of our eight support staff, 5 are African-American (62%), 3 are Latino/a (37%) and all are women (100%). Of our 22 Managerial/Administrative staff (Directors, Regional and Lead Organizers and above, Office Manager, Finance, AA) 16 are women (73%) and 11 are African-American, Latino or Asian (50%). And, of our professional contractors lawyers and lobbyists, 1 is a woman and none African-American or Latino (0%). Our staff is diverse and getting more so, but we can always improve. We have seen many of the field positions and managerial positions being filled by more members and constituency, further diversifying our staff.

III. Budget and Finances 2006 Budget Figures - See Highlights #26 for the details, but this budget will be solidly in the black for a change IF we keep receiving International dues rebates. But organizing very low wage workers with the Internationals per cap structure into the very near future shows us substantially in the red once/if we have to start paying on all or most of our members. Increased staffing for servicing and new organizing will also eat away at this surplus. Winning per cap relief and organizing subsidies will also be key to our fight. Our plan in >06 is as always - organize our way out of this hole, continue to organize in the private sector, expand our organizing in Illinois and in the region, and win wage and benefit increases, so our members can afford the dues payments needed to keep us afloat. Self-Sufficiency Plan - 2006 looks like it will end in the black. Thanks to the new childcare contract, I would say we are now officially self-sufficient and expect to be into 2007. However, we may not be in the future depending on the Unity Fund payments and Per cap payments and how we end up on our Structural Relief Request to the International Union. We will also need substantial bundling rebates which allow us to aggregate our low dues members and pay on fewer equivalent full-time members. In the future, we may need to institute dues increases to stay afloat, but since so many of our members are covered under new contracts, it will be awhile before we can raise dues especially in light of the recent dues increases from 03 through 05 in public and private sector homecare. So, far now, we are guardedly optimistic and happy to be able to make budget on our own.

IV. Leadership Development Officers - Helen Miller has done an excellent job as president and has continued to improve even after 20 years on the Board. Her appointment to the SEIU Board has proved she is up for the challenge. New Board members Flora Johnson from Chicago and Phyllis Clifford from western Illinois performed well in 2005 and 2006, and Flora moved up to Treasurer in 2006. VP Lula Bronson, Secretary Oneal Rayford, Treasurer Flora Johnson, and Recording Secretary Martha Toliver are regular attendees and have contributed greatly to the Board. Helen=s slate won reelection in April, 2004 and has had one or 121

two turn over. In 2006, the Board did a review process to come up with criteria for new Board members and expanded the Board from nine (9) to fifteen (15) positions, filling most of the vacant seven (7) slots with childcare providers from across the state. The Board had an extensive and productive discussion about succession in the event of retirements at the 2006 Labor Retreat, and about the slate for the 07 election. All agreed to keep the newly expanded 2006 slate for the elections in early 07.

Steward Advisory Board - Some new leadership potential but turnout was very low - it needs to improve in 2007. Despite new, more stringent rules on who can serve on the Steward Boards only members who have been through WOW (Workers Organizing Workers) trainings, regularly attend WOW meetings, and who actually do the hard work of member-organizing can attend these our average monthly attendance slipped slight from 17 a month average statewide (yes, only 17) in 04 to only 14 average statewide in 05! Pretty pathetic. We dont have the numbers for 06 but its hard not to improve on those numbers! The changes we made were necessary but we are failing to move folks who were good during drives and negotiations into these roles and we need to in 07. Leadership Development Program (LDP) Training -Had a good set of trainings in the past with ACORN and 880 leaders. Got high marks and helped in training existing and new potential leaders. Need a plan on 2007. We are hoping to come out with a comprehensive leadership training and education program as part of our Institute for Change (IFC) Ten Year Vision Process in 2007 and present it for member ratification in 2008. V. Staffing and Recruitment 880 Staff YE/YB >98 - 18 880 Staff YE/YB >99 - 21 880 Staff YE/YB >00 - 31 880 Staff YE/YB >01 - 33 880 Staff YE/YB >02 - 33 880 Staff YE/YB >03 - 40 880 Staff YE/YB >04 - 46 880 Staff YE/YB 05 33 880 Staff YE/YB 06 - 49 We had a good year on staffing in >06 - starting the year in the 30-35 range but gradually staffing up through our new training program and ending the year at 49 staff with the last four months averaging closer to the 55 staffperson that we wanted. At times we almost doubled the staff, but on average, we increased from 33 at year end last year to 49 this year an increase of 50%+. The combined staff trainings we did late in 05 and all throughout 06 with Madeline and the ACORN staff helped immensely. On the 880 side, these much-needed staff increases in 06 can be directly traced to the great recruitment and training implemented by Chief of Staff Myra Glassman, with key assists by Regional DIrectors Anthony Guest and Wendy Voegele, Political Director Rochelle Prather, lead organizers Margot Riphagen, Angela Bailey, and others, who stepped up and helped with the training, observation days, and the like. 122

And the proof of the success of this new training program is in the pudding: of the 26 organizers who started this program in 06, 20 were retained beyond the four week training and 18 are still on staff as of this month. We hope to improve on this on 07 and recruit the 10-15 new organizers we will need to make this happen. Stepping Up - 880 Staff Reorganization - While we lost some of our senior staffers, like 880 Political Director Alicia Weber in 06 (law school), many of our newer and more senior organizers stepped up the responsibility scale to fill in the gaps: Former south suburban lead organizer, Rochelle Prather, stepped up into the Political Director position and has done a great job, especially around the 06 Gubernatorial elections; RDs Wendy Voegele and Anthony Guest did solid work in their new positions; and Margot Riphagen, Angela Bailey, and Gretchen Lamke did well in their lead organizer positions, in Chicago, Rockford, and Mt Vernon, respectively. In addition, field organizers Yvette Susan Cagle in Peoria, Ben Tracey in Springfield, and Paul Gordon, in the south suburbs, have stepped up into lead positions on the internal staff; while Sandy Craig has stepped up to a lead position on the new organizing staff. Finally, we have hired Jeremy Schroeder to take on our new Legislative/Policy position and he got right into the fight for the Minimum Wage increase and did a great job at both the Leadership Conference and the subsequent veto session, following the legislation and making sure the turnout happened until we won. Again, thanks to our recruitment and training program, we have weathered staff attrition and look forward to an even better future with this new team. Statewide Staffing Plans - Right now, we have eight offices: Chicago, St. Louis, East St. Louis, Rockford, Peoria, Harvey, Mt Vernon, and Springfield. In a strange but welcome twist, all of our outstate offices are fully staffed, while our staff levels in Chicago and new Organizing are below where we want. This is where we will need to recruit the 10-15 new staff we need. We will need these new folks to staff up not only Chicago and new organizing but also Indiana, Kansas, and other new jurisdiction for 2007 and the years ahead. New Staff Positions Besides the new positions mentioned above, we did not have a lot of other new staff positions. We do see a need for one Policy/Research person and another researcher for new organizing. We also need a new AP person in the Financial Department and may need others as we move ahead. Staff Training - Local 880 continued our internal staff trainings in 2006. We got rave reviews for these new trainings and plan more in 07. We did not send any organizers to ACORN Advanced or Lead training, but probably will do some cross-training in the future. Organizing Academies None planned for 06 or 07 but we may need for some campaigns w do not see on the horizon. Labor Retreat - The Labor Retreat of 2006 was a good one despite the fact that we could only bring six staff and six leaders because of all the political turnout work we had to do for the Governors race. But we always enjoy the Retreat and the ability to learn new skills, impart some skills to others and start to come to a consensus on the plan for 07.

VI. Other Priorities, Projects and Problems

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New Year's Kickoffs - Always a high point where we review the prior year=s victories and set goals for the coming year. The Power Pointe presentation was a crowd pleaser, even if the music went on the fritz, and the small groups worked well. Attendance was good statewide. DHS/ORS Blitz Technology, Mailings, Telemarketing, and Turnout - We started the year off weaker than 05 when we had 52% of the unit dues-paying members and 60% who had signed a card - mostly because of post contract mailings, phone calls and blitzes. But we started 06 with 49.5% membership (but still over 55% on cards) in the unit mostly because of all the resources diverted to the childcare campaign and new organizing. We are going to start 2007 even lower at barely 47%. The whole agreement is up for renegotiation in late 07, so doing COPE and member signups in this unit will be major. We need to do more in 2007 and get back to basics on the mailings and phones and keep the membership and turnout numbers up here. We also hope to experiment with other mass signups and telemarketing to see if that can keep our numbers up in this and other units. It=s our largest homecare unit and we have to keep it our biggest and most active, especially with the whole contract up in 07. VII. Expansion and Growth - Opened no new offices in Illinois 2006, but maintained and restaffed our eight existing offices. In addition, we opened up an Indianapolis office for the homecare organizing, and had a Kansas office for a few weeks. But it looks like we may be reopening some offices in Kansas to handle the homecare and maybe childcare organizing there.

VII. Politics

PAC Fund -This is a fund our members set up in 1990 but can be used only for statewide and local races like City Council, state reps and senators, and the like. It is funded by a percapita contribution of .50 cents per member per month from each member=s dues into the fund each month - this will bring in between $300,000-$400,000 per year for elections in >07 depending on our cash flow. We also donated @$172,000 ($100k to the International fund to take back the US House) in >06 and had about $203,000 in income in the PAC account - we should be able to save some in this account and build up for the city council and other races in 2007. COPE - see highlight #12 - bottom line we did so-so in >06 but need to do a lot better in >07 and beyond to hit our COPE goals. Since you are rated and assigned a quota based on your membership, our quota will soar in 07 and beyond! We will need to dramatically increase our signups just to stay within shooting distance of this goal. Jobs with Justice - Keith is on the Board, but they have not been as active. Continue to have big money problems in >05, hard to tell where they will end up. Meetings with Progressive Labor Unions - Mostly happened around the WalMart campaign with UFCW, other SEIU locals, and the CFL. Had some actions where we were able to move most of the progressive unions, but we need to improve this if it=s possible. Working Families Illinois We need a vehicle to do our progressive work with our labor and community allies, to help pass fusion, and to generally move better locally and statewide in progressive politics. Working Families Illinois has been discussed by us and some of our allies and in 07 we hope to see how much interest there really is. 124

Change to Win (CTW) This is mostly handled through the state council, but I attend, too. We had some success around mobilizing for Big Box Living Wage. Many are very mad with the mayor and are committing serious resources to the aldermanic races this should be very exciting and fun if all come on Board! We need to make a serious outreach effort to CTW and CFL locals in 07 and beyond to build up our other labor allies as part of our Ten Year Plan. Local 880 Political Staff Needs - At some point, Local 880 will need several political staff to seriously staff out campaigns for our members or supporters running for office. We need a political staff that could do the work that is needed to get our folks targeted, trained and elected to office. 2007 may be the year to staff this out and we need this to be a key part of our Ten Year Vision and implementation. Local 880 2006 Legislative/Political Analysis - We have had a great year on the legislative front - which is directly related to our past political work with Blagojevich and the Senate Dems. Winning the IDOA rate increase, the commitment for health care for private sector homecare workers, the money for the childcare contract, and other victories will bring over $100 million this year - mostly in raises and benefits - to Local 880 homecare and childcare members. And then to end the year with the Minimum Wage victory was the icing on the cake this has to be the best legislative year ever for Local 880! And the Big Box Living Wage made it even better. With the elections in 2007 (Aldermen and Mayor) just around the corner, we will need to build and maintain a much bigger political infrastructure statewide in 07. And we need to get ready for the big one in 08 OBAMA FOR PRESIDENT! Local 880 GOTV Work in 2006 Primaries and General Election I think it is safe to say that SEIU and Local 880, in particular, were seen as the kingmakers in the 06 primary and general election. Although Governor Blagojevich did not have a serious challenger, Cook County Board President Stroger, who had a massive stroke right before the election, did. It was a very tight race and turnout was key. Local 880 moved between 50-100 members and staff to work the precincts for Blago and Stroger in March, and while Blago blew out his challenger, Stroger, in the hospital and close to death, barely squeaked by with 52% of the vote and 880s and SEIUs and APACs volunteers in the high turnout precincts on the south side, brought it home. High level Blaogojevich staff credited us later with helping move the vote that allowed him to win. Later, in the general election, we had even more success. While Blagojevich won 49-40-11 (Green Party) the Stroger races was much tougher and our folks again helped drive turnout at the phone banks and door-to-door; the outcome was not certain heading into the general with some polls showing a much tighter race. Local 880 Political Director, Rochelle Prather, in coordination with Local 880 organizing staff statewide, trained and turned out hundreds of our members and staff for the final push not only in the Governors race, but in five targeted races in southern and western Illinois the Dems needed to defend or pick up. We won all of the races we worked in and received a lot of credit for our work. The numbers speak for themselves: Chicago staff ided 226 member-volunteers; trained 186; and turned out 69 to work their own and other targeted precincts as well as phone banks. Congratulations to Rochelle, Margo, Jim, Donte, Shane, Anthony and all the other staff who made this happen. Outstate staff turned out another 58 members to work in the five targeted races outstate Congratulations are due to RD Wendy, LOs Gretchen and Yvette, and Tina, Kelly, and the rest of the southern Illinois staff who made this happen. Indiana staff assigned three staffers to the three key CDs to do non-partisan senior citizen turnout. All three Dems won and were a key part of the Dem sweep on election night. In addition, we helped a key 125

Dem win his race and helped to take back the Indiana House for the Dems. Congratulations are in order here to Meighan, Beth, Reggie, Crystal, Ruth, and others. TOTALS ALL TOLD WE MOVED 166 MEMBERS AND 53 STAFF IN THESE RACES. While this was nowhere near the tough campaign we ran in 2002, it was a big accomplishment and helped Blago win, helped the Dems pick up seats in the House and Senate, and on the national level helped win three key CDs in Indiana. Internal Union Politics - In general, Local 880's standing in SEIU=s internal union politics seems to be good. 880 President Helen Miller has been a star on the SEIU Board and we were awarded a seat on the union=s Long Term Care Division. In addition, we have been awarded a seat on both SEIUs Community Strength committee and new Committee on Organizing and Growth. Summary REAPING WHAT WE SOWED! After the great successes of 2005, I thought 2006 was going to be a time to kick back and maybe catch our breath a little. Little did I know We did not win 40,000 childcare providers like we did in 05, but we did have steady Progress in 2006: We signed the first ever childcare contract in history and we got BIG; We brought in 40,000 new members for a total of 70,000; We became the largest union local in the City of Chicago; We became the largest union local in the state of Illinois; We became one of the largest union locals in the country; We became the fifth largest local in SEIU; We became the largest SEIU local in the Midwest and maybe the largest local of any union in the Midwest; We got huge density, with one of every 179 people in Illinois being members of Local 880, and one out of every 90 adults being members of Local 880 and in the city of Chicago and Cook County, one of every 50 adults is an 880 member; We expanded in a Big Way into New Jurisdictions; We initiated a new training program and increased our staff by 50%; We Organized 1111 new members in the private homecare industry; We had our best Legislative Year Ever and won $100 million in wage and benefit increases for our members and their industries; We expanded our Executive Board to include new leaders statewide; We did some of our best political work ever and turned out members and staff across the state and across the region; We consulted with other SEIU locals in new homecare and childcare states, sent key organizers and staff to assist, and brought even more members into the union; We even went International! We welcomed a delegation of South African trade union organizers and homecare workers from NEHAWU and shared ideas about organizing homecare workers in South Africa over Chicago deep dish pizza; 126

 And while all this was going on, we still found time to start a conversation about our Ten Year Vision to make Local 880 even better by 2017; This has truly been a good year on many levels. Of course it was not perfect and as historic as 2003 or 2005, and we have a lot we need to work, but in its own way, it was just as satisfying. We made continued progress and expanded statewide, regionwide, national and internationally. What more can we ask? Thanks for all your hard work in 2006 and remember, VICTORY IS OURS IN 2007!

Happy Holidays!

LOCAL 100 Service Employees International Union

YEAR END YEAR BEGIN 2006

Key Staffing
Wade Rathke Chief Organizer New Orleans HDQS

Orell Fitzsimmons Rosa Hines Bessie Fowler Kenneth Stretcher John Kevan Smith Rose Mary Meriles Maria Castilleja Cassie Ford

Field Director State Director LA State Director AR Organizer Organizer Organizer Organizer - WFA Office Manager

Houston Baton Rouge / New Orleans Little Rock Dallas Shreveport Houston Houston New Orleans

I.

Performance
Year End 2004 Year End 2005 Year End 2006 (11/06) 4000 (est) 2293 2114 (before split)

Average Members Paid SEIU on Per Capita

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II.

General Developments: Campaigns, Bargaining, and Organizing

Texas United School Employees (TUSE) Our unit in Houston is the largest in the local. Few threats and few opportunities, but this work continues to be a mainstay of the organization. Arkansas State Employees Holding on with new leadership and a steady grievance program.

Arkansas Municipal Employees New check-off procedures went into effect on 1/1/06, but for various reasons (personnel, management, plan, implementation), we did not see these units covered into serious membership or chapter strength in 2006. This is on the list of major undone tasks in Arkansas. Private Sector Organizing and Bargaining Head Start: Successfully bargained contract for 250 workers at Caddo CAA in Shreveport by the summer and are still converting this unit into membership. Shreveport: Significant turnaround in this office. Terminated non-performing office director, focused on nursing home membership increases, and seem to have stabilized and turned the corner significantly. Model for what we are trying to do elsewhere. Dallas: Expanding into private jurisdiction, petition filed on 100 garbage hoppers in City of Dallas. Hearing in December for election before NLRB in January. Focusing on expanding to other private sub-contractors of public services. Bargaining: Significant contracts successfully renegotiated with Orell Fitzsimmons leading the team here in Gulf Coast Head Start along with nursing homes and community homes in New Orleans (more below). New Orleans:Some of the best but most bizarre organizing in 2006 in New Orleans came from our efforts to organize new private subcontractors in the destroyed, hybrid school system. First, we were called off a drive where we signed up a majority of food service workers at charter schools in Algiers, because it turned out that SEIU and UNITE HERE had a top-down deal and it could only be triggered if the employer was willing to go union, which in this case will probably happen for these 75 workers the day after hell freezes over. Then we successfully organized 250 bus drivers working for the new hybrid school districts through Laidlaw. The we filed high and were in excellent shape on a stipulated election, but were forced by SEIU to pull out less than a week before the election, because Hoffa had asked for the union so it was now a C2W issue. Impact of Katrina The membership in New Orleans in many units were decimated in the wake of the hurricane. Hoppers contract was terminated when FEMA was handling trash collection. Convention based service contract decimated. Cutbacks endured everywhere. On the other hand the upward pressure on wages has allowed the successful renegotiation under the direction of Rosa Hines of a number of New Orleans based contracts particularly in our janitorial service area to much higher starting and on-going wages. The New Orleans strategy in the wake of Katrina was to organize private subcontractors in lost job areas or in the construction and clean-up FEMA subcontracts. During the summer the culmination of a successful drive on more than 1000 workers at EEG, the primary FEMA clean-up contracted, resulted in a petition filed at the NLRB by Local 100. Around the same time Local 100 filed on the new hopper subcontractor for Waste Management (company called Fast Track with 128

about 100 workers). Both of these petitions can waylaid at the NLRB. EEG was put off on the issue of whether or not they were going to be able to keep the contract with FEMA past 10/1 and would be in the midst of layoffs. Fast Track was postponed on the issue of changing numbers among the temporary workers. The bottom line is that despite a significant amount of work, and some success, in organizing among private sector subcontractors, this strategy has not produced victories, contracts, or members yet. Our future in New Orleans (and probably the local) is with service contracts with leverage, so targeting and front end work needs to improve so that the organizing success can be converted. Central and State AFL-CIO Federations Our only real ally in state federations is in Arkansas. Given the disaffiliation of SEIU from the AFL-CIO, this story is different in every jurisdiction. We have a solidarity charter in Little Rock with the Central Arkansas AFL-CIO and are likely to petition for one in 2007 with the Greater New Orleans AFL-CIO.

III.

Budget and Finances

The downsizing of the local has raised significant challenges in capacity because of our reduced finances. The staff is obviously considerably smaller now reflecting that reality and the budget is barebones. We ran a deficit of about 25-30000 for the year, which we seem to have borrowed from the International by not paying appropriate per capita, so that leaves the remaining weeks of the year to straighten out what was an honest mistake that helped us survive the year in the shape we did.

IV.

Leadership Development
After cancelling the Leadership Conference in 2005, we were pleased with an excellent Leadership Conference in Shreveport in the middle of July this year with good solid attendance from all offices. Staff/leadership retreat in Little Rock with 880 was a very useful to the Local 100 staff and particularly benefited from additional work with the WARN and A-CLOC staff participation from a number of areas of the country. We need to schedule more steward and organizing committee training sessions in 2007 to exploit the advantage of these recent events.

V.

Other Priorities and Problems

Local 100 Website: We are holding on here to our basic numbers, but need a strategy to grow more aggressively. Working Families Association: CCHD continued togrant support to WFA and its work in Houston, so we are hopeful in partnership with Houston ACORN that we can continue to make progress on this important project. We have spent significant time fashioning new membership formations and working on the Wal-Mart drives through WARN and WWA, as well as the AWA.

VI.

Expansion and Growth

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We believe our growth prospects are likely in Arkansas and in the private sector both through direct election and everywhere through an associational model. We continue to believe there are significant private sector opportunities in New Orleans because of the labor shortage and the ability to leverage employers, and felt that we got tantalizingly close to a breakthrough this year so we are hopeful we can finally bring this together in 2007.

VII.

Politics and Campaigns

We had some limited involvement in local campaigns in Houston, New Orleans, and Little Rock.

VIII. Staffing, Recruitment and Training Given the reduced size of our staffing, a premium now falls to high quality and significant production and performance. We will continue to have to examine staffing under this strenuous light in the coming year.

Summary
Our survival was at issue in 2006, and there is a measure of accomplishment in having weathered another year. Though not huge in the scale of the world and the working class for us to have taken the full brunt of Katrina and been able to come back through the end of November with less than a net loss of 200 members with a hugely reduced staff is no small organizing accomplishment. Perhaps it is something we can grow on from here. In 2007 we have to move from stabilization to growth in order to make the case for our future. SEIU Local 100 &WFA 2006 YE/YB Report Field Director : Orell Fitzsimmons

Overview: 2264 Members, 6 Organizers, 1 Office Staff

WFA: 106 members, 1 staff

Re-tooling of staff and more of an emphasis on private sector targets will change the make up of the Local in 2007 Goals: Staff Baton Rouge, add staff in New Orleans, Dallas, Little Rock & Shreveport. Increase financial controls to enable timely payments and staff growth with available monies. Goals for 07: 3500 members by December 2007 with a staff of 11 Organizers. WFA: 500 members, 2 Organizers

Houston: Rose Mary Mireles

(Local 100 Organizer) & Maria Castilleja (WFA Organizer) Pasadena:8 CCISD:6 Aldine:8 San Antonio & Valley: 121 GCCSA:194 HISD:780 SBISD:15 Steel Workers;2 Avance 49 HCCSA:7 others: 10 Total: 1200 members In November we signed a new 3 year contract with GCCSA(Head Start) and an increase of over 40 members. Recent spat over bonuses increase our Avance unit by 20 members. HISD continues to be a problem reaching our 1000 member goal, having to sign 40 members a month to stay even in this competitive volatile unit. Looking for more private sector targets. Head Start members helped elect Nick Lampson to replace Tom Delay building toward more member activity in the 08 election. Plan for 07: Once again, 1000 members in HISD, Avance to 100 members, GCCSA to 250 members 3 new staff, 4 private sector elections, membership retention. WFA: Immigration arrest during traffic stops starting in 07 could enhance WFAs visibility in community and engage us in a giant controversy in our community.

Dallas: Kenneth Stretcher (Local 100 Office Director)

Dallas County Schools: 79 DISD: 169 Total: 248 members

Victories at Dallas County Schools with help from Board members.

Engaged in a NLRB election for contracted out hoppers in Dallas , about 200 person unit.

130

Meet and confer agreement with DCS which has administration listening to our concerns NLRB election for Hoppers in Dallas, hearing set for 12/7 (100 employees) Plan for 07: More private sector organizing, adding one more organizer and 100 members increases in DCS & DISD. Hire 1 additional staff. Looking at another 500 workers in other contracted out City jobs.

Little Rock: Bessie Fowler (Local 100 State Director)

UAMS: 79 Pulaski County: 2 Fort Smith: 7 DHS: 154 Head Start: 71 Pine Bluff: 5 Personal Care Aides 113 Total: 424 members Big minimum wage victory in Pine Bluff we hope will turn into more city employee members Increase over the summer in the UAMS unit. Plan for 07: Take advantage of Pine Bluff minimum wage victory; hire one new staff, private sector targets.

Shreveport: Kevan Smith (Local 100 Office Director)

Harmony House: 30 Bradford: 2 Nexion Claiborne: 53 Guest House: 12 Guest House/Springlake: 25 Caddo:79 Shreveport Manor: 4 Total: 205 members Caddo Community Action Agency victory a year ago resulted in our first contract in August and 79 new members. With new organizer we have also increased our membership in our nursing homes. This summer Shreveport hosted the Local 100 Leadership School of over 30 of our stewards. New contracts for 4 nursing homes with good pay raises for all. Looking at taxi drivers and other private sector units. Plan for 07: Increase nursing home numbers, 5 new nursing home elections, expand Caddo to 150 members; target 50% signups at Bradford, Shreveport Manor & Guest House nursing homes.

New Orleans: Rosa Hines (Local 100 State Director) Cassie Ford (Office Staff)
AME:22 Coast Guard:1 Coastal Janitors:8 Freeman:12 Restheaven:5 Weather:22 RTA:7 Progressive Healthcare:5 Heritage Manor:18 Total: 100 members

As workers come back to the City our numbers are coming back. We settle two contacts at nursing homes with one getting 5o cents raises and a 25 cent increase while training new employees. Plan for 07:Hire 2 more staff. Organize 3-targeted nursing homes, rejuvenate existing units, find more private section targets and re-do the Hoppers.

Baton Rouge: No staff

CNI:16 Harmony House:18 Nexion:20 Harmony Center:7 LARK:10 Telescience:8 Guest House:8 Total: 87 members

We need to hire new staff in early January and start re-building every unit. Signed new contract at CNI which included a xams bonus for all employees of about $200 each.

YE/YB 2006 Political Operations Reports

(please see additional PDF files on CD for further info)

NATIONAL STAFF
Zach Polett, Director of Political Operations Jessica Angus, Deputy Director Political Field Jeff Robinson, Deputy Director Electoral Campaigns Josh Myles, Political Technology Director Nathan Henderson James, Strategic Writing and Research Department (SWORD) Director Reginald Holt, CSI Data Center Director Jehmu Greene, Project Vote National Director Michael Slater, Project Vote Election Administration Director Brian Mellor, Legal Counsel Kimberly Olsen, APAL Director Amy Busefink, Voter Registration Director Jarvis Houston, Recruitment Coordinator (2006); Youth Voter Registration Coordinator (2007) 131

ADMINISTRATIVE & FINANCIAL DEPARTMENT Nikki Paxton Jeff Terry Bobbie Turner Marthella Johnson Reginald Holt (2007) Patrick Winogrond Little Rock Little Rock Little Rock Little Rock Little Rock New Orleans

WORKING FAMILIES PARTY Dan Cantor Clare Crawford Jon Green Jim Fleischmann NY WFP Executive Director & Expansion Project Co-Director Working Families Expansion Field Director (2007) CT WFP Director MA Ballot Line Project Director (2006)

(staff of Political Operations departments listed in those reports)

2006 Report
We had an amazing year in 2006 minimum wage initiative victories in every state we targeted; far-and-away the largest voter registration program in the country (with some bumps on the road that were already beginning to address for 2007 2008); CSI planning and running the entire statewide African-American GOTV programs in the key battleground states of OH and MO; establishing Project Vote as a national leader in anti-voter suppression election administration with victories in FL, WA, MD, OH and PA; training and developing a cadre of ACORN leaders in 20 cities to do electoral work through the ACORN PAL program; adding a Congressional mail-and-phone program that played in 7 strategic Congressional Districts; producing 200 trainees for post-election organizer training Academies; and raising over $10 million to support this work. And with our increased size and scope, came attacks. The coordinated, partisan attacks on our voter registration program this fall taught us several valuable lessons: the need for a detailed communications plan to define our work before any attacks come, along with the ability to produce clear talking points and same-news-cycle responses when attacks come; the need to create a single management structure for the entire voter registration program at both the state and national levels: production, quality control, political relationships and communications; the need for a more gradual gear-up of the VR program to make sure that quality control is keeping pace with production; and the need for a more-rapid quality control system that informs the work of managers in the field. Staff are already working to put these changes into place for our 2007 2008 voter registration programs. Reports on our 2006 work are contained in the Political Operations department reports that follow.

2007 Priorities & Plans

We need to build on these accomplishments over the next two years. 132

In addition, the November 7th election shook up America electorally, creating a range of exciting opportunities for ACORN and its growing membership. By the voters rejecting the dismal record of the Bush administration, giving control of both Houses of Congress to the Democrats for the first time since 1994, and switching party control in a number of governors mansions and state legislatures, we have the opportunity to work on a range of issues at both the state and federal levels that would have been dead-on-arrival just a few weeks ago raising the minimum wage across the nation; starting to address Americas health care crisis; moving campaigns to create state Earned Income Tax Credits, rather than only opposing right-wing tax-cuts for millionaires; etc. Following is a list of 2007 2008 projects and priorities being developed by Political Operations to help increase the membership of the entire organization and to take advantage of at least some of the incredible opportunities we have before us:

1) 2008 Presidential Election

GOALS A) Use the 22 months of the 2008 presidential election campaign to promote ACORNs issues and vision for the advancement of low-to-moderate income people (ACORNs Working Families Agenda). B) Get the presidential candidates to actively court ACORN and seek the support and electoral involvement of its members. C) Build a relationship with the Administration that will take office in January 2009. D) Have CSI play a major field role in the general election and, possibly, in the primaries. POSSIBLE IMPLEMENTATION PLANS A) Develop relationships with candidates and their campaigns in the first quarter of 2007. B) Organize a national ACORN presidential forum. Tentative location: Las Vegas, June 2007 C) Prioritize Nevada as one state for early caucus/primary work D) Move an internal membership and leadership endorsement process that could lead to an APAC endorsement in the primaries and would almost surely lead to an APAC endorsement in the general

2) Develop strategies for using politics and our political work to support ACORN's organizing, growth, and membership representation agendas -- with particular focus on municipal and state elections
POSSIBLE IMPLEMENTATION PLANS 133

A) Work together with National Field Operations and ACORN Head Organizers in support of 2007 state legislative campaigns on Earned Income Tax Credit, Paid Sick Days and Anti-Voter Suppression B) Working with ACORN Research Dept, Campaign Department and others, identify a set of potential asks for gubernatorial and mayoral candidates that directly impact ACORNs membership growth goals, such as establishment and funding of ACORN Benefit Centers and Tax Preparation Centers; delivery of outreach services on government programs such as health care (SCHIP, Medicaid, smoking prevention), early childhood education, family leave; or representation of different aspects of our constituency, such as parents whose kids are in state-subsidized daycare or residents of governmentsubsidized housing. C) Work with a targeted set of ACORN Head Organizers and their Regional Field Directors to develop long-term political and power-building plans for those cities and states, including development and training of full-time state political directors in those states. D) Develop a system of Regional Political Directors, starting with a few regions, so we have staff to assist HOs in developing these plans and relationships and to implement the political campaign plans that make them real.

3) Register 1,000,000 voters in the 2007 2008 election cycle

A) Solve our VR implementation and quality control problems and take advantage of our position as the only organization with the capacity to move voter registration at scale. As part of this plan, put more effort into developing volunteer recruitment and training models for conducting voter registration. B) Develop and promote a Project Youth Vote, as a branded project of Project Vote/Voting for America, Inc., thus taking advantage of the fact that Project Vote and its work with ACORN were, by far, the largest youth voter registration program in the country in 2006. C) Develop an ongoing, institutionally-based High School Voter Registration program with an emphasis on majority minority high schools D) Greatly expand the Latino and new immigrant components of our voter registration program.

4) Establish and fund a "Voter Participation Research Institute" for doing voter engagement experiments and then writing plans and methodologies based on the results of that research. 5) Anti-Voter Suppression Campaigns: Expand Project Votes 2005 2006 anti-voter
suppression work by raising the funds to enable Project Vote to serve as the national clearinghouse for voter suppression state legislation (stopping the bad bills) and begin the work of expanding the franchise by introducing Voter Bill of Rights legislation in a targeted set of states.

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6) 2008 Ballot Measures: Develop a series of 2008 ballot measures, similar to the 2006 Minimum
Wage Initiatives, that put a popular economic issue on the ballot. Potential content areas include paid sick days (currently the most likely), kids health, and scholarships for college students. POTENTIAL GOALS A) Define a national ACORN-identified values and policy issue that defines ACORNs policy and political work this election cycle. B) Get candidates from the presidency on down to identify themselves as supporters of the issue. C) Use the issue to increase turnout among base voters and to get independent and swing voters to support candidates who actively support the issue and campaign on it. D) Use the issue and the ballot measure committees to raise the funds needed for large-scale field, mail, phone and earned media campaigns around the issue, as we did successfully in MO and OH in 2006.

7) Congressional District Strategy: Develop a plan, for 2007 implementation and funding, that
targets organizing, earned media and political work in a set of marginal CDs that changed party in the 2006 election. PROPOSED IMPLEMENTATION PLANS A) Write a plan and budget and start raising funds for it B) Build ACORN membership canvasses in these districts C) Identify issues (generally federal) around which to conduct earned media grasstips issue advocacy campaigns with a goal of providing support for the new Congressperson when they take stands on popular progressive issues. D) Build a political operation, using 2007 elections where they exist, that puts in place electoral field capacity and lists that can be used in 2008. E) Establish a federal PAC and a funding plan for it

8) Expand our CSI campaign consulting business

GOALS A) Develop CSI as a profit center for the work of the organization. B) Expand ACORNs power and reach by creating the in-house capacity to deliver political capacity when its needed: managing ballot measure campaigns; collecting signatures; running large electoral field campaigns; running campaigns of local candidates for office; conducting grasstips lobbying campaigns; etc.

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POSSIBLE IMPLEMENTATION PLANS A) Write a business plan for CSI, including marketing plan and pricing plan. B) Identify or hire a Managing Director for CSIs external business. C) Identify a list of potential funded ballot measure campaigns that CSI should pursue for full-service and/or signature collection management contracts. D) Identify a list of 2007 and 2008 candidate campaigns that CSI should pursue for contracts and relationships.

9) Training & Supporting ACORN Members (ACORN PALs) to do membership and electoral work
A) Evaluate the 2006 APAL experiments and make appropriate adjustments for the next 2 years. B) Expand this membership engagement work in 2007 and 2008 by integrating those aspects that were successful into ongoing volunteer mobilization efforts by ACORN Field and by targeting a set of ACORN cities with 2007 municipal elections and using the techniques developed through the 2006 APAL work to move a multi-faceted ACORN electoral strategy that moves voters in ACORN precincts. C) Experiment with multi-product organizing outreach by both organizers and members through which we fund organizing by having members and organizers produce several products from a door-todoor program: membership; provisional membership; voter registration; initiative petition signatures; calls or letters to legislators (grassroots lobbying); sign-up of people for government services, etc.

10) Secretaries of State: Identify 2007 and 2008 Secretary of State races in which we should play,
with the goal of getting responsible, pro-voter, competent people in these offices.

Field Report
Field Director Recruitment Coordinator Ballot Initiative Organizer National Voter Registration National APAL State-based Political Staff

ACORN Political Operations

YE/YB 2006

Staff: (staff listed in 2006 positions/listed are only staff currently on payroll) Jessica Angus Jarvis Houston Johanna Sharrard Amy Busefink, Stephanie Moore Kimberly Olsen, Chris Entrikin Ohio Pennsylvania Mari Engelhardt, Beth Berendsen, Charmaine Davis, Jeremy Sanders, Carrie Barnett, Corrine Labita, Jason Crider, Leetha Bishop, April Nobia Krista Holub, James Thompson

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Wright 2004: 6 of our 17 staff members end of 05 have been on staff since 2004. 6 of the 17 staff members are people of color. 2005: 8 of our 23 staff members end of 06 have been on staff with some entity of ACORN since 2004. 10 of our 23 staff members are people of color

Missour: California Travelers

Jake Olsen, Alan Coleman Marina Delgado Leroy Weekly, Debaniesha

ACORN has once again shown itself to be the leader in Voter Registration.
Total Cards collected nation wide- 543,436 Total Staff- 42 Political Organizers and 11 State VR Directors (30 salaried staff of color)1031 Part time staff (Average) The 2006 Voter Registration drive did more than just Register new voters! The VR program allowed many smaller offices to open in 2006, thanks to funding and a need for ACORN in the neighborhood. This also allowed for more member involvement in Registrations, both at chapter meetings and in members getting out to work in the neighborhood. In states where ACORN was working to raise the minimum wage, Voter Registration projects helped to get the word out and register people to vote in favor. ACORN was also able to hire and develop some great staff and work to diversify. Many of our canvassers and first time Political Organizers worked hard and were able to take on more responsibility as the program grew in many states. By using High Volume sites within a community, Voter Registration helped to open up conversations with many different businesses, and helped to build lasting relationships for the future. The biggest achievement is that even with 2006 being a mid term election, ACORN was still able to work and register over a million people to VOTE!!! Plans for the Future and goals for 2007-08. Many lessons were learned through out the 2006 program. While there was a great deal of effort placed on signing up Provisional members with the VR program, there needs to be further development of how to Implement and integrate a membership ask. Also we need to work on really integrating the Voter Registration program into the field program. Working harder to really take the time for our part time staff to understand and see just what ACORN does and the big picture of why we are working to register new voters. Time management of a program is a lesson to take away form 2006. Everything from how to run a day to day program to setting a time line for a program and realistic goals comes down to time management. The goal for Voter Registration in 2007-08 is to further develop from the lessons we learned in 2006 and work towards our new goal of registering 1 Million NEW Voters!
STATE AZ CA KY CO CT FL IA MD MI MN MO NM NJ OH PA RI SC TN TX WA TOTAL TOTAL IN STATE 2,663 1,390 1,925 12,870 1,102 20,665 1,612 49,268 65,624 13,155 65,639 2,019 26,562 129,831 116,485 9,540 2,259 9,242 1,751 5,837 539,439

APAL: Continuing to testing and building models for which to activate ACORN membership around political opportunities.
PAL Narrative

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The PAL (Precinct Action Leader) program sought to, en masse, get members to build lists of neighbors, family and friends; to work their list, asks included commitments to vote, membership in ACORN, attendance of events; and on Election Day ensure that the folks on their list vote. The goal was to contact and turnout to vote 54,000 voters with members only. This program happened in 18 cities with 25 organizers participating. Some organizers were experienced, some were new, and in some places there was organizer turnover. During the program 1019 PALs were signed up, or 40 PALs per organizer. Most cities started Sept 1st, 2006 so thats 20 PALs a month The categories in which the program should be evaluated are 1) Number of new members produced 2) Size of the voter list built and moved by members 3) Work, or product, generated by the members and most important , 4) what percentage of our voters voted. We will not have the voted results until late January.

Number of members signed up Overall the PAL program signed up 17,000 provisional members. On average each PAL signed up 18 new members each. Where we failed was not having systems in place to turn those contacts immediately into dues paying members. Size of the voter list On average each PAL worked a list of 51 voters, which generated on average 18 yess each. We know a much smaller number of members actually did the work, as we know many members flake, so members who did work probably did more work than reflected in the average. Work done by the members Members generated 17,078 yess to vote, and made 52,000 contacts to build that yes list. About 37% of our contacts generated a yes. On the flip side only about 11% of our lists were bad. Where we failed was getting members to register voters.
Weaknesses: We did a horrible time of consistent and good data entry. We both didnt really know what we wanted to enterbeyond the yess, and we didnt implement good ways of making the data entry happen exactly the same in every city. Its possible this is something that could be subcontracted out. We had a hard time getting members to own their list and work it several times. We found that many organizers had a hard time giving a rap that organized the member into understanding the program and taking responsibility for it. We couldnt figure out a paper system that got data members collected into the vbase soon enough and spit out updated lists for our members. PDAs for members anyone? Strengths: People have said they have not seen so many members doing work at the same time ever. That is very exciting. In places where there were big paid canvasses, MW states, membership pieces would have been ignored. Because there was a conscious effort and supervision around membership work during the election, our membership work shined. In some places voters would not have been contacted if our members didnt do it and the work they did impacted the election at hand.

Other strengths and weaknesses of the program

ACORN Political Operations Recruitment Report 2005-2006

Accomplishments: 60 new hires, internship program, brand ACORN Political operations to individuals, established relationships with various employment centers, university career centers and local ACORN offices and staff. Goals for 2007 Recruitment Program: More human resource approach, comprehensive recruitment package, recruit coordinator should have more interaction with ACORN, coordinator should be directly involved in hiring and termination process, the next recruitment coordinator should have a campaign background to continue training academies, Improve hiring of not only African Americans but Latinos and other minority groups. The coordinator works with new staff to improve retention percentage. ACORN PO Fellowship Program: Number of Internship Applicants: 148

Number of Fellows: 46

The Summer Fellowship Program was an intense and challenging program working on ACORNs campaign to register, educate and turnout voters in low and moderate-income neighborhoods. These internships provided first hand exposure to real grassroots movements and experience on a campaign. Fellows came from various states across the country. Career Fairs: Number of Career Fairs: 33 Number Career Fair Applicants: 1155 Number Accepted Positions: 14

ACORN Political Operations represented itself in over 30 career fairs. Students/prospective applicants received valuable information about ACORN and our various programs. Idealist.com conducted the best and most cost effective career fairs with Xavier University (OH), Howard University, Clark Atlanta University, John Hopkins, The Ohio State University, University of Denver, Duquesne University and UCLA being the best schools for recruitment. Positions: Number of people who applied for positions: 3630/ Number Interviewed: 872 / Accepted: 60

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Average number of Resumes: 7-15 per day

Average per month: 242 resumes per month

PO/FM: 2078/Number Interviewed: 415/ Accepted: 26 EA: 532/Number Interviewed: 106/Accepted: 10 Tech: 349/Number Interviewed: 81, Accepted: 13 Project Vote: 161/Number Interviewed: 16/Accepted: 2 SWORD: 72/Number Interviewed: 28/Accepted: 1 PAL: 165/Number Interviewed: 41 State or Natl Management: 181/ Number Interviewed: 63/Number Accepted: 2 Work Families/Misc: 92/Number Interviewed: 64/Number Accepted: 6 Diversity: of the 60 individuals hired 32 were people of color for a percentage of over 55 percent. Training Academies: Number Attended: 42 Number Attended: 17 Number Hired: 6

We orchestrated training academies that introduced prospective applicants to ACORN, the training academies were successful because we hired key members of ACORN Political Operations. The academy also provided us the opportunity to screen applicants and meet everyone face to face. Website Posting: Idealist.org, Democratic Gain, Craiglist.org, politics1.com were and will continue to be our main posting sites. Idealist.com was the site that rendered the most resumes with Craigs list being second, Democratic gain third and politics1.com fourth. HBCU Initiative: ACORN PO attended career fairs at various HBCUs across the country continuing to build relationships and hire people of various races.

Qualifying Minimum Wage and moving field programs That used the issue to move voters to the polls
Qualiftying ACORN played a role in qualifying the initiatives in all four states. We ran the petition drives in both CO and OH, taking bottom line responsibility for coordinating the collection for the committees in each state. In AZ we collected largely through volunteers and organizers. In Missouri, we took responsibility for qualifying key districts, collecting 40% of the signatures. State Arizona Colorado Missouri Ohio Canvass Program In MO we bottom-lined the whole field program for the campaign. In OH we shared the program with Working America, with responsibility for delivering the urban target voters, while Working America worked the suburban target voters. In CO we took responsibility for moving a universe of 19,500 drop off voters in CD 7. State OH Contact Timeline Sep. 11th-Nov 2nd Nov 4th-6th Election Day Oct 4th-22nd MO Oct Nov 4th-6th Election Day 23rd-Nov 2nd Unique HH Universe 304,400 142,000 56,500 105,377 144,604 144,604 67,166 19,500 19,500 19,500 19,500 HH knocks by CSI 253,233 91,890 51,150 101,350 186,166 105,105 64,100 19,000+ 19,000+ 19,000+ 19,000+ Canvass Size Grew from 60 to 330 by Nov.2 Avg. 438 canvassers/day 601 canvassers 77 growing to 273 269 growing to 370 538 growing to 601 641 Grew from 6 to 25 25 70 80 Sigs Needed 122,000 68,000 93,000 322,899 Total Sigs Collected ACORN actual sigs collected 210,000 10,000 131,000 21,127 215,000 78,000 765,000 323,000

CO

Sep. 14-Oct 23 Oct 23-Nov. 2 Nov. 4-6 Election day

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Progress Since 2004 Hands down our new campaign management model allowed us to grow and sustain such large canvasses. We had a city coordinator and then for each 10 to 12 canvassers has a full-time field manager who were responsible for working with their team in the field on the doors full time. This new model of management significantly raised the bar in terms of PT staff retention and particularly in terms of quality of the voter contact at the door. Technology: We used palm pilots for the first time in OH this year with great success, finding that palm pilots offer many advantages in terms of being to have real time data on the program and being able to manage people on daily standards. In other states we learned new ways to use programs like maptitude to be able to better plan our canvassers turf assignments and walk routes to make their field time be more productive. We learned at the end of the day that we are really good at building large field canvasses but identified additional training and professional development areas where a training program is needed around more comprehensive campaign management skills like payroll systems and procedures; basic computer software training in Excel, Word and Outlook; turf management; data and targeting.

ACORN National Political Operations Strategic Writing and Research Department (SWORD) 2006 YE/YB Report
Staff
Nathan Henderson-James, Director, Los Angeles (14 years on staff) Anita MonCrief, Writer-Researcher, Washington, DC (One year on staff) Erin Ferns, EA Research and Policy Analyst, Los Angeles (Since August 2006) Ben Spears, Writer-Researcher, Los Angeles (Since September 2006) Laura Kyser, Policy Analyst, Boston (through July 2006)

I. Introduction
The Strategic Writing and Research Department (SWORD) completed its first full year in 2006, having been created in the summer of 2005. SWORDs role within Political Operations has evolved as the Operation itself has grown and expanded, but, in general, it is charged with providing much of the writing and research support for Political Operations on the national level. In the wake of the Operations 2006 success, SWORDs function moving forward can best be described as a kind of internal consulting organization to Political Operations on writing and research needs. In practice this means providing research and policy support for the Election Administration program; PowerPoint presentation support, development of promotional pieces, administrative support for the fundraising work; as well as our traditional work developing funding proposals, writing reports, developing budgets, and providing research on eligible voting age populations, voter turnout, and voter demographics. This report will offer a short outline of the work done by SWORD to date and the outlook for 2007.

II. 2006 Goals and Priorities

In 2006 SWORD had five main priorities: fundraising, developing local political plans, eligible voter demographic research, presentations, and reports and other forms of telling the story of electoral participation by ACORN members and staff.

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Fundraising
Over the course of 2006, the Department crafted proposals for at least 16 different funders on the national level and at least a half-dozen for local campaigns. Almost all of the work supported the election administration and voter participation programs of various COUNCIL organizations. In some cases SWORD provided assistance and sample boilerplate proposals to local operations to use in local fundraising efforts, especially in pursuit of various contracts for voter contact work during important local elections. By the end of the year, the Departments work supported the funding of the Voter Registration Program which registered 543,000 voters and the GOTV effort, which, through an amalgam of various funding sources, contacted nearly 600,000 voters multiple times. Additionally, through a joint effort with ACORN National Operations, Political Operations migrated our database functions to DonorPerfect. SWORD has provided the administrative support to this project and provides the on-going development associate-level of support for tracking our grant-based fundraising for our various 501c3 voter participation efforts.

Political Plans
In the Spring of 2006, as part of an effort to provide greater support to local voter engagement programs and help local offices plan their 2006 electoral work, SWORD worked with state Head Organizers in FL, MD, MI, MN, OH, PA, and RI to devise a local document that could concisely and comprehensively present that states 2006 electoral plan. Once compiled the plans served as boilerplate documents good for a variety of uses. With allies like those in the various America Votes coalitions they were good for claiming turf and showing the scope of our work. With potential investors they showed our methodologies and where the work was to be targeted. And with political professionals they built the credibility of the organization.

Research
Setting goals for Voter Registration and GOTV programs requires research into the eligible unregistered voting age population and the size of the potential voter universes. In 2006 the Department analyzed the demographics for all 50 states and created a spreadsheet that estimated the number eligible (by which we mean not restricted from voting by contact with the criminal justice system) citizens of voting age of those states and an estimated number of unregistered Latinos and African Americans. Over the course of 2006 we were also asked to provide demographics on a county and even municipality level. In general county-level data is easily generated, but city-level data is much harder to find, necessitating a range of data manipulations and assumptions. While we can often provide numbers on the city level, we do not feel confident about their accuracy. All of this info provided the basis for the voter registration goals that were set for the 2006 program. As 2006 draws to a close, we are completing the compilation of a document that will give us a list of all the upcoming elections in every county with an ACORN office or that is on the official Expansion List. This list includes elections at all levels and covers both primaries, generals, and run-offs. The information on this list will be made available generally as soon as it is completed and by request until that point. 141

Presentations
Building on our growing capacity to create effective PowerPoint presentations, SWORD has created a few presentations for local offices regarding their 2005 efforts, as well as having primary responsibility for creating the Political Operations YEYB presentation. This area of expertise was under utilized in 2006 with presentations only completed for 3 states (MI, OH, and CA), but we expect that we can do better in 2007. Reports/Telling Our Story As part of our fundraising role we prepare the bulk of the reports to funders regarding our accomplishments. However, we also provide a great deal of support to a variety of efforts designed to tell our story to many different audiences. Examples of this work included creating supporting documents for cattle calls like the various Democracy Alliance meet-and-greets and the phone and inperson meetings for the group of anonymous donors who are among the biggest supporters of our Election Administration and c3 Voter Participation programs. SWORD also compiled all of the data and wrote the original copy for the post-election promotional items that went out Nov. 8th.

III. Accomplishments
Produced materials for 22 funders and assorted individual donors and allies; Provided demographic analyses for eligible unregistered Latino and African-American populations across the United States; Produced several pieces analyzing our 2005 work and provided the information for the dayafter releases regarding our 2006 electoral work; Produced the local Political Plans for eight states; Produced the 2006 YEYB Political Operations Operation Report PowerPoint presentation and three other state-based PowerPoints.

IV.

Goals and Objectives for 2007

As Political Operations has grown and evolved, the charge for SWORD has evolved as well. While it was originally conceived as a place where the bulk of the writing and research for the operation would be centered, the quick growth of the operation and the increasing sophistication of our use of data have necessitated the sharing of some functions. Several political organizers and political directors have responsibility for creating reports of the work done under their leadership, as does the APAL director. Our access to sophisticated data has take a giant leap forward through our involvement with the date warehouse Catalist and the responsibility for delivering this data rests with the Data and Technology Department. This department also has access to a range of consumer and demographic info that obviates the need for SWORD to do independent research in that area. Given these new realities, it is perhaps best to think of SWORD as an internal writing and research consultant to the wider world of the COUNCILs participation in all facets of electoral participation. However, it would be inaccurate to assume the Department works on an ad hoc basis. Despite the consultant analogy, SWORD is charged with a series of standing responsibilities: demographic and elections research, development of major fundraising proposals and supporting materials, policy analysis support for the Election Administration program, and, broadly speaking, telling the story of the COUNCILs involvement in the electoral process. 142

Objectives for 2007

Ensure timely submission of proposals and reports to funders and allies. Provide accurate demographic research to support political field programs. Oversee the EA Legislative Tracking program. Create effective promotional presentations and materials and other support for communications around our electoral work.

The goals to meet these objectives are:

Goals for 2007

Submissions: Use DonorPerfect to ensure all necessary reports are submitted on-time. Research: Add new demographics information to our voter registration research to get the most accurate estimates possible including migration within a given SMSA and incorporation of data on incarceration; create a comprehensive list of all elections for 2007 and then for 2008. EA Legislative Tracking: Provide comprehensive bill tracking services for COUNCIL field staff and for allied voting rights organizations for local bills in 21 states. Presentations: SWORD will take on responsibility for producing the Annual Report for Project Vote as well as any PowerPoint presentations needed by Operation staff in meetings with allies and funders.

V.

Conclusion

2006 was the most successful mid-year voter participation effort for ACORN and its related organizations. This success has fueled increased capacity and sophistication within Political Operations. SWORD worked diligently in 2006 to support the fundraising efforts that enabled us to reach the scale and level of success we did (4 successful minimum wage ballot initiatives are no mean feat for anyone and we should all be extraordinarily proud of our part in reshaping the debate around economic justice in the United States) and provided support to the field programs for voter registration goal-setting and presenting our programs to funders, allies, and the media. In 2007 we look to play a similar role, but with increased sophistication and aggressiveness, especially as we build for a 2008 electoral participation effort that is likely to be the largest ever in the COUNCILs history. It looks to be a whole lot of fun. Kick ass and take names. The people shall rule. Postscript on Nomenclature There is a lot of confusion about the nature of the acronym for this department: SWORD. Notably many people struggle mightily with the fact that no words in Strategic Writing and Research Department start with O. To which I say: that is absolutely correct, but would you rather call for SWARD or for SWORD? And, really, which one is easier to remember? If you are still straight-jacketed by the hobgoblin of foolish consistency, then I would simply point out that this is a writing department and, as writers, we are simply exercising our poetic license and claiming an O where there should be one, but, due to the vagaries of English, it is sadly lacking. 143

On a more serious note, when I was thinking about the name of this small department in the summer of 2005, I thought of two things. First, I remembered a story I heard about an operation which had an internal shop dedicated to generating ideas and vetting projects for their strategic value. The actual name of the shop escapes me, but its initials were something like CPCK and everyone insisted on calling it Cupcakes. As in, better send that over the Cupcakes and see what they say. Second, I remembered that when the African National Congress was choosing the name for their armed resistance wing they were careful about naming it something inspirational and in keeping with the overall ethos of the organization. The name they chose translates as The Spear of the People. So I wanted a name that was catchy and easy to remember and that captured in some small manner, the way in which our members and staff see as the purpose of ACORN. And though we are dedicated to non-violent direct action, many an ACORN target has felt the wrath of the people, often in their own offices. And since I already had an S, W, R, and D from Strategic, Writing, Research, and Department, I just went with what that suggested, sanctioned by my poetic license, and named it SWORD. As in The SWORD Of The People.

Project Votes Election Administration Program Report

Year-End/Year-Beginning 2006

Summary
Successfully overturned restrictions on voter registration drives in Florida, Ohio and Georgia. Eliminated or mitigated no match, no vote policies in Washington, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Helped develop and implement comprehensive Quality Control and Verification programs for the 2006 voter registration drive. Provided technical support on voting issues to ACORN legislative directors and Head Organizers in California, Florida, Maryland, Minnesota, New Mexico, North Carolina, Ohio and Pennsylvania. Worked with ACORN communications and field departments to challenge and respond to allegations of voter fraud.

Program Goals
The Election Administration Program goal is to ensure eligible low-income and minority Americans can register to vote, stay on the voting rolls and cast a vote that counts. Our work includes technical support to ACORN legislative staff on election reform/voter suppression efforts and technical support to ACORNs voter registration drives. The program plays a national leadership role in defining and solving barriers to political participation by low-income and minority voters.

144

Accomplishments by Area
1. Field. The EA Program placed staff in seven states to help run an effective voter registration program. The work included training and supporting quality control efforts, ensuring our applicants were placed on the voter rolls, answering legal and procedural questions, resolving problems with election officials and assisting in Election Day protection operations 2. Litigation. The EA Team organized litigation challenging voter registration restrictions in Florida and brought lawsuits in Ohio and Georgia on the same issue. All were successful. The team also organized a lawsuit against Washington for its no match, no vote policy and reached a settlement in Maryland on the same issue. We also submitted an amicus brief opposing an illegal purge of voters in Kentucky and have intervened in an important voter ID case in Arizona. 3. Policy and Research. The team researched and wrote: nine states guides to voter registration laws, four model election bills, six policy briefs, four legal opinions and three briefing papers for election officials and the media.

For 2007-2008
Continue to challenge voter suppression strategies, such as restrictions on voter registration drives, no match, no vote policies and voter ID laws. Engage legislatures in 12 states on voting reform/voter suppression issues; monitor election legislation in 21 states. Help advance positive election changes at the federal level in partnership with a range of organizations. Lead an effort to refute the belief that widespread voter fraud justifies stricter voting rules. Refine our voter registration program to take into account the lessons of 2006 so we can be even more effective helping low-income and minority Americans register to vote in 2008.

Project Vote 2006 Report

Overview
The 2006 election was highly successful for Project Vote and our constituency. Our voter registration program was the largest in the country, helping voters complete more than 540,000 voter registration (VR) applications in 20 states. And we ran the largest Get Out the Vote (GOTV) program in a mid-term election in our history, making more than 1.5 million contacts in 13 states. Our 2006 program built on our 2004 cycle work, which registered over 1.13 million voters in twenty-seven (27) states and targeted 2.3 million voters for GOTV activities. Since 2003 Project Vote has registered over 1.6 million people to vote and targeted 2.9 million voters with 10.3 million contacts with GOTV messages. In 2006, Project Vote and its local partners submitted 543,436 voter registration applications. Then, nearly 4,000 workers made more than 1.5 million face-to-face contacts with more than 685,000 low- or moderate-income, minority, young, and single women voters in the run-up to, and on the day of, the November 7th election. Project Votes biggest programs were in Colorado, Missouri, and Ohio where our crews were able to encourage voter participation by referencing the hotly-contested minimum wage ballot initiatives at issue in those states.. 145

These results show why Project Vote is the premier civic engagement organization in the United States, an achievement built on a multi-faceted approach to voter participation: VR, GOTV, and an Election Administration program that works proactively to increase ballot access in historically disenfranchised communities.

Voter Registration
Project Votes commitment to increasing participation for our constituency starts with seeking to expand the potential electorate through large-scale large-scale voter registration drives. Our 2006 highlights included work in 20 states, 543,436 total registrations, and a targeted constituency of low- and moderate-income families, minorities, young people, single working women, and New Americans. In Ohio alone, Project Vote helped more than 129,000 voters register to vote through face-to-face conversations. Project Votes methodology stresses face-to-face conversations using workers recruited from the communities in which they work. This local approach to staffing bolsters the perception of our worker as a trusted messenger in the targeted communities. Secondly, Project Vote invests in the development and training of local leaders, building electoral capacity in low- and moderate-income communities. Finally, the emphasis on personal contact allows Project Vote to ensure that the conversations our staff have with the potential voters incorporate a short discussion about locally salient issues, making it more likely the person will indeed register

Get Out the Vote

Because politicians listen to communities who vote, Project Vote works hard to ensure that, in addition to getting registered to vote, people actually go to the polls. In 2006, our field staff carried out a massive Get Out the Vote program, contacting more than 686,000 voters in over a dozen states. Combining volunteers, paid crews, and local partners full-time political organizing staff, the GOTV effort reflected our ability to carry out large-scale operations in 35 different areas, including major Arizona, California, Missouri, Michigan, Ohio, and Pennsylvania cities. Our issue-based GOTV program targeted some 686,796 people for an average of three contacts each. For example, Project Votes GOTV workers knocked on 396,273 doors in Ohio alone. Similar to our Voter Registration work, canvassers relate participation in the elections to salient issues in low- and moderate-income communities, such as healthcare, affordable housing, and the minimum wage, the latter of which proved extremely successful in multiple ballot initiatives across the country.

Election Administration
The Election Administration (EA) program is crucial because threats to voter enfranchisement are growing more vociferous powerful enough to halt VR drives, limit access to the ballot, and impose restrictive data matching and purging regulations on the voter rolls. The EA program provides the information, technical assistance, and support to serve as an integral link between registering and mobilizing voters as well as fighting back against attempts to restrict access to the rolls and ballot. The program includes election protection, election reform, enforcement of the National Voter Registration Act, Voting Rights Act, and Help America Vote Act, and field staff liaising with elections officials around voter verification. 146

To date the Election Administration program has stopped bad ID policy from becoming law in Pennsylvania and remediated severe restrictions on 3rd party registration activities in Maryland, among others, each affecting thousands of voters. Project Vote verified hundreds or thousands of our field staffs applications, including in Michigan, where the state coordinator met with elections officials more than 30 times in only 3 months in this regard. The complement to this field work is our sophisticated work in advocacy, policy research and analysis, technical assistance, and litigation support, carried out by our Election Administration staff. In Ohio, Project Vote legally challenged restrictive voter registration laws. Eventually, the court struck down Ohio statutes intended to require compensated voter registration workers to complete online training without similarly requiring voter registration volunteers to do the same; the court also took issue with the lack of clarity in the codes regulating voter registration activities. Since then, Project Vote has continued to advocate with Secretary of States offices for directives that expand access to the franchise, rather than limit it. In Pennsylvania, a multi-faceted campaign of voter registration work, a field research campaign, and advocacy with elections officials, culminated with the state withdrawing its restrictive policy of requiring photo ID from all voters. This was the major victory for voters and voters rights advocates. Project Vote has been conducting a fifty state survey examining how states are implementing HAVAs provisional voting requirement. We have reviewed the existing research on the subject and have completed survey interviews with 30 states (two refused and several are exempt). This represents the single largest effort to comprehensively review provisional ballot requirements in the United States. Finally, Project Vote submitted written comments to the Election Assistance Commission regarding their proposed Voluntary Guidance on Implementation of Statewide Voter Registration Lists. Our comments included detailed suggestion on matching, list maintenance (purging) and public access portals. EACs final document recommended public access portals using language from our comments.

Summary
Our voter registration drive, the largest in the country in 2006, totaling more than 540,000 voter registrations, combined with work to educate and mobilize more than 685,000, helped push issues of importance to low- and moderate-income communities into the forefront of election-season public policy debates. We are actively building on this 2006 success to fight expected bills seeking to restrict access to the voter rolls as well as to build capacity for the biggest voter participation program in our history for the 2007-08 election cycle.

Appendix A:

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Voter Registration 2005 - 2006

State Arizona California Colorado Connecticut Florida Iowa Kentucky Maryland Michigan Minnesota Missouri VR Total 2,663 1,390 12,870 1,102 20,665 1,612 1,925 49,268 69,585 13,155 65,639 State New Jersey New Mexico Ohio Pennsylvania Rhode Island South Carolina Tennessee Texas Washington Total VR Total 26,562 2,019 129,831 116,485 9,540 2,259 9,242 1,751 5,873 543,436

Appendix B: Get-Out-the-Vote 2005 - 2006

State Arizona Arkansas California Colorado Michigan Minnesota Missouri UniverseContacts 12,464 37,392 5,000 10,000 38,750 73,000 19,500 76,000 19,112 95,560 18,225 60,000 146,349 456,721 State UniverseContacts New Jersey 30,899 51,200 New Mexico 17,000 51,000 Ohio 306,642 396,273 Pennsylvania 41,120 90,000 Rhode Island 23,735 94,940 Texas 8,000 21,400 Total 686,796 1,513,486

ARIZONA HOMEOWNERSHIP DEVELOPMENT PROGRAM 2006

Development Staff

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Gary Musselman, Housing Development Specialist Marilyn Perez, Director

Nita Alt, Admin. Assistance Susan Bryant, Development Assistance

Fundraising Efforts for Loan Counseling City of Phoenix Neighborhood Services Department CDBG Full-time Loan Counselor 4/06 4/07 ACORN Housing Homeownership Classes Held Wednesday & Thursday evenings for FTHB Total Fundraising for Loan Counseling $29,000 $ 3,825 $32,825

Fundraising Efforts for Development World Saving & Loan Loan Counseling for Homeownership Development & Subsidy Contributions, & Loan Counseling fees Local Initiative Support Corporation & Salary Support for affordable housing $300,000 $ 5,000

The Arizona Housing Family Funds

Salary and training support JP Morgan Chase 12/30/05 for 2006 $ 25,000

$ 50,000

World Savings
Development Arizona Charity Tax Credit Development and Loan Counseling Total Fundraising for Homeownership Development $ 2,100 $391,000

$ 10,000

Total Raised for 2006

$426,825

Development Activities ACORN Beverly Homes Project

AHC AZ celebrated it groundbreaking ceremony earlier this year, and over 80 folks attended ACORN Beverly groundbreaking. The ACORN Beverly subdivision off and on site improvements are 75% completed. Paving, street lighting, and landscaping scheduled for completion December 17, 2006. AZ AHC secured 13 homebuyers, and 8 properties and under hard construction. AZ AHC anticipates transferring the first eight homes in February 2007. AZ AHC will secure 10 additional homebuyers by mid January 2007 to have 15 homes under construction at any one time. Completion of the ACORN Beverly scheduled for June 2008 contingent upon keeping pace with 15 homes under construction. ARKANSAS ACORN YEAR END/YEAR BEGINNING REPORT December 2006 149

2006 Report
New Members Full: 471 Associate: 185 Provisional: 76 (We did not record provisionals until the last month) New Bank Draft: 338 with a face value of $3,480 Actual Live Bank Draft: 449 with a face value of $3,459 Av Number of Organizers: 5.8 Number of Neighborhood Groups: 9 Budget Size: $350,000 Number of Events: 327 Turn Out: 2,591 Growth and Expansion for 2006: We added a new group in Southwest Little Rock and established a new chapter in North Little Rock. We recruited more Hispanic members and have begun organizing an immigrant committee within ACORN. Campaigns Pine Bluff Living Wage: We gathered 5,700 signatures to place a living wage ordinance on the ballot for the November election. We won with 69% of the voters supporting living wage. We are now monitoring the city to see that the ordinance is implemented. Minimum Wage: ACORN played a major role in winning an increase in the state minimum wage to $6.25 per hour. Tenant Organizing: We won improvements at Our Way Apartments, a complex for disabled people. We also negotiated improvements in a complex located in West Little Rock. Immigrant Organizing: ACORN played a major role in organizing the April and May marches for immigration reform in Little Rock. We also organized a coalition that successfully lobbied Senators Lincoln and Pryor to support comprehensive immigration reform. Neighborhoods: Levy ACORN won a resolution from the City of North Little Rock to call on the Highway Department to hold a hearing on noise pollution from I-40. We won improved police service in the McClellan neighborhood. In Warren to Mann we won some improvements to Thom Park. Wakefield ACORN won improvements to their neighborhood park. In Pine Bluff we won some improvements to a senior center from the Parks and Recreation Commission. Katrina: We formed a small chapter of the Katrina Survivors Association that met regularly and participated in national campaign activities. 150

Politics ACORN members conducted interviews and made endorsements in the primary and general elections. We actively campaigned for candidates for Governor, Lieutenant Governor and Attorney General. Both Pine Bluff and Little Rock made endorsements in local races. Victories include: Jefferson County Sheriff Members helped elect the first African-American sherrif in Jefferson County. Living Wage Pine Bluff ACORN members mounted a great campaign for a living wage ordinance for city workers and contractors. We are the first city in the mi-south to have a living wage policy. Pine Bluff City Council We won an additional pro-ACORN seat on the City Council. There are now five African-Americans on the Council. Little Rock School Board We endorsed and worked for candidates in Zones 6 and 7 on the Little Rock School Board. We helped defeat Chamber of Commerce backed incumbents in both races giving African-Americans a majority on the school board. Jail Tax We helped lead a coalition that successfully a proposed sales tax to expand the Pulaski County jail. We did suffer a serious set back politically by losing our two seats on the Little Rock City Board of Directors. Both of our incumbent ACORN City Directors were defeated. Genevieve Stewarts race was decided by only 7 votes. Both served two terms on the Board. Little Rock Change of Government Petition We are part of a coalition that is working to eliminate the at-large positions on the City Board and to strengthen the power of the elected the Mayor. We have gathered around 4,000 signatures to place the proposal on the ballot. We will use this campaign to begin to rebuild our involvement in city politics. Leadership We held regular state board meetings, but did not build our county boards. We did increase our core of active leaders, but not by much. In Jefferson County a small core of ACORN volunteers did great work on living wage and in the primary and general elections. Free Tax Site, Benefits Center, Housing We opened a tax site in Pine Bluff. We more than doubled the returns completed in Little Rock. We stayed open until October 16. We got a late start with our benefit screening program, but the phone has started to ring off the hook. During the first week of December we saw around 10 people per day. Our homebuyer program finally secured a contract with the city of Pine Bluff and is still working on a contract with the city of Little Rock. We did not get funded for fair housing work this year from HUD. We believe they made a mistake in the scoring process. We will need to find additional resources in 2007 to support the ACORN Homebuyer program in Arkansas.

Goals for 2007

New Members Full: 700 Associate: 350 Provisional: 1,000

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New Bank Draft: Increase actual bank draft to $4,500 per month. Renewals: Develop a systematic monthly renewal program to renew 360 members converting 120 to bank draft. Av. Number of Organizers: 8 Active Chapters: 15 Budget Size: $450,000 Turnout: 3,000 Growth and Expansion: Build chapters in two new Arkansas towns. Campaigns: Develop one new living wage campaign. Move campaign on state EITC using our tax sites. Develop and move citywide campaigns in Little Rock and Pine Bluff. Move a neighborhood campaign in each local chapter. Move on housing/lending campaign. Politics: Do fundraising drives for APAC and the Clean Government PAC. Gather 10,000 signatures on the change of government petition in Little Rock. Work with members to develop an APAC that meets regularly and makes plans. Vita/Benefits Center: Complete 750 returns and screen 600 people. Housing/Financial Justice: Do fundraising to rebuild capacity. Close 50 loans. Hold monthly financial justice seminars. Leadership: The Board has approved a schedule of monthly statewide leadership training events. Move 25+ to these trainings each month. Build county boards in Pine Bluff and Little Rock. Develop functioning APACs and Fundraising Committees. Build an immigrant issues committee. Projections Goals New Members Full Associate Provisional Active Bank Draft Organizers Active Groups 2008 2009 2010 2011

850 450 1,200 $6,000 10 18

1,000 550 1,400 $7,500 14 20

1,150 650 1,600 $9,000 16 25

1,300 750 1,800 $10,500 20 30 152

Budget

$550,000

$650,000

$750,000

$850,000

California ACORN YEYB Report 2006-2007

California Staff Derecka Mehrens, California Head Organizer John Jackson, Strategic Initiatives and Say Yes to Children Network Tatiana Siegenthaler, Legislative Coordinator Corina Vasaure, AISJ Education Coordinator Joanna Rooney, Administrative Director Christina Livingston, Recruitment Luis Rocha, Interview Setter Colleen Leggett, Grantwriter Marina Delgado, Political Field Director Regional Organizers John Eller, San Francisco Head Organizer David Sharples, San Mateo County Head Organizer Anthony Panarese, Oakland Head Organizer Alejandra Arostegui, San Jose Head Organizer Peter Kuhns, Los Angeles Head Organizer Victoria Samaha, San Diego Head Organizer Numbers for 2006 New Full 2870 New Associate 999 New Provisional 3661 o Total: 7,530 # Organizers averaged 31.6 on the charts throughout the year. Budget -- $3,000,000 Growth and Expansion for 2006 o No new office growth this year o San Mateo ACORN expanded to Daly City and San Bruno o No other new cities were organized in other offices o Dont yet have a canvass operation o No new constituency organizing Turnout 21,017 according to stats o Largest statewide event 300 by LA ACORN for minimum wage rally in Spring o Largest event in state all year San Diego Immigration march (100,000 where we co-coordinated the March Coalition and press) o Statewide lobby day turned out 100 people

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Campaigns and Politics Legislative ACORN endorsed the following bills: 1. AB 1835 & SB 1162 (Lieber & Cedillo) Minimum Wage Increase According to the Cost of Living 2. SB 1209 (Scott) Omnibus Teacher Workforce Bill 3. SB 1124 (Torlakson) Teacher Training, Recruitment and Retention 4.SB 1433 (Torlakson) CA Teacher Leadership Program 5. AB 2511(Jones) Land Use: Housing 6. AB 1169 (Torrico) 60 Days notice bill 7. AB 774 (Chan) Charity Care 8. AB 2562 (Saldana) Condo Conversion: Tenant Notification 9. SB 1534 (Alarcon) Universal Application for food assistance programs, child chare 10. AB 1676 (Ducheny) Condo Conversions: 180 Days notice 11.SB 1510 (Alquist) Reform to the School Accountability Report Card 12. AB 583 (Hancock) Clean Money Campaign 13.SB 1609 (Simitian) Reverse Mortgages 14. AB 2861(Ridley-Thomas) Lead Abatement 15. SB 1800 (Ducheny) Solving California's Housing Affordability Crisis, Local Control over Zoning 16. OPPOSITION TO AB 2840 (Benoit) Automobile Insurance 17. (later) AB 1331 (Nunez) Mayoral control of LA Unified School District

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Our top priority bills all passed and were signed into law: AB 1169 (Torrico): This bill will restore the law that expired on January 1, 2006. This bill will give tenants a 60 days notice for a no-fault eviction. Tenants will receive the 60 days only if all the occupants have resided in the dwelling for more than a year. This law will sunset in January 1, 2010. AB 1835 (Lieber): The minimum wage will increase from $6.75 to $7.50 on January 1, 2007 and $8.00 an hour on January 1, 2008. For full-time earners, they will receive a $2,600 raise in 2007 and a $4,160 raise over two years. This is the highest increase in California since 1988. AB774 (Chan): It would ensure that uninsured patients within certain income limits (under 350% of the federal poverty level--$34,300 for a single person, $58,100 for a family of three) would not have to pay more than the Medicare, Medi-Cal or worker's compensation rate. It would ensure hospital patients get information about the consumer rights and financial options, and place a moratorium on them being sent to collections. Low-income patients will no longer have wage garnishment and liens on primary residences as part of the collections efforts of hospitals. SB 1209 (Scott): It ensures that all teachers are successfully hired, and that they receive quality training, mentoring and support. This bill will also help to attract and retain teachers, in order to prevent a teacher shortage crisis due to the retirement of 100.000 teachers in the next decade. AB 1381 (Nunez): Grants LA Mayor governance over certain items in LA Unified Schools. This was an election year for the Governor and the year after he got his butt kicked by labor. He came out early in January saying he supported a minimum wage increase and would work with the Democratic leadership to pass huge infrastructure bonds to reinvigorate economy and deliver needed services for the state. We worked closely with the California Federation of Labor on minimum wage delivered all the minimum wage workers throughout the year who spoke in committees, at hearings and press conferences. We agreed to axe indexing after a deal was cut with the Assembly majority leader and the Governor denying us Democratic support on the issue. We argued to labor that we could call Nunezs bluff make the Governor look bad and have him veto, but we were not sufficiently persuasive. Governor signed the bill in front of our Los Angeles ACORN office ACORN spoke. Education Campaign We continued our statewide campaigns on school finance reform and teacher quality, securing a shared grant with PICO California and two other advocacy organizations in the state for $800,000 for 12 months from the Williams and Flora Hewlett Foundation. Last year, the Governor, the State Superintendent, and the Assembly and Senate majority leaders requested a non-partisan series of reports be commissioned to study the real cost of a high quality education for Californians students. The studies are scheduled to be released in the Spring of 2008 and will likely lead the charge for major 155

reforms of the school finance system in the state. For the past 6 months we have been conducting leadership development and trainings with community members in 10 school districts on budget issues and school finance capacity building for a parent-led response to the studies. We were the only community organization invited in January of 2007 to speak at the Senate Education Committees special hearing on teacher quality leading to our being asked to participate in the stakeholders discussions which resulted in more than $22,000,000 in appropriated funds to improve teacher quality in the poorest performing schools in the state. Senator Jack Scott, author of the omnibus bill SB 1209, participated in an event in Los Angeles with ACORN in support of the bill. In the stakeholders meetings we advocated for, and won, improvements to the teacher-mentor program in the state, including requirements that veteran teachers have at least 7 years experience and be trained in a qualified mentor program, increasing the pay for veteran teachers to an additional $6,000, and ensuring that veteran teachers participating in the state mentor program commit to 5 years in a Decile 1-3 school. This year was the year of education. The Senate sponsored bipartisan legislation on the issue of mal-distribution of resources that ACORN and PICO California butted our way into the negotiations around. Additionally, the CTA and the Governor settled their dispute over education funding resulting in $2.9billion being reimbursed to the Department of Education. The settlement requires that these funds be used in Decile 1-2 schools for class-size reduction, reduction of the student to counselor ratios, other teacher supports. This money is going to go to the highest need schools, and ACORN has been working with the CA Department of Education in their stakeholders sessions about how to best distribute the money. Politics In the Spring, APAC members met and interviewed in various statewide races in California. Because the state legislative districts are severely gerrymandered, the majority of the statewide Assembly and Senate races are fought in the primary election, not the general. APAC voted to endorse the following: Governor - State Treasurer Phil Angelides Won primary lost general Lt. Governor - No Endorsement Secretary of State - Dual:State Senator Debra Bowen & State Senator Deborah Ortiz Ortiz won primary and general Attorney General - Oakland Mayor Jerry Brown He won primary and general State Treasurer - Attorney General Bill Lockyer Won primary and general Supt. of Public Instruction - Incumbent Jack O'Connell Won prmry and gnrl Controller - State Senator Joe Dunn Insurance Commissioner - Lt. Governor Cruz Bustatante Won prmry lost genrl Assembly District 16 (Oakland) - Dual: Oakland City Attorney John Russo & Trustee Sandre Swanson Swanson won in Primary and General AD 45-Los Angeles: Dual: UTLA Rep Kevin De Leon & Non-Profit Director Elena Deleon won primary and general Popp AD 48 (Los Angeles) - Civil Rights Attorney Anthony Willoughby AD55 (Long Beach) - Community College Trustee Warren Furutani 156

Senate District 6 (Sacramento) - Mental Health Commissioner Darrell Steinberg both SD 20 (Los Angeles) - Assemblywoman Cindy Montanez lost primary SD 26 (Los Angeles) - Assemblyman Mark Ridley-Thomas won both In November, ACORN took the following positions on statewide ballot initiatives:
PROPOSITION 1B: BOND TO PAY FOR HIGHWAYS PASSED ACORN SAYS: NO

won

Proposition 1B would raise $19 billion for transportation and air quality improvements such as reducing congestion on the highways, roads and ports, retrofitting bridges and improving public transit. The majority of the money goes towards highway related projects and for improvements to local transit services, such as purchasing new buses and rail cars. Our members are concerned that this money will not increase the amount of public transportation in our neighborhoods and believe that this is too large a sum that could be directed elsewhere.

PROPOSITION 1C: BOND TO BUILD HOUSING FOR LOW-INCOME CALIFORNIANS SAYS: YES PASSED

ACORN

Proposition 1C would borrow $2.85 billion in bonds to pay for more housing in urban areas that is located close to public transit. It would also Provide low-interest loans and/or down payment assistance for families seeking to purchase a home for the first time. It would build and improve rental units, such as apartment buildings and it would increase the number of homeless shelters in the state and create better housing for farm workers. We believe this bond reflects the ACORN platform and our communitys priority for more affordable housing.

PROPOSITION 1D: BOND FOR NEW & SAFE SCHOOL BUILDINGS YES PASSED

ACORN SAYS:

Proposition 1C would borrow $10.5 billion to construct and modernize buildings for elementary, middle, junior high and high schools, community colleges, California universities and state colleges. K-12 schools would receive $7.3 billion. The money would be used for earthquake retrofitting, new construction of buildings, alleviating the overcrowding in certain schools, and to create more vocational and technical schools. We support this because we recognize that our children learn better in functioning and well-repaired classrooms.

PROPOSITION 84: WATER AND CONSERVATION PROJECTS-BOND NO PASSED

ACORN SAYS:

Proposition 84 is a bond initiative that would borrow $5.4 billion. The majority of this money would be used to maintain water projects in California. The rest of the money would be used for flood control projects, to plan for Californias future water needs and for a variety of conservation projects to protect rivers, streams, lakes, beaches, and increase the number of parks in California. We believe that borrowing money for this effort is not a good choice, the other bonds on this ballot are more worthwhile use of our tax dollars.

PROPOSITION 86: TOBACCO TAX TO FUND HEALTH CARE SERVICES SAYS: YES FAILED

ACORN

Proposition 86 would increase the price of a pack of cigarettes by $2.60. Hospital emergency rooms would be given money so that they can stay open, and there would be more money to research cures and ways to prevent certain cancers. It would also provide health access to more children who are eligible.

PROPOSITION 87: TAX ON OIL COMPANIES TO CREATE MORE ALTERNATIVE ENERGY SAYS: YES FAILED

ACORN

Proposition 87 asks the voters to approve a tax on oil companies in California. The tax will not be passed to consumers because it would be against the law to do so. The goal of this initiative is to reduce Californias dependence on gasoline and diesel fuel by 25% over the next 10 years. Each barrel of oil will be taxed 1.5% to 6% of the cost. This money will be used to research and expand alternative energy options such as solar and wind power. It would fund programs to train new workers, including grants for low-income students.

PROPOSITION 88: SMALL SOLUTION FOR A BIG EDUCATION PROBLEM NO FAILED

ACORN SAYS:

Proposition 88 would establish a tax on property owners to raise money for school books and smaller classrooms. The money would be raised by passing an annual $50 property tax paid for by homeowners, small and medium business owners and corporations. Schools that would qualify for the funding would be schools with API scores between 6-10. Many schools in low-income and minority communities have lower API scores. We are concerned that this tax will hurt low-income residents and that our schools will not receive funding.

PROPOSITION 89: DONATION AND SPENDING LIMITS FOR ELECTION SAYS: YES FAILED

ACORN

Proposition 89 would set restrictions on the amount of money an individual, corporation or other group such as political parties and committees, can donate to a particular candidate. It also sets restrictions on the amount of contributions that candidates can spend to support or oppose a particular ballot measure. It taxes corporations to establish a state fund to give money to candidates that have met certain requirements for their campaigns.

PROPOSITION 90: JEOPARDIZING THE USE OF PRIVATE PROPERTY FOR THE PUBLIC GOOD ACORN SAYS: NO FAILED

Proposition 90 would make it more difficult for cities to use eminent domain to build housing, establish a community garden or to create a park. It would instead allow property owners or developers to seek compensation from city government if they believe city laws have reduced the value of their property. Using this businesses could tie the city up in very costly lawsuits for things like inclusionary zoning, liquor store regulation, etc. We believe that the cities may lose money that could be used in improving our neighborhoods.

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Get-Out-the-Vote California over the course of two months took on the task of contacting low to moderate income minority voters across the state. ACORN members dedicated themselves as volunteers and worked hard to contact the family, friends, and neighbors about the importance of voting on November 7th. Individual offices can report on their work, but the statewide scope of work encompassed 8 counties, 482 precincts, and 112,438 voters targeted. 654 volunteers were moved to do GOtV work across the state. Leadership Development Our Statewide Board voted in new leadership in Spring, electing a new Chair, CoChairs, Secretary and Treasurer. The Board continues to meet quarterly and has improved the quality of meetings and content, though we have more to go. The last Board meeting in November was attended by 28 members, up from our Board meeting a year ago attended by 17. The growth of the board has led to disparate experience levels within the organization, more leadership trainings need to happen at Board meetings and before Board meetings to bring folks up to speed. The Board has begun asking for written reports before the Board meetings, a good things. A number of committees have been formed this year, though we have yet to figure out a way to make them fully functional. There is a commitment from many members to work on this in 2007. Numbers for 2007 Organizing Staff New Full 4,320 New Associate 4,800 New Provisional 9,600 Tax Preparation and FJC 9,500 Canvass 5,000 o Total: 33,220 # Organizers ave 40 throughout year. Budget -- $4,000,000 Statewide grantwriting goals o 125 proposals submitted for $2.5 million in requests o 20 funded for at least $400,000 o Secure CA Endowment, Irvine Funding for additional $350,000 minimum Growth and Expansion for 2008 (not finalized) o Kern County staffed o Monterey Tri-County Turnout 50,000 o 1,000-1,500 at CA Statewide Convention in Summer Numbers for 2008 Organizing Staff New Full 5,400 New Associate 6,480 New Provisional 10,800 Tax Preparation and FJC

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 13,500 Canvass (3 FTE Directors) 15,000 Total: 51,180 # Organizers ave 45 throughout year. Budget -- $4,500,000 Growth and Expansion for 2008 (not finalized) o Riverside County Turnout 60,000 o 500 at National Convention Numbers for 2009 Organizing Staff New Full 6,000 New Associate 9,000 New Provisional 15,000 Tax Preparation and FJC 17,600 Canvass (3 FTE) 15,000 Total: 62,600 # Organizers ave 50 throughout year. Budget -- $5,000,000 Turnout 75,000 o 2,000 at CA Convention Numbers for 2010 Organizing Staff New Full 7,260 New Associate 9,900 New Provisional 16,500 Tax Preparation and FJC 20,000 Canvass 15,000 Total: 68,660 # Organizers ave 55 throughout year. Budget -- $5,400,000 Turnout 85,000 Numbers for 2011 Organizing Staff New Full 7,920 New Associate 10,800 New Provisional 18,000 Tax Preparation and FJC 20,000 Canvass 15,000 159

Total: 71,720 # Organizers ave 60 throughout year. Budget -- $5,800,000 Turnout 100,000

Oakland ACORN-2006 YEYB report

Numbers for 2006 383

Full: Assoc: 225

Provisional: 234 Total: 842 Bank Draft Growth: # of Organizers: 44 throughout the entire year # of active neighborhood groups: 5 budget size: turnout #s:

Growth and Expansion for 2006

o

geographic, constituency, canvass?, etc.

Campaigns and Politics In 2006 we worked on the following campaigns: 1. Inclusionary Zoning Oakland ACORN co-coordinated a broad coalition with PICO to pass an inclusionary zoning ordinance for Oakland. This would require a 15% overall ordinance ranging from an average of 60% of the area median income for rental opportunities and an average of 100% for homeownership opportunities. We got this to a vote at the City Council. The council voted 4-4, the tie was later broken by Mayor Jerry Brown against passing the ordinance. Instead Brown and opposition council members moved to have our proposal studied. We are working directly with the mayor-elect to have both ACORN and coalition members on the commission that will study this proposal. Our goal is to bring this issue back to council to be passed by spring of 2007. 2. Condo Conversions In less than 1 month Oakland ACORN co-coordinated another broad based coalition that successfully defeated the passage of a very crappy condo conversion ordinance. This ordinance would have increased the amount of allowed conversions in Oakland to 500 per year. Our pressure was noted as a key reason the vote was killed. 3. City Council Campaign APAC members did two waves of mobilizations for a challenger-candidate in a city council race in Oakland. Memebrs mobilized for the spring primary-an average ot 10 members per week for over 5 weeks helped place the candidate within 729 votes of winning in the primary. Despite a similar effort in the fall, APAC and CSI, both working independent of one another were unable to help secure enough votes for the candidate to win. She lost by a little less than 800 votes to the incumbent. 4. Neighborhood Campaigns: Tenants Rights:

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1. We won a major settlement in a 3 building complex where 13 ACORN members resided 2. ALL of our members won a cash settlement-it ranged from $4-11,000 per family 3. The owner made over $65,000 in repairs to the unbelievably crappy conditions that existed before we organized there 4. We also began a second slum lord campaign on a 52 unit complex-we won a series of mass inspections for all of the apartments 5. we also won commitments from the County to conduct blood tests for lead contamination Liquor Stores 1. Forced one terrible store to stop selling booze altogether 2. Won major improvements including increasing lights, enforcing no loitering and closing early at another 4 stores 3. Won a commitment from the City Attorneys office to kick off a campaign that would prohibit the sale of booze at stores within 600-1000 feet of a school site during school hours-we will be implementing this campaign on Jan. of 07 Neighborhood improvements 1. We won a ton of things-ranging from monthly clean ups of illegal trash and blight reduction in 2 neighborhoods 2. Speed bumps 3. A bunch of traffic calming signs/stop signs, etc in one east Oakland neighborhood, etc.. Education 1. We have partnered with the local PICO affiliate to address the issue of teacher retention within Oaklands public schools-we held a 45 person focus group that included 8 teachers, 3 of them in their second year, came together to talk about why teachers leave. 2. The longterm goal of this is to develop a parent/teacher lead recruitment and retention program as well as the development of a more productive teachermentor program Leadership Development: Were unfortunately losing three very active board members. Our plan is as follows: Hold a local/regional leadership training every three months Hold monthly issue-based trainings on education/violence prevention Send no less than 3 NEW and 2 OLD leaders to the Leg Conference Send no less than 5 NEW leaders to leadership school this July (See excel sheet for 5 year goals)

Los Angeles ACORN

YE/YB Report 2006 HO: Peter Kuhns Guadalupe Gonzalez, Lead Tenant Organizer Maria Cervantes, Lead Organizer San Fernando Valley

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Luis Rosado, Organizer Patricia Arellano, Parent Organizer Janon Ephriam, Organizer Jennifer Jackson, Organizer Chris Doreau, Organizer (Training for San Diego) Cesar Reyes, Organizer San Fernando Valley Catalina Barrera, Organizer San Fernando Valley Ulises Ruiz, Organizer San Fernando Valley Teresa Alvarez, Organizer San Fernando Valley Manuel Rangel, Political Organizer Juan Martinez, Fair Housing Program Director Tanya Maxwell, Benefit Access Director Nancy Hernandez, Office Manager / Housing & Assistance Intake Specialist Christina Livingston, SoCal/State Recruitment Director Sara Araiza, Phone Banker Georgina Gonzalez, Administrative Director Priscilla Vasquez, Administrative Assistant # new full members in 2006: 487 # new associate members in 2006: 230 # new provisional members in 2006: 919 total new members in 2006: 1636 # active groups: 9 # inactive groups: 3 budget size: approx. $750,000 largest turnout: 200, Minimum Wage march 4/1/06 avg monthly turnout: 113 average staff size: 8 organizers Growth and Expansion in 2006 This was obviously our biggest area of weakness. We completed two reorganizing drives this year, and no new drives. New members per staff was very low. We began getting associates and provisionals on the doors, which resulted in a higher number of each than last year, but really not that high at all. New members from our one running VITA site was almost nil. Clearly, in 2007 we need to start with the basics, and then figure out how to produce mass membership numbers through Benefit Access Centers, and associate and provisional canvass, etc. We got serious about trying to recruit new staff toward the end of the year with regular regional academies, but have so far been unable to produce solid staff. One bright spot is the largest staff weve ever had in the San Fernando Valley, which will hopefully help us expand beyond our one chapter in this area of LA (that has a higher population than all but 4 US cities!) in 2007. 162

Campaigns 1) Housing: Weve gotten a real housing campaign going again at the end of the year by helping to revive the coalition of housing groups working across the city and leading (providing 95% of turnout for) a series of events designed to shine a bad light on developers unwilling to do any affordable housing. Were on our way to stopping old nemesis luxury developer GH Palmer Associates from getting a waiver from a downtown affordable housing requirement, and have gotten the issue back in the papers and, hopefully, on the front burner at City Hall. Having secured a renewed commitment from the Mayor to support inclusionary zoning in a recent personal meeting, we are now leading the coalition down the road of finding an author and co-sponsors in early 2007 to try and pass a citywide ordinance once and for all. 2) Developers and development: Continuing our strategy of targeting developers and proposed developments where we can leverage some community benefit, ACORN members were active in helping get mixed-income developments approved, and in stopping others that werent. We now have developers and consultants calling us asking to meet somewhat regularly. 3) Education reform: 2006 was a breakthrough year in our schools work, as ACORN members continued building a base of active parent members working with teachers at local schools, launched a campaign for a lead teacher program, and played a leading role in the passage of the Mayors school district restructuring bill. Throughout the year, ACORN parent members became much more active and visible at School Board meetings and District headquarters, and took two trips to Sacramento one with approx. 200 and another with 50 to lobby against the District for the reform bill. From early in the year, ACORN also played a leading role in a coalition of school reform groups working closely with the teachers union, UTLA, holding a kick-off press conference of the coalition at our office designed to establish ourselves as an independent parent-teacher force during a time when it was much less clear what the Mayor was doing. Our members were also highly active in the implementation of the recently passed Cafeteria Reform Act, sitting on a committee charged with setting new policy to improve food quality in district cafeterias. Our lead teacher campaign is beginning to go well members have been lobbying both the District and the Mayor (who is about to take over 3 clusters of schools), and it looks like weve gotten UTLA to agree to include the program within their current contract demands. This holds the potential of some exciting joint events in early 2007 to compel the district to create a lead teacher program with an implementation committee including parents, teachers, and administrators on a pilot level. 4) Tenants rights: Los Angeles ACORN played a big role in the passage, over long odds, of AB 1169, which extended the minimum notice for no-fault evictions statewide to 60 days. An LA member gave testimony at a key committee hearing, and leaders 163

produced hundreds of letters for the bill. Some exciting local tenant campaigns have begun, with groups of mobile home owners in the outlying cities of Rosemead and Lynwood successfully heading off mass evictions, and the latter group initiating a lawsuit against the city based on its housing plan. 5) Environmental justice: We announced that ACORN is suing Palace Plating, the chrome plating factory located next to 28th St. Elementary where an ACORN chapter is located. The lawsuit had its first initial hearings, and is moving into a new phase in early 2007. A key chapter leader, with the help of staff, has done huge work to add parents to the suit as plaintiffs. Events have kept the issue in the news by highlighting the most recent deaths of 2 long-time teachers at the school of cancer. 6) Minimum wage: Los Angeles ACORN helped lead the statewide campaign that ended up with the Gov. signing a $1.25 increase. We held several events throughout the year, including a well publicized 200 person march through the Hollywood Hills in April. The Governor signed the bill surrounded by ACORN members, in the building where the ACORN office is located, in October. 7) Politics: In March, ACORN ran most of the field for failed School Board candidate Christopher Arellano, who self destructed after it was revealed that he had lied about being caught stealing and about not completing his graduate degree at USC. Nevertheless, the race, which pitted ACORN and UTLA against the Mayor and most of the rest of labor, helped us build respectability and we quickly developed a relationship with the new school board member, who showed up at our Lead Teacher kickoff event. In June, ACORN played a role in 5 legislative primary elections in LA County, with a total of 72 members walking in various programs on election day. We helped run, with SEIU UHW, a program that elected progressive Senator Jenny Oropeza over business Dem George Nakano in the South Bay area. Other campaigns were not as successful. In November, we had approx. 150 members involved in the election, including a 40person African American targeted program that we ran, and about 100 members and some lead staff involved in the SOL Latino-targeted program in other parts of the county. ACORN also played a high profile role in supporting Proposition H, a $1 billion city housing bond measure that missed the 2/3 passage threshold by less than 5 percentage points. This has been an important impetus for our current inclusionary zoning campaign, as voters have clearly sent a mandate for the city to do something about the housing crisis. Leadership development We did more formal leadership trainings this year than in 2005 two parent teacher retreats on education policy with UCLA expert Jeannie Oakes, and several parent trainings with statewide education staff. We did not do the more general trainings that

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weve done in the past, nor did we do new member or board orientations, which we need to get back to. Citywide, we developed a handful of new leaders in 2006, but not a whole lot. This goes back to the low membership recruitment numbers.

Goals for 2007 - 2011

Numbers: see attached chart As noted above, one of our biggest weaknesses was base building and membership recruitment. In 2007, a primary goal will be to make LA one of the top offices in the country for new members. We will also develop 100 new leaders, conduct 10 new or reorganizing drives, and add at least 5 new neighborhoods to our chapter base. Another primary goal will be to get our Benefit Access Centers (at least 2 in the city of LA, maybe 3) up and running with big numbers. We have a staff and large budget to do this, thanks to a CDBG grant from the city, starting tax season. Will set up a system for mass membership recruitment through the centers. We will do a 750-1000 person BTE in the first half of the year, probably around housing. Also will set a goal of 500 for the State Convention in Las Vegas! Also, will set a goal of broadening our funding base with foundations and corporate/bank donors. I need to spend major time on fundraising, and possibly hire a development director.

San Francisco ACORN YEYB - 2006 / 2007

Staff: John Eller, Head Organizer Grace Martinez, Lead Organizer Rodolfo Vargas, Organizer Samuel Davidson, Organizer Barbara Crittle, Organizer Laura Godinez, Benefits Supervisor Numbers for 2006 o # of new members Full= 662 Assoc= 129 Prov= 1456 Total for year= 2,247 bank draft growth (total and for year) = +$1,100 # of organizers= 4 # of active neighborhood groups = 5 budget size = $560,000 165

turnout #s = 900+ for year, average of 72 per mo Growth and Expansion for 2006: geographic, constituency, canvass?, etc. 2006 was a major growth year growing from around 1,600 members at the beginning of the year to a total of 3,764 in the database at current count. Much of our growth can be attributed to a big membership push during the tax season where over 3,800 clients came through 5 different tax sites. We were able to staff 2 of the tax sites with organizing staff and joined a large number of members as full and associate members. Because of the Tax Program, we were able to build a citywide membership and also joined a number of new members from San Mateo County to begin seeding future organizing. Through two election campaigns, we have over 1,000 provisionals that are not included in our stats and have not been input in to the database.

Growth Goals 2007: We have set a goal of bringing in 5,000 clients through 6 tax sites in the first quarter of 2007. This coupled with hiring and training organizing staff and intake workers to join every one should enable us to Join at least 1,500 Provisional; 1,500 Associate and 1,000 Full Members during the tax season. Post Tax Season, we will expand in to other districts and utilize a canvass crew to supplement organizing. Our focus will be on our 6 core chapters to further institutionalize ACORN in these last remaining low income neighborhoods. As we grow larger, our challenge will be retaining the bank draft income and informing a growing largely middle income base that is consistently bombarded with multiple groups surveying or informing them about something. To accomplish more of an institutionalized presence in the city, the Board has decided to focus on the following goals and strategies: 10,000 Piece mailing each month in a political postcard format Auto message to members one time per month Signing up members for free email accounts goal of a 7,000 monthly email alert to members and allies. New Member Orientations with average of 50 NM / Month with goal of becoming block/precinct captains. Developing an ACORN Community Action Leader Program where members are given awards based on joining other members, outreach, gathering information and turnout. Quarterly Big Turnout Events with at least 200 people to move a quarterly agenda. Growth Goals in 2008 to 2011 Growth Plan Tax Season YR Ben Ctr YR Canvass Organizers Members through ACAL TOTAL PER YEAR TOTAL MEMBERS Retention/Turnout Plan Monthly Mailing 2008 3500 1000 3000 1000 600 9,100 19,100 30,000 2009 4000 1500 3500 1180 900 11,080 30,180 40,000 2010 4500 2000 4000 2360 1200 14,060 44,240 55,000 2011 5000 2500 4500 2540 1500 16,040 60,280 75,000 166

Email List ACAL/APAL Captains

30,000 280

40,000 320

60,000 500

90,000 700

Campaigns and Politics

After 2 elections in the last six months we have some time to focus on chapter work and political capacity building to gear up for November 2007 Mayor race and parcel tax for teachers and classroom support. IRV will be in place for this race as well as a number of ballot initiatives. We are considering crafting one that gets us engaging District 10 and 11 voters so that we are well prepared for 2008. We are the go to group for District 10 and 11 and have been working more of Districts 9 and 5 to have a stronger presence in two communities that are rapidly gentrifying. Our plan to move an ACAL program that creates block and precinct outreach volunteers will be in full swing by the end of April. Our aim is to test these members in outreach around service delivery and then do some additionally trainings to have them able to communicate issue based organizing. From here, the third phase will be to move them to APALS when for the Mayors race in November. Regarding campaigns, we had some good ones this year and we are well positioned to be prime movers and shaker-uppers in the next year. Health: Last year (05) we saved health clinics. This year we provided the field experience to win a form of universal healthcare. David Sharples staffed the leadership on the campaign with leader Gisselle Quesada. Using the tax program to survey people on health needs, we were able to build a quick base, identify members who could put a face on the problem, and move numerous members on multiple fronts to move the key supervisor and win the campaign. Giselle was appointed to the Mayors select committee and ACORN was the key organization attributed with winning health care for over 80,000 workers. The Restaurant Association here (GGRA) has sued on the basis of ERISA (federal preemption) and now the test will be wage a strategic campaign that pits all downtown and organized business community against organized labor and our base. We are looking at other ways to cut in to their profits as pressure points to drop the suit which is only about the extra $1.60 they have to pay per hour for workers for healthcare. Depending on the lawsuit, in 2007 we may be looking at some additional funding streams we can win from downtown to further boost our community free health care system. A sure fight will be around stopping the closure of a non profit hospital that serves our communities and winning further health based programs/nurses in the schools as part of our education work. Benefits/EITC: We have positioned ourselves as the primary group for EITC with the Treasurers office and other key players in the city. This program has been our most effective base builder and resource generator. We have made major headway with a number of key foundations and we look to raise nearly $200,000 in the next year to support base building. With the leadership of Laura Godinez in our office we have identified other opportunities to develop organizing opportunities. Already we have won rental assistance and are now working on immigrant rights issues. We have a model parternship with the county human services agency and will be operating a total of 6 sites this year, 5 out of their One Stop Centers. HSA is 167

working on providing us with volunteers and outreach to their over 60,000 clients. The Treasurer has created the Bank on San Francisco program to get people more bank accounts and financial literacy training and we are a primary partner here. SF Credit Union has developed a RAL product for us and offers our Members free bank accounts. We continue to have credit classes and will be expanding our program to weekly classes around a variety of subjects as gathered from surveys during tax season. This year we served over 4,000 clients (3,800 during tax season). 2007, we intend to serve over 6,000 (5,000 during tax season) and continue to use this as a citywide base building program. The Board has decided to focus on school sites as benefits centers and monthly meeting places in order to grow our education work, so by mid year, we intend to have Benefits Centers in at least 8 neighborhood school sites. Violence: Our violence campaign has finally made big strides. After a year of actions and now with support from the Haas Fund, we have been working on an inside strategy with the Mayors office to develop a local version of Ceasefire that would be a hybrid of Chicago and Boston Land Use: The real power in the city is around land use and how to expedite private housing construction that maximizes affordability and access by our base. The city holds up projects in order to cut development deals that traditionally have not helped ELI families. Organized Nonprofit developers win big money from the city but also take years to pull together projects that result in still unaffordable units. Public Housing has large prime properties with housing that is in horrible condition. Graces work has focused on developing a community benefits agreement for a Redevelopment area in the heavily industrial Bayview community as well as organizing a stronger base of housing tenants who have won numerous health and safety repairs to public housing units. We have been building a coalition of the key community stakeholders, the Building Trades, Public Employees Union, UNITE HERE, UHW and the labor council who have a huge number of members in this part of town and are faced with many of them being gentrified out. We have retained a leading land use atty who has designed Community Benefits Agreements for LAANE and many other jurisdictions as well as agreement to work with Urban Strategies Council who worked for the Redevelopment Agency. Our plan will be to create a model agreement and 5 year land use plan that we can raise significant resources around and move strategic campaigns around.
Hope SF: the Mayor has made announcements for a local Hope VI program but there have been no details. He is up for election in Nov 07 and we have the chance to craft what this program looks like in terms of private development on public housing land. Rental Assistance / Local Section 8: We helped win over $2.5 million in rental assistance funds, should be winning a significant grant to do tenant outreach, and expect to move even more money through the Budget cycle this year to expand a local rental assistance program. Our goal will be to use our benefits centers set up across the city as entry points to organizing housing tenants. We have already compiled a list of over 7000 Section 8 tenants and will start to build a list of families who make up the over 25,000 waiting list. 2008 and 09 will serve to further institutionalize this program with other dedicated funding sources. Private Development: Pvt Developers have approached us to offer us units and space if we can push their permits forward through planning and building. With 30,000 units being planned in the next 5 to 10 years, their loss of significant money waiting 3-5+ years for approvals and construction offers us an opportunity for winning many truly affordable ownership and rental units.

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Budget: This past year has been trying to understand what many other groups have figured out. Every year in January and February, coalitions of groups start organizing around budget requests for that benefit them rather than our communities. This year we won nearly $1 million in Violence prevention based funds for schools and rental assistance funding and just negotiated out $75k to support our EITC program. This year we intend to be more strategic, using the working families platform to move larger budget requests to our program. Schools: Through two successful elections in the last 4 years, we have positioned ourselves to be the primary community partner with the teachers union. After a couple of organizing meetings between our respective members we have come up with a urban schools reform plan that will lead to a parcel tax most likely in Nov 2007. Our political work this past November resulted in winning a seat for our candidate for school board; convinced them to raise money for us; and agreement to support 2 ACORN Members for school board in 2008. We are still trying to get a handle on our organizing work and have not quite navigated the busing system that has both hurt the neighborhood schools work and failed to desegregate. Building a base we can move and starting school site organizing with parents and teachers are our next steps. 2007 is winning the parcel tax. 2008 is winning 4 seats on school board and opening an ACORN school or at least a grouping of schools that are connected to an ACORN Platform with an organizing program. Working Families: to further position ourselves as the go to organization on jobs, housing, healthcare, schools and benefits, we will be moving a local training, marketing and turnout campaign that includes a member to member survey program, monthly mail, and regular email alerts. By Summer 07, we expect to have this soft contact piece align with a hard contact program with a canvass and member captain system. 2008 is the critical year for San Francisco ACORN. 2 Assembly Races / 1 Senate Race: We have already been approached to help with a candidate for Senate and we are interested in helping an ally win an Assembly Seat. 6 Supervisor Races: Odd Districts are up and we have chapters in 5, 9 and 11. By 2008 we plan to have a chapter in Dist 1. District 11 is our oldest turf and most familiar that we work each election. We also have our strongest leadership here. We are considering running a member for Supervisor in 2008. 4 School Board: We jumped in to the fray this Nov election for School Board and strategically jumped out after testing the waters and making a few deals. The primary member we ended up endorsing won because of our work and we are viewed as a partner of the Teachers union. We have already received commitments to support 1 or 2 members for school board in 2008 when it is an open race. Growth Plan Tax Season YR Ben Ctr YR Canvass Organizers 2008 3500 1000 3000 1000 2009 4000 1500 3500 1180 2010 4500 2000 4000 2360 2011 5000 2500 4500 2540 169

Members through ACAL TOTAL PER YEAR

600 9,100

900 11,080

1200 14,060

1500 16,040

Leadership Development We have a strong group of leaders and board members and a huge new base of membership for the year, but have a need for growing our mid level leadership. We have 3 or so leaders who could run for office and have been extremely effective in the many coalition level work we do. We have a large and growing latino base and new leadership that needs further development. Our goals in 2007 are to channel the large number of members who join during tax season in to new member orientations that develops 25% of them as community action leaders (ACAL) who plan quick hits, join at least 5 new members a month and monthly provide information for their block or precinct. We are also developing a deeper training program that will lead to a political leadership development program for 2008 elections.

San Mateo County, California 2006 YE/YB Report

Head Organizer: David Sharples Field Organizer: Dan Belsky Field Organizer: Camille Tuason Mata
2006 (Actual)

System
# of Members (all types) per Org per Month # of Members (all types) per Canvasser per Month Total # of Full Members Total # of Associate Members Total # of Provisional Members Total Members 49 224 71 292 587

Line
Canvass Directors on Staff Organizers on Staff Head Organizers on Staff Field Staff Field Staff Devt/Recruitment Field Fundraisers Field Part-Time Canvassers FTE (meaning each is .5) Field Membership Development Field Leg/Pol Directors Field VR/GOTV Field Administrative Director Field Administrative Assistant Field Full-Time VITA Staff FTE Field Part-Time VITA Staff FTE 2 1

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Total Employees Bank Draft Actual November Deposit (from Final Nov. worksheet, attached)** # of members on Bank Draft Neighborhood Chapters # of Active Chapters # of Inactive Chapters Turnout # of Monthly Events Average Monthly Turnout Largest Turnout Event # Annual Budget Size

140 14

41 78 130 $30,000.00

Expansion -- new turf, cities, counties?

San Bruno, Daly City

Membership Recruitment: Through our organizing drives in Daly City and San Bruno and our VITA site we have joined over 580 new members in San Mateo County (mostly in South San Francisco, Daly City and San Bruno) this year. Leadership Development: We have an elected board for the San Bruno chapter (Chair, Co-Chair, Treasury, Secretary) Turnout in San Bruno: We have had 3 large community meetings in San Bruno with a combined attendance of 220 people. San Bruno ACORN's Big Community meeting on August 31st was a huge success, drawing over 130 people. We also had a 60 person march for Traffic safety. San Bruno ACORN's Anti-Dumping Campaign: On August 10th, 30 ACORN members and community residents met with CalTrain officials and representatives from the San Bruno Parks department to demand the immediate clean-up of garbage and tall weeds along the Caltrain tracks in San Bruno. Residents also demanded that the city clean-up the garbage on a regular basis. The action resulted in an immediate victory. Crews were sent out the next day to clean-up the garbage and cut back the weeds. San Bruno ACORN members held a neighborhood clean-up day on Saturday October 14th to clean-up a park in the Fifth Addition neighborhood which was full of trash and tall weeds. San Bruno ACORN's Traffic Safety Campaign: Members are extremely concerned about the speeding cars on Third Avenue and the high number of accidents at the intersection of 6th Ave. and San Bruno Ave. On August 31st a number of members raised these concerns at the 130 person Big Community Meeting. Then 171

on September 21st members conducted a 60 person march for Traffic Safety to demand that the city take immediate action to install speed bumps on 3rd Ave. and a stop light at 6th Ave. and San Bruno Ave. After the march members met with the City Manager, Police Captain and an official from the Traffic department to explain to the officials why they were concerned and tell them what they wanted to see done. Recently members attended a San Bruno City Council meeting to present their demands to the city council and the Mayor of San Bruno directly.

California ACORN's Statewide Tenants Rights Campaign: Winning 60 days notice for no-fault evictions for California's Tenants: In July Rosa Fuentes, Chairperson of San Bruno ACORN, visited California State Assembly Member Gene Mullin at his office in San Mateo to ask for his support for AB 1169, a bill increasing from 30-days to 60-days the amount of time California's renters will have to move if their landlord issues a no-fault eviction notice. Rosa lobbied Assemblyman Mullin telling him that she herself is a tenant with a low income and that if she was ever evicted she would need extra time to find housing and to get the deposit and first and last months rent together. Then in August Rosa traveled to Sacramento where she testified at the State Capitol before the State Assembly in favor of the bill. Daly City Organizing Drive: To date we have joined 160 members in Daly City through our VITA site and our organizing drive there. On October 26th we had a big community meeting in Daly City where 125 people turned out. At the meeting members pressured city and state officials to come together and release a portion of the Cow Palace parking lot so that Daly City can develop a supermarket there. Organizing workers in South San Francisco: One of our members in South San Francisco, who joined last year at our VITA site, brought it to our attention that his employer has not been paying himself or his co-workers overtime pay. Because many of the workers are afraid of retaliation they have not brought formal complaints to the State Labor board. We have begun a drive to organize all the workers at the work site. We have been working with UFCW to get these workers a labor attorney. We are organizing the members to get them the back wages they are owed while making sure they are protected from retaliation by their employer. Staff: We have two new organizers starting in December!!! That brings us to 3 staff total. We will also be hiring 1 tax site coordinator and 4 tax preparers for our financial justice center in January. Election Work: San Mateo County ACORN worked hard on the No on Prop 90 campaign in November. We hit 60 precincts, got 2000 pieces of literature out through a high volume site in Daly City and got the word out about Prop 90 at our 125 person community meeting in Daly City. 172

Colorado ACORN (Denver/Aurora)

Numbers for 2006

o

# of new members full, assoc, prov. (total and for year) bank draft growth (total and for year) total BD Growth: $665

Full-253 Associate-193 Provisional8720 TOTAL: 9166

o

Jan 06 ($716.00 ) November 06 ($1381.00) Bankdraft grew by 92%

o o o

# of organizers -3 # of active neighborhood groups --3 budget size --$307,000 173

turnout #s 987 for the year, average of 83 members per month, largest turnout event was 100 (Aug 3, minimum wage signature turn-in/rally)

Growth and Expansion for 2006 In January 2006, we had three out of three offices closed, no staff, and no active neighborhood groups. The primary focus was to re-open the Denver office, re-expand in Aurora, and establish four active neighborhood groups. Between February and July, we re-organized three neighborhood groups: one primarily Af-Am in Park Hill (Denver) one primarily Hispanic in Westwood (Denver), one working class white in Northwest Aurora (Aurora). We are currently finishing a drive in Montbello, a mixed (Af-Am, White, Hispanic) neighborhood in Denver (big meeting on December 13th 2006) and it will be the fourth. The minimum wage campaign provided the opportunity to run a large provisional member canvass in the course of voter id and GOTV work. The canvass expanded our efforts into working class neighborhoods in Jefferson County, Adams County, and Arapahoe County. There is now the opportunity to expand ACORN field operations in these counties using a provisional member chase model still being field tested as well as an associate member canvass. Our membership that can be claimed to funders, electeds, and allies, grew from 1400 members in January 2006 to over 7000 in December.

Campaigns and Politics

Money Mart: Colorado ACORN members participated in two direct actions on two Loan Mart stores (what theyre called in CO). One action delivered Loan Shark of the Year Award, and the other followed an April Fools day theme. We also identified an ACORN member who was a victim of Loan Marts vicious cycle of payday lending and gathered paperwork that was sent to the ACORN Financial Justice Center. The campaign is being re-invigorated in December with a larger action planned for Dec 21st, a neighborhood study poised to be released, and extensive outreach being done to locate more borrowers who have been bit by the payday loan shark. Simon Malls Campaign In the summer of 2006, ACORN members began working on a joint campaign to force reforms from the largest mall property owner in the country, Simon Mall Properties. SEIU was working to organize the janitors at Simons malls and win responsible contracting, higher wages, family benefits like paid sick days and vacation time. In Aurora, Colorado Simon Properties took over the Town Center at Aurora (Aurora Mall) in early 2004. The mall is a long-time shopping center frequented by folks from our neighborhoods in Denver and Aurora. And it looked like one our malls, terrible security, run-down, crappy. When Simon took over after getting $15 million in taxpayer money from the city of Aurora for a $100 million renovation, one of their leasing agents got caught on tape by an investigative journalist revealing Simons new marketing focus: Yes, our marketing is going to be more white-focused..We want to reduce the um negative aspects of the Center, one of them being the young, black customer. Since 2004, Simon Mall continued to implement and execute mall policy that was classist and racially discriminate in order to see this vision reach fruition. Teenagers were routinely harassed by security, kicked out of the mall, banned for long periods of time, arrested, threatened, and were forced to show identification to security guards or risk the above. Security guards banned youth fro the mall for wearing gang-related clothes, for instance the Scarface t-shirts that they sold to customers. 174

Hoods were banned, head gear including head scarves, Muslim head wear (name?), do-rags, etc all under the auspices of being gang-related. If you were in a group of more than three, security would separate you. The bus from our hoods drops you off on the other side of a retaining wall and fence, thousands of feet away from the BACK of the mall, while buses from affluent, white neighborhoods dropped off right at the mall entrance. And the list of problems went on. So ACORN members organized two protests at the mall, Do-rag Day and a Freestyle for Freedoms event. We gathered over 90 testimonies, signed statements from youth and adults who had been discriminated against by the malls policy. We gathered thousands of petitions from mall patrons and youth. We held a civil rights forum and countless organizing meetings to build a coalition and keep the pressure on. Due largely in part to how bad Simon was starting to look, and definitely how bad CO ACORN was making them look, they entered negotiations with SEIU nationally and have committed to negotiations with ACORN members around our demands. We wait for a date to be set. Prevailing Wage: CO ACORN, in partnership with FRESC and the Building and Trades Unions launched a campaign in early 2006 to pass an ordinance through Denver City Council that would require all TIF (Taxpayer Increment Financed) construction projects pay the prevailing wage. Twenty-five ACORN members turned out a Council Meeting to testify about one such project, the construction of a parking garage at the old Lowenstein theatre. The job was financed by taxpayer dollars for a developer who had workers being paid sub-standard wages, had no health insurance, etc. ACORN members also collected over 500 postcards in targeted City Council Districts urging their councilmember to support prevailing wage. Over 30 folks from the coalition, including ACORN members held a press conference at City Hall and hand delivered the post cards. We are continuing to lobby and work to pass the ordinance. Cherokee-Gates Community Benefits Agreement: For over 2 years, the Barnum and Barnum West Denver ACORN chapters actively participated in the Coalition For Responsible Development, which ultimately won historic community benefits achievements at the old Gates Rubber plant which include: An early agreement that excludes big-box grocery stores, which are typically low-road employers and bad neighbors. A landmark Affordable Housing Plan that includes 200 units of affordable rental units for Denver families with the greatest need, those at 50% and 30% of Area Median Income (50% = $35,825 and 30%=$21,495 for a family of four in 2005). Developer cooperation and participation with the neighborhood coalition Voluntary Cleanup Advisory Board that is monitoring the environmental cleanup and communicating cleanup issues to affected neighbors. An unprecedented agreement to pay prevailing wages and benefits for every construction worker engaged in the publicly-funded construction of site infrastructure and maintenance of public spaces and facilities. Selection of a union construction manager and general contractor with a strong record of good wages, health care & retirement benefits, and high quality skills and safety training. A commitment to use a Best Value selection process for subcontractors at all tiers that will maximize the chances of worker health care coverage and opportunities to train new apprentices. An unprecedented agreement to extend Denvers Living Wage Ordinance to cover parking lot attendants and security personnel employed at the sites public facilities. An enhanced First Source local hiring system that promotes the recruitment of local residents to fill new positions and, for the first time, prioritizes immediately adjacent low-income neighborhoods.

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Park Hill (neighborhood) ACORN members in Park Hill took on three neighborhood bad neighbor businesses at a shopping center in their community in July. The shopping center at 33rd and Holly was infested with open-air drug dealing, violence, underage tobacco and alcohol sales, sales of single cigs and blunts, drug paraphenelia, etc. Over 45 members did an action on the stores and won antiloitering enforcement agreements, stop the sale of singles and drug paraphenelia, and won more police patrols in the area. Several news crews came out and there was large article in the Denver Post with a pic. ACORN members have continued the vigilance/compliance aspect of the campaign by acting as secret shoppers One such visit found the liquor store not in compliance with ACORNs demands, and a phone call later it was shut-down for a week and fined by the city. Westwood (neighborhood) Began safe streets campaign. Started with a 60 person quick hit to get a stop sign at an intersection where a child was killed last September. Target did not show, no press, so members launched a phone/fax/email onslaught that lasted two weeks on the office of Public Works gearing up for an action there. Two days before the action, we won the stop signs. Members then began the fight for speed hump installation and increased patrols in the neighborhood. A march to city hall of members and their city councilwoman (who supported the stop sign fight) yielded commitments for speed vans and speed traps at targeted intersections by ACORN members but failed open any real dialogue over speed humps as of yet. The campaign contnues Aurora (neighborhood) Launched nearly identical campaign as Westwood, two actions, one in the hood, one at Public Works, won traffic signaling improvements outside old folks home where six members lived. Won 3 more speed traps, still fighting for speed humps. Minimum Wage Arguably our largest and most exciting campaign in Colorado in 2006 was the fight to raise the minimum wage. We began work in February to meet with key potential partners and pull together a coalition of labor, community, and large donor groups. After initial polling, the language of the iniative was written and the proposed wage rate decided. The ballot measure was an amendment to the state constitution that would raise COs minimum wage to $6.85 per hour January 1st, 2007. The wage would also be indexed for inflation and provided a $3.02 tip credit to offset the wages of tipped employees. We began collecting signatures from registered voters to qualify the measure for the ballot and registering new voters in the process. The coalition needed 68,000 valid signatures to succeed. ACORN also brought in the CSI team to manage all aspects of the signature gathering effort in CO. ACORN ended up collecting the second highest number of signatures out of the coalition groups, over 21,000 out of the 131,000 total. Our voter registration efforts enfranchised 10,264 low- and moderate- income Coloradans, largely in the counties surrounding Denver (Adams, Jefferson, and Arapahoe). On August 3rd, CO ACORN members turned out the overwhelming majority of the 100+ people at the Coloradans for a Fair Minimum Wage rally and signature turn-in event. Every

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single box of petitions (about 40) had the ACORN logo on all sides and were individually hand delivered by ACORN members to the Secretary of States office to be validated. There is a video of the event that one of our ACORN Fellowship interns created at YouTube.com. After Amendment 42 was qualified for the ballot, the real work began. ACORN members and organizers canvassed the streets and our neighborhoods to find low-wage workers to get involved in the campaign. Our minimum wage workers met with reporters and told their stories, contributing significantly to ACORNs visibility and earned media efforts. We also hired a media consultant, Progressive Promotions, who worked with our members to generate press around ACORNs work. CO ACORN also played a crucial role in the national effort to put the spotlight on minimum wage and on ACORN and the AFL-CIOs lead roles in the ballot initatives across the country. Three out of the seven workers featured on the ground-breaking web event Seven Days at Minimum Wage were workers identified by Colorado ACORN. The opposition (Restaurant and Hotel industry) ended up spending $1.8 million to fight the measure through direct mail, phone, and the now-infamous hellish cheese grater TV ads. Our members know, however, the only way this campaign was going to won by ACORN was in our neighborhoods and on the ground. Six Colorado ACORN organizers and trainees began knocking on the doors of 19,500 drop-off voters in mid-September. Our field efforts were focused on some ACORN base turf in Denver and mainly in Congressional District 7, which was an open seat race in a CD almost dead even Democrat/Republican. They signed up provisional members, did MW support ids, and helped voters complete absentee ballot request applications. Beginning Oct 23rd, we had 25 part-time canvassers on staff hitting our turf again for the second time. On October 23, ACORN turned out 100 members, staff, and coalition partners to a ACORN and Friends Vote to Raise the Minimum Wage early vote event at the only early vote center open in Denver at the City Building. We did three more passes through our universe before Election Day, distributed 1500 yard signs, signed up thousands of provisional members, and built the base we would need to win on November 7th. On Election Day, we had over 100 people on 18,500 doors for 12 hours. The results told the tale: Amendment 42 passed 53%-47%!!!! Democratic candidate Bill Ritter wins the governorship!! Democrats retain control of state House and Senate! Democratic candidate Ed Pearlmutter wins in Congressional District 7!! AND LAST BUT NOT LEAST, Colorado ACORN went from being perceived by allies as that group that used to do great work to those guys are back and kicking ass! Paid Sick Day Legislation We are in the early stages of a campaign to pass another plank of the ACORN Working Families Agenda---paid sick day rights for Colorado workers. We hit the nhood with trainees in the organizer training academy and joined up 50 new associate members in three days on paid sick days, which showed us this resonates well in our communities. We have begun meeting with allies and tailoring our field expansion plans into targeted legislative districts.

Leadership Development

Two leaders attended Leg Conference in DC, two additional leaders attended the Working Families training in DC in November, 20 members went to convention, over 60 new grassroots leaders were trained through organizing drives, and a total of 32 new leaders attended two Colorado minimum wage leadership trainings (one campaign, one media). 177

Other: A brief comment on the ACORN Summer Fellowship program: We had two interns spend the summer in our office and I have to say it was an amazing success. They each spent one month working on the political side of life, registering voters, signature gathering, doing recruitment and training of part-time staff, etc. They each then spent a month on the community organizing side of life, doorknocking, signing up members, doing turnout, etc. We were fortunate to have two young people with their heads screwed on straight who performed in the ACORN life uncomplainingly and successfully. They definitely got a uncensored view of ACORN community organizing, from the excitement of a 100 person action to the excitement of wondering when paychecks are coming! Seriously, this was a valuable program for us here in CO and I would have hired them both as organizers in a heartbeat if they werent back off to Harvard and Denver University respectively.

Connecticut ACORN Year End/Year Beginning Report 2006-2007

Bridgeport * Hartford

(Specific numbers and goals are listed by city below this general overview.)

Connecticut ACORN 2006 Report

Overview: 2006 was a difficult year for us in Connecticut. Both offices experienced

the loss of experienced Head Organizers and were unstaffed for several months. Bridgeport, our more well established operation, maintains a high monthly bankdraft deposit but lost more than $1000 in face value over the course of the year. Hartford also has lost membership, and neither city has more than one active local chapter. Specific numbers can be found below in the individual office reports. We are on the rebound, however, and 2007 looks to be a promising year on all fronts. In October Nicholas Graber-Grace, formerly HO for Broward County ACORN in Florida, took the reins as Statewide HO based in Hartford. Rachel Haymann, who transferred to the Bridgeport office in August 06, has now been promoted to Head Organizer and is up to the task of rebuilding and expanding our once strong operation. Nicholas and Rachel have both recruited staff and begun the process of re-organizing our membership base. Meetings and actions have been held in both cities under the new management and all signs are encouraging. Two statewide campaigns on the agenda for 2007 are a passing a Statewide Earned Income Tax Credit and passing paid sick day legislation for hourly employees. Each city will operate a Financial Justice Center including VITA sites and referrals to ACORN Housing. There are Mayoral and city council elections in both Bridgeport and Hartford in November of 2006, which presents a number of campaign possibilities.

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Expansion:

We will dedicate 2007 to gaining real traction in Hartford and Bridgeport, with a view to opening first Waterbury in early 2008 and then New Haven in mid to late 2008. Once these four offices are up and running we will have a base of operations in each major population center in the state and be within striking distance of anywhere we need to move people or campaigns. Beyond our bankdraft, we plan to experiment with an associate member canvass in the later half of the year and to strengthen that operation in 08 leading up to the Presidential and Congressional elections. We will also work to develop a base of small donors for each operation, intentionally cultivating sustainerships and quarterly donations from middle and upper income allies.

Hartford ACORN 2006 Report

Current Staff: Connecticut Head Organizer: Nicholas Graber-Grace Field Organizer: Cassie Baker Average Staff Size: 1.5 Total New Members: 280 New Full Members: 74 New Associate members: 38 New provisional members: 168 Current Neighborhood Groups: 1 active, 2 inactive Northeast ACORN Blue Hills ACORN (Inactive) Asylum Hill ACORN (Inactive) Current bank draft: $480 Bank draft growth for year: (-$250) Bankdraft: # of members on bank draft: 45

Budget: 2006 Income (as of 12/1/06): $82,315 2006 Expenses (as of 12/1/06): $89,472 2006 Surplus/Deficit (as of 12/1/06): (-$7,157) Bank Balance (12/1/06): $2,488 Mass turnout events: No more than 35 members were turned out at any one time in 06. Organizational Development: We began 2006 with two fully developed neighborhood groups and one under development. The organization has atrophied after being unstaffed from July-October of this year. Even before the organization was officially unstaffed, previous management seems to have been ineffective with regards to building sustainable neighborhood groups. In October 06, Nicholas Graber-Grace stepped in after three and a half years with Florida ACORN to rebuild the operation and revitalize our neighborhood presence. Some staff has now been hired and is being trained with big plans for 2007. Campaign Report: A minimal amount of work was conducted on a Hospitals campaign in early 2006, with debt relief secured for a number of ACORN members.

Plans, Goals and Priorities for 2006

Staffing Goals:

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1) Recruit and regain an average of 4 field organizers recruiting 20 full members/month by February of 07 2) Develop Lead Organizer by June.

3) Develop a local Head Organizer for Hartford by December 07.

Total New Members: 4500 New Full Members: 500 New Associate members: 250 New provisional members: 3750 Neighborhood Drives: 2 new, 3 re-org Re-Organize Northeast ACORN Organize Clay Arsenal Re-Organize Assylum Hill ACORN Organize Upper Albany Re-Organize Blue Hills ACORN Mass Turnout Goals: Turn out 10-25 people 100 times. Turn out 50 people 5 times. Turn out 100 people twice. Turn out 250 people once.

Bankdraft Goals: Increase # of BD members by 17 per month, from 44 to 250. Grow BD grow by $170/month; increasing face value by $2000 Reach a monthly deposit of $2500 by December 07. Organizational Development Goals:

1) Re-organize 3 chapters 2) Organize 2 new chapters. 3) Hold consistent monthly chapter meetings with at least 15 members in attendance. 4) Develop productive and diverse staff or at least 4 organizers recruiting a minimum of 20 members per month. 5) Develop small donor base of at least 50 individuals giving $60-$180/year.

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Field Capacity Development Goals: Build effective block captain systemrecruit/develop 50 members responsible for turnout and information dissemination in their neighborhoods. Gain organized presence in a majority of City Council Districts Recruit a base of Spanish speaking members. We currently have very few Latino members as compared to African Americans; recruiting and retaining bi-lingual staff will be critical to this venture. To develop an active APAC that is legally established. Campaign Goals: Contribute decisive staff time and resources to passing a State EITC and Paid Sick Day legislation. Work with Working Families to elect a slate of progressive candidates to City Council in November 07. Deliver victories on three neighborhood campaigns that emerge from organizing drives in 2007.

Bridgeport ACORN 2006 Report

Current Staff: Head Organizer: Rachel Haymann Field Organizer: Tim Seeth Field Organizer: Andria Matthews Average Staff Size: 1.33 Total New Members: 873 New Full Members: 81 New Associate members: 39 New provisional members: 753

Current Neighborhood Groups: East End Bankdraft: Current bank draft: $2422 Bank draft growth for year: (-$1316) # of members on bank draft: 250

Budget: 2006 Income (as of 12/1/06): $100,663 2006 Expenses (12/1/06): $85,949 2006 Surplus/Deficit (12/1/06): $14,714 Bank Balance (12/1/06): $26,430 Mass turnout events: Organizational Development: Staff developmentThe organization took a significant step backwards this year when former Head Organizer Ashley Kremser unexpectedly resigned. Other organizers remained on staff for a limited period of time after her departure, but ultimately the office was left unstaffed from May through September. Chapters & Turfno new neighborhoods were developed this year. No neighborhood meetings were held in the period without staff. The only currently active chapter is the East End chapter, which is itself in a re-organization process. 181

ConstituencyWhile the majority of our membership is African American, the majority of our local Board (now dormant) is Latino. We have a minimal number of white members. Minorities represent a plurality of the city population, with 32% Latino and 31% African American. Leadership developmenta number of Bridgeport members did attend the 2006 National Convention, having been organized by Hartford organizers to attend. Beyond this, few new leaders were developed this year. BudgetWhile we will conclude 2006 with a significant budgetary surplus, this is problematic in that it is caused by a lack of staff to complete necessary work. Most importantly, our turnover has created concerns among several funders and our Bankdraft has hemorrhaged over the course of the year, dropping to a monthly deposit of just $2,422 in November from $3,738 in January. Bankdraft has decreased each month this year, with the biggest drop coming between January and February. It is noteworthy that that particular drop is attributable to the resolution of outstanding accounting problems at CCI rather than field capacity.

Campaign Report: Bridgeport ACORN made significant steps in 06 to lay groundwork for a State Earned Income Tax Credit campaign in 07. Bridgeport ACORN VITA led all other sites in # of returns completed.

Plans, Goals and Priorities for 2007

* Develop three organizers consistently capable of recruiting 20 members per month by June of 2006. * Develop a lead organizer by September of 2006.
Total New Members: 2800 Staffing Goals:

New Full Members: 800 New Associate members: 800

New provisional members: 1200

Neighborhood Drives: 5 new, 2 re-org Mass Turnout Goals: Turn out 50 people 4 times. Turn out 100 people twice. Bankdraft Goals:

Turn out 30 people 8 times. Turn out 75 people twice.

$1080 in BD growth to $3,500.

Organizational Development Goals: * Develop a productive and diverse staff, as stated above. * Re-organize our three inactive chapters by June of 2006 to revive our membership base. * Develop two new chapters by YEYB 07. * Expand our funding base to include a swath of 50 small donors contributing $60-180/year.

Field Capacity Development Goals:

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Build effective block captain systemrecruit/develop 50 members responsible for turnout and information dissemination in their neighborhoods. Gain organized presence in a majority of City Council Districts Recruit a base of Spanish speaking members. We currently have very few Latino members as compared to African Americans; recruiting and retaining bi-lingual staff will be critical to this venture. To develop an active APAC that is legally established.

Campaign Goals: To win an environmental justice campaign targeting O&G Industries and the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection by March of 07. To contribute significant support to the passage of two state lawsa state EITC and paid sick day legislation. To pass an inclusionary zoning law in the city if Bridgeport. Develop a productive and diverse staff, as stated above. * Re-organize our three inactive chapters by June of 2006 to revive our membership base. * Develop two new chapters by YEYB 07. * Expand our funding base to include a swath of 50 small donors contributing $60-180/ year. Field Capacity Development Goals: Build effective block captain systemrecruit/develop 50 members responsible for turnout and information dissemination in their neighborhoods. Gain organized presence in a majority of City Council Districts Recruit a base of Spanish speaking members. We currently have very few Latino members as compared to African Americans; recruiting and retaining bi-lingual staff will be critical to this venture. To develop an active APAC that is legally established. Campaign Goals: To win an environmental justice campaign targeting O&G Industries and the Connecticut Department of Environmental Protection by March of 07. To contribute significant support to the passage of two state lawsa state EITC and paid sick day legislation. To pass an inclusionary zoning law in the city if Bridgeport.

DC ACORN
YE/ YB REPORT

2006

Staffing
Head Organizer Lead Organizer Events/ Administrative Membership and Chapters New Full Members: New Associate Members New Provisional Members 266 75 209 Belinda Y. Ferrell Jennifer Sheldon Rachel Pope

Total Members: full, associate, provisional: 550 members Total # of groups active and inactive: 4 active groups; 4 inactive groups Money Foundations: o CCHD $15,000 o Hill-Snowdon $15,000 o Ford Fdn$18,400 Corporations: o H&R Block $5,500 o Jackson-Hewitt $2,000 o Citibank $20,000 o Bank of America $2,500 o M&T Bank $15,000 o JW Marriott: $2,000 Individual donors: o Washington Gas: $5,000 (With review for possible additional funding in 3-4 weeks) Current Bank Draft: $4,389 184

# Of members on bank draft: 543

Campaigns

Safe Streets: DC ACORN and members met will metropolitan police, 6th and 7th district police and metro transit to come up with solutions to the increase in teen violence in our neighborhoods. Through our efforts, we were instrumental in ceasing the violence for a while Up and Coming DC ACORN has continued to reach out to Peaceoholics to find out what we can do about the resurgence in teenage violence in the district. We plan to expand to include teenage issues that should expand our base for funding. We are currently researching how we can assist these teens in obtaining suitable employment because many of them are sustaining households, due to parents who are incapacitated either due to drug and/or alcohol abuse.

Schools
Formation of the ACORN School Modernization Oversight Committee (ASMOC). A group of 19 ACORN members have formed a committee to oversee the money allocated to the DC Public School System; 265 million this year and an additional 200 million each year for the next 10 years.

Mission Statement:

To help promote and establish the complete formation of the official (city) School Modernization Advisory Committee (ASMAC) To ensure that the appointees to the School Modernization Advisory Committee represent the proper geographical and diverse demographic population of the city To monitor the activities of the School Modernization Advisory Committee by: o Assessment and review of quarterly reports o Organization of public hearings on committee progress o Analyze committee progress and issue reports to the public o Present recommendations on capital allocations relative to the scope of the committees mission o Advocate for the needs of the students of DC throughout the modernization process To regularly inform the public on the progress and actions of the School Modernization Advisory Committee

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To inform the public and existing community organizations with a vested interest in the modernization process of other related activities occurring throughout DC

DC public schools parents committee, in conjunction with DC Voice, empowers parents of DC public schools children by providing training on questions that need to be asked when attending meetings with teachers.

Milestone:

On December 8, 2006, two members of DC ACORNs Modernization Oversight Committee (AMOC) were recommended to sit on the citys oversight committee (AMAC). This will ensure that community residents have a voice in how the money will be spent. Two members of ACORNs Oversight Committee are currently running for city offices: one for city council, another for the school board. Two members were elected to neighborhood schools Parent Teacher Association; Mary Spencer has been elected as Treasurer and Christine Armstrong was elected President, both of Merritt School in NE DC

DC APAC endorsed Arian Fenty for DC Mayor Adrian Fenty will officially take the Mayoral seat in the beginning of January 2007. He has asked to meet with DC ACORN to discuss concerns that this organization has.

Utility Campaign DC ACORN has started a utility program in conjunction with Washington Gas to help low income residents set up payment plans and apply for utility assistance through our office. We will be proposing a percentage of income payment plan to the city council and receiving support from the Washington Gas Company, the Consumer Utility Board and the Office of the Peoples Counsel. Milestone:

DC ACORN entered into a partnership with the Washington Gas Company. 186

The Washington Gas Company is providing funding to the DC ACORN office to help residents set up payment arrangements for their overdue gas bills. The Big Box/Retail Campaign The Big Box Legislation has been put on hold until the next council session. ACORN and coalition allies continually ran into snags; Councilman Vincent Orange, at that time Chair, and the deputy mayor continued to hold the legislation and refused to move it into the council as a whole. We plan to amend the original proposal, making it stronger and affect more businesses, and then we will reintroduce the legislation in the next session in January 2007 with the new city council. We believe we will have more success with the new council. VITA Site We completed more than 400 tax returns last tax season. 204 residents were eligible for the EITC credit, which brought more than $385,000 back into the district and an additional $85,000 in child tax credit.

Financial Justice Center We invite DC residents to come out to our Financial Justice Class every third Thursday of the month. Our Utility Campaign will now fall under the financial justice center umbrella. DC ACORNs Financial Justice Center has serviced more than 54 metropolitan area residents since its inception in August 2006; this number does not include the numerous clients we refer directly to the ACORN Housing Corporation (AHC).

Community Campaigns Monday, October 16th, Columbia Heights residents came together to confront and demand commitments from the DC Department of Public Works; the outcome was a change in the city wide bulk trash policy, allowing residents to place their bulk trash behind their houses for pick-up and also a commitment from the DPW in further assistance rat abatement within the Columbia Heights community On December 13th, Community members from Columbia Heights will knock on doors with the Department of Public Works educating the community about rat control and also checking that local restaurants are following proper trash removal procedures in order to lower the rat population in the community. On October 10th the community members of Anacostia won an action demanding a traffic light be placed in front of MC Terrell Elementary School. The Anacostia 187

community continues to work on getting a four way stop at a busy intersection that services school children. On December 5, 2006, due to the hard work of ACORN members, a new community recreation center opened in the Congress Heights section of Anacostia. On December 6, 2006, Anacostia residents won four crosswalks at one busy intersection, which services school children from two elementary schools in the area.

NATIONAL CAMPAIGNS
Immigration On September 7th DC ACORN members joined other ACORN members from 38 states to rally for immigration rights on the National Mall.

Money Mart Campaign On March 31st, 23 members from Anacostia and Capitol Hill rallied at the only Money Mart in the district. Members handed out flyers depicting an April fools agenda, educating the community and customers about the predatory lending practices of Money Mart. In November, new member Susan Coleman canvassed the area around the only Money Mart in DC, documenting whether several area payday lenders displayed visible policies, noting the number of payday lenders in that area, etc. Simon Malls We went to a Simon mall in VA to collect testimony on behalf of the SEIU campaign for better working conditions and sick pay for the janitors. We passed out literature in front of the contractors office that supplies Simon Malls with janitors.

Sherwin Williams On June 28th, DC ACORN members gathered outside of 1120 3rd St NE to protest Sherwin Williams continued negligence of not providing important materials to customers who purchase their lead-based paints. ACORN members continue to gather in front of Duron Paint, a subsidiary of Sherwin Williams, to pass out information two times a week 188

Turnout Total Turnout: 250 community residents and members Largest Turnout: 108, big meeting in Columbia Heights Leadership We have developed a strong array of leaders this year: with a member from our schools modernization committee running for Ward 4 city council seat in 2007. Another member of our schools modernization committee will be running for school board in 2007. We have a significant amount of leadership in the district, with approximately 23 members that create our core leadership pool. We sent 26 DC ACORN members to the 2006 National convention. We sent 3 members to the leadership training that was focused on basic training for the commencement of DCs financial Justice center, following the National Convention. Another ACORN member was interviewed in October 2006 to be featured in Singletary Says, a TV1 show on predatory lending (and specifically Money Mart), to be aired in January 2007.

Plans, Priorities, and Goals for 2006 Research additional funding sources Follow through on existing campaigns Develop additional city-wide campaigns Recruit and develop additional staff Continued Strong membership recruitment Develop a stronger leadership development program Expansion into new areas/communities in the district Expand more into the political arena Projections

In 2007 Total # of Groups active and inactive: 8 active groups Foundations: o Replacement Fdn o Hill-Snowdon

$15,000 (last year for CCHD Funds) $15,000

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o Ford Fdn $18,400 o WAWF $20,000 Corporations: o H&R Block $5,500 o Jackson-Hewitt $2,000 o Citibank $20,000 o Bank of America $2,500 o M&T Bank $15,000 o JW Marriott: $2,000 o Various Banks $45,000 Individual donors: o Washington Gas: $5,000 o PEPCO $5,000 o Telephone Co $5,000 o WASA $5,000

Expansion to New Turf in 2007 We will embark on a steady campaign to reorganize in the Deanwood, Ivy City, Trinidad, and Petworth communities. Staff Growth: 3 new community organizers (1 bilingual) 2 canvassers Projected budget size: $500,000 Turnout Numbers: 500-member meeting surrounding the Utility Campaign. Campaigns: Existing Schools Identify a smoking gun issue that we believe can be achieved and won on. Utility: Partnered with all the utility companies, received funding and set up a program to help even more residents with even more utility assistance. Continue with research to get the percentage of income payment plan (PIPP) for residents on fixed incomes. 190

Inclusionary Zoning: This initiative has passed and has expanded. Simon Malls: Continue to work with the National and SEIU to meet the agenda as set by both. Big Box/Retail: We are celebrating our win on this campaign and have moved to include yet other targets. New Campaigns: Formation of the DC ACORN Youth Forum An annual event where youth meet representatives of their respective wards. Affordable Housing: We have re-established programs for extremely low-income residents. Establish a plan that will include (extremely low-income residents in the $0 to $40,000 income range to win an affordable housing initiative. This population is grossly underserved and practically all programs have been cut. Indexing Tax Growth Inequality: This initiative will fall under the Financial Justice Center. Due to the continued growth of economic inequality, DC ACORN would like to join with other like-minded organizations to propose a resolution to the widening economic disparity in the district, specifically and the US, generally.
When considering the widening economic gap in the United States in terms of what percentage of Americans make up most of the economys wealth, we have considered a tax proposal that places emphasis on economic equality. The top brackets of tax payers i.e.: those making millions of dollars a year would be required to pay up to 69% income tax, thus lessening the economic inequality in the United States. This proposal would essentially be a redistribution of wealth across the board. First we will need to establish a tangible standard of income inequality to work against. Next we will need to identify and network with other organizations that would like to implement this plan. Also, a certain amount of research will need to be done in order to help establish what percentage of income should be in place per tax bracket.

Leadership Development: Develop 20 new leaders in each of the 4 reorganized communities by conducting more leadership training sessions, essentially four per year, hereafter. 191

Expansion of Constituency: Continue to network and expand relationship with other organizations, city officials and corporations. As our focus on political issues in the city expands, so will our constituency. Political: We will identify leaders to run for city seats. Funding: Seek more grant sources, corporations and individual donors. Embark on issues that will expand funding to unlikely sources.

In 2008 We will embark on a steady campaign to organize in the 4 more communities: Adams Morgan (predominantly Spanish-speaking), Cardoza-Shaw, H Street NE, and LeDroit Park. Staff Growth: 3 new community organizers (2 bilingual) 2 canvassers (1 bilingual) Turnout Numbers: 750-member meeting surrounding the Tax Equalization Program. Campaigns: Existing Schools We have identified a smoking gun issue that we believe can be achieved and won on. We have succeeded in winning one victory on that smoking-gun issue. Political: We have targeted more leaders to run for city seats. Utility: We have identified legislation to pass a percentage of income payment plan for residents on fixed limited incomes. 192

Inclusionary Zoning: Continue to work with partners to push through this initiative. Simon Malls: Continue to work with the National and SEIU to meet the agenda as set by both. Big Box/Retail: We have won on this campaign. New Campaigns: Affordable Housing: Establish a plan that will include (extremely low-income residents in the $0 to $40,000 income range to win an affordable housing initiative. This population is grossly underserved and practically all programs have been cut. Indexing Tax Growth Inequality: Due to the continued growth of economic inequality, DC ACORN would like to join with other like-minded organizations to propose a resolution to the widening economic disparity in the district, specifically, and the US, generally.
When considering the widening economic gap in the United States in terms of what percentage of Americans make up most of the economys wealth, we have considered a tax proposal that places emphasis on economic equality. The top brackets of tax payers i.e.: those making millions of dollars a year would be required to pay up to 69% income tax, thus lessening the economic inequality in the United States. This proposal would essentially be a redistribution of wealth across the board. First we will need to establish a tangible standard of income inequality to work against. Next we will need to identify and network with other organizations that would like to implement this plan. Also, a certain amount of research will need to be done in order to help establish what percentage of income should be in place per tax bracket.

Leadership Development: Develop 20 new leaders in each of the 4 reorganized communities by conducting more leadership training sessions, essentially four per year, hereafter. Expansion of Constituency: Continue to network and expand relationship with other organizations, city officials and corporations. As our focus on political issues in the city expands, so will our constituency. Funding: Seek more grant sources. 193

Embark on issues that will expand funding to unlikely sources. We plan to canvass and raise at least $5,000.

In Years 2009 through 2011

Money: Continue to identify additional funding sources. Each year, we plan to raise an additional $50,000 in Foundation, private corporations, etc money Each year we plan to canvass and raise our income by a total of at least $5,000.

Staff We plan to expand our staff by 3 new organizers each year; 1 of which is a bilingual organizer. We plan to expand our tax site by two full-time preparers each year.

Membership: Each year, we plan to attain 500 new full members; 350 on bank draft. We plan to attain 450 new associates and at least 500 provisional members. For a total of 1300 new members each year. Turnout: Each year, we plan to add an additional 250 members and residents at big events. Turf Expansion: Each year, we plan to organize two communities per new field organizer. We also plan to expand into higher income neighborhoods to raise our organizing base.

HIALEAH ACORN South Florida

2006 ORGANIZING REPORT 194

Head Organizer: Elizabeth Andrades Community Organizers: Nuri Mercado, started in Hialeah, and recently was promoted to lead organizer and transferred to the Miami Office. Luz Perdomo, worked until August 2006. Presently Hialeah ACORN has no organizers on staff Membership: New Full Members: Renewals Associate Members: Provisional Members: TOTAL FOR 2006 199 27 203 688 1,117 Bank Draft growth 2006 81

Active Neighborhood Groups: 3 Palm Spring North East Okeechobee S.E. Hialeah Budget Size: 128,000 Turnout: 128 2 FPl actions 1 Public Hearing regarding thePSC for FPL Growth and Expansion for 2006 Geographically there was no expansion Our constituency is Hispanics (Cuban) mostly senior citizens and disable that live in rental communities. There was no canvass operation, only staff canvassing one day a week, for most of 2006.

Campaigns and Politics FPL: Florida Power and Light utility company 195

FPL campaign is still ongoing. There were several actions done demanding, to reduce surcharges, payment plan for high electrical bills, that will prevent having lights shut-off, Lower the deposits and policy on how they determine the deposit amounts, and no shutoffs for the elderly and disable during extreme weather conditions at their corporate offices in Miami-Dade. So far we won one out of 5 demands; no shut-offs for the elderly if the temperature reaches an extreme weather condition by the national weather bureau of more than 105. The campaign is still on-going; several more actions will take place until we win at least 4 or all 5 demands. Board member Roberto Ramirez served as Hialeah's negotiator at a meeting with Florida Power and Light executives. In March and April, Hialeah ACORN sent 4 members to participate in Florida ACORN's Civic School, a week long training session held in the capitol, Tallahassee. There, members met with all the Hialeah and Miami-Dade legislative delegation to demand action on our legislative platform. Members wrote letters to the editor about their experience. ACORN passed one bill and defeated 4 key pieces of legislation. In addition, on April 26th, Hialeah sent 16 members to the capitol to participate in the Save our Democracy march and rally where we protested efforts by the state legislature to remove the minimum wage increase from the constitution and make it harder to pass ballot initiatives. . LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT Two members from each of the two neighborhood groups organized this year were sent to our national leadership school and Floridas civic school in Tallahassee. In addition, our two new board members from our Palm North and East Hialeah neighborhoods have been very active in taking over and training other members in leadership, like speaking to the media, as public speakers, organizing meetings, Saturday door knocking in neighborhoods, signing up members and development in fundraising.

FUTURE GOALS 196

2007 Full Members Associate Provisional Bank Draft # Organizers New Chapters Expansion to Neighboring cities Campaigns 200 360 900 100 1.5 2 Further north west 1 Policy change 2 on rental increases FPL- to win 4 or demands 8

2008 450 675 1,500 250 2.5 5 Further north east

2009 600 925 2,300 375 3 7

2010 1000 1200 3,000 460 3 10

2011 1500 2000 3,914 1000 4 14

Lower Lower south east south west

Continue for legislation on Policy change for Landlords

Leadership Development. Constituency higher income, & property owners (future)

10

12

14 Mixed constituenc y, higher income

18

Continue Homeowners and Other, with Rental Moderate income than communities families Cuban Latinos

Hialeah ACORN has been opened since 2004. Its constituency is basically all Hispanic, (Cubans), with a high percentage of senior citizens and families with disabilities. One of the most important issues in Hialeah is affordable housing, Hialeah has a high rate of rental communities, efficiencies, and one bedroom structures, with high rental rates, and continuously increasing. Members are working on winning a Tenants Rights and Policy change in their city. In January 2007, members will begin collecting information that will boost their campaign and get them a sponsor for introduction to a new policy change concerning rental rates and limitations on landlords concerning rental increases. 197

JACKSONVILLE ACORN
YEYB REPORT 2006 NEW MEMBERSHIP GROWTH 2006 Full: 102 Associate: 25 Provisionals: 147

Goals
2007 Full TOTAL Tax site 4 classes/ mon Benefits screening Field Organizers Canvass Associate TOTAL Tax site 4 classes/ mon Benefits screening Field Organizers Canvass Provisional TOTAL Tax site 4 classes/ mon Benefits screening Field Organizers Canvass 200 167 167 266 233 500 2250 333 300 500 4500 400 366 500 4500 466 433 500 4500 534 633 100 200 167 167 0 733 200 200 167 167 2008 1166 167 266 233 500 0 3582 333 266 233 500 2250 3252 2009 1365 233 333 300 500 0 6099 466 333 300 500 4500 5636 2010 1566 300 400 366 500 0 6366 600 400 366 500 4500 5769 2011 1765 366 466 433 500 0 1765 733 466 433 500 4500 7028

BANK DRAFT GROWTH

2006 $605 in new bankdraft brought in by organizers $230 in actual bankdraft hitting account this is a 100% increase Goals Based on 30% growth from bankdrafts brought in 2007 2008 2009 2010 $610 $930 $1050 $1170

2011 $1290

198

STAFFING
2006 Jan August: Ben Winthrop Lead Organizer Currently: Sheena Rolle Service Organizer Goals 2007 Field Organizers Canvass Service Organizers 3 0 1 2008 5 5 2 2009 5 10 3 2010 5 10 3 2011 5 10 3

NEIGHBORHOOD GROUPS 2006 & Goals 2006 Sherwood Forrest Lackawanna Lower Eastside Westside Arlington Neighborhood 6 Neighborhood 7 Neighborhood 8 BUDGET SIZE 2006 $100,000 2006 260 Policing 2007 $250,000 2007 1000 Active Active

2007 Active Active Active Active Active

2008 Active Active Active Active Active Active Active

2009 Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active

2010 Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active

2011 Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active

2008 $300,000 2008 1500

2009 $350,000 2009 2000

TURNOUT NUMBERS

2010 $350,000 2010 2500

2011 $400,000 2011 3000

CAMPAIGNS AND POLITICS

Jacksonvilles murder rate is the highest in Florida. Our members experiencing extreme violence in their communities decided to take on policing as the first issue. We did a number of creative actions including:
Donut sale public rally: got press coverage of our members selling donuts to entice the police into our neighborhood Memorial in front of the police station: marking the number of homicides in the county

199

We won increased horse and bicycle patrols in our neighborhoods.

MIAMI ACORN YEYB REPORT 2006 NEW MEMBERSHIP GROWTH

2006 Full: 227 Associate: 66 Provisionals: 2511

Goals
2007 Full TOTAL Tax site 4 classes/ mon Benefits screening Field Organizers Canvass Associate TOTAL Tax site 4 classes/ mon Benefits screening Field Organizers Canvass Provisional TOTAL Tax site 4 classes/ mon Benefits screening Field Organizers Canvass 200 167 500 4500 266 233 500 4500 333 300 500 4500 400 366 500 4500 466 433 500 4500 1265 400 200 167 500 0 6167 800 200 167 500 4500 5367 2008 1500 500 266 233 500 0 5499 1000 266 233 500 4500 5499 2009 1733 600 333 300 500 0 6833 1200 333 300 500 4500 5633 2010 1966 700 400 366 500 0 7166 1400 400 366 500 4500 5766 2011 2198 800 466 433 500 0 7499 1600 466 433 500 4500 5899

BANK DRAFT GROWTH

2006 $1520 in new bankdraft brought in by organizers $979.50 in actual bankdraft hitting account; down from $1249 at this time last year however, we split out North Dades bankdraft in February. This is an actual increase of $165 a month from that point. Goals Based on 30% growth from bankdrafts brought in 2007 2008 2009

2010

2011

200

$1760

$1900

$2040

$2180

$2320

STAFFING
2006 Nuri Mercado Lead Organizer Yvonne Ramos Field Organizer & Service Coordinator Evelyn Peters HUD Ross Organizer Goals 2007 Field Organizers Canvass Service Organizers 3 5 1 2008 5 10 2 2009 5 10 3 2010 5 10 3 2011 5 10 3

NEIGHBORHOOD GROUPS 2006 & Goals 2006 Hialeah Heights East Little Havana Little Haiti West Little Havana Allapattah Arcola Lakes Liberty City Brownsville OpaLocka North Miami North Miami Beach Sweetwater Miami Gardens Miami Gardens Miami Gardens Homestead West Miami BUDGET SIZE 2006 $270,000 2006 2007 $350,000 2007 Active Active Active Active

2007 Active Active Active Active Active Active Active

2008 Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active

2009 Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active

2010 Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active

2011 Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active Active

Active Active Active Active Active

Active Active Active Active

2008 $490,000 2008

2009 $500,000 2009

TURNOUT NUMBERS

2010 $500,000 2010

2011 $500,000 2011

201

350

1000

1500

2000

2500

3000

CAMPAIGNS AND POLITICS

Florida Power and Light South FL members held 2 large rallies (200 and 50), 1 bake sale in Miami, and 2 local actions in Broward county to demand affordable utilities and consumer protections from Florida Power and Light, the electric utility giant serving Palm, Broward, Miami-Dade and 10 other FL counties. 8 members participated in 2 negotiations. In addition we packed 2 PSC hearings on FPL rate hike and surcharge requests and stormed the PSC headquarters in Tallahassee with 230 people and letters. In Miami, we also won a new pilot program in the city budget for utility assistance. Florida Power and Light in 2007 Increase the amount in the City of Miami pilot assistance program Get 2 cities to hold hearings on ending their franchise agreements with FPL Hold 4 large actions to demand change in payment plan policies from FPL Support statewide effort to reform the PSC though meetings with legislators, letters and postcards from members

Affordable Housing We are members of two housing coalitions that are addressing both the state of the Miami Dade Housing Authority and development in the City of Miami. After participating in an all night tent city with 10 other groups and 8 ACORN members present all night long, we are on the edge of winning a $200 million bond for affordable housing. In addition, we are working towards a ballot initiative in the City of Miami to demand Community Impact Reports from new development and increased responsible contracting language in the city procurement procedure. Tenant Rights We have organized in one apartment complex so far and believe that this will be a huge campaign in 2007. Thus far we have withheld rent demanding repairs. While the members were not prepared for the full complexity of this initial strategy, we believe we have figured out a means to leverage state tenant law to a) gain extra time for renters who are getting their rent raised, b) gain extra time for renters who are facing eviction. We plan to launch some campaigns to win increased tenant rights, rental assistance programs and eviction protection.

ORLANDO ACORN
YEYB 2006-2007
Head Organizer: Stephanie Porta Lead Organizer: Crystal Queen Benefits/Tax Savannah Dimon Organizer: Karolyn Stuart Community Organizers: Jason Crider Outreach Organizer: Mercedes Rodriguez Admin Assistant: Irene Licharew 2005 2006 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 2011 Actual Goals Actual Goals Goals Goals Goals Goals 631 49 750 250 477 100 1300 3300 1500 3500 1600 3600 1600 3600 1600 3600

Full Members Associate Members

202

Provisional Members 410 1000 1103 2300 2500 2600 2600 2600 TOTAL New Members 1090 2000 1680 6900 7500 7800 7800 7800 New Bank Draft Members 481 600 442 1200 1300 1400 1400 1400 Actual BD Deposit $3,091 $4,000 $2,570 $6,000 $7,000 $8,000 $9,000 $10,000 Bank Draft Growth $782 $909 ($521) $3,430 $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 $1,000 Staff 6F/4P 7F/2P 5F/3P 6F/3P 8F/6P 6F/3P 7F/3P 6F/3P Largest Turnout 107 300300* 1000 2000 2000 4000 5000 Active Chapters 9 12 10 12 13 14 14 14 Inactive Chapters 2 0 4 0 0 0 0 0 Leadership Trainings 0 12 20 50 50 50 50 50 Budget 330K 380K 330K 370K 500K 400K 420K 400K

2006
New Chapters: Eatonville & Tangelo Park (drive in progress): Environmental Justice: The Environmental Justice Campaign in the South Apopka Chapter continued this year & resulted in the early closing of a dump that towered over the neighborhood and studies on the pollution & health effects throughout the community. Biggest Turn-Out: 300 Affordable Housing: After hearing low income housing would be demolished in our South Apopka neighborhood, members moved a series of actions to win $2,000 in relocation money and extensions for the 50 families forced to move out. Biggest Turn-Out: 70 Immigrant Rights: Just as many cities saw the giant wave of immigration reform marches, so did Orlando. Due to positioning ourselves in 2004 as a proimmigrant organization, ACORN leaders were at the forefront of planning, leading and speaking at several large marches, rallies and actions. Biggest TurnOut: 30,000 on May 1st Affordable Utilities: Ending our almost year-long campaign against OUC, Orlando ACORN won nearly all of our demands in May of this yearjust weeks before the actions were about to start again! Included in the list of wins are 1) No shut offs during extreme temperatures; 2) Overdue bill payment plans over 8 months; 3) Almost halfed deposit costs & up to 4 month payment plan; 4) No more roommate debt; 5) Doubled money to assistance programs; 6) Lower reconnection fees; 7) New bad debt policies; 8) New energy efficiency fix up program for renters; 9) Doubled money to home owner energy efficiency fix up program. Since winning against OUC, members have started to take on Progress Energy and will have the big kick-off event in January. Eatonville members already took steps, by taking action this past Halloween to demand street lights were fixed & won immediately. Politics: We took out a 2-term Republican incumbent State Rep by identifying the race early, recruiting a candidate, building a PAL Program, and knocking thousands of doors. Our candidate, Scott Randolph was outspent 12 to 1 and 203

won by 62%. However, we did lose a County Commission race due to the candidates late start. Improvements & Problems: We met our 2006 goals to figure out big turn out events, institute a system to update the voter file & hire Spanish-speaking staff. We did not meet our goal to figure out how to keep bank drafts working & instead lost bank draft dues even though we spent significant time & effort trying to fix the problem. In addition, for the first time in Orlando ACORNs history, we were unable to meet our fundraising goals, were forced to lay off staff and still had significant problems making payroll.

2007
Growth & Expansion: Other than finishing the new organizing drive in Tangelo Park, Orlando ACORN will not be building any new chapters this year & instead focus on re-organizing in the three Pine Hills Chapters, two Oakridge Chapters, East Orlando, South Conway, Westside & OBT Chapters. However, we will also work on growing our base in all of these chapters by instituting a new Associate Member Canvass with a dedicated follow-up organizer to convert Associates to Full Members. In addition, through office restructuring, we will have a better system to catch the thousands of people of who walk through the office doors for services. Campaigns: Kick off Progress Energy Affordable Utilities Campaign and jump into a giant campaign for restoration of felons voting rights. Currently, leadership is meeting to review other possible countywide campaigns for 2007 and whittle down the long list of potential campaigns. The campaigns of interest include the following issues: Crime, Youth, Healthcare, Paid Sick Days, Affordable Housing, Environmental Justice, more funding for programs and a development-type ballot initiative or community benefits agreement. Politics: There are no elections in the upcoming year. However, we will work to expand our PAL program into re-organized chapters as well as position ourselves for 2008 political money. In addition, we believe that our restoration of felons voting rights campaign will ultimately lead to thousands of new potential voters that need to be registered. Finally, we will spend 2007 getting to know our new elected officials as well as pushing for legislation on a number of issues. Leadership Development: The Orlando ACORN board has proposed a new system for leadership development that includes monthly new member orientations, PAL/Block Captain trainings, leadership trainings, fundraising trainings and semi-annual board retreats. The goal is to more than double our leadership army to a core of 150 leaders and 500 active members. Improvements: Fix bank draft problems Organizer fundraising must reach an average of $150 week Build individual donor base to an annual goal of $100k Begin program to recognize & reward leaders & active members 204

Tampa ACORN YEYB report 2006

Staff: Ben Winthrop, Lead Organizer Carrie Barnett, Community Organizer New Members for 2006: 77 Associate: 8 Provisional: 0 Total New Members: 85 Bank Draft: $270.00 Neighborhood Groups: 2 active, 6 inactive Turnout events: 25 people for Candidate forum Goals for 2007 Number of Staff 1 Head Organizer and 2 Community Organizers New Full Members: 400 New Associates: 300 New Provisional: 400 Bank Draft: $2,500 Turnout: to reach an average of 100 people per month and hold at least 1 event with 250 people. Neighborhood Groups: To reinvigorate all of our existing chapters and establish at least one new chapter 2006 Summary Early in 2006, Tampa ACORN was closed, and did not reopen until September 2006. However, here are some of the highlights from this year: 1) 7,760 new voters registered in the Tampa Bay area. 2) 267 tax returns filed through our VITA site for a grand total of $298,000.00 redistributed to the community, far surpassing any other first year VITA site in the Tampa Bay area for 2006. 3) Totally member planned and operated ACORN Candidate Forum in late August. 25 people turned out as did several local candidates for office, including 2 congressional candidates, 1 state legislature candidates, 3 City and County council candidates, and 1 representative from a Judicial Candidate. The event was covered by 88.5 WMNF Community Radio. Since September 2006, Tampa ACORN has begun work on establishing a chapter in West Tampa, and has begun identifying members to run a predatory lending campaign.

Looking ahead to 2007 Below is our plan to build and revitalize Tampa ACORN 205

New Chapters, re-organizing Old Chapters & Predatory Lending: In order to reinvigorate the membership, Tampa ACORN needs some new and excited faces. So, first order of business is to do 1 new Chapter drive and get some new elected leadership in place. While working closely with the neighboring St Petersburg ACORN office, Tampa staff will identify predatory lending victims by contacting every person who received Adjustable Rate Mortgages in specific zip codes, beginning in the ethnically diverse neighborhood of West Tampa. Once a chapter is established in West Tampa, Tampa staff will reach out to recipients of ARMs in existing inactive chapters, and do one predatory lending based re-org drive in each. This will allow organizers to contact specific people in each existing chapter and instantly move them on a campaign thats already in process. Each new and re-org drive will also have an APAL segment to it. The goal is for each existing ACORN chapter to have elections and host at least one fundraising event wile simultaneously moving on a city-wide campaign that builds us recognition. EITC/VITA Financial Justice: In 2006, Tampa ACORN successfully redistributed $298,000 through our VITA site. This year, the goal is to double that number ($600,000) and also direct people towards financial literacy workshops and other wealth-building activities. To do this we are reaching out and partnering with local financial institutions and the Tampa Bay Prosperity Campaign, a coalition of organizations dedicated to alleviating poverty in the Tamp Bay area. For purposes of fundraising, and to ensure the success of the program, the EITC/ VITA site will be fused with our predatory lending campaign. In addition to being redirected to our workshops, recipients of EITC will be mobilized along with our ARM victims towards meetings about, and actions against, various sub-prime lending institutions around the Tampa Bay area. Staff Recruitment: As of this time, it seems unreasonable to say that we will have more than two community organizers on staff in 2007. As more funding becomes available we will hire on more community organizers. We will begin to do so at different intervals throughout the year, starting in January with 1 new organizer and then again in June with another. However, also plan on hiring 6 outreach workers to assist with the 2007 VITA site and Financial Justice Center. Leadership development: In 2007, we plan to hold one leadership training every 2 months, for a total of 6 throughout the year. We also plan to implement block-captain systems in each of our re-organized chapters, and to use the block captain system as a stepping stone for members to take on more responsibility and leadership rolls. Fundraising: City Wide Membership Fundraisers 1) ACORN banquet June, 2007 2) ACORN Community Fair, Fall 2007 Local Neighborhood Fundraisers: Each re-org drive will consist of one local neighborhood fundraiser such as a BBQ or the infamous ACORN fish-fry.

206

In addition, Staff will conduct a series of Small Business Canvasses, Bank Fairs, raffle and Calendar sales, rich neighborhood canvasses and canvasses of progressive attorneys, churches, etc.

Georgia ACORN
2006 YE/YB Report
Acting Head Organizer: Brian Kettenring Lead Organizer: Christina Spach 1 Field Organizer, 4 Trainees in Training Program Membership 2006 Full Members: 135 (65 Bank Drafts totaling $680) Associate: 55 Provisional: 640 Total: 830 Chapters 207

2 active chapters, 2 inactive Since the New Year the Dixie Hills and Oakland City Chapters have been re-organized and are the most active ACORN chapters in Atlanta. Our Douglasville members have also actively participated in citywide campaigns and events. By growing the staff, we intend to keep maintaining and developing our chapter structure. There are now 4 organizers in training for the Atlanta office. Oakland City This chapter has been hard at work in addressing their systemic problem of abandoned homes. Sixty members and community residents joined three city officials and four TV stations for the Walk of Shame back in October to demand the city do more in securing and boarding up problematic vacant houses. The action took folks by the worst vacant and dilapidated homes in the community. As a result, ACORN members won a Clean Sweep from the city where 5 additional Code Enforcement Officers from other districts came to the Oakland City neighborhood to identify, and prosecute if necessary, irresponsible property owners. Plus, all the abandoned homes on the Walk of Shame tour are now condemned and will be demolished by the City of Atlanta. Oakland City members want to further the campaign by winning additional Code Enforcement Officers for the neighborhood so they may address this crucial issue in a timely fashion. Dixie Hills The Dixie Hills chapter did a good reorganizing drive over the summer, culminating with a 60 person big meeting and consistent chapter meeting turnouts through the fall. The group did some decent actions and had some wins on blight issues, but their energy is flagging at the years end, so we need to keep this group moving forward.

Campaigns
Members have also been active with the Georgia Minimum Wage Coalition. Its a collection of 20 statewide- organizations, a variety of churches and faith-based groups, and several State Senators and House Representatives. December 11th will be the kick-off for the Raise the Minimum Wage for Georgia Campaign, and our polling results (largely in our favor) will be released to the public. Senator Brown and Rep. McKillip will speak at a press conference in Athens announcing their support and encouraging the State Legislator to provide higher wages for Georgia residents. In addition to raising the state minimum wage, members want to see a state EITC for Georgia and the Time to Care Bill passed, which would give working parents 24 hours unpaid time-off for the child's school-related activities and medical needs. These three items are part of the Georgia Working Families Agenda. Allies endorsing the agenda include the Presidents of AFL-CIO and the Georgia Labor Council, IBEWs Political Director, Jobs with Justice Coordinator Terence Courtney, and our good friend State Senator Nan Orrock.

208

Leadership Our new leadership has been few but strong. On October 29, 26 Georgia ACORN members participated in the Southern Regional Leadership Training in Nashville to expand the strength of Georgia ACORN. Members spent all day sharing success stories, listening to the accomplishments of other chapters from throughout the Southeast, and receiving feedback from more- experienced leaders on how to further implement positive change in their respective communities. Members also took part in the 85- person action against the Paint Industry as part of the Shame on Sherwin Williams Campaign, and thoroughly enjoyed marching into the Grand Ole Opry Convention Center while singing We Will Fight Your Greed to the tune of We Shall Overcome. The training helped build momentum at home, as well as the courage in members to take the same aggressive action in fighting our local targets. Next, we need to focus on expanding our membership base in order to build future leaders for 2007. Fundraising Georgia ACORN hosted a successful fundraiser catered with BBQ and live performances. We raised $800 despite the extremely low attendance of 15 folks and no experience with such an event. In late November, Charles James became the resident fundraiser responsible for pumping out the big bucks in the southern region. A Community Leadership Summit and Clean-Up Day are planned for early 2007. Our fundraising goal is $40,000 for these 2 events. We are now working on A fully functioning VITA site, partnering with SEIU to identify racial discrimination at malls within the City of Atlanta, continuing the Abandoned Homes Campaign in Oakland City and Dixie Hills, participating in the Georgia Minimum Wage Coalition We also had an outreach contract for a law firm. We distributed thousands of flyers to poultry workers across Georgia over 3 weeks, netting $15,000 and allowing us to sign up several hundred provisional members. Overall, our finances have been tight but stable most of the year. Services We ran a free tax site that did over 100 returns, and got credit for two others, allowing us to claim 600 or so.

Politics
We did some precinct walking for State Senator Nan Orrock Grogan and House candidate Alan Thornell. 209

Hawaii ACORN YE/YB Report 2006

2006
Staff: Maria Carrera, in Hawaii since 8/06, on staff since 5/06 Numbers 2006 Membership Growth: Full: 40 Associate: 14 Provisional: 426 Total Membership: 568 Active Neighborhood Groups: 1 Kaneohe 210

Inactive: 2 Waipahu, Kalihi Bankdraft Growth: Our net deposit grew from $21.25 in January to $92.07 in November. Budget Size: actual expenditures through October: $36,379 Projected Budget for 2007: $231,000 Turnout Numbers: highest turnout 42 at Kaneohe Chapter big meeting Growth and Expansion for 2006 We finally got restaffed in 2006 with trained organizers. We were able to expand our base to the Windward side of the Island, building a new chapter in Kaneohe. Our financial justice center has been recruiting members from all over Oahu, however, most have come from Waipahu and the Honolulu areas. We have a smattering of people who have contacted us from neighbor islands, so in 2007 we will need a plan on how we can keep people from the neighbor islands involved without having organizers on each one. Our Financial Justice Center has been holding regular monthly workshops, and we are looking forward to expanding to include the Benefits Access Software in January. Campaigns and Politics We have done limited campaign work in the beginning of the year because we are in the process of building an initial base, however in the Kaneohe chapter, they have identified better park lighting and shutting down drug houses as two neighborhood priorities, as well as education reform, which we anticipate spending significant time on Island-wide in the coming year. We have also begun discussions with other organizations about payday lending legislation and State EITC, both of which we will be involved in in the upcoming legislative session. We have identified several New Century victims, as well as payday lending victims. Leadership Development By building new membership, we are finally identifying and developing new leaders. We have elected board members from the new Kaneohe chapter, we have members who are now running our financial justice center workshops and we had one member attend the Working Families Agenda leadership training and congressional event in Washington, DC. This is the first time that a Hawaii leader has participated in a national event on the mainland. Goals for 2007 to 2011 211

Goal Year Staff not incl. VITA 2007 6 2008 2009 2010 2011 10 12 13 14

New Members

Bankdraft Budget Size Turnout 230,000 300,000 400,000 500,000 550,000 Per Month: 120 Big Turnout: 200 Per Month: 120 Big Turnout: 300 Per Month: 200 Big Turnout: 500 Per Month: 280 Big Turnout: 750 Per Month: 320 Big Turnout: 1000

F324; A180; P1800 1500 F324; A180;P2556 3000 F600; A480;P4920 5000 F840; A672; P8568 7000 F1056; A768; P11,616 10,000

Campaigns Campaign goals for 2007 include passing a State Earned Income Tax Credit and helping pass a State Payday Lending Bill that would require payday lenders to get licenses to operate in Hawaii. Over the next several years, three areas that are most likely to be priority campaign areas are: Public Education Reform, Renters Rights and Affordable Housing. Hawaii has virtually no renter protections, and housing costs so high that thousands of working residents live on the beaches. Growth and Expansion Plans to expand in 2007 include building a base on the Leeward Coast in the Waianae community. This is the lowest income area of Oahu, and is primarily native Hawaiian. We will also rebuild our chapter in Kalihi, and expand the base from there to other parts of the downtown area. This year, we will need to figure out a strategy to involve residents of Neighbor Islands. We are relatively frequently receiving inquiries about our work from Maui and the Big Island, and we will be manning a VITA site for a few days on Molokai in February. The next largest city after Honolulu is Hilo (Big Island), with a population of only 40,000, so it is unrealistic to consider an office on every island (Molokai, while very low income, has a population of only 7000). However, we do need a strategy to keep contacts involved, particularly around statewide issues. It is possible that a Member or Volunteer Coordinator position could staff out a program that would involve members from neighbor islands through mailings and phone, possibly with occasional visits to the islands to build further associate and provisional memberships and hold occasional meetings. In 2008, we will expand to an additional Windward side community, Waimanalo, as well as Pearl City, where we already have a few members, but no chapter. In 2009, we will expand to Nanakuli (another neighborhood on the Waianae Coast) and to Ewa Beach. In 2010, we will expand to the North Shore. The North Shore still has many low income residents, although it is more rural and the neighborhoods are 212

small pockets spread out through the area, with none having a dense enough population for a full chapter. However, as the Turtle Bay Resort and other developers crane their vulturey necks over the beautiful and relatively undeveloped North Shore, the current residents may end up priced out of it by the time we get there.

Des Moines, Iowa

YE/YB Report: Office opened Novemeber 17th, 2006 Numbers for 2006 # of New Full Members: 4 # of Assoc. Members: 5 # of Provisional Members: 18 # of Organizers: 1 Budget Size: $20,000 Growth and Expansion: We are doing 3 Neighborhood organizing drives in racially diverse, low-income areas in Des Moiness inner city. We are seeking to hire a canvas director to do an expansive associate member drive/canvas in Iowas rural areas. 213

Campaigns and Politics: Des Moines ACORN is playing a part in the raising of the minimum wage in Iowa. With a legislative branch and Governor that appear friendly towards raising the minimum wage and have campaigned to do so, ACORN locally, feels that we must be involved in specifics of the legislation, in terms of cost-of-living increases that should be written in. More generally, at the beginning of 2008, Des Moines will be an important location to influence candidates and for media exposure of our issues during the first in the nation Iowa Caucus. The intimate nature of the caucuses makes it possible for ACORN members to have frequent opportunities to meet candidates face-to-face and provides an excellent chance for us to have access to media coverage for our issues, such as predatory lending, inadequate healthcare coverage, and the minimum wage. Through leadership training that develops out of our neighborhood chapters, and our associate member drive, we can build power for low and moderate income families to have a voice in an election that has national implications. The main goal is to get all the presidential candidates (and thereby the media) to focus, talk about and then and make real policy on issues that are important to ACORN members. Leadership Development: The immediate goal is to do 3 neighborhood organizing drives and create a Des Moines ACORN Board. We will add to this board through our rural associate member drive, by organizing rural chapters, and through more drives within Des Moines urban areas. Goals: 2007: # of New Full Members: 480 # of Assoc. Members: 800 # of Provisional Members: 2000 # of Organizers: 2 with 1 canvas director # of Neighborhood Chapters: 6 Iowa ACORN / Quad Cities YEYB Report The Iowa / Quad Cities office opened on November 1st 2006 Numbers for 2006 Full: 10 Assoc: 4 Prov: 49 Bank Draft growth: 2 Organizers: 1 Active Neighborhood Groups: 0 (we are just starting an organizing drive here) Budget Size: Turnout: No turnout events yet for this office. 214

Growth and Expansion for 2006 Submitted 1480 Voter Registration cards to Scott County election officials Began Organizing Drive on November 15th working in the Westend of Davenport. Campaigns and Politics We are currently researching issues Leadership Development Have been working with neighbors in the Westend for just three weeks Goals for 2007 Full: 400 Assoc: 200 Prov: 600 Bank Draft growth: 120 Organizers: 2 Active Neighborhood Groups: 3 Growth and Expansion for 2007 Start two new organizing drives, Start VITA site Campaigns and Politics 2007 Position ACORN neighborhood chapters to influence 2007 Davenport City elections Leadership Development 2007 Develop a number of strong community leaders in all neighborhood groups NW Indiana ACORN Goals and Projections Outline: Numbers for 2006 # of new members full, assoc. provisional (total and for year) 270 bank draft growth (total and for year) 75 # of organizers 3 # of active neighborhood groups 3 budget size $150,000.00 215

turnout #s 750

Growth and Expansion for 2006 geographic Hammond, IN constituency mixed neighborhoods canvass central district

Campaigns and Politics NIPSCO utility campaign Mayor and city council races in fourteen months

Goals on above categories for 2007 # of new members full, assoc. provisional (totals and for year) 700 bank draft growth (total and for year) 175 # of organizers 3 # of active neighborhood groups budget size $220,000.00 turnout #s 2000

Growth and Expansion for 2007 geographic Griffith constituency - white canvass southern district

Campaigns and Politics Utilities Campaign (gas, electric, water) Mayoral elections City Council elections 216

Goals on above categories for 2008 Goals on above categories for 2009 Goals on above categories for 2010 Goals on above categories for 2011

YEYB Report 2006 Kansas, City, Kansas Head Organizer: Andrew Ginsberg Membership Recruitment and Staffing 2005 New Full Members 141 (Total Members) New Associate Members N/A New Provisional N/A Members November Bank Draft 340 Deposit Staff 1.5 (All White) 2006 118 116 562 420 4 (3 African-American, 1 White)

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Month January February March April May June July August September October November Total TOTAL MEMBERS

# Orgs. 1.5 1.5 1.5 2.0 2.5 2.5 2.0 2.5 2.0 1.5 0.5 1.8avg 796

Full Mem 9 11 9 16 17 12 11 18 10 4 1 118

Mem/ Org 6.0 7.3 6.0 8.0 6.8 4.8 6.5 7.2 5.0 2.7 2.0 6.0

BD 70 75 60 125 140 90 80 195 70 40 0 945

BD / Org 44 50 40 63 56 36 40 78 35 27 0 48avg

Assc 2 4 3 9 17 15 16 17 16 4 13 116

Prov 4 7 16 23 109 99 111 69 55 29 40 562

Organizing Total Chapters: 4 Active Chapters: 1 We have developed a local board. Leadership Development is a work in progress. Campaigns: First Source Hiring provided an introduction to the machine politics of the Wyandotte County Commission. We didnt pass a policy but are poised to move forward. Neighborhood organizing was our strength in Kansas City, KS. We won a flashing crosswalk in front of Quindaro Elementary, speed limit signs on the streets around Clifton Park and increased maintenance in Clifton Park. We did a double-grocery store action, which won some improvements at one store. Politics N/A Turnout High Turnout: 38 2nd: 29 3rd: 19 218

Money See Kansas City, Missouri Report 2006 Goals New Full Members: New Associate Members: New Provisional Members: Staffing: New H.O. Turnout: BD Growth: Campaigns: Houses Expansion: Association Leadership: Budget and Fundraising: Politics: 300 400 500 5 FT Organizers (3 African-American, 2 Latino), 200+ $1,500/ MO Deposit Transit, Minimum Wage, Tenant, Abandoned Maintain 4 groups, add Tenants 12 strong leaders, 5 leadership trainings See KC, MO Report N/A

2008-2011 Goals Yr 08 09 10 11 Totals FM 400 500 600 750 2,250 AM 500 600 700 1,000 2,800 PM 750 1,000 1,250 2,250 5,250 BD Dep. 2000 2,500 3,000 3,500 N/A Orgs. Groups Active Groups 5.0 6 6 6.0 7 7 6.0 8 8 7.0 10 10 N/A N/A N/A Top Turnout 200 250 250 500 N/A Budget 250K 300K 300K 400K 1.2M

Future Campaign Highlights Continue Tenants Rights work, advocate for light rail in Kansas City, KS and countywide living wage, sick pay, etc... Work with emergent Topeka and Wichita chapters on state legislative campaigns for Workplace Safety and LIHEAP Funding 219

Expansion We need to expand our base to include Mixed-race neighborhoods in Western Wyandotte County and more Latino representation Future Politics U.S. Senate (08), Presidential (08), KS Congress (08), Wyandotte County Commission (09), U.S Senate (10), KS Congress (10)

Louisiana ACORN Allied Operations

YEYB 2006
New Orleans, Baton Rouge, Lake Charles, and Alexandria
Statewide: Beth Butler & Marie Hurt New Orleans: Stephen Bradberry, Tanya Harris, Linda Whitaker, Ida Myles, Aiyisha Smothers, Shirley Ann Marshall, Frenzella Johnson, Tina Sterling, Crystal Dixon, Jeannette Trask, Stacey Heisser, Lorette Ordogne, Marquita Guss, Mary Lewis, Keila Pena & Teresa Castro. Interns: Anna Robinson-Sweet & Anna Poe-Kest. Baton Rouge: Gladys Bernard, Yolanda Lovely, Praisecess Butler, & Ketra Florida. Lake Charles: Minnie Abney-Lee Alexandria: Susan Gaspard, & MacKenzie Turner.

December 14th, 2006, New Orleans ACORN became ACORN's national premier growth operation in 2006 with 2,313 new members. This is an ACORN historic event in membership growth, as well as another record -- over 91% of new members were signed up on bankdraft.

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The epic destruction caused by Hurricane Katrina marked most of the organizing and campaigns during the year. Originally organized in 1976, New Orleans ACORN, one of the oldest and largest ACORN operations, became home to empty houses with no residents in its low to moderate-income communities. New Orleans itself had become a Louisiana ACORN expansion city; the office was reopened on January 1st, 2006. Following up on the organizations commitment to the members' RIGHT of RETURN directivea number of campaigns were devised to bring our people home"--

Some Events/Campaigns
ACORN House Cleaning and Gutting to Preserve the Housing Stock Over 1,800 homes have been cleaned and gutted, the initial 1,000 by March 31, 2006. This new multi-use single tactic was developed to sign up members at their point interest -gutting their flooded home, and was utilized to then move them into actions to prevent wholesale eminent domain of thousands of miles of low to moderate income communities. It not only helped develop a list of long-lost members, it also helped develop a tactic that once applied, (a house was gutted on each street in a neighborhood), an example was set that provided a role model for what other families should do next. It also allowed other families a way to see that they would not be the only ones to return on their street. And finally, it provided a way for the family whose home was gutted to see their house in a state of health and as a place to begin their new lives. It recreated their stake in their neighborhood. This ultimately allowed us to build a base that was committed to stay in New Orleans and fight for the neighborhoods. A critical and powerful stand was taken against the power structure's plan to take all of the land and prevent the people's return. This ACORN group became the critical core of resistance to the plans to delimit the return of Black New Orleans.

Used generators to turn on lights in Lower 9th Ward for New Year's Eve celebration of coming back and that families would not be prevented from repopulating this acutely flooded community. Successfully sued to stop illegal evictions of residents who had not yet had a chance to come home and check on their property. Feeling the Valentine's Day vibe, a pair of volunteers held their wedding at a house they finished gutting in the upper ninth ward. Initiated, with National ACORN, a bus trip that brought 500 New Orleans members to Washington D.C. to march/rally/meet with Congress, FEMA, HUD, etc., that resulted in 19 billion more dollars to the Gulf region for rebuilding and an additional 4.2 billion earmarked specifically for Louisiana. Held 250-person rally in Lower 9th ward to declare, I'm From Dat Nine and You Ain't Takin' Mine!" None of the members were living in the community and traveled hundreds of miles to attend. Sponsored a 200 person meeting with eminent domain lawyers to educate the community on eminent domain laws as part of the ACORN campaign. Educated voters to pass strict statewide anti eminent domain legislation. Significantly increased participation in the primary election to demonstrate that New Orleanians would not give up our power as neighborhoods and displaced people. Members worked so hard in the Lower 9th ward that there was a higher percentage of voters there than in areas with significantly less flooding. Coordinated another 300 person GOTV effort to participate in the historic mayoral run-off election. Won hardship designation for Lower 9th Ward, protecting the hardest hit neighborhood from "sudden death eminent domain without notification to the owners" called the

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August 29th Gutting Deadline. The deadline would have allowed the city to seize and/or demolish homes not gutted by the first anniversary of the storm. Lower 9th ward residents stopped House Bill 1108 which would set up an unaccountable scam agency to channel rebuilding dollars for the 9 th ward without input from the majority of residents. Cleared church for first wedding in the Lower 9 th Ward. Won seismic legislation to protect people's property from a citywide seizure plan by the city's August 29 th gutting deadline. Legislation included due process, a right to place a home on a list and protect it from seizure, as well as an appeal process. Re-established Louisiana Environmental Roundtable to begin a public education program to assure that as the city rebuilds and recovers, lead-safe work practices are observed in order to not further contaminate our neighborhoods. Another Right of Return issue won, forced the Sewage & Water Board led by the Mayor, to certify the water in the lower 9, opening the way for that neighborhood's recovery. Residents were only then allowed to rebuild or place a FEMA trailer on their lot. Provided 1/3 of the participants in the America Speaks program for the United New Orleans Plan. ACORN participants drastically changed the demographics and as such the outcome of the choices given by previous, predominantly white, wealthy, males who had led earlier sessions. Concluded deal with FEMA and Louisiana Family Recovery Corps to do a pilot program for housing families in trailers in their neighborhoods while they work on their homes.

A new office was opened in Alexandria as a result of Hurricane Katrina's displacement of New Orleans organizers and leadership. Further, Baton Rouge ACORN net growth of 314 new members was increased in part due to displaced New Orleans ACORN membership. Lake Charles steady growth was maintained through the opening of a VITA site and the ongoing strong leadership of the members there. EITC Campaign and VITA Site Operation: VITA sites were operational in all four ACORN cities. Lake Charles received a grant from the State for EITC and VITA in 2007. Lake Charles Police Brutality Campaign: three incidents of police brutality have occurred this year in Lake Charles and members have been organizing, meeting, and doing actions on the Mayor, District Attorney, and Justice Department to ensure that these incidents do not continue. Vital and amazing new leadership were developed in New Orleans to replace board members who have been unable to return to New Orleans.

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Springfield Massachusetts ACORN

Gabriel Strachota, Head Organizer

Springfield Massachusetts has one of the highest violent crime rates in the country with 8.7 violent crimes per 1,000 residents per year (pioneer Valley Planning Commission, 2006). One in every three Springfield families fails to put enough food on its table (Project Bread, 2006). The city is in receivership from the State of Massachusetts, and has a Control Board, appointed by Governor Romney which has more power than both the city council and the mayor. The city council, even when it did have power, did not even have the faade of representing poor neighborhoods, as all its councilors are atlarge. On June 6th 2006, we re-opened Springfield MA ACORN and were disturbed and delighted to find out that there was very little organizing going on in the city. Since then I have built one chapter in Springfields Old/Upper Hill neighborhood. On Oct. 3rd the group held its big meeting with 50 ACORN members and community residents in attendance. On Oct. 7th, when DPW director Al Chwalek agreed to all of ACORNs speeding related demands, ACORN members started to see that through direct action they could get what they wanted for their neighborhood. Excited by the victory the group has started to work on the issue of violence in their community. Its not going to be easy to go up against the police department, Isaac Bunn Old/Upper Hill Chairperson. While offered a meeting with the Springfield Police commissioner off the bat, Old/Upper Hill ACORN leadership decided they did not have enough support or data from the community yet. At a meeting with board members and member leaders, the group wrote a 10 question police accountability survey. The superiority of the survey that they wrote to 223

the one I had drafted helped to illustrate the necessity of turning over our work to our chapters whenever possible. It seems that there is always more intelligence in a united community then there is in any individual. When I was gone for a month long Head Organizer training in Denver CO, the group proved its competence as it held its own meetings, and took the survey door to door every weekend. 2006 YTD Stats (4 months): Community Organizers: 1 Full Members: 50 Associate Members: 7 Provisional Members: 181 Bank Draft Growth: $20-$200 # of Active Neighborhood Groups: 1 # Members Turned Out: 152 As 2007 approaches Springfield MA ACORN plans to work on the following campaigns. Paid Sick Days, EITC, Violence and Police Accountability, Speeding, and Vacant houses and lots. Springfield ACORN is also looking into campaigns to dissolve Springfields Control board, and do away with Springfields at-large City Councilors.

2007 Goals Community Organizers: 3 Full Members: 820 Associate Members: 1640 Provisional Members: 1640 Bank Draft Growth: $3070 # of Active Neighborhood Groups: 4 # Members Turned Out: 750 2008 Goals Community Organizers: 4 Full Members: 960 Associate Members: 1920 Provisional Members: 1920 Bank Draft Growth: $3,070-$6,670 # of Active Neighborhood Groups: 6 # Members Turned Out: 1,500

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MICHIGAN ACORN YE/YB REPORT - DECEMBER 2006

This report is for the state of Michigan, as well as for Detroit and Saginaw. SUMMARY- 2006 was a challenging year for Michigan ACORN. We successfully completed our first-tier expansion program and were operational in 5 cities for a period. After winning the minimum wage campaign too soon we never quite figured out the next step and suffered through incredibly challenging financial times. The year ends with a few big financial commitments and we are refocusing on the nuts and bolts of organization building (local drives, campaigns and respectable membership numbers). This year we will join up 10,000 members in Michigan and we will add depth to our breadth. GROWTH AND EXPANSION- According to density chart, Sterling Heights and Warren are on our list, though the jury is still out as to whether this makes sense. Other possible mid-term to long-term expansion targets include: Muskegon, Battle Creek, Benton Harbor, Jackson, Pontiac and Kalamazoo. In 2007 we need to stabilize our current five offices and are very unlikely to expand further until 2008 and beyond. Though Saginaw was open and running for several months, we are now unstaffed and need to solve that quickly in the first quarter of 2007. GEOGRAPHY, CONSTITUENCY, CANVAS & CAMPAIGNS AND POLITICS 225

2007-2008 There are a number a swing house districts that are potential canvas targets that we'll need to assess 2009 Detroit city council and mayoral elections - the city council are all at-large, so there is no specific turf we need to build in, but we will mobilize and endorse in these races 2009-2010 We will continue to build in Senate 32 in Saginaw, which was very close in '06, and assess in other senate and house districts. Young Voter Project - We have been funded for a three-year 18-35 year old voter engagement project. We'll be developing youth leadership and moving this target group electorally, starting with the Flint mayor's race in 2007. We hope to use this to raise more $$ for younger voter engagement. Campaigns- We are still assessing our legislative priorities for next year right now. In addition to paid sick leave and child tax credit, we are looking at utilities, anti-foreclosure and election reform as statewide issues. LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT Board Development is a significant issue that we need to work on. The young voter grant will be a catalyst to do more leadership training work. We will do two in state trainings in 2007.

Minnesota ACORN YEYB 2006 Report Numbers for 2006

(Through November) 399 Full Members 374 Associate Members 2388 Provisional Members 3291 Total Members in 2006 14,022 Total Members 95 Renewals 5-9 Organizers 8 Active Neighborhood Groups Budget $350,000 1677 Members Turned Out 134 Events (meetings/actions) Bankdraft: $4636 226

Growth and Expansion for 2006

Geographic We went from 4 active chapters to 8 (3 in St. Paul, 4 in Minneapolis and 1 in Bloomington, an inner ring suburb.) Constituency We expanded into Northeast Minneapolis, a predominantly white working class and middle class part of the City; Bloomington a suburb with similar demographics and the Cedar Riverside Neighborhood in Minneapolis which is predominantly Somali and other African Immigrants.

Campaigns and Politics

Real Estate Scams Coldwell Banker We organized about 25 Latino families that we all ripped off by the same real estate agent who had them sign agreements in English that they didnt understand, putting them in houses that were overpriced and with major repairs and health hazards that remained to be addressed. After a year of pressuring the agents company, Coldwell Banker, and working with the Attorney Generals Office, we are on the verge of announcing a $375,000 settlement for the families affected. Corner Stores Drug Paraphernalia We pressured several corner stores in North Minneapolis to take drug paraphernalia off their shelves and helped increase public pressure that lead the City to revoke the licenses of the some of the worst stores. Utilities We did numerous actions and testified and rate increase hearings on Xcel Energy asking them to reduce rates for low income customers and push back the date in the spring for shutoffs, which they pushed back from April 15th to May 15th after additional assistance money was made available. Housing Inspections Sweeps In North Minneapolis we fought abusive housing inspections that forced low income home owners to make repairs that they couldnt afford in unreasonable time lines and with large fines if they didnt comply. We won $2 Million in the 07 budget for home repairs including 500,000 specifically for those affected by the sweeps. Bus Stop Safety In South Minneapolis we put pressure on the police department to do more about kids being harassed and exposed to crime in the early morning hours when they wait for the bus. The MPD has agreed to put two additional squads in the worst areas that we directed them to. Mall of America Expansion In Bloomington we organized a group of neighbors concerned about the $250 million in public financing being proposed to fund expansion of Mall of America which was owned by Simon Malls at the time. We attended numerous hearings and got good press raising potential problems with the expansion. This contributed to Simon Malls coming to the table with SEIU. 227

Early and Strategic Endorsements We were among the first to endorse our strong ally, the AG Mike Hatch for Governor, Mark Ritchie for Secretary of State, Keith Ellison for Congress, Lori Swanson for Attorney General, Andy Luger for Hennipen County Attorney, and Bill Finney for Ramsey County Sheriff. We won half those races with Ritchie, Ellison and Swanson winning and Hatch losing the Governors race by 20,000 votes. Involvement in DFL Endorsing Process For the first time we mobilized our members to participate in the precinct caucuses, senate district conventions, congressional district conventions and the state convention, helping our candidates win the DFL endorsement. We were most involved in helping Hatch and Ellison win the DFL endorsement which were both highly competitive fields. We moved at least 100 members to the precinct caucuses on March 7th, which helped Hatch come out ahead of his opponents by a significant margin giving him momentum with in the party throughout the spring. We ended up with about 10 members as actual delegates on the floor of the State Convention and our leaders Shada Buyobe-Hammond and Paul Satriano introduce Hatch before his main address and our organizer DAndre Norman nominated him from the floor. APAC and other campaign work Our APAC members did a lot of work for our candidates including phone banks, door knocks, lit drops, rallies, and more. Our organizer DAndre Norman took a leave of absence to work for the Hatch campaign as the 5th CD Coordinator. In the last two weeks of the campaign, the HOs of Madison and Minnesota also went to the Hatch campaign and our Lead Campaign Organizer, Mary Duvall went to the Luger Campaign. ACORN Farmers Market Hmong ACORN Members in the Frogtown neighborhood of St. Paul created the first ever, ACORN Farmers Market, located at the Unidale Mall, where they were able to win lower rates after their previous location was removed. Traffic Safety Summit U ACORN Members won a stop sign at a dangerous intersection that had been ignored for years.

Leadership Development
Weve done half a dozen new member orientations, over a dozen neighborhood campaign strategy trainings, and over 100 second visits to our new members to get them more informed and involved. Weve expanded our State Board from 8 to 16 members, many of whom are new to the board. The board is now much more representative of the overall membership with almost all board members elected recently from active neighborhood groups. Weve also organized over 130 meetings and actions that different members have lead, gaining first hand on the job leadership training.

Goals for 2007

480 Full Members 228

420 Associate Members 3000 Provisional Members 3900 Total Members in 2007 17,922 Total Members 150 Renewals 6 Organizers 9 Active Neighborhood Groups Budget $400,000 2400 Members Turned Out 200 Events (meetings/actions) Bankdraft: $5,500

Goals for 2008

550 Full Members 500 Associate Members 3250 Provisional Members 4300 Total Members in 2008 22,222 Total Members 175 Renewals 8 Organizers 10 Active Neighborhood Groups Budget $500,000 2700 Members Turned Out 225 Events (meetings/actions) Bankdraft: $6000

Goals for 2009

575 Full Members 650 Associate Members 3500 Provisional Members 4725 Total Members in 2008 26,947 Total Members 300 Renewals 9 Organizers 229

10 Active Neighborhood Groups Budget $ 550,000 3000 Members Turned Out 300 Events (meetings/actions) Bankdraft: $6500

Goals for 2010

600 Full Members 700 Associate Members 3750 Provisional Members 5050 Total Members in 2008 31,997 Total Members 350 Renewals 10 Organizers 12 Active Neighborhood Groups Budget $ 600,000 3250 Members Turned Out 325 Events (meetings/actions) Bankdraft: $7000

Goals for 2011

650 Full Members 1000 Associate Members 4000 Provisional Members 5650 Total Members in 2008 37,647 Total Members 375 Renewals 10 Organizers 12 Active Neighborhood Groups Budget $650,000 3500 Members Turned Out 350 Events (meetings/actions) 230

Bankdraft: $7500

Mississippi ACORN
711 Hooker St., Suite #1

Jackson, MS 39204
(601) 360-5123 Phone (601) 360-5124 Fax

Sonya Murphy, Head Organizer LaRhonda Odom, Coordinator Financial Justice Nancy Richardson, VITA Site Supervisor Membership: Full, Associate and Provisional Members 470

Chapters:
Washington Addition/Alto Woods (W5) Valley St. (W5) Georgetown (W3) Battlefield/Arbor Hills (W7) Belhaven Heights/Foundren (W7)

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Council Ward Power

Council Wards 3, 5, 7

Campaigns Won:

Three (3) citywide campaigns Won within the 1st year of operation

Update on Progress
Our most significant organizational challenge is to continue to seek out funding sources and to increase our network of funders and allies. We have increased our membership base and our network of allies in Jackson. It is continuing to be noted that in the South, there are not a great number of progressive foundations that fund organizing on a local level. Nor are there many progressive corporations who will contribute to our work in a substantial way. We continue to work with local ally organizations and individuals so that they will have an understanding of organizing to get them to actually fund it. We are also continuing to develop our organization to do more grassroots fundraising, so that we are not dependent on largely-conservative foundations and corporations for our survival as an organization. By doing this, we have establish and put into place strong and effective organizers to aggressively achieve local organizing which will help communities win significant quality-of-life improvements, build a strong power base, and inspire hundreds of members within the communities to increase their abilities to achieve change. MS ACORN is faced with closing out the year with 470 members; under our projected goal for new membership. We have learned a lot about recruitment and training and look forward to a much more productive year in 07. We have continually had to deal with the loss of staff and therefore, faced with the loss of recruiting new members which weakened our abilities to expand. We can only contribute that loss as a direct result of not having enough funds available to aggressively develop a sound recruitment/training program. We have been able to establish four (4) neighborhood chapters, with elected leadership, established our board of directors, implemented spokespersons who are members with leadership capabilities. When our regular elected members are not available, we have members who are available as spokesperson who upon short notices yields themselves for press conferences and releases, or when a reporter calls with a deadline. We continue to see a great need to further our leadership trainings, exposing our leaders to more aggressive trainings in running campaigns, direct actions, recruitment and fundraising. During our first year it was definitely a challenge in getting membership as well as staff motivated to actively participate in grassroots fundraising on a daily basis. In the upcoming year, we are looking to have a more aggressive membership, well trained to carry out any city or statewide campaign. We have been able to look back and evaluate our weaknesses and our strengths. We are aware of the areas we fell short in and are able to access the areas where we were the most strongest in. We recognize our weakness was in grassroots fundraising, we fell way short in our abilities to implement a successful internal grassroots fundraising agenda. It is further recognized that our strengths lied within our abilities to carry out campaigns. 232

Training
During our first year, we struggled and lost some opportunities to expand due to our struggle with staff retention, therefore, our focus will be to maintain a committed staff, with high priorities on training. Training will become the focus of attention with a more aggressive and in-depth look in training staff to effectively recruit new members. We will implement a more strategic plan for fundraising, internally and well as externally. Staff will be provided with a more intense daily training regiment that will equip them to aggressively attack recruitment of new members. By doing this, we will establish and put into place strong and effective organizers to aggressively achieve local organizing which will help communities win significant quality-of-life improvements, build a strong power base, and inspire hundreds of members within the communities to increase their abilities to achieve change.

Recruitment
The Head Organizer, through lots of trial and errors within our first year has gained tremendous knowledge and experience in recruitment, retention, and training. As a result of this expanded knowledge she will put it into action by developing a strategic plan of recruitment/training, thus it will result in retention of staff. Funds will be made available for an aggressive ad placement to recruit top of the line recruits. More literature will be passed out on doors of every family knocked as well as using other listmates as a form of recruitment.

Campaigns
Vacant and abandoned properties hurt communities and consumers where it countsin the wallet. We conducted a systematic, informal survey of our neighborhoods. We found most of the communities here were plagued with dilapidated and/or vacant homes, many with squatters in them, and renters living in unsafe rental properties. These buildings also presented serious fire safety concerns, unsafe and unfit for human habitat and where targets for arson. Our informal study further found that abandoned buildings could be entered easily, and that they showed evidence of illegal use by criminals. According to information from residents, crime rates on blocks with open abandoned buildings were twice as high as rates on matched blocks without open buildings. During the past several years, our research revealed that the city had not launched an innovative effort to reclaim any of the abandoned and vacant properties, nor had they exercised any authority over neglected sites. We launched a campaign that would help the City of Jackson develop an innovative use of technologies to track and inventory these vacant properties and to then turn them into affordable and decent housing. Affordable and decent housing is also a serious issue in Jackson. Last year, nearly 6,000 families were on regional waiting lists for affordable units and the number is certainly higher now. The city of Jackson is reviewing zoning, in particular to see if multifamily zoning is appropriate for future development. This is largely the result of the drive 233

towards gentrification, where upper-income residents who do not want to have affordable housing units built in their neighborhoods. We also found that many of the landlords who owned rental properties in the City of Jackson did not live within the city limits nor did they keep their properties up to code. This was the largest group of people in opposition to MS ACORNs work on these campaigns. They wanted top continue to rent out dilapidated homes to poor working families in Jackson and not be required by law to bring them up to code. Their argument was that we were opening up the Landlord/Tenant Rights Acts, and should deal with this issue from that prospective. The members argued that according to the International Property Maintenance Code, more severe measures should have been in place years ago. Within this manual it calls for properties to be up to building coed prior to renting or leasing any property. Therefore, the council members and the City of Jackson had no choice but to support this ordinance.

Vacant Building Ordinance

MS ACORN members worked hard and were successful in getting policy change for well over ten thousand families in the City of Jackson. With the new policy change, families will no longer have to accept living next to a dangerous building which attracts crime. Members saved families over millions of dollars with break-ins and destruction of properties and have help increase the property value of many families. Successful in getting passed a Vacant Building Ordinance Over 10,000 people will be affected Millions of dollars will be saved in break-ins and destruction of property

Rental Occupancy Permit Ordinance

This is an ordinance which will go hand-in-hand with the vacant building ordinance which makes it law for landlords to have their properties inspected prior to renting the building. In doing so, this will ensure it meets code prior to someone moving in. If there are code violations this ordinance forces landlords to fix the existing problems resulting in the building being brought up to coed for the tenant. This ordinance was met with lots of opposition from slumlords who fought vigorously not to get this ordinance passed. Members were growing faint in having to attend meeting after meeting with city attorneys and landlords on several occasions and attended hearing after hearing to hear how this ordinance should not be implemented. However, the city council saw how this ordinance would increase the quality of life for their constituent and voted it into law on 6-0 vote. Successful in getting passed a Rental Permitting Ordinance Over 20,000 low income families will be affected Hundreds of in homes in Jackson will be brought up to building code Thousands of families will live in decent housing

Curbside Mailbox Resolution

The curbside mailbox campaign was a serious campaign. Members of MS ACORN found that because the city of Jackson United Postal Service was putting up curbside 234

mailboxes in low income areas without the written permission of the residents, members sought to find out the reason behind the mailboxes. Through the research of the members, they were able to ascertain that the USPS violated their own policy. According to their policy, they must obtain written signature/ permission prior to changing the mode of delivery. The members went to the city council and asked the council to implement a resolution prohibiting and curbside mailboxes from being erected in the City of Jackson. Identity theft was a huge issue with many residents in Jackson. Crime is very high and residents were afraid of their identity being stolen. With this campaign, millions of dollars have been saved by not having important mail with important documents sit at the curb until it can be retrieved. Successful in getting the City Council to pass a resolution prohibiting additional erecting of curbside mailboxes in the City of Jackson 5,000 people will be affected by not becoming high risk to identity theft Billions of dollars will be saved in reduction of peoples identity being stolen Hundreds of seniors with disabilities will no longer have to struggle to walk to the curb to retrieve their mail

YEYB Report 2006

Kansas, City, Missouri Head Organizer: Andrew Ginsberg MEMBERSHIP RECRUITMENT AND STAFFING 2005 New members: 299 Dues Paying, 94 Provisional November Bank Draft: $1,754.50 Organizers: 2.5 (2 African-American, .5 White) MEMBERSHIP RECRUITMENT AND STAFFING 2006 New members: 1,541 (334Full, 204Associate, 1003Provisional) November Bank Draft: $1,290.50 Organizers: 12 (10 African-American, 2 White)

Month January February March April May June July August September

# Orgs. 3.0 3.0 3.0 4.5 4 4 5 3.5 4.5

Full Mem 34 35 33 30 26 33 15 21 30

Mem/ Org 11.3 11,7 11.0 6.7 6.5 8.3 3.0 6.0 6.7

BD 310 240 290 180 190 340 155 155 180

BD / Org 103 80 77 40 48 85 31 44 40

Assc 2 15 17 14 6 15 5 12 7

Prov 23 52 75 28 28 40 127 97 67 235

October November Total Total Members All Stripes

4 11 4.5avg 1,541

15 62 334

4.3 5.6 6.7

115 350 2505

29 33 51avg

6 105 204

55 411 1003

Organizing
Total Chapters: 8 Active Chapters: Board Meeting Attendance has averaged 50% 3

We did not expand our neighborhood groups. Attempts were made to maintain the groups and combine them for campaigns of common interest. In neighborhood work, we won a boulevard clean-up on Benton Boulevard (which goes through three neighborhood chapters) and vacant lot clean-up. Campaign work was our strength this year. Some highlights include: Wal-Mart: We did a huge action on the managers meeting in January, we participated in an anti-Wal-Mart forum, we flyered with Wal-Mart Watch on several occasions and we hit Bernstein-Rein (their ex-advertising company) on the day of their shareholder meeting. Policing: We did a large meeting demanding increased community policing. The results have not been positive. Members want to make this issue part of the upcoming Council Elections Education: We had the deputy superintendent at a town hall style meeting to hear our demands aimed at reforming the KC School District. This followed a nice action at the school board meeting.

Politics
Minimum Wage, Minimum Wage, Minimum Wage. We led the signature gathering campaign in Congressional Districts 5 and 6, hitting the goal at the last minute despite the fact that many of our allies said we couldnt do it. We ran the GOTV for the whole campaign and organized two rallies in support of raising the minimum wage. One of the rallies had pro-Minimum Wage hip-hop music.

Turnout
Our top turnout was 130. Here is a breakdown of top turnout events: 100+: 1 236

40-60: 25-40:

4 4

Leadership Development
We held four leadership development trainings attended by 52 participants (some were repeat participants). This is an area where we need to improve.

Money
This was our biggest budget year by far as we have raised and spent nearly $500,000 between Kansas City, MO and Kansas City, KS. Voter registration has accounted for 40% of the total with grant income, minimum wage campaign income, bank and union donations and dues providing the majority of the remaining funding.

2007 Goals
New Full Members: 750 New Associate Members: 2,250 New Provisional Members: 4,500 Staffing: Maintain 8 organizers and 1 full-time admin (7 African-American, 2 White/ Latino) Turnout: Top 200 once, Top 100 twice, Top 50 three times BD Growth: Sign up 500 new bank drafts, which should guarantee $2,500 deposit City Campaigns: Policing, Working Families Agenda Items, Charity Care, Education Legislative Campaigns: Working Families Agenda items, Minimum Wage Defense? Expansion: Three new neighborhood groups in Northeast, South and extreme East Kansas City, Thriving Associate member canvass in North Kansas City and the North Suburbs as well as Raytown and Grandview. Leadership: 6+ leadership trainings, more strong leaders around the main core Budget and Fundraising: Projected at $600K for KCMO and KCKS. Very daunting. Politics: City Council and Mayoral race (Feb-Mar 07), WFP Fusion Signature Gathering (?? 07) 2008-2011 Goals Yr FM AM PM BD Dep. Orgs. Groups Active Top Budget Groups Turnout 237

08 09 10 11

800 900 1,000 1,100

2,500 2,750 3,000 3,250

5,000 5,000 5,000 5,000

3,000 3,500 4,000 4,500

8.0 9.0 10.0 13.0

N/A

15 16 18 20
N/A

12 12 15 15
N/A

500 500 1,000 5,000

N/A

450K 500K 550K 700K

2.1M

Totals 3,800

11,500 20,000 N/A

Campaign Highlights: City Campaigns should include Ceasefire-like approach to crime, Charity Care, Financial Justice in 08-10. It is hard to speculate what our major campaign will be in 2011. It should be our crowning moment, culminating in the 5,000 turnout goal and should be tied to the 2011 city council elections. Legislative Campaigns will include Working Families Agenda items, Payday lending, Percentage of Income Payment Plan. When the legislature turns over in 2010, we can actually win these campaigns along with overturning the Medicaid cuts. Expansion: A chapter in every low to moderate-income area in Kansas City, MO and organized mega-groups of the Associate members. This would introduce 40-40-20 diversity to match the citys racial breakdown. Politics: Presidential (08), Fusion (08), Targeted MO House/ Senate (08), Congressional District 6 (08), MO House/ Senate (10), US Senate (10), KC Council (11)

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Omaha, Nebraska ACORN 2006 YE/YB Report Opened: July 2006

Staff: Amy Yount Lead Organizer Ariana Gum Field Organizer Membership 2006: Full: 80 Associate: 72 Provisional: 324 Bank Draft Total: $260.00 monthly / all growth Neighborhood Groups: 2 (SE Midtown & North Omaha) active Turnout: Big Meeting for North Omaha chapter; 42 in attendance Campaigns: Began a city-wide Winter Shut-off Utilities Reform campaign in November New Leaders Developed: 5 Goals 2007 Membership: New Full: 300 New Associate: 75 New Provisional: 2000 Bank Draft: Raise it to $1,500/ month throughout 2007 Neighborhood Groups: 5 active Staffing: Hire one field organizer and a tax preparer for VITA site
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Turnout: Have a minimum of 3 events (100+) Utilities, Minimum Wage and neighborhood-based campaign Leadership Training: A minimum of 4 quarterly meetings Leadership: A minimum of 7 during each drive / re-org for a total of 42+ Begin APAC / APAL program. Expansion: Organize a chapter in South Omaha, start another chapter in North Omaha and expand to NE Midtown. Campaigns: Raise the Minimum Wage in Nebraska, Winter Shut-off Utilities Reform and various neighborhood-based campaigns (absentee landlords, vacant lot/buildings, predatory businesses). 2006 We completed two neighborhood organizing drives and had a couple strong quick hits (speeding traffic issues). Members are in the beginning stages of a city-wide campaign surrounding the current winter shut-off policies of MUD (Metropolitan Utilities District) and OPPD (Omaha Public Power District); providers of gas, water and electricity. We are looking towards organizing 3 more chapters in the coming year, to encompass the growing Hispanic and Sudanese populations in Omaha. 2007 A couple of the things in the works - Financial Justice Center, VITA / EITC site and raising the minimum wage. We will also implement the APAC and APAL programs. This will not only increase our member numbers, but will make ACORN more visible as a positive force in the Omaha metro area. Operational improvements needed to reach goals: Building a larger active base and improving turnout Organizers building better relationships with members through 2nd visits and more interactions Signing up more members Organizers need to better network with existing members and the surrounding community. Internal Fundraising New standards need to be set for organizers; a minimum of raising $450.00 / month per organizer. Growth Projections in 2008 2011 Membership: Increase exponentially by 60% each year. Bank Draft: Have at least 55% of full members on bank draft system, with the actual monthly draft hovering around 45%. Expansion: Grow by 2-3 new chapters each year and sustain the existing ones. By 2009 want ACORN chapters in surrounding areas of Omaha.
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Turnout: Have a minimum of one mass-based turnout event (300+) per year and a minimum of 4 quarterly large turnout events (100+) per year. Leadership: Have at least 10 leaders per active neighborhood group. Leadership: Have a minimum of 4 leadership meetings per year and a leadership academy once a year.

HUDSON, NJ YE/YB report 2006

2006 Report: We were working with the campaign affordable housing, migration and security in the neighborhood. We move 489 members in different event in the community. We had meeting with the Jersey City Mayor, Union City mayor , the chief police and councilman. We had 1900 provisional member from Pal proyect and no partisan proyect, 86 new Bankd and 32 asociate. In the migration campaign move the member to Washington D. C and the Big rallys in New Jersey in may first and april.( we moving april 07 more what 200. people for the immigration rally, and may, 01. moving 150.people all this people was moving for the immigration campaign.) The result the meeting whit the police y major is now member of acorn and the city working together in the security the neighborhood afro-American, and Hispanic people doing the block association, in the jersey city we are in the coalision for affordable housing, we now is working in the campaign for past the ordinance for this issues. In west new york. Now starting one new capitulo for this city. In the next year. The pal proyect we had 50 members working in the community for the eleccion November 7 . We were doing, four drive in the community( march, 03 coming the 150.people.jersey city, may, 18 coming 100.people.union city, Agost, 24.coming 150.people in Jersey City, and September between nov.07 doing the pals proyect, and no partisan project,) we works the apals drive, this drive is now abandonment as a consequence 50.new lider. more the mobilization in the campaigns the immigration, and moving 25.people in the ohio for the national convention, no forget in this years is the new office open. In Hudson county. 2007-2011 Plans: Including Growth and Expansion for 2006, geographic, constituency, Campaigns and Politics, Leadership Development, Others:

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Focus on leadership training in 2007 10 new leaders, build participation of english leaders, strengthen regular leadership meetings, Welfare, Immigration and Affordable Housing Summary of numbers 2006-2011 2006 2007 2008 Total members/ 2780/480/300/2000 New full/New Associate/New Provisional Bank draft 2780 total/year growth # Organizers 3 3 # Active Groups 3 4 5 Budget Size 175,246 Turnout 700

2009

2010

2011

3 5

3 5

3 5

ACORN NEWARK OFFICE YEYB REPORTS

By Tatiana Ron Number for 2006 New full members with bank draft.. 160 New cash members.. 145 Associate members.. 71 Provisional members 600 Number of organizers.. 2 Number of active neighborhood.. 2 Budget Size150.000 Turnout #.................................................... 16 Growth and expansion for 2006 Geographic, canvas.- North Newark, Central and West Newark, and Perth Amboy Campaigns and Politics.Lead Campaign Asthma Campaign Day Labors Campaign Immigration Issues Tenants Rights Issues Leadership Development.242

Three leadership training Goals on above categories for 2007 Increase the membership in 500 new bank draft members Increase associate members in 1000 Increase provisional members in 2000 Increase our founds thru found risen with our members active participation End successfully with old campaigns Star new campaigns involving actively the community and City Open at least three new chapters in order two growth our power us Acorn Increase relation ship with local and state politicians. Increase relation ship with the media Increase relation ship with many different organizations Increase number of organizers Goal on above categories for 2008 Increase our power thru increase member ship and look for own office (own property) And develop our leaders, organizer and members to very high levels of social conscience.

Paterson YE/YB report 2006

2006 Report: Including Growth and Expansion for 2006, geographic, constituency, Campaigns and Politics, Leadership Development, Others: Paterson ACORN moved closer to developing 50 units of affordable housing this year, thanks to the hard work of Ismene Speliotis & Tara Benigno who applied for and won funding from the state and twisted the Paterson Mayor Joey Torres to get the city to contribute the last bit of funding. Construction expected to start early 2007 and opening expected 2008. The Housing Authority of the City of Passaic uses a higher percentage of Section 8 vouchers than most cities, and had moved some funds into buildings, so when Bushs formula change cut the actual dollars going to Section 8 approximately 400 families were slated to lose their vouchers and be out on the street. We believe today it is Passaic, tomorrow your city-- as the cuts to social service programs hit our membership. Members are fighting to get Congresspeople to support a bill that would return about $70 million dollars to the Section 8 fund. We just learned that our members will not be homeless, the state fund that we won two years ago will be taking over their vouchers. This is an incomplete win, because it reduces the total number of vouchers in the state and takes the pressure off the federal government to meet their responsibility; members continue to engage congress people to make sure the $70 million is returned. In Passaic our day laborer group has continued to be complicated. We have won close to $15,000 of back pay and medical benefits for members, but have had to continuously reorganize and continue to fight to maintain wins like making sure police dont ticket

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daylaborers. The members accepted an ill advised work center deal where they will be paying a landlord rent after 6 months on a building they fixed up. The relation with ACORN continues but is difficult to maintain. Weve recently started working with a coalition to stop a plan to restructure the court ordered education funding formula. The new plan would replace the Abbott decisions mandatory funding of poor districts with a formula that would increase funding to middle income districts (good) but without a plan to sustainably continue funding of poor districts. We registered close to 9,000 voters, and carried out a PAL program in Passaic driven by members involved in Immigration & Section 8 issues. 2007-2011 Plans: Including Growth and Expansion for 2006, geographic, constituency, Campaigns and Politics, Leadership Development, Others: In 2007 Leyda Flores will take over the Paterson office and will focus on training a bilingual head organizer. Well focus on leadership training, bringing in 20 new leaders, building participation of bilingual leaders, and strengthening regular leadership meetings. Campaign priorities will be education, immigration, welfare, and housing. Summary of numbers 2006-2011 2006 2007 2008 2009 2010 Total 1780/257/1 4468/480/28 7156/480/28 9844/480/28 12,532/480/2 members 6/141 8/1920 8/1920 8/1920 88/1920 /New full/ New Associate /New Provision al Bank 1260/-120 2,260/+1000 2,760/+500 3,260/+500 3,760/+500 draft total/year growth # 2 3 3 3 3 Organizer s # Active 5 5 6 6 6 Groups Budget 161,763 235,000 250,000 250,000 250,000 Size Turnout 720 800 800 800 800

2011 15,220/480/2 88/1920

4,260/+500

6 250,000 800

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Trenton, NJ ACORN YE/YB Report 2006

A. Membership Report and Goal Total 2008
Member 258 66 65 s 66

2006 2009 2010

2007 2011

Full Asc Prov Full Asc Prov Full Asc Prov Full Asc Prov Full Asc Prov Full Asc Prov Full Asc Prov 11 266 90 600 1350 110 800 1700 120 1000 2100 130 1200 2400 150 1200 2700

B. Bank Draft Growth Report and Goal We had 32 new bank drafts in 2006. In 2007, our goal is 60. 2008:75. 2009: 90. 2010: 105. 2011: 120. C. Number of Organizers We averaged one organizer in Trenton. Our goal in 2007 is to maintain one solid organizer, and also have a canvass of 5 people that works three months of the year in Trenton. 2008: 1 organizer; 7 canvassers. 2009: 2 organizers; 10 canvassers. 2010: 2/10. 2011: 2/10. D. Number of Active Neighborhood Groups

We have one active neighborhood group currently. Goal for 2007: 2. 2008: 3. Maintain at 3. E. Budget Size 2006: 100,000*. 2007: 125,000. 2008: 150,000. 2009: 160,000. 2010: 170,000. 2011: 180,000. (Trenton staff were often paid out of statewide after we lost our HO, so this is an estimate. We need to separate in 2007.)

F. Turnout 2006: Largest event a 52 person meeting about housing. 2007: 100 (a good organizer's drive coming home). 2008: 120 (drive plus canvass). 2009: 120. 2009: 120. 2010: 120. 2011: 120. GROWTH AND EXPANSION

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We did have a small canvass in Trenton in 2006 for 2 months, and will build a permanent one in 2007 as Trenton becomes our state base of operations. We expanded to Latino turf in Trenton in 2006, with a successful drive starting a new chapter and developing some core leaders. We will do a drive to establish a third chapter in 2007. Working out of Trenton as an initial base, we have started a "Camden suburbs" chapter over the last month. We will stabilize this, with a strong organizer and a canvass, in 2007. CAMPAIGNS AND POLITICS There are no local races that matter in Trenton in 2007, nor were there in 2006. Our Trenton lead organizer did move to Newark to run a big GOTV operation in October of 2006. The state is going to concentrate on one or two targeted races in 2007, and Trenton staff may participate. LEADERSHIP DEVELOPMENT Two solid board members from our West Ward chapter have been very active all year, traveling around the state regularly to participate and acting as spokespeople often at Trenton (state capital) hearings and events and surviving (and assisting with) staff transitions. A great new leader from our new South Ward chapter has also been excellent and participated statewide, leading our statewide training on building a multiracial organization, for example. We obviously need to focus on developing a deeper bench of strong Trenton leaders as we play a bigger role in the state legislature. OTHER We are planning to move our base of state operations (State HO, leg director, memb benefits coordinator, recruitment, etc) increasingly to Trenton in 2007.

246

New Mexico ACORN YEYB Report 2006

Matthew Henderson, Head Organizer Yolanda Pea, Las Cruces Regional Organizer Bonnie Greathouse, Lead Organizer Director David Perkins, Field Organizer 2006 Performance Full Members Associate Members Provisional Members Net BD Increase Average # Organizers Local Groups Budget Turnout Growth and Expansion for 2006 Our full member growth this year was poor but other growth was promising. As the year comes to a close, we are doing big numbers in associate and provisionals with our associate canvass. Our immigrant organizing has finally taken off this year with immigrant groups organized in Las Cruces and Albuquerque, staffed with their own immigrant organizer. Most important, we returned to Las Cruces after a years absence, this time, for good, with long-time ACORN leader Yolanda Pea running the office. Campaigns and Politics 247 Nellie Jimenez, Field Organizer Lilia Dominguez, Field Organizer Erica Krause, Associate Canvass Marcus Johnson, Field Organizer

196 203 1,080 -$1000 5 4 $376,500 1107

Although our year was very good, it was certainly narrow in its focus on minimum wage and the 2006 elections. We won minimum wage in the City of Albuquerque, and, by YEYB, we should have won in Bernalillo County. We lost in the legislature on our statewide bill by a single vote in the Senate, but we were a force, sailing through the House, forcing the Chamber of Commerce to take a neutral position, and forcing the Senate to lock its members in its Chambers when our Lobby Day turned out 200 people (86 red shirts) that broke in to delegations of 5 to 25 and pulled dozens of legislators off of the floor to demand accountability on minimum wage. We ran a modest voter registration drive (2,000 cards) but a flawless one, providing no fuel to incite allegations of fraud. Our PAL program had mixed success but certainly provided the invaluable benefit of developing new leaders who mobilized friends to vote, some by pounding the pavement, some by using the cellphones to let friends know they were on their way to pick them up for early voting. For the first time, we made a major effort to move people to vote early (up to 17 days before Election Day) with Count-onMes for the first day of voting, a blitz on the first day, and a recurring push up until the final Saturday. We still dont have final numbers and wont until the new year, but anecdotal evidence suggested our precincts did as well at Early Voting as anywhere else. On Election Day we had 138 paid canvassers on the doors, plus PALs, for our smoothest operation yet. CCI and OMS got it right this time. Great job, no riots. Our payday lending work has produced lots of excitement but few results yet. A little action on EZ Payday Loans got the company President to fly out from St. Louis to negotiate with us to no avail. This is one experience that has led us to believe that we have to create a competitive product to fight predatory lenders successfully. Our first steps in developing a relationship with First Financial Credit Union, which will provide an ethical payday loan product and help members pay off existing loans, has gone well, and we plan to make it succeed in early 2007. Our community college reform has allowed us to own the issue of what low-income students need and want out of community colleges. The project has fostered relationships with most of the key people in the state who work on community college education. And it has helped us get into places like Gallup where we had no connections. This work is truly our most statewide. The project, however, has focused for over a year on students needs assessment, so we have not begun to even fight for anything yet other than the need-based scholarship that was funded for the first time this year in New Mexico. In the coming year, we need to figure out how to translate this work into campaigns that wins stuff for our members and how to form a permanent base in places like Farmington out of meetings with students. The last campaign worth noting is our immigrant work. Though members participated in the spring marches, it was not until the fall, when our immigrant group finally elected officers, that it feel as though we had built an active, united, immigrant base. We still have a long way to go, but we have so far had a fruitful accountability session with 25 members and the Mexican Consulate, which won commitments on improved treatment by the consulate of Mexican citizens and greater access to information and services. We still need the newsletter translated completely into Spanish and anything else we can 248

think of to realize immigrant members full investment in the organization. And New Mexico, of course, is willing to contribute to the work needed to make this happen. Leadership Development Never enough. All of the above campaigns produced new, good leaders. We are not, however, finding a correlation between members who attend formal, leadership development training events and those who actually become leaders. All of our successful leaders are coming straight out of organizing and have often not even been able to attend leadership training events. Well continue to try to make this work. Other With the Bernalillo County Clerk having been elected Secretary of State, we are now working with our friends to install Maggie Toulouse, former LCV director, as the new clerk by a vote of the County Commission. We may win, and, in doing so, have not just a sympathetic clerk in place (which we have had) but an incredibly smart and competent one, who will work with us to make sure the voter registration and election process is fair and efficient and to ensure that gratuitous attacks on ACORNs voter registration work is more competently defended by the Clerks office. We finally bought our office. 2007-2011 Full Ms Associates Provisionals Net BD Increase Organizers Local Groups Budget Turnout 2007 600 2000 5000 1000 10 12 $439K 2000 2008 700 3000 10000 500 12 15 $600K 3000 2009 1000 2000 5000 1000 11 15 $500K 3000 2010 1000 4000 8000 500 12 15 $600K 4000 2011 1500 2000 5000 1000 12 15 $600K 4000

2007-2008 The 2008 Elections provides the urgent need and the means to leverage resources that will allow us to spread into other cities beyond Albuquerque and Las Cruces. Our plan in 2007 is to use a number of grants, campaigns, and new strategies to build something wherever a conservative Democrat is running for reelection in 2008 and where the Dems came close but lost in 2008. In some cases, this means just building up our Las Cruces operation so that it has local groups in Senators Mary Jane Garcias and Mary Kay Papens and Representatives Mary Helen Garcias and Joe Cervantes districts, as well as in Senator John Arthur Smiths district in Deming, 50 miles away. In other cases, this means using our statewide fair housing work and community college reform efforts to seed organizing committees in Gallup (Senator Lideo Rainaldis district), Farmington (all Republican but very working class), Roswell (Senator Tim Jennings district), Rio Rancho (Republican swing turf, especially Rep. Jane Powdrells district), Las Vegas (friendly and powerful Dems), and Espaola (Representative Debbie Jaramillos district). This is all turf where legislators that represent tons of poor people should be better supporters but arent and where higher registration and voter performance by our 249

constituents as a result of our work in 08 will give us the state. As we develop small bases in these districts, we will also run an Associate Canvass through each of these legislative districts once in 2007 to pick up 25 to 40 associate members in each district and 250 to 400 provisional members. Lastly, we will work with environmental and labor allies to recruit candidates to challenge bad Democrat and Republican incumbents in these districts. The campaigns we will move in Albuquerque and these other districts for 2007 include legislative work on minimum wage, state EITC, payday lending, and defense of immigrant rights. Non-legislative campaigns will include financial justice work and the expansion of our ethical payday loan product, VITA, and local immigrant rights issues as well as citizenship classes. We also intend to assist El Paso ACORN in expanding their economic justice work into southern New Mexico and help start up Juarez ACORN. Lastly, we will work on two friendly city council reelection campaigns for Albuquerque districts 2 and 6, for Debbie OMalley and Martin Heinrich. In 2008, we will work legislatively to get funding outreach money for state EITC and funding for our environmental justice work in southern New Mexico. We will build early in the year a hybrid paid and volunteer election program in all of the districts identified above where we have built membership bases. This will mean taking members joined through fair housing, college reform work, and associate canvasses and building small organizing committees that register voters, talk to voters, organize accountability sessions and APAC interviews. We will focus major donor fundraising on funding an organizer to develop these groups and to provide election jobs to the members in these mostly dirtpoor districts. We want to do 40,000 voter registration cards, primarily outside of Albuquerque, and 600 workers on Election Day in 5 counties with a goal of unseating one anti-poor, entrenched state legislator as a result of our work. 2009-2011 2009 will bring the first, long legislative session in New Mexico after the one this coming January. After wreaking havoc in at least one legislative district, most-likely with a conservative Democrat, this session will be our opportunity to use the respect we have gained to move legislation as never before that wins our members important stuff and makes more tax dollars available for community organizing and providing community services. Such legislation might include a permanent state LIHEAP fund and money for outreach in parts of the state where Albuquerques utility, PNM, does not fund us to do outreach. It could include money for organizing low-income college students and significant funding to expand support services for these students at colleges, as well as scholarship money. This will also be the year that Albuquerque has an open seat for mayor. Some of the City Councilors who we help in 07 may be candidates, and we will play a more significant role in this race. 250

2010 will, likewise, have an open seat for Governor. We have good relationships with the current, most likely candidates and need to be a player in this race. We need to raise money for our political work for this cycle based on the redistricting that will happen in our state following the 2010 census. 2011 seems to be a good place to review some other things that will have needed to happen by this point. From 2007 to 2010, as we expand from 2 cities to 6 or so, develop sources of funding to expand LIHEAP and VITA outreach into each of these areas, develop new expertise in environmental work, college education, and immigrant organizing, and develop members and staff that are experienced in legislative work, voter registration, and elections, it seems to me that we will need increasingly specialized staff: A lobbyist, a state VITA coordinator, immigrant organizer, and fair housing director for 2007. An environmental organizer, field director, voter registration director, and education and political organizers for 2008. Our success in securing these staff and making sure that the membership is moving right along with us in 2007 and 2008 will determine how successful we are in 2009 and beyond. Either the world will be our oyster, or we will still be figuring it out as we go along.

251

Charlotte ACORN
Y E Y B 2 0 0 6 Community Organizers: VITA/ Tax Org: Average Staff Size: Head Organizer: Roxane Kolar Admin Assistant: Stephenie Durell NONE George Payne 2

Full Members Associate Members Provisional Members TOTAL New Members New Bank Draft Members Actual BD Deposit Biggest Turnout Active Chapters Inactive Chapters 2 0 0 6 New Chapters: Boulevard Homes

2007 2006 Goals 139 360 55 200 153 347 96 648 75 4 0

Explanation Average of 30 a month

Average of 50% of dking 1100 contacts daily 1660 306 85% of new member goal 250 Four new drives by end of 8 year 0

Minimum Wage: Charlotte ACORN participated in successful statewide campaign to raise North Carolinas minimum wage. On multiple occasions members mobilized locally to gain support for increase, including press conferences with various state representatives signing on to wage increase. Members also traveled to state capitol for Raleigh with John Edwards. Environmental Justice: Members presented to Mecklenburg County Youth and Families Committee asking County Commission to consider lawsuit against Sherwin Williams. Efforts at this point have been unsuccessful. 252

Neighborhood Safety: Boulevard Homes Chapter meeting held a rally demanding better policing and enforcement in their community. Patrols have increased since that time and conversations with police continue. Housing: Tryon Hills/Graham Heights members held an action to have abandoned housing boarded up and removed. Abandoned housing looks to be one of the largest issues in both NC cities.

2 0 0 7 Expansion: If Charlotte ACORN is to become more powerful, drives must be run and chapters formed in a broader section of city and county. Currently 3 of Charlottes chapters are located in the same general area and council district. Charlotte needs a minimum of 4 new chapters (as well as maintaining current chapters) in 2 additional council districts to have any grassroots base in 2007 municipal elections. City board will decide actual neighborhoods. Campaigns: Charlotte is in desperate need for a large citywide campaign (most likely around housing) that will increase ACORNs presence on a social justice level rather than simply in electoral politics. However, before Charlotte is prepared to run a citywide campaign, individual chapters need more local chapter organizing experience. In 2004-2005 Charlotte ACORN focused primarily on electoral work and voter registration. During this time Charlotte ACORN was an extremely successful political machine, however little focus was given to leadership development or local neighborhood campaigns. Several chapters, in fact, have held less than 2 actions in their own neighborhood. Charlotte ACORN should use the first part of 2007 to hold quick hits and small neighborhood campaigns in the four existing chapters to strengthen our base, while running drives in new neighborhoods. Biggest Challenges of 2007: Bankdrafts: Despite membership growth Charlottes bankdraft is ridiculously low. Currently only 40-50 members have active bankdrafts. Several things most be done to change this: 1. Increase # of members on bankdraft 2. Fix incorrectly entered bankdrafts 3. Work with Chapter chairs to ensure all active chapter members are dues current 4. Push in early 2007 to place majority of allies (non profits, reps, etc) on higher bank draft Staffing: with the loss of current field organizer, Charlotte has only the H.O. as current staff. Charlotte has several trainees placed in other cities and needs to ramp up our recruitment to ensure a new Head Organizer by middle of 2007. Funding/Money: With the promise of several foundations, Charlotte will find itself in 2007 in better financial shape than previous years. However,

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Charlotte ACORN must learn how to increase internal self-sufficiency (staff canvas, member fundraising) to prevent being in debt by late 2007

Ohio ACORN YE/YB 2006

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Head Organizer: Katy Gall

Staff 2006 We end the year with 5 staffed offices, with Toledo remaining unstaffed. In the last month, Liz Kropp has moved up to Cleveland to take the place of Stuart Katzenberg, Amy Teitelman, who had been lead organizer in Cincinnati and then PAL program coordinator, has stepped up as HO in Cincinnati. Just this past week Columbus organizer Lashell Alexander moved up to Akron to take over the office there. Lashon Maupin and Barbara Clark continue their great work in Dayton and Columbus respectively. 2007 Goals for 2007 maintain 25 organizers, end the year with 6 staffed offices with head organizers, statewide staff of 4 people. Growth
Avg. staff size mems/mo/org bd/members full/assoc/pro 371/94/5172 363/128/2290 286/268/1184 Groups

Cleveland Columbus Cincinnati Dayton Akron Toledo Overall

5 6 4 3 .5 for 6 mos 1 for 3 mos 25

94 42 123 53 n/a n/a 63

$945/89 $2355/218 $270/27 $160/16 $140/18

$1701.19/149 251/228/4928

1/15/1200 29/30/384

$5571.19/517 1301/763/15158

4 5 4 2 1 0 16

Most of the growth in provisional membership can be attributed to members gathered through voter reg and the minimum wage canvass. There are still people to be collected in one place and added together but the final number of provisional members is likely higher. In the last three weeks of the year we are calling all of these folks from a phone bank to set up follow up appointments. In 2007 we will sign up 1500 new full members, 2500 associates and 10,000 provisionals. Campaigns Minimum Wage Of course our biggest campaign this year was to raise Ohio's minimum wage, which raised wages for 719,000 Ohioans. ACORN built a coalition of groups, collected the bulk of the signatures for the initiative and ran a massive canvass thanks to Jessica and crew, and Mari Englehardt who came in in the late summer and ran it through to a successful finish. Along the way we did a number of local actions and events that raised our profile with allies and electeds in our cities. In Cleveland, Columbus, Cincinnati and Dayton we passed city council resolutions in support of Issue 2, with press conferences with the mayors of Columbus and Cleveland. Dayton ACORN loaned Leiland Woods to 255

the effort for the last two months, and he organized clergy support committees in Cleveland and Cincinnati, building relationships for ACORN with the biggest churches in those cities. Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus and Dayton also hosted clergy breakfasts for supporters. With the direction of Kimberly Olsen and the hard work of Amy Teitelman, we had members volunteering in three cities as part of the PAL program.

Voter Registration This year we registered 116,000 new voters under the formidable leadership of Beth Berendsen who will be greatly missed as she moves on! The VR program was not without obstacles, which mostly came in the form of terrible rules put out by our Secretary of State which made it illegal for organizations conducting voter registration drives to designate one person to hand in cards so each volunteer or paid canvasser would have to directly hand in the cards they collected, or face severe penalties including felonies. Thanks to Brian Mellor and Teresa James, who filed a lawsuit that got the rules thrown out and garnered a lot of positive press for ACORN in the process. Voter Protection In addition to our victory in court over the secretary of state, we have been working in other areas to protect Ohio voters. In February we did a 100+ person action at the Department of Job and Family Services to demand that they offer the voter registration services they are required to under the National Voter Registration Act and began a series of meetings with that department. This fall we joined with other groups to file suit against the Secretary of State to ensure implementation of the law and we are waiting on the outcome. On election day we had an 800-number for people to call with questions about voting or to report problems, which fielded over 100 calls. Finally, we are exploring opportunities for 2007 based on what we have learned from verifying our voter registrations and from this year's election.

Sherwin Williams We have continued actions against Sherwin Williams, including a 150+ person action (with PA and MI ACORN members) at the SW board meeting in the spring, hits at the home of board member Mr. Smucker and lots of local actions at SW stores. In Cincinnati, members collected postcards to hand in to the city councils to push them to sue SW, and in other cities we've done small events thanking council members who have already sued paint manufacturers. We have also started to talk to staff at the Attorney General's office about what the state can do to go after paint manufacturers. Local Campaigns Local city reports should have more detail, but highlights included continuing work on charity care in Columbus, as well as uncovering developments of new homes that have been poorly built in Columbus and quick hits to win cleanup of neighborhood parks (Akron) as well as vacant houses and new streetlights (Dayton). Legislative 256

Our 2006 lobby day with about 150 members was twice as big as 2005. Members did more than three dozen visits around increasing the funding for lead abatement, voter protection issues and In 2007 we will have a legislative director to help shape and move our agenda in the legislature.

Akron ACORN YE/YB 2006 Lead Organizer: Lashell Alexander Organizers: Nicole Moore; Claiborn Dooley
Staff We end the year with two full time field organizers and lead organizer Lashell Alexander, after having no community organizing staff from June-November. Lashell Alexander has stepped up from Columbus to Akron and taken over the office, which should bring great things in 2007! While unstaffed, we did conduct a large VR and GOTV operation over the summer/fall and the neighborhood chapters were loosely maintained by a group of very committed leaders.. Campaigns In the spring we did an action on a Money Mart that was covered by a local TV news station and one action to demand cleanup of a neighborhood park which won some improvements. Looking ahead to 2007 With an experienced organizer on the ground in Akron we are looking forward to a great year! In 2007, our goal is to have a staff of 3 organizers, run a VITA site in our office, and complete 5 organizing drives.

Cincinnati ACORN
New address! 1025 Central Ave. Cincinnati, OH 45202 513.221.1737 ohacornciro@acorn.org

Staff: Liz Kropp, head organizer (now h.o. in Cleveland) Amy Teitelman, lead organizer, then PAL coordinator, now head organizer Tonya Hicks, VITA site coordinator We just had a great academy and have hired 6 new organizers! Average staff size in 2006: 3 New members signed up in 2006: 345 full 276 associate 2026 provisional 2647 total 257

Active neighborhood chapters: 4 Big turnout events:

Inactive neighborhood chapters: 3

Avondale big meeting, 87 people (January) GOTV rally, 96 people (October)

Cincinnati ACORN conducted reorganizing drives in three chapters this year: Avondale, Price Hill, and Fairmount. The Avondale and Price Hill chapters began campaigns around police accountability, including a 35-person public safety march to the District 3 (Price Hill) police station, which generated great press and secured a meeting with an evasive police captain. The chapters plan to work together to continue this campaign. Other actions included an ambush meeting with a senior citizens building manager in the West End to demand a security guard, and a safety tour in Price Hill which resulted in the re-painting of several crosswalks. Even as I type this, plans are in the works for a quick hit in Fairmount to demand the demolition of two dangerous, decrepit, ugly vacant houses. Members from across the city participated regularly in riling up unwitting store managers at Sherwin-Williams and generating tons of phone calls to CEO Christopher Connor to demand funds to help clean up lead paint in ACORN neighborhoods. Members also attended hearings on the lead problem in Cincinnati and the citys failure to address it adequately. We hand-delivered postcards to city council members encouraging the city to sue Sherwin-Williams, which Cincinnati is doing along with other Ohio cities. We plan on nothing less than a Rhode-Island style win! Of course, Cincinnatis biggest win this year was our minimum wage victory! We worked closely with the rest of the state to get over 700,000 petition signatures to get the issue on the ballot, then waged a huge GOTV campaign to win by a considerable margin 54% - in November. An integral part of this campaign was the Precinct Action Leader (PAL) program. PALs are members who are recruited to doorknock, phone bank, plan events, register voters, etc. We signed up 75 PALs in Cincinnati, about 2/3 of whom did work. In Cincinnati, PALs contacted almost 3000 voters in the weeks leading up to election day and on e-day itself. PAL-driven events included many Saturday mobilizations, a voter rights forum (30 people), early voting at the Board of Elections (40 people), a pray your vote counts candlelight vigil (20 people), and two big rallies/doorknocks in July and October (40 and 96 people, respectively). Were planning to use the momentum from the minimum wage campaign to work on another hot issue in 2007: securing a state EITC for Ohio. Speaking of EITC, we also had a fantastically successful VITA site, completing 413 returns.

GOALS

Growth

Leadership

Campaigns

Financial Justice

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2007

Reactivate all nhood chapters and organizer 2 new chapters (Walnut Hills and Bond Hill), resulting in 8 active nhood chapters

Develop 40 new Possible citywide leaders. Have 8 police formal leadership accountability trainings, led by campaign. seasoned leaders, Fight to stop city throughout the year. budget cuts. Continue to send Sherwin-Williams. leaders to state and State EITC. national trainings. Push legislators to raise federal minimum wage. Charity care campaign.

2008

Sign up 1000s of Develop 30-40 new PMs during leaders per year presidential race. 3-5 in each chapter. Continue to have formal leadership trainings, including a retreat. Continue to send leaders to state and national trainings. Start nhood chapter in Carthage. Institute canvass. Sign up 1000s of PMs during election cycle. Add nhood chapter in Madisonville.

2009

Have a great VITA site again, with two parttime employees. double our returns (800). Have at least 6 financial justice seminars. Sign up lots of members and raise at least $8000 off of financial justice programs. Endorse allies Continue to during election expand our VITA cycle. Continue site and financial Sherwin-Williams justice programs, and EITC campaign increasing staff, if necessary. returns Locally, continue completed, police members signed accountability and up, and money charity care raised. campaigns. Move more hot campaigns, especially health care and housing.

2010 2011

Columbus Ohio YEYB 2006 HEAD ORGANIZER:BARBARA CLARK

CAMPAIGNS MOVED IN 2006 Charity Care- we here in Columbus have been working hard to get a resolution passed although we havent yet we have continued to get thousands of dollars in hospital debt cleared and have continued to sign up members,one thing that has happened we were able 259

to sit down with one hospital chain and give our list of demands,and discuss better collection practices which has taken effect. Also better visibility in emergency rooms about Charity Care. One other thing I have noticed about ACORN being persistent and continuing bringing members to get their bills taken care of one hospital has began to cooperate more where before it was only one chain now we have two chains clearing off liens and bills. My goal for 2007 is to get the resolution passed by Columbus City Council, that everyone eligible for Charity Care knows it before leaving the hospital and that we are all charged the same price.(NOT LOWER PRICES BECAUSE WE ARE AN INSURANCE COMPANY AND HAVE MORE BILLS BEING SENT TO THE HOSPITAL) In 2007 plan to start a campaign for better health care so everyone is eligible for health care which means getting signatures to get it on the ballot and hopefully in the 2008 election everyone will have health care. Sherwin Williams Campaign is going on all over the North Atlantic,however in Ohio where the headquarters is located several ACORN Offices gathered their members and went to Cleveland 400 or more strong and marched, chanted in front of the Sherwin Williams building of course we could not enter and no one else for that matter unless they had enough I.D. there was a lot of press and we did get a meeting out of it. Columbus members also joined Cleveland members for an action at a Sherwin William's board member's house in Medina Ohio. We continue to have actions and flier communities in our different cities, where when they meet with us in 2007 they wont offer us peanuts .but will commit to cleaning up their mess, no matter what the cost. Goal for 2007-2011 is to start programs in our communities through Acorn offices getting homes cleared of lead paint and laws put into place that homeowners must have homes inspected before renting or selling. POLICTICAL CAMPAIGN for 2006 was work RAISING THE MINIMUN WAGE,we gathered 732,000 signatures all around Ohio to get it on the ballot registered over 30,000 voters in Columbus ,Ohio what a better year to have Acorn Convention than in Columbus,Ohio where we were able to attract some big names (HILARY CLINTON,ROSEANNE BARR,AL SHARPTON,and JOHN EDWARDS,) AND MOST OF ALL 25OO ACORN MEMBERS,we rallied and marched up the busiest street in support of RAISING THE MINIMUM WAGE,we canvassed neighborhoods,and talked to communities ,putting signs out and hearing support everywhere we went RAISE THE MINIMUM WAGE Columbus Ohio learned AINT NO POWER LIKE THE POWER OF THE PEOPLE. OHIO learned CAUSE THE POWER OF THE PEOPLE DONT STOP and we took that thought to the polls on Nov.7th and RAISED THE MINIMUN WAGE My goals for political in 2007and 2008 is working on voter suppression, changing some laws concerning felons and voter rights,also making sure every vote counts.Of course my biggest campaigns will be voting to change Predatory Lending Laws,in 2008,2009, and then from 2008 until 2011 voting to get Health Care for everyone Also I almost forgot help to get a national min.wage increase to $7.25. Constituency my goal for 2007 will be predatory lending victims . In 2008 getting health care issues on the ballot 2009,2010 2010 2011 will be talking to members

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seeing what is the priorities Goals for all upcoming years will be membership growth and raising money BRINGING OUR COMMUNITIES TOGETHER TO FIGHT FOR CHANGE. CANVASS Columbus tried a canvass in 2004 and didnt do well however I feel we could do another canvass and do better in 2008 since I know more and could contribute so we will try a canvass in 2008 and then continue in years to come 2009 2010,and 2011

D a y t o n A C O R N Y E Y B 2 0 0 6 - 2 0 0 7
Head Organizer: LaShon Maupin Lead Organizer: Leiland Woods Organizers Sheika Gray Randy Roseboro Derek Geter Dossia James Doray Robinson Full Members Associate Members Provisional Members TOTAL New Members New Bank Draft Members Actual BD Deposit Biggest Turnout Active Chapters Inactive Chapters Leadership Trainings New Leaders Developed 2006 286 268 1184 1738 52 270 110 4 0 10 2007 472 650 1500 2622 150 $1500 150 8 0 2 18 Tech/fund/tax.org Stani Sims 2006 Trainees: Lakia Gray, Atlanta, GA Sylvester Askins, Atlanta, GA Jeffrey Brown, Indianapolis, IN Summer Russell, Charlotte, 2006-2007 Trainees NC Larissa Hale, Jackson, MS Charles Vakala, Charlotte, NC Eric Cook, Dayton, OH Alicia Robe, Salem, OR 2008 600 800 4000 5400 250 $2500 300 8 4 30 2009 600 800 1500 2900 300 $3000 450 8 2 24 2010 600 800 4000 5400 350 $3500 700 8 4 32 2011 600 800 1500 2900 400 $4,000 950 8 0 2 28

2006
New Chapters: Five Oaks, Dayton View, Westwood, and Otterbein Estates Five Oaks, the first neighborhood chapter in Dayton, Ohio was established in Feb 2006, the big meeting was held @ College Hill Baptist Church with 75 in attendance. Other Chapters developed throughout the year. Including: Dayton View, 63 in attendance at the big meeting, Westwood, 47 in attendance at the big

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meeting, and Otterbein Estates 59 in attendance at the big meeting. Throughout the year we were able to have actions on Sherwin Williams, slumlords, and the City of Dayton. Dayton ACORN did a total of 21 events turning out over 400 members. FJC: The Financial Justice Center did a trial run of the FJC workshop; it was a success with a turn out of 25 members. Dayton ACORN is eagerly looking forward to our Opening ceremony of the Financial Justice Center in Jan 07. New Organizer Training: Dayton ACORN was the training site for 22 perspective community organizers in November 2006. During our training class we were able to simulate a drive, we worked in 4 communities and were able to sign-up 49 new members 31 of which are Bank Draft memberships. At our mock big meetings we were able to turn out 52 community members. Our trainees had the opportunity to participate in 3 community actions, gaining a clear understanding of the importance of organizing and carrying-out community actions. Our 3-week training period produced 9 well-prepared and eager organizers. This training was a definite success and we are confident that our new training class, which began on Wednesday, December 6, will be as successful as the first. Statewide Campaign Ohio Campaign to Raise Minimum Wage: Dayton ACORN took an active role in the fight to raise Ohios minimum wage. We employed 75 canvassers and 7 field managers who worked diligently attempting to secure a raise for 720,000 residents in Ohio. The campaign to Raise Minimum Wage in Ohio was a great success and Dayton ACORN was able to work with the City Commission who passed a resolution in support of the proposed initiative. The Issue passed by an overwhelming majority.

2007
Expansion: Dayton ACORN is planning to expand into Riverside, Germantown and East Dayton. In addition we are eager to pursue adding chapters in neighboring counties as well. As well we are looking forward to boosting membership in our existing chapters. Improvements: Enhance member participation, as a result, increasing turn out! Create and maintain more effective document management Increase staff training and retention Identify and access more funding in various arenas

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PA Statewide YEYB Report.

Staff: State Head Organizer: Ali Kronley Legislative Director: Matt Fargin State Political Director: Krista Holub (moving to national political operations regional coordinator Dec 05) Voter Registration Coordinator: James Thompson (moving to Philly staff as local political director Dec 05) Local Head Organizers: Joan Collier, Jeremy Reiferson, Maryellen Hayden, Antoinette Kraus Financial Justice/ VITA director: Urell Spain Campaigns: The major campaign highlight was passage of a utility assistance bill to dedicate $20 million in state funding to low income families. This was a fun campaign that worked the way statewide campaigns should we had lots of actions in each city against local utility companies that resulted in local wins, we were able to sign up a bunch of members, we came together for statewide actions and lobby days in Harrisburg and in each city on the same day, and had a group of leaders across the state really running the show.

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In addition to the Utility work, ACORN played a major role in a coalition effort to increase the Minimum wage, turning out 100s to lobby days in Harrisburg and willing to do actions. We struggled with coalition partners to get the press and credit we deserved, and need to figure this out. Same thing with our work successful to increase Block Accountability grants, ended up delivering more money to hard to staff schools in low performing districts across the state for teacher training & mentoring programs. Also, we were the group responsible for pushing the Governors administration to fix problems with the SURE matching system basically preventing newly registered voters from being thrown off the voter list, we played a role in preventing passage of a bad payday lending bill, and also successfully organized against a bill which would have required voters to show ID at the polls (the Governor vetoed it). Politics: This was big for us this year. Our statewide PAC met regularly, endorsed candidates, held two candidate forums with 50+ turnout. We had to fight for our pieces of the electoral field program, and think that the Rendell Campaign made some mistakes in not giving us more, especially in the Lois Murphy race. We did raise money, with Krista doing a huge pieces of the work building these relationships, (and help from Jon Kests networks) to play a role in two contested state races in Southeast PA. Antoinettes network of 61 PALs did great work, and Neils Canvass paved the way for our paid crew (about 80 people on the doors on ED, managed by James Thompson); these combined efforts increased voter turnout significantly more that surrounding precincts where we didnt work, despite fact that candidates lost (one by gutwrenching 40 votes). Also did little bit of work with SEIU in 4th CD outside Pittsburgh & 7th CD outside Philly, and ran a large scale GOTV operation helping bring Casey over the top in Urban districts in Pittsburg. The PAL program in Philly also increased turnout and helped kick out Santorum. On the Voter Reg side, James Thompson ran a huge statewide program to that registered 112,000 new voters, developed great staff, and managed to skated thru again with very little problems, thanks to Lisas efforts developing relationships with local BOEs and her Quality Control machine. All in all, a decent first year as a political force in the state of PA. Expansion, growth: Although not all of our offices have been staffed all year, this has still been a year of growth for us. Most significantly, we have barreled into southeastern PA, with constant events with impressive turnout by Antoinette Kraus and Neil Herrmann. This work in Norristown, Coatesville, and Pottstown has kept us on the front page of the local papers weekly, developed passionate leaders committed to doing the work needed to build the organization, and paved the way for the majority of our political work this year. We also re-staffed Allentown this year, first with Chris Campbell who completed organizing drives in new turf and now Jeremy and Sondra starting organizing drives in bilingual turf. We have struggled to keep staff in Erie, but nonetheless, have a small base there that has made a mark on local issues, and done great work with our tax site. Finally, there has been local expansion into Allegheny County from the Pittsburgh office, this set the stage for us to play a role in a contested congressional district. Philly and Harrisburg are the only two cities without growth this year, and we need to get both of them back on track for the upcoming year. Financial Justice Centers/ VITA: We ran VITA sites in Philly, Erie, Harrisburg, Pittsburgh, and Allentown this year. Across the state, we completed 2611 tax returns, opening a new tax site in Erie. Our goal statewide for 2007 is 3550. In 2007, we will also expand into Coatesville. Additionally, we started a Financial Justice Center in Philadelphia we routinely sign up more members at the FJC monthly that most of our organizers on the doors. This work continues to be a great way for us to raise resources, deliver services to our members, and have a different face to show the rest of the world. This program is run statewide by Urell Spain, who has pretty much singlehandly stepped up and brought all of this work to a new level. For next year, we need to figure out how to get banks to pay for this work, and to offer more utility assistance programs. Leadership: Our state board met 5 times this year, with large participation each time. The meetings were good, focused on organizing, and there is a real cadre of leaders committed to doing good work in local cities & implementing strategies to build power across the state. This comes thru at the meetings, and operates against some individual tendencies to create conflict & divisions,

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especially between staff & leadership. In general, we have made significant strides in learning how to function as a state organization run by grassroot leaders, with new people stepping up, and have thoughts on how to continue to improve this next year. It is of course super problematic that many of our board members have not been elected for a long time, and we have not had actual elections at the board level this year, but much of this needs to be dealt with at the local level, but we do have the capacity to deal with it this year, so it feels like there is a solution. Money: Our budget is small we will have spent just over $100,000 this year. Implemented a state shared that all offices contribute to, and were financially stable throughout the year, but unable to figure out how to raise new resources. Have spent the last few months working with Candace Bell at the William Penn Foundation and other education organizations in the city to apply for national FEO site; it just came thru, meaning there will be $500k over three years for expansion of education organizing across the region. We are guaranteed a piece of it and believe we will be able to turn this into our first significant foundation money for both SEPA and the Statewide operation. Other than that, we survive off of DCED money and voter reg and unfortunately the state account has become too much of a revolving loan for local offices which we need to fix too. Goals for 07: In many ways, this year needs to be a year for us to focus on our locals. We need to develop HOs for unstaffed offices (Erie and Harrisburg) and increase all of our existing head organizers capacity. There are Mayoral elections in Pittsburgh and Philly, and County Commissioner races in the Philly Suburbs, so we need to figure out our play here and move it big. Legislatively, we want to move paid sick days. On staffing, we need to hire someone to play a role recruiting and maybe even training field staff statewide. On leadership, thinking about starting an executive committee that meets monthly, as well as some large leadership training event (like a PA legislative conference). And we need to figure out new ways to raise money, and to stabilize several locals so that our statewide account becomes less of a revolving loan fund.

Philly YEYB report 2006 report

Staff: Head Organizer: Joan Collier Political Director: James Thompson Canvass Director: Neil Herrmann, soon to be Tara Cattel Campaign Director: soon to be Neil Herrmann Field Organizers: Keyonnee, Blossom, Kim, Antonio, David, Omer Organizing Trainees: Ty, Juan, Khalik Canvassers: Sonrisa, Jessie T., Tracy, Jessie B., Divana, Lauren, David Administrative: Lisa Thompson 1. The Numbers Number of New Full members: 608 $750,000. Number of New Associate members: 104 06) Number of New Provisional members (in DB): 4742 decrease Ave Organizers/mo: 6 in stats. Ave Full NM/org/ mo: 9 550 about 8/mo. Largest Turnout events: Operation Budget: around BD monthly deposit: $7,997 (Dec BD Change: about $2500

Number of events: 61, possibly higher, hasnt really been getting Total turnout: poor reporting here, stats say 313, probably about Ave TO/org: again, poor reporting here, but probably still only

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Convention 47 Hunting Park Big Meeting - 42 Election Day training 38

Active Neighborhood Chapters: 6 Inactive Neighborhood Chapters: 8

2. Campaigns Most of our campaign work this year was in coordination with other PA offices we played a big role in passing the increased minimum wage, winning the utility assistance money, and preventing the voter ID bill from passing. More locally, we also formed a coalition to pass Inclusionary Zoning legislation, and the bill is moving forward and giving us a chance to do lots of fun actions against developers. Finally, a bunch of good quick hits/ neighborhood campaigns throughout the year delivered neighborhood services to our members (clean & seal abandoned houses, Rec centers cleaned up, etc), and we are in the middle of a hot neighborhood campaign around police & violence issues in West Philly, spearheaded by Keyonnee. 3. Political Campaigns, APAC, & PAL Highlights: November 4th - Election Day Rally and Training. Forty PALs, ACORN members and community folks turned out for a day of discussion on Working Families issues with guest speakers Tony Payton and Councilmember Miller's Chief of Staff. Longtime member John Moore acted as M.C. and encouraged everyone to sign-up to Get Out the Vote on Election Day. Participants walked away with the concrete skills and materials to mobilize their networks and neighborhoods to vote on November 7th. October 10th - Our Community Votes Event Leading up to the election, PALs not only spent time educating voters on the issues but also on where elected officials stood on these issues. Thirty members gathered to celebrate our Voter Registration Drive and release the ACORN Legislative Scorecard outlining congressional voting records on key issues. Numbers: -126 PALs were recruited from the ACORN membership and community leaders. -On average, each PAL contacted 31 voters each, including neighbors, friends and family members. -All together over 4,000 voters were contacted with at least a personal face-to-face touch, a phone call, and a mail piece. -On Election Day 38 PAL s worked the voter lists, pulling people out to the polls and providing information such as polling locations. 4. Voter Registration With the leadership and operational wisdom James Thompson, Philadelphia ACORN was able to register over 60,000 individuals and also make the state change the SURE system/ HAVA policy to ensure that low and moderate income families were being placed onto the voter roles through our election administration program. Philadelphia ACORN also developed a positive relationship with the Philadelphia Board of Elections by influencing the BOE to adopt administrative practices that helped the BOE streamline their ability to process applications more timely, and through the watchdog method of voter verification process that Lisa Bowman implemented to know who and who not was getting onto the roles.

5. Financial Justice Center & VITA site This year our Philadelphia VITA operations completed 869 income tax returns and we expect to increase that number to 1000 in the upcoming 2007 tax season. With creativity and tact the Financial Justice Center has been the gateway for both new memberships and setting the tone whereby potential homebuyers and existing homeowners improve their financial situations. Through these workshops ACORN was instrumental in reestablishing the credit-worthiness of at least 15 families. Each workshop brings in 10-15 attendees eager to improve their finances through budgeting and spending techniques, and predatory and scam awareness. The Center has signed up 60 new ACORN members since its inceptions in July of 2006. 6. Leadership Highlights include As drive in Hunting Park and Keyonnes organizing in west Philly, which has led to development of new leaders in our neighborhood groups, and Krista, Joan, and Blossoms work with the PALs which has created a committed group of leaders doing field work. But our board is tiny, and we only completed one organizing drive all year, and in general, we need to work on developing more active members and new leaders next year.

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7. Staff Development Highlights -- We have created new positions and have very talented people in them. James, after doing excellent work running our VR crew, and then our GOTV operation, just stepped into our citywide legislative director position. Neil ran an awesome canvass all year, and is stepping up into campaign organizer, with Tara set to build a canvass in Philly. Krista did great work the PAL program in Philly and across the state, helped us raise political money. We have struggled with recruiting and training field organizers all year, but seem to be coming out at the other end of the tunnel after our post election academy with many new talented trainees coming on full time, and will start hiring out of our canvass, which also should help us out. 8. Money We didnt go broke. Voter Registration, William Penn Foundation & outreach contracts kept us alive, but timing out of CCHD and Hazens decision to stop funding Philly sucked, and the $2000+ drop in our bank draft is simply heartbreaking. Future Goals Most exciting & immediate is Mayoral election in May. We are going to make Housing & Heat THE issue in the mayors race, get 1000+ people out to a candidates forum, and move a bunch of big fun actions. Weve got a great staff committed to making this happen, and Jon Kests help in figuring out right directions has been great. Urgent need to rebuild our bank draft, our neighborhoods, our field staff, etc and have the right staff leadership and organizing program to drive it. (Other number goals spreadsheet) Individual Staff Reports: Joan Collier: I have been with ACORN a proud 2 years, 2 months. I am really excited about out Inclusionary Zoning Campaign and dont want to stop that fight. Also, proud to be head organizer of Philly for the last year. I am excited about doing more neighborhood work next year. James Thompson: I have been with Philadelphia ACORN since February 2006 and started out as the Political Organizer for Philadelphia, a month later moving to the State Field Director for Voter Registration, and after the elections transitioned to Political & Legislative Director moving on track to become Philadelphia ACORNs Executive Director. I believe that as a team Philadelphia ACORN has developed a core team of staff who understand their role in the office, and I am proud to say that is the most important growth and development overall. I hope to see more staff and members developed into quality leaders to spearhead Philadelphia ACORN into the forefront of the issue platform of city and social politics in the city. The Year That Was by Neil Herrmann: In the past year, my proudest accomplishments are running a canvass that signed up thousands of new members and successfully worked on campaigns to increase PA minimum wage, state funding for LIHEAP and increase funding for head start & accountability block grants. We also helped set up strong new ACORN chapters in Norristown, Pottstown, & Coatesville overall a good time was had by all! IN THE YEAR AHEAD: I would like to see us grow and prosper by building stronger relationships with membership base & improve turnout. I would also like to see us campaign for a third lane on route 76 and tip jars at fast food restaurants. Krista Holub: I have been with ACORN since Feb 2005. I am most proud of our efforts to get Santorum get out of office. I am most looking forward to new position as Regional Political Coordinator in PA and DE, and I cant wait to develop some local ACORN politicians in 2007. Urell Spain: I have been with ACORN for 2 years and right now I am directing the Financial Justice Centers. I am excited about the number of people who are coming into ACORN through out outreach efforts people are hearing about ACORN and coming to ACORN for a solution to the mismanagement of their funds and they think we can help them with everything. I am excited that they feel confident in ACORN and that they come to us for help. I have signed up 69 people since July and that is a lot. Next year I want to see more people flock to ACORN to get what they need and pull themselves out of financial problems and know that they can correct and be safe

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from predatory scams in our society. Im just glad to know that ACORN is a resource to have and people can help themselves. Blossom Kaleo: I have been with ACORN for 5 months. I have been working in a neighborhood chapter in West Philly and restarting the chapter. Our issues are crime, abandoned houses, broken bridges, and affordable housing. The exciting time has come where a new organizing committee is coming together to tackle these issues. Our PAL program was successful in raising the turnout for voters. I am excited for next year and getting the community fired up for the next Mayors race. Keyonne Thalia: Im the new organizer in West Philadelphia, I have been with ACORN since Sept 2006. The highlights of the last couple months would have to be our triumph with L&I to knock down four of the abandoned houses in West Philly after rallying and receiving excellent channel 10 coverage. I am looking forward to watching ACORNs Mill Creek chapter grow and prosper. Tara Cattell: In August, I began canvassing for Philadelphia ACORN. Throughout the summer and early fall, we canvassed the suburbs of Philadelphia on the Fair Utilities platform, winning state funding for LIHEAP. I also canvassed through the GOTV program in November. Following the GOTV program, I trained as a Community Organizer, and am now settling in as Canvass Director. We are currently planning and deploying our urban canvass, which is focusing its strength on the impending mayoral primary w/ Affordable Housing as the main issue on the table. Kim Heron: Ive been with ACORN for 4 months; I started off as a political organizer in Reading PA, and am in Philadelphia now. I am most excited about organizing the Philadelphia communities around affordable housing and violence which are the most important for the members and excited to build leadership in Philadelphia area and Germantown neighborhood to work on these issues. Most proud moment is last 2 weeks of voter registration, when registered 3000 people in Philadelphia. Antonio Alaya: I have been with ACORN since Nov 4th right before the election. I enjoyed working with ACORN then, and was honored to be called back for the academy. The academy was a learning experience where I gained a better feel for motivating people towards a cause. I am especially happy to be part of the ACORN staff and very much looking forward to learning more and continuing on. Lisa Bowman: Ive been with ACORN since Febuary of 2006. My job title is State Administrative Co-Director. I was very proud to be a part of the Project Vote and as the Head Quality Control Specialist managing a staff of five. I would like to see our communities get more involved. Omer Khwaja: I have been working for ACORN for a couple months. I had a great time doing the GOTV in Cincinnati. I am looking forward to organizing in the south in the next few months. Khalik Benjamin: I am a community organizer. I have been part of the organization for the three weeks now, I have learned how to community organize and my rap is improving. In the future I hope to become a great asset to ACORN and bring on new members every day. Ty Murray: I have been with ACORN for about 1 week and a half and what I have learned is that people really do have concerns about their area and eant changes to occur and if we work together things will change. I realize with me organizing people actually want to hear what I have to say and listen to the people they have hope for a better community. Juan Ortiz: Ive been at ACORN for a week and three days. Ive learned that when I start knocking at doors I wasnt really ready at first but I have gotten better at it. About the new year coming in, Im really ready for the election coming up and getting people ready to vote and also getting a lot more members.

Lehigh Valley PA ACORN

268

The most significant change in Lehigh Valley has been the reopening of the office. After being briefly without staff at the end of 2005, Lehigh Valley ACORN is again an active office, currently employing one community organizer and a head organizer. Average staff size: 1 Maximum staff size: 2

Membership: New Full members to have joined this year: 94 Bank draft membership dues growth: $115/ mo New Provisional members to join this year: 200 approx Total current membership: 560 approx Members attending 1or more leader training: 22 Voter Registration: Total number of voters registered: VITA (2nd year) Total returns: Total refunds:

188

451 $697K

With EITC: Total EITC:

228 $370K

Event highlights: Biggest turnout event: 75 person action to win stop signs in Eastside chapter Convention turnout: 20 adults Organizational highlights: Growth: One organizing drive was completed in Allentown. The Eastside chapter organizing committee made traffic safety their primary concern and succeeded in pressuring the mayor and streets department director to install additional stop signs at several intersections within the chapter. There were 50 people in attendance at the big meeting. Several strong leaders, such as Scott Dietz, Marie Deeds, and Sharon Katzer, came into our world from this drive. Lehigh Valley ACORN is currently at the dawn of two organizing drives. We have finally begun organizing in Easton (a plan put forth two years ago) and are developing our first chapter in Center City Allentown. Politics: Members have built strong relationships with the mayor and several State Representatives. We hosted a candidates forum for a State Senate special election which all four candidates attended. APAC endorsed no one, however, a member-driven GOTV program occurred. We surpassed our voter turnout goals by increasing turnout by more than 5% from a previous similar election, gaining us recognition by politicians.

269

Allegheny County ACORN/Pittsburgh

Numbers for 2006

Full Members Goal 386 Actual 298 o 88 members to go Associate Members Goal 105 Actual 93 o 12 members to go Provisional Members

Campaigns and Politics

Minimum Wage

Goal 972 Actual 1598 Twice in 2006, Allegheny County ACORN o exceeded goal by 626 loaded up a bus and came to Harrisburg in Bank Draft Growth: $410.00 coalition with the Mon Valley Unemployed Committee and the AFL/CIO unions, taking 2006 Bank Draft Total: $21,623.50 Voting Rights the biggest group on the care to always be o # of Organizers: 4 Our and lobbying our representatives for buses, (formerly) conservative state legislature passed a law that would take away the in wages. We former felons, and polls for everyone in PA. a raisevoting rights of also lobbied our require ids at theo # of active neighborhood groups: 6 ACORN members answered by filling a the devils size $349,000 representatives at home on Thursdays andbus for a trip too budget doorwe Fridays. The minimum wage passed in o turnout #s: 300 270 Pennsylvania. We now have a reputation for Growth and Expansion for 2006 being able to turn out the community with the unions, and the PA President of the AFL/ o Began River Town Organizing,

thought that we could get the Senate to vote against the law, but though we met with every single Senator that day, it became clear that they were going to pass the bad law too. So we turned on our heels and marched right up to the Governors Office and lined up to sign a giant petition on a huge piece of cardstock. Each person wrote a little note about how the bad law takes away our right to vote. We had 12 former felons on our bus, and they told their stories. We asked the Governor to veto the law. Then, still not satisfied, we went to the Lieutenant Governors office and conducted the same (friendly) action, and asked her to urge the Governor to veto the law. Ms Lillian Allen, now 98, posed for a picture with the Lieutenant Governor, and she gave us her promise. Satisfied that we had done all we could, we went home and waited. When Governor Rendell came to Kaufmann Auditorium in the Hill District to announce his veto, we filled the room, proudly cheering. Utilities On Statewide Utilities, we did actions at Columbia Gas and Equitable Gas, visited the Governors office, and came to Harrisburg. We sent postcards to our elected officials, and helped 129 people sign up for LiHeap at our Financial Justice Center. Financial Justice We have leafleted Money Mart several times, and are working to help people get control of their finances, letting our neighbors know that Money Mart Loans are Rip Off Loans. We have filled two buses to march on their parent company, Dollar Financial, and we are currently conducting a survey of Money Marts practices in our community, so that we can expose them in a report. Financial Justice Center Our FJC prepared free taxes for about 600 people this year, helped 210 file motions to stop their sheriff sales, and when ACORN Housing pulled out of Pittsburgh, we learned to do PA HEMAP loans ourselves. We are conducting regular Save Our Homes Meetings, Credit Counseling and Budget Classes, and are helping people apply for benefits through our Benefits Bank program. Sherwin Williams Sherwin Williams has felt our heat often. We filled a bus to go to Cleveland to march on their headquarters in the spring, and we leafleted a store along the way. We have done two actions on local Sherwin Williams stores in our community, and have leafleted them a couple more times. We marched to the City County Building to give testimony about how lead hurts our children and asked them to pass a resolution calling on Sherwin Williams to clean up its mess in Pittsburgh.

Local Neighborhood Campaigns

Homewood ACORN Homewood ACORN members have led a very successful drive, with 125 at the big meeting and 100 at the Political Action Leaders Forum on Development. Meetings were attended by the Mayor, Senator, House Member, Police, Fire, 271

Public Works, and City Council. Homewood ACORN marched on City Council to demand that Homewood be considered for redevelopment, and they have secured an important meeting with the URA. Natrona ACORN Natrona ACORN built the first neighborhood group in northern Allegheny County, and their big meeting resulted in the boarding up of a blighted building, a second police officer patrolling their community, and a meeting with their representative about opening an ACORN community center in Natrona. PALS and GOTV 58 ACORN members in Pittsburgh signed up to be PALs, and voter turnout increased everywhere we worked. In Natrona, where the PAC endorsed Dermody for State Rep, he won by 230 votes. No doubt who got that job done. Voter turnout was also increased in Homewood and Wilkinsburg, where it was important that the community voted, and where most of our PALs live. We are proud to announce that Jason Altmire won over Melissa Hart, and that Casey won over Santorum. It was clear that people wanted a change, and ACORN PALs were proud to help them get registered and get out to vote in Pittsburgh.

Expansion Plan
In 2007, We Plan to Grow There are 1,281,666 people in Allegheny County. About a third of them are low to moderate income. In order to build real power, we need to organize ten percent of the low income population, or about 64,083 people, in the next five years. How will we get there? By signing up lots of full members, associate members, and provisional members! Goal for 2007: 15,231 new members. Allegheny County ACORN Pittsburgh Goal Projections 2007 2008 2009 2010 Full Members 1231 Associate Members 4,000 Provisional Members 10,000 Bank Draft Growth 1108/mo Bank Draft Total 2219/mo # of Organizers 4 # of Active Groups 8 Budget Size $249,000 Turnout #s 2,000 Rhode Island ACORN YE/YB Report 2006 Numbers 2006 RI ACORN joined up a total of 13,239 members in 2006: 987 full, 1841, associate, and 10,411 provisional members. Our bankdraft grew $100 from $2347 to $2447. We averaged 6 organizers throughout the year and 6 canvassers. We currently have 4 organizing drives happening and 1 reorganizing drive, however, RI ACORN has no active neighborhood drives outside of these current drives. Our budget was $300,000. We averaged 21 members per event we had this year and our largest turnout was 130. 272 2011

Growth and Expansion 2006 In March we hired a Canvass Director, Jeff Partridge, who quickly built a canvass that has expanded our membership into new cities including East Providence, Pawtucket, Warwick and West Warwick. These cities that surround Providence are moderate income and/or mixed income neighborhoods. These cities represent state house and senate districts of our current general assembly leadership. Our canvass average 6 canvassers all year but had close to 15 canvassers going out during the election season months of August, September, October and November. Our canvass started in April targeting districts of legislators that we needed to move on our anti-predatory lending bill and was a tool to not only expand our member base but also to generate calls and letters to targeted legislators from their constituents in support of our bill. In July our canvass operation quickly turned into a voter contact and GOTV operation. Campaigns and Politics In the past year, our two major victories were the passage of anti-predatory lending legislation and our voter contact work. The Home Loan Protection Act was signed into law by Rhode Island Governor Donald Carcieri on July 27, 2006. The new law will create consumer safeguards including eliminating incentives for lenders to make predatory loans, developing a rate and fee threshold for high-cost home loans, and providing access to counseling and education for borrowers. Rhode Island ACORN members worked with Senator Juan Pichardo, Senator Frank Ciccone, State Representatives Joe Almeida and John McCauley, the AARP, the Center for Responsible Lending, and the Rhode Island Housing Network to get the bill written, introduced, and passed through both chambers of the Assembly. Last fall Rhode Island ACORN established a commission that held public hearings across the state, where ACORN members testified at the hearings about their damaging experiences with predatory home loans. Rhode Island ACORN members made hundreds of calls to legislators, spoke out at hearings, and went to the state house to show their support of this important legislation. The 3 most important things that helped us pass this legislation effectively were: a canvass operation that generated calls and letters from constituents to their legislators (so much so that it was mentioned in hearings and on the floor of the House and the canvass generated 400 calls to the Governors office in 2 weeks), the hiring of our state legislative/political director, Pete Wilson, who gave us the ability to be in the state house when we needed to, and 2 leadership trainings during the campaign (the first to plan the legislative campaign and the second that focused on skills like lobbying legislators and testifying at hearings). Our Voter Program 273

Rhode Island ACORN registered 9100 new registrants, conducted a successful APAL program which contacted over 14,000 voters and had a voter contact canvass that collected members while at the same time colleted voter Count on Me Forms from over 6, 500 registered voters and contacted those voters 4 times before E-day and several times on E-day. Leadership Development RI ACORN conducted 2 local leadership trainings which trained 50 members and we developed 100 new leaders from our APAL program. Goals for 2007 RI ACORN will join 9,100 new members in 2007: 600 full members, 2000 associate members and 6,000 provisional members. We will grow our bankdraft to $3350/month by the end of 2007. We will average 6 organizers on staff and have a goal of developing and maintaining 4 active neighborhood chapters. We are planning to have a big turnout event of 300 in February and 1,000 in May. We are going to organize our expansion turf of East Providence, West Warwick, Warwick and Pawtucket and currently have organizing drives being done in 2 of these cities where we expanded with the canvass in 2006. Our campaign priorities at the state level are schools and passing a set of financial justice bills that deal with RALs and payday lending. In Providence, we would like to raise money to run a tenant lead campaign to pass inclusionary zoning. Goals for 2008 RI ACORN will join 12,700 members in 2008: 1,000 full members, 2,200 associate members and 9,000 provisional members. We will average 7 organizers and 8 canvassers throughout the year. We will grow our bankdraft to $4350 by the end of the year in 2008. We would like to be able to affect voter turnout in a pinnacle state rep. or state senate seat in order to build our statewide electoral power. We would like to have 2-3 VITA sites in 3 different cities in Rhode Island.

Southeastern Pennsylvania ACORN 2007

Expansion Plan: - There are approximately 1,955,638 people living in Southeastern Pennsylvania ACORN, which consists of Berks, Bucks, Chester and Delaware Counties. - Of those individuals roughly 77,443 are low and moderate-income households. - That being said there is a potential to sign up 1,548 full members. - I would like to set a goal of 20,000 full, associate and provisional members would like to sign up 600 full members, 4,200 associate members and 15, 200 provisional members - This will be done by having a staff of three organizers, a canvass director and a canvass crew of 6 to seven people on the doors every day.

274

This breaks down to each canvasser signing up 58 associate members a week/ 14 associate members a day. Each canvasser signing up 211 provisional members a month To sign up 600 full members, I will need 3 organizers signing up 16 people a month. To also be realistic I am going to supervise each staff around 5 members a day to reach 20,000 members. I would like to build my bank draft to $2,000. This will help to create a balance between the canvass staff and organizers to make up were one operation might fall behind. - We will focus heavily on expanding into the 7th and 8th congressional districts. - Chester is a high priority city - Place a large amount of attention on contacting all members through email, autodial calls, and mailings - We will build to large scale operations consisting of four county boards - This will require a budget of $220,000 Political Goals: - To start building a strong base for 2008 and be a key player in SEPA - To play a key role in several council races in at least Pottstown and Coatesville - Play a key role in school board races in Norristown - Research who holds power and if there is any work to be done in Montgomery County Commissioners race - Keep building the PAL program - Perhaps ballot initiatives?? - Build a strong reputation for running gotv field programs Leadership Development: - Build at least 5 more neighborhood chapters and elect boards to each chapter. Build four large county chapters. - Work on developing key leaders based on legislative and PAL pieces - Develop a strong lobbying team Campaigns: - Continue our Tennants rights campaign and homeowners organization in Norristown - Continue our fair representation on the police force campaign in Coatesville - Work on paid sick day legislation - Be the force behind statewide campaigns Southeastern Pennsylvania ACORN 2008-2011 Each year grow by 20,000 members so we can reach over 100,000 members in the region, which is about 5% of the population. Build our bank draft to $2,000 every year to have a BD of $20,000. Have a large canvass operation every year and develop new ways to move membership. Run at least three members for office in 2008 and 2009. Be the key political consultant in the region.

Rhode Island ACORN YE/YB Report 2006

Numbers 2006 RI ACORN joined up a total of 13,239 members in 2006: 987 full, 1841, associate, and 10,411 provisional members. Our bankdraft grew $100 from $2347 to $2447. We averaged 6 organizers throughout the year and 6 canvassers. We currently have 4 organizing drives happening and 1 reorganizing drive, however, RI ACORN has no active neighborhood drives outside of these current drives. Our budget was $300,000. We averaged 21 members per event we had this year and our largest turnout was 130. Growth and Expansion 2006

275

In March we hired a Canvass Director, Jeff Partridge, who quickly built a canvass that has expanded our membership into new cities including East Providence, Pawtucket, Warwick and West Warwick. These cities that surround Providence are moderate income and/or mixed income neighborhoods. These cities represent state house and senate districts of our current general assembly leadership. Our canvass average 6 canvassers all year but had close to 15 canvassers going out during the election season months of August, September, October and November. Our canvass started in April targeting districts of legislators that we needed to move on our anti-predatory lending bill and was a tool to not only expand our member base but also to generate calls and letters to targeted legislators from their constituents in support of our bill. In July our canvass operation quickly turned into a voter contact and GOTV operation. Campaigns and Politics In the past year, our two major victories were the passage of anti-predatory lending legislation and our voter contact work. The Home Loan Protection Act was signed into law by Rhode Island Governor Donald Carcieri on July 27, 2006. The new law will create consumer safeguards including eliminating incentives for lenders to make predatory loans, developing a rate and fee threshold for high-cost home loans, and providing access to counseling and education for borrowers. Rhode Island ACORN members worked with Senator Juan Pichardo, Senator Frank Ciccone, State Representatives Joe Almeida and John McCauley, the AARP, the Center for Responsible Lending, and the Rhode Island Housing Network to get the bill written, introduced, and passed through both chambers of the Assembly. Last fall Rhode Island ACORN established a commission that held public hearings across the state, where ACORN members testified at the hearings about their damaging experiences with predatory home loans. Rhode Island ACORN members made hundreds of calls to legislators, spoke out at hearings, and went to the state house to show their support of this important legislation. The 3 most important things that helped us pass this legislation effectively were: a canvass operation that generated calls and letters from constituents to their legislators (so much so that it was mentioned in hearings and on the floor of the House and the canvass generated 400 calls to the Governors office in 2 weeks), the hiring of our state legislative/political director, Pete Wilson, who gave us the ability to be in the state house when we needed to, and 2 leadership trainings during the campaign (the first to plan the legislative campaign and the second that focused on skills like lobbying legislators and testifying at hearings). Our Voter Program Rhode Island ACORN registered 9100 new registrants, conducted a successful APAL program which contacted over 14,000 voters and had a voter contact canvass that collected members while at the same time colleted voter Count on Me Forms from over 276

6, 500 registered voters and contacted those voters 4 times before E-day and several times on E-day. Leadership Development RI ACORN conducted 2 local leadership trainings which trained 50 members and we developed 100 new leaders from our APAL program. Goals for 2007 RI ACORN will join 9,100 new members in 2007: 600 full members, 2000 associate members and 6,000 provisional members. We will grow our bankdraft to $3350/month by the end of 2007. We will average 6 organizers on staff and have a goal of developing and maintaining 4 active neighborhood chapters. We are planning to have a big turnout event of 300 in February and 1,000 in May. We are going to organize our expansion turf of East Providence, West Warwick, Warwick and Pawtucket and currently have organizing drives being done in 2 of these cities where we expanded with the canvass in 2006. Our campaign priorities at the state level are schools and passing a set of financial justice bills that deal with RALs and payday lending. In Providence, we would like to raise money to run a tenant lead campaign to pass inclusionary zoning. Goals for 2008 RI ACORN will join 12,700 members in 2008: 1,000 full members, 2,200 associate members and 9,000 provisional members. We will average 7 organizers and 8 canvassers throughout the year. We will grow our bankdraft to $4350 by the end of the year in 2008. We would like to be able to affect voter turnout in a pinnacle state rep. or state senate seat in order to build our statewide electoral power. We would like to have 2-3 VITA sites in 3 different cities in Rhode Island.

COLUMBIA, SC ACORN
YE/YB 2006
Community Organizer: Jean Busby
2007 Goals 63 480

Full Members

2006

277

Associate Members Provisional Members TOTAL New Members New Bank Draft Members Actual BD Deposit Biggest Turnout Active Chapters Inactive Chapters Leadership Trainings New Leaders Developed

17 85 165 28 $170 25 1 0 1 7

480 2000 2960 360 $3000 150 5 0 6 50

New Chapters: Waverly Historic, Bethel Bishop Housing Authority Safe Neighborhoods: Bethel Bishop Housing Authority Management requested help from ACORN in September 2006 as far as organizing the residents and trying to encourage them to organize against the violence in the area. Bethel Bishop is the most violent area where shootings occur daily and several murders have occurred within the past months. Two meetings were organized in the area. On October 31, 2006 only six members attended meeting and discuss the possibility of an action against the police. Members decided it best to first sit down with the area police to discuss more patrolling of the area. Members (4) did meet with Police Chief to get more information on the gang activity and there is now a more presence of police patrolling. Four members also attended a ministers alliance luncheon sponsored by the Columbia Urban League. Members were able to meet Columbia Mayor Bob Coble and express their concerns about the violence in the Bethel Bishop area. Columbia Urban League will work with ACORN on the rise of gang violence in the Columbia area. ACORN has planned a Strategic Training and Outreach Planning Project (S.T.O.P.P) for January 18th, 2007. Columbia Urban League and several ministers in the area plan to participate. Lawyers and law enforcement officials from state, city and county levels have also been contacted and stated they will participate. In November Bethel Bishop got new management in which the new management is not eager to work with ACORN. ACORN was shut out of the Community Meeting Room on November 16. New Management said would meet with ACORN in January 2007. The Homeless: Historic Waverly Community issue of concern is the homeless. Earlier during the month of October, the city voted to set up a homeless service center on Hampton Street, one of the main streets of the Historic Waverly Community. ACORN members and other residents on Hampton Street are very concerned because they believe that this homeless site will lower property values and will endanger residents. A commission, charged with addressing the needs of the homeless, appears to be dead, leaving it up in the air as to who will spearhead a continued effort to help the areas homeless. Waverly ACORN members planning meeting to get the city to set aside funds for the homeless. 278

They want funds that will not only house the homeless but also provide medical and mental health assistance. Minimum Wage: Plan to work with Representative Joe Neal and Councilman Carmichael to organize a rally to increase South Carolinas Minimum Wage. Columbias Bus System: The financing of the Midlands regional bus system is a real issue for the Cecilia Saxon and Pinehurst Road ACORN members. The city said it doesnt have the funds to have busses run from Richland County to Lexington County. Many of the residents of these two communities say they would ride the bus if the service was extended because some have to travel from Richland to Lexington to work. A small action took place in August 2006 for the expansion of the bus service. More plans are being made to rally for more bus services in Richland and Lexington Counties. A petition is being circulated in Cecilia Saxon and Pinehurst for ACORN Membership to plan an Action on the Regional Bus System issue. Improvements: Recruit more leaders in the low-income communities to get more membership. Keep track of door knocking contacts, and do more house meetings for more membership. Hire another organizer to help maintain membership in the 5 major communities. Figure out how to update and keep bank drafts working

Texas Report YEYB 2006

Dallas

Organizers
o o o o o o

Allison Brim, Head Organizer Cledell Kemp, Field Organizer Marie Flores, Financial Justice Center Alberto Valencia, Field Organizer Sulan Chang, Field Organizer David Mullins, Canvass Director Sept 4, Labor Day Immigrants Rights March, 250 July 1, Urban Park Big Meeting, 80 Aug 19, Utilities Town Hall Meeting, 85 6 279

Turnout events listed

o o o

List average staff size for year.

Current bank draft Bank draft growth for year # of members on bank draft Campaigns moved in 2006
o o o o

$4,800 -$140 495

Utilities Code Compliance Streets Katrina Urban Park (reorg) South Dallas (reorg) House District 102 (apartments) 3 30

Expansion to new turf in 2006?

o o o

Leadership Trainings held? Number of new leaders developed in 2006 Staffing plans.
o

Plans, Priorities, and Goals for 2007.

Constantly recruit, quickly identify strong organizers, provide steady support and training, have exciting campaigns, get members to participate more Identify 4 lead organizers from training in Dallasone for Dallas, one for Fort Worth, one for Irving, one for Arlington.

Mass turnout event: April or May. Campaigns you'll be moving in 2006.

o o o o o o o

Utilities Contract for Deed Renters Rights Possibly Home Repair Immigration Reform Lead Possibly Living Wage 3 new neighborhoods Monthly 280

Expansion to new turf in 2007?

o

Leadership Trainings to be held?

o

Number of new leaders to be developed in 2006

200

What are the things your operation needs to improve on next year? What are the plans to do so? Recruiting and developing staff (see above) and moving bigger campaigns (layout goals and campaign plan early, dedicate staff to it, deepen membership ownership).

Ft. Worth
Organizers.
o o

Allison Brim, Head Organizer Lena Cook, Field Organizer (p/t) .5 $350 -$30 37

Mass turnout events: none List average staff size for year. Current bank draft Bank draft growth for year # of members on bank draft Campaigns moved in 2006
o

Code Compliance None 2 5

Expansion to new turf in 2006?

o

Leadership Trainings held? Number of new leaders developed in 2005

Plans, Priorities, and Goals for 2007. Campaigns you'll be moving in 2007. o Immigration Reform o Utilities o Renters Rights o Home Repair o Contract for Deed o Lead o Neighborhood campaigns Expansion to new turf in 2007?
o

Yes, 3 neighborhoods Monthly 120 281

Leadership Trainings to be held?

o

Number of new leaders to be developed in 2006

What are the things your operation needs to improve on next year? What are the plans to do so? Recruiting and developing staff (see above) and moving bigger campaigns (layout goals and campaign plan early, dedicate staff to it, deepen membership ownership). Ads need to be constantly running to recruit organizers for Ft. Worth and we need to provide better training and supervision in Ft. Worth for these organizers. We will be opening a real office space in FW in 2007. This will allow us to have a Financial Justice Center to bring more people through the door and sign them up.

Arlington

Organizers Mass turnout events listed List average staff size for year. Current bank draft Bank draft growth for year # of members on bank draft Campaigns moved in 2006 Expansion to new turf in 2006? Leadership Trainings held? Number of new leaders developed in 2006 Plans, Priorities, and Goals for 2007. Staffing plans.
o o

none none 0 $90 $5 9 none none none 1

First find strong Lead Organizer to start office. Then constantly recruit, quickly identify strong organizers, provide steady support and training, have exciting campaigns, get members to participate more Have trainer spend more time in Arlington with trainees

Mass turnout events planned. Campaigns you'll be moving in 2007.

o o o

Lead Probably tenant Utilities Yes, 2 neighborhoods 282

Expansion to new turf in 2007?

o

Leadership Trainings to be held?

Monthly 100

Number of new leaders to be developed in 2007

What are the things your operation needs to improve on next year? What are the plans to do so? Recruiting and developing staff (see above) and moving bigger campaigns (layout goals and campaign plan early, dedicate staff to it, deepen membership ownership). Once a Lead is identified, we need to find office space and have detailed plan to hire and retain more staff.

Irving

Organizers
o o

Allison Brim, Head Organizer Adelaida Calderon, Field Organizer .75 $70 $40 7

Mass turnout events: none List average staff size for year. Current bank draft Bank draft growth for year # of members on bank draft Campaigns moved in 2006
o o

Immigrants Rights Traffic Safety Colonial Terrace 3 5

Expansion to new turf in 2006?

o

Leadership Trainings held? Number of new leaders developed in 2006

Plans, Priorities, and Goals for 2007. Staffing plans. o First identify Lead and get them started in that role.
o

Next, constantly recruit, quickly identify strong organizers, provide steady support and training, have exciting campaigns, get members to participate more Have trainer spend more time in Irving with trainees

Mass turnout events planned. Campaigns you'll be moving in 2007.

o

Lead 283

o o o

Probably tenant Utilities Immigration Reform Yes, 2 neighborhoods Monthly 100

Expansion to new turf in 2007?

o

Leadership Trainings to be held?

o

Number of new leaders to be developed in 2007

What are the things your operation needs to improve on next year? What are the plans to do so? Recruiting and developing staff (see above) and moving bigger campaigns (layout goals and campaign plan early, dedicate staff to it, deepen membership ownership). Ads need to be constantly running to recruit organizers for Irving and we need to provide better training and supervision in Irving for these organizers. We need to move in to office space that we have and make it a place where our members feel at home.

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Midwest Regional Report Year End/Year Begin 2006/2007 Jeff Ordower, Regional Director State Head Organizer Michigan: Dave Lagstein Offices with Head Organizers: Kansas City, MO: Andrew Ginsberg Minnesota: Brandon Nessen Lansing: Diedre Murch Flint: Lisia Williams Madison: Ryan Spangler, Northwest Indiana: Eric Weathersby Lead Organizers: Omaha: Amy Yount Des Moines: Akaluck Nurack Quad Cities, Iowa: Dave Van Thournout Kansas City, Kansas: Elyshya Miller Staffed Offices, no Heads or Leads: St. Louis Indianapolis Grand Rapids Saginaw Unstaffed Offices: Wichita Topeka Analysis: Our goal was to open 7 cities this year, which was pretty ambitious, and thanks to Dave and Madeline, we did 6. Omaha, Des Moines, Quad Cities, Northwest Indiana, Saginaw and Grand Rapids, of the two cities we targeted that we didnt open, one was Springfield, MO, and the other was the perpetual open office, Milwaukee. We lost Wichita and Topeka remains unstaffed. Weve now opened 11 new offices in the last two years in the Midwest!! Goals for 2007: 285

We have a lot of work to do in the first part of the year to stabilize the offices we just opened so our expansion goals are more modest for 2007. Milwaukee, Cedar Rapids, Springfield, MO, Twin Cities Suburbs and St. Louis suburbs are the commitments, plus restaffing Wichita and Topeka. Goals for 2008: Green Bay, Lincoln, Detroit suburbs, Fort Wayne, Mid-Missouri, Independence, Goals for 2009: Evansville, Racine, Milwaukee suburbs, Johnson County KS, South Bend This should get us most of the way to where we want to be in terms of physical space. Goal for 2020: Open Milwaukee, I think were now 0-40. I lie about where Milwaukee trainees are from when I talk to prospective HO trainers so they dont get scared off. The Stats: Staff Size: January 1st, 26.5 organizers in the region. On December 1st, we had 39 organizers. So we grew but not enough. Goal was 60 organizer average, revised was 48 so we came close. 2007 goal Average 60 organizers 2008 goal Average 80 Organizers 2009 goal Average 100 Organizers 2010 goal Average 120 Organizers New Full Members signed up: 2170, we had a goal of 4000, we did 1599 in 2005 so we improved there. Full Members per organizer: 6.4 per organizer, this is an all-time low for the region, we were at 8.7 last year. Did adding Head Organizers to the charts make that much of a difference? Our goal was 10. Minnesota led at 346 total. Northwest Indiana led at 18.1 per organizer Goals: 2007: 9 per organizer 2008: 10 per organizer 2009: 11 per organizer 2010: 12 per organizer New Associate Members: 1306 the region up tremendously from 503. for the Region, MN led at 372 Provisional Members: 8288 for the Region, hugely up from 1293 in 2005!!!. Minnesota led at 2202!! And were not even counting minimum wage provisionals. Total members per organizer: 34.5 per organizer. Flint led big time at 75.1!! Goal was 12399 in total and were at 11,764 so well make our goal by the end of the year. 2007: 50 per organizer

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2008: 55 per organizer 2009: 60 per organizer Bankdraft Growth: January 2006_(final)____________November 2006 (final) Indianapolis 530 790 Detroit 345 860 Minnesota 3978 4426 MO/St. Louis 1763 2079 MO/Kansas City 789 1290 Flint 935 270 Lansing 240 485 KS/Wichita 20 365 KS/Kansas City 160 420 WI/Madison 55 375 MI/Grand Rapids 0 135 Northwest Indiana 0 180 MI/Saginaw 0 20 Omaha 0 60 Des Moines 8 10 Milwaukee 60 55 Totals: 8883 11820 Analysis: Bankdraft this year has been very confusing. As of last December, some numbers were highly inflated as no NSFs had been posted for many months. After the December Bankdraft massacre, most offices spent the spring clawing back so we do have some growth in most offices. Additionally, I did not account for credit card, though only Minnesota has more than $20 per month in credit card. Additionally any BDs that were coded as canvass were not accounted for as well, though I imagine that many offices are miscoded some dues in the database. We still need a lot more work to grow our bankdraft, and frankly we need to spend a lot of time on this next year to figure out what the impediments to growth are, in addition to just not signing up enough bankdrafts. 2007: Grow to 15,000 and hope we can solve our problems to allow for faster Bankdraft growth. Money: This being a political year, there was some help for many of our offices. Minnesota raised 130K in locally generated political money and Michigan raised in the 30K range, which bodes well for the future. In Missouri, Political operations only put about 75,000 into Missouri Minimum Wage and though Gail Stolz raised another 250K, most of the Million dollar CSI contract came from sources outside the organization. Combined with Voter Registration, this was huge for both Missouri ACORN and political and positions us well for future ballot funding and other political work. Michigan has done some great work with a few targeted foundations and now needs to diversify its funding sources but has a great head start for 2007. Minnesota spent very little time on money and had no problem paying its bills due to fortuitous political positioning and the right allies, Jordan pulled a deal through the AG with a Capital One settlement that benefited ACORN, ACORN Housing and the Financial Justice Center for

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a combined 250K, an amazing achievement. Northwest Indiana is using pre-existing relationships to raise money as well. Indianapolis is paying its bills. Madison has struggled mightily but may be poised for some success in 2007. Omaha is struggling for money, its a particularly tricky scene for a start-up. The Iowa offices are too new to tell. Internal Fundraising continues to be problematic yet again. Madison is running a great canvass program and Michigan has raised a fair amount of money from banks. Other than that, things are pretty bad. I raised $135,000 directly and played some role(from modest to significant) in about $1,450,000 coming into various operations this year. I wont match those numbers next year but if I can cultivate an individual donor base of 100K, raise another 100K in foundation work and help raise 300, Ill take that for 2007, increasing by 100K each subsequent year. Staff Development: We only gained one new Head Organizer this year, developed 3 and lost 2. Some of this is due to our slowing down the Head Organizer path so that some new Leads opening offices would generally be heads. However, were still behind where we should be. We do have 4 new lead organizers this year. Our new Lead/Head trainings have slowed down as we have nationally systematized our new Head Organizer training but we may want a Lead meeting in January or February for additional skills. Obviously, Eric in NW Indiana, our new Head Organizer has been a great one and has his office off to a wonderful start. And its certainly worth mentioning that the recruitment department has done a great job. Goals 2007: 5 New Head Organizers, 5 New Leads: 1 new State HO. Specifically we need lead/head quality folks in Wichita, St. Louis and Indianapolis, this is mandatory. Goals 2008: 4 New HOs, 6 New Leads: 2 New State HOs I think were sufficiently new on this Head/Lead development that we may have to reevaluate goals based on how new Head Organizer training goes. St. Louis gets special mention as we fired one Head Organizer and the next one resigned rather than be accountable, so things are simply bad and can only get better. Leadership Development: St. Louis led in conflict as the Board was trusteed and needs to be rebuilt. Minnesota had its share of conflict long-time Board President Shada Buyobe-Hammond lost a pair of elections. Minnesota however, developed some dynamic new leaders this year. There are good new leaders in many places but not a good curriculum and plan. The best way to talk about this is perhaps to measure it quantitatively. Offices with full boards (3 neighborhood chapters and regular meetings): Indianapolis, Twin Cities, Kansas City, MO States with functioning boards: Michigan Unfortunately, many underdeveloped offices here. 2007: Full Boards in all cities but Wichita of existing offices. Convention: We did 278, we need to do 450 in 2008. We will do 50 to the legislative conference in March.

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Campaigns: Campaign work was much stronger than in 2005, due in large part to the help of the campaign and research departments. Michigan raised the minimum wage (how soon we forget) and did some good work on utilities. Northwest Indiana started strong with utilities and may have a deal. Indianapolis won the roof repaired at Lafayette Square Mall. St. Louis did win a major coup on restoring many Medicaid cuts on the tobacco tax referendum that ultimately failed. Madison won a citywide ordinance that lets tenants make their own repairs. Minnesota did hot work on a lending scam that affected Latinos, getting corner stores cleaned up, won $2 million in the budget for home repair. Kansas City, MO did good work around Wal-Mart and Omaha is embarking on a utility campaign with gusto. Neighborhood Work: Good drives in Minnesota and some good local group campaigns around safety, a farmers market and bus stops. Great work in Allied Drive in Madison, huge turnout and a nice coalition that puts our folks on the map. 8 drives in Michigan including 3 in Lansing and 3 in Detroit though many groups were not maintained enough to keep them going for Board seats. Lansing did some good work around a vacant school and Flint did some good neighborhood work around vacant properties. Detroit did a bulk trash campaign which was more neighborhood based. Unfortunately, the total number of drives in the region was minimal. Minnesota increased its neighborhood chapters by 4, Indianapolis netted 2 groups, other than that no office had an increase of more than one full chapter this year. Total number of drives completed: 18, goal for 2007: 30. Political Work: Political work was a real strength for 2006. Andrew delivered huge on the signature phase of minimum wage, singlehandedly delivering the West half of the state to put us on the ballot in Missouri. Of course Johanna Sharrard delivered another CD in St. Louis County. The joint political/field program ran a great canvass, with 640 folks out by Election Day, delivering Minimum Wage, Stem Cell, and ultimately an issue with which to elect a Democratic Senator, political staff we simply fantastic! Voter Registration did a huge number of cards, 70K but also had big gaps in the tightness of the drive. Minnesota had a breakthrough year as well, with APAC making early endorsements in the Governors race, Keith Ellison for Congress, Mark Ritchie for Secretary of State and Lori Swanson for AG. We won 3 of the 4 big ones, with our candidates meltdown a week out costing us a huge friend in the Governors mansion. We ran a good-sized America Votes canvass in our turf as well as 13K registrations. Much props to Minnesota Political Director Chris Saffert on many of these pieces. Michigan ran a very good GOTV program in Saginaw, produced big on Voter Reg, and also did some work in Grand Rapids that was good. Midwest APAL was adequate but suffered from a lack of attention to be a top APAL location. Building Statewide Capacity: Michigan took some great strides forward as we not only opened two more cities, but also have both a Political Director and a Legislative Director, with a canvass on target to start

289

in January. It was difficult in that we were huge players in Michigan until the Minimum Wage passed and have struggled a bit to get back to the right tables. Minnesota showed the value of a full-time savvy Political Director and is making plans to beef up its statewide plan as well, and has had a great year in terms of making good strategic decisions and relationships. Missouri will have a part-time Political Director, possibly a Legislative Director-Statewide Organizer and two canvasses by the end of January. We have no problem getting in the door with folks and have proven our political capacity so we are very well-positioned. Eric is starting to wrap his head around a statewide plan in Indiana. We are well-positioned in Wisconsin, we just cant deliver on the field side in Milwaukee which is where its most important. Summary and Outlook: 2006 was a very successful year again in the Midwest. 6 new offices, and only empty puts us at a net gain of 5. Our politics were outstanding in Missouri and Minnesota. The basics are adequate and improved over 2005 in terms of total member numbers. Money was improved but is always hard. Drives and neighborhood work were too little and bankdraft growth too meager so we have much work to do there in 2007. Looking ahead, a number of talented leads leaves us in good shape on developing HOs. 3 states are poised for real statewide plans, with hopefully Iowa and Indiana also looking at big 2007s as well. Weve got a great nucleus and are very excited about next year in all 16 Midwestern cities.

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Southern Region YE/YB Report 2006

Regional Director: Brian Kettenring Head Organizers: Neil Sealy (Arkansas), Tina Bellou (Louisville), Sonya Murphy (Jackson), Roxane Kolar (Raleigh/Charlotte) Lead Organizers: Jean Busby (Columbia), Hector Vaca (Raleigh), Christina Spach (Atlanta) Southern Fundraising Program: Charles James

Offices:
Birmingham, AL opened March 2005 Little Rock, AR opened 1970 Pine Bluff, AR opened 1971 Atlanta, GA reopened early 2004 Louisville, KY opened early 2004 Jackson, MS opened October 2005 Charlotte, NC opened early 2004 Raleigh, NC opened spring 2005 Memphis, TN opened 2004 Nashville, TN opened October 2005 Columbia, SC opened January 2006

Performance:
Office # Staff New Members Birmingham Little Rock Atlanta Louisville Jackson Charlotte 0 3 2 2 1 1 06 by Stats 184 471 116 156 156 139 Associate/Provisional 1/06 BD Members 06 482 261 334 303 307 208 Income $0 $1494 $330 $637 $100 $272 11/05 BD Actual Income $50 $3459 $630 $1087 $170 $443 291

Raleigh Memphis Nashville

2 0 0 11

201 86 1509

464 2359

$0 $200 $20 $3053

$751 $140 $100 $6830

Expansion:
Whereas in 2005 we opened four new offices (Raleigh, Nashville, Jackson, and Birmingham), in 2006 we opened only one new office and struggled to restaff others and hold on to what we have: Memphis, Atlanta, Virginia, etc., Atlanta being the only highlight here. It was not a good year for expansion, the best news being the growing traction in the recruitment program reached in the second half of the year.

Recruitment:
It took some time, but we finally have started to hit some stride in terms of a recruitment and training program for the south. Working with the Recruitment Department under Florencio Othon, Becky Mansour and company, we have started to get things moving. Some lessons learned and a few highlights here:

We had 17 people enter the recent 3 day trainings in Cincinatti, Philly, Dayton, Minnesota, and Providence, and 9 of these rising organizers (53%) graduated and are in drive training in a number of cities.

Historically, we have often said only organizers can hire organizers. We have found this not to be absolute, not to mention the higher quality of attentiveness to applicants paid by members of our Recruiting Staff as compared to our sometimes too-busy organizers!

We hired approximately 115 people (directly on behalf of the region, not in local offices, though hiring was modest in most of our offices) who had dates set to go for out of town training since I began systematically tracking in mid-February. Nearly 100% of these were scheduled for training away from their home city. To date, 8 of these completed training drives and returned home. Of these eight, three remain active as organizers, another in a non-organizing position, and two 292

have already advanced in the organization. Another 11 trainees remain in training at this point, and three more began training this past week. We have begun to systematically track numbers and add accountability throughout the national recruitment system. From the placing of ads on the internet to newspapers, to tracking incoming calls, interviews set, observation days, etc., we are beginning to attach numbers to each step of the process. We need to round this out in 2007. At one point, when we were seeing the possibility of doing 40 interviews per week, I felt we could consistently hire 5 new organizers for the region/week, but we backslid as election season hit. We need to make this the standard and hit this mark in the region in 2007.

Fundraising/Finances:
We made it through the first half of 2006 without a single office in dire straights, but the second half of the year was tougher. A combination of small staff sizes, the Clinton grant and related tax site income, and some modest fundraising, got us through convention. While the last two quarters have been tougher, we have had some success in Atlanta, Louisville, Birmingham (until more recently), and are starting to see some light in NC.

A year ago I wrote that, Our program for local offices has been the following in 2005:

Instituting fundraising Fridays (this has only succeeded in offices that canvass). Everywhere else, its been a failure, ad sales have not worked;

Doing regular morning fundraising for all field staff for 1 hour each day. We have had mixed success with this also;

Aggressive Head Organizer fundraising, including VITA, local foundations, looking for govt $ angles, CCHD, opportunistic fundraising, and individual donors in some cases.

Member fundraising few offices have taken this seriously, with a few exceptions on raffle.

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This is still the program, and the issue has been getting offices to consistently build bankdraft (Louisville is a bright spot here), do staff fundraising (Atlanta and Louisville are strongest here now), plus all the other pieces.

In February I hired an individual donor fundraisers, who fizzled out after 5-6 weeks. This time we were fortunate enough to come across someone with substantial experience and an excitement level about the organization and our mission. Charles James is serving as Southern States Finance Director to build and individual donor program in the south, starting first in Atlanta and Birmingham (where he is from). Our goal is to raise at least $36,000 in the first quarter of the program ($2-3,000 committed so far), and to build it from there. The model is using two events, cleanup day and a community fair to leverage some money sources, plus lots of individual visits and calls. The program is off to a good start, but ask us on February 14th how much we raised in the first quarter. If we can make this work, it will be an exciting development.

Campaigns: Campaign highlights this year included:

Two blight/housing ordinances won at the Jackson, MS City Council; Winning minimum wage increases in AR & NC; Jacksons mailbox campaign; The regional lead paint industry action in Nashville; Pine Bluff living wage victory.

Politics: Well, we built a party in South Carolina this year, WFP. We overcame a fair amount of resistance, legal, legislative, political, and logistical, to get this done. We ended up endorsing four candidates, and worked hard for Anton Gunn, ED of SC Fair Share. 21 members and staff came to Columbia for the final 5 days of the race, which

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was great, and a good training experience for everyone involved. The members started asking immediately when the next trip was. North Carolina did a small, funded GOTV program in some African-American precincts in Charlotte in our turf, Little Rock had a full political program as always, and Louisville took a team up to Ohio where they dove in and lent a hand.

Leadership Development: Our leadership development was modest this year, with the following taking place:

85 members at a regional leadership training/action in Nashville on October 29th, certainly the highlight;

Offices participated to varying degrees in the legislative conference and leadership school;

Convention participation was also of varying quality, but some offices had respectable turnouts and results from the event.

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North Atlantic YE/YB Report 05-06

Craig Robbins, Regional Director

We are active with offices in the following countries, provinces, states and cities:
Massachusetts-Boston, Mimi Ramos HO -Springfield, Gabe Strachota, HO (since Nov, 2006) Rhode Island-Providence, Aimee Olin, HO (transitioning to Jeff Partridge, Jan 1, 2007) Pennsylvania-Ali Kronley, PA HO Pennsylvania-Philadelphia, Joan Collier, Head Organizer Pennsylvania-Pittsburgh, Maryellen Hayden, HO Pennsylvania-Harrisburg, Matt Fargin, PA Legislative Director and Interim Head Organizer Pennsylvania-Allentown, Jeremy Reiferson, HO Pennsylvania-Suburban Philly-Antoinette Kraus, HO Pennsylvania-Erie, open Delaware-Wilmington, Apryl Walker, HO Maryland-Stuart Katzenburg, State HO (Since Nov. 15,

2006)
Maryland, Baltimore, Derrick Jessup, HO Maryland-Prince George County, open Maryland-Baltimore County, open District of Columbia, Belinda Ferrell, HO since November 15, 2006 Canada-Toronto, Judy Duncan, Canada HO Canada-Vancouver, Katrina McKeown, HO Canada-Toronto, James Wardlaw, HO in training (as of Dec 1, 2006) Canada-Ottawa, John Anderson HO (as of Dec 1, 2006) Ohio-Katy Gall, OH HO Ohio-Columbus, Barbara Clark, HO Ohio-Cincinatti, Amy Teitelman, HO (since November 2006) Ohio-Cleveland, Liz Kropp, HO (as of November 06) Ohio-Dayton, Lashon Maupin, HO Ohio-Toledo, staffed, HO position open Ohio-Akron, staffed, HO position open Texas-Ginny Goldman, TX HO Texas-San Antonio, Bea Flores, HO Texas-Dallas, FW, Allison Brim, HO Texas-El Paso, Jose Manuel Escobedo, HO Texas-Houston, Jayne Junkin, HO Texas-Austin, Mike Litt, Lead Organizer Florida-Jenny Lawson, FL HO FL-Miami/N Dade: Jenny Lawson, HO FL-St, Pete, open FL-Tampa, Ben Winthrop, Lead Org 296

FL-Orlando-Stephanie, HO FL-Liz Andrades, HO FL-Jacksonville, open FL-Palm Beach, open FL-Broward, open We end 2006 We have 7 State Head Organizers (TX, FL, MA, MD, PA, OH, Canada) 26 city Head Organizers, 6 of them new this year we are organizing in 8 states, and the District of Columbia, and 2 Canadian Provinces offices in 35 cities organizing in at least 6 additional satellite cities we have 11 offices currently without Head Organizers; A. Members

We signed up 9592 new full members in 2006;

Top states: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. full members FL 2000 full new members TX 1627 OH 1301 PA 1280 RI 949 MD 756

Top Cities: Full members 1. Providence 949 full new members 2. Houston 683 3. Toronto 613 4. Philly 608 5. Dallas 563 6. Orlando 477 We averaged a horrendous 7.5 full members per organizer/mo in 06; we averaged 11.3 full members in 2005 Our goal was to average 13 full members/org/mo in 06, we had a goal to sign up 15,600 full members: we signed up 9,592 full members in 2006 In 2006, we had a standard of 10 Associate members a month per organizer Our goal was 12,000 Associate members in 2006 We signed up 7707 associate members in 2006 Associate members in cities with canvas: 297

1. 2. 3. 4.

Rhode Island 1800 Southeastern PA 1737 Toronto 371 Dallas 351

Associate members in cities without canvas: 1. Houston 300 2. Dayton 268 3. Cincinnati 228 4. Hialeah 203 In 2006, we had a standard of 50 Provisional members a month per organizer Our goal was 60,000 provisional members in 2006 We signed up 63,329 in 2006 Total members We signed up 79,998 total new members in 2006: Top States 1. PA 20,922 2. OH 15,720 3. RI 12,890 4. FL 12,194 5. TX 5545 6. MD 4377 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6.

Top Cities
Providence 12,890 Southeastern PA 12,770 Cleveland 5637 Cincinnati 5407 Philly 4803 Toronto 3406

Our goal for total members in 2006 was: 87,600

We signed up 79, 998 in 2006

Goals for 2007: Full members: we will get back to 10 mems per organizer Associate members: Provisional members: Building Power with these numbers: obviously, signing up 80,000 members across 40 offices is huge, and on the face of it, allows us to better claim the work we do. The 298

12,000 members we signed up in Southeastern PA this year, in two of the key swing districts in the country helped elevate us to a player here quickly. But what do we really have? How many of these 12,000 (less than 100 are full members!) really see themselves as a part of our organization? As we expand the number of canvasses around our region and the country, we need to develop the servicing model that ties these huge and growing numbers in in a way that will still be lower touch than we are used to, to still some touch: immediate databasing, regular autodials and e-mail alerts; postcard mailings monthly or so, and some big events to move people to every couple months.

B. Staffing
We averaged 3.3 organizers per office in 05, we averaged the same in 06 our goal was to get to 4 org per office Goal again for 07: average 4 organizers per office We have seen many changes in the Region this year: New Head Organizers in 06: Gabe Strachota, reopening Springfield, Mass, Belinda Ferrell, taking the reigns in DC, Bea Flores in San Antonio, Allison Brim in Dallas, Antoinette Kraus now runs the Philly Suburbs, Amy Teitelman, Cinci New State Head Organizers: Stuart Katzenburg, former Cleveland HO is the new Maryland State Head Organizer, and will attempt to fill the big shoes of Mitch Klein; Mimi Ramos, Boston HO has stepped up to assume responsibility for all of Massachusetts. Head Organizers in training: James Wardlaw is on a track to become the HO of Toronto, taking over from John Anderson, who has moved on to Ottawa to jumpstart Canadas third city(YA!); and Jeff Partridge is on the HO track for Providence, Nuri Mercado, for Miami/Dade, and Ben Winthrop, Tampa are on the HO track 11 Offices that need Head Organizers: Texas: Austin PA: Erie and Harrisburg OH: Toledo and Akron MD: Baltimore county and Prince Georges county FL: Broward County, Jacksonville, St. Pete and Palm Beach Other staffing: In addition, some states/citys have legislative/political staff: PA, RI, MD, FL and Canada have state leg/pol director(s), and we are hiring for OH. To help fund this and other state positions, some states state boards have approved a state shared to fund the statewide political operation which will help expand the needed state infrastructure. IN PA for example, the state shared is 5%. -Many offices now have part-time (at least) administrative assistants

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C. Bankdraft Our bankdraft is $60,749 initial deposit in December Toronto had the largest growth in the region in 2006-growing their bankdraft by over $3000 this year to now roughly $5000 a month actual spendable, or $60,000 a year-great work in two years! We have many additional tools these days to both correct bad prenotes and to eliminate non-performing bankdrafts; we need to step up our attention to this detail, since it really can make a huge difference. 6 of our staffed offices saw their bankdraft decline(ugh!); for the offices that had growth, outside a few offices(All Canadian offices saw excellent growth, as well as DC ) we have had very anemic growth. We also need to focus on Bankdraft growth during the VITA intake season; most offices have 4-500 families getting their taxes done over 11 weeks, or roughly 40 people a week getting our services; with focus, we should be able to sign up 30%, or roughly 135 members on bankdraft. Biggest BD growth in 2006: 1. Toronto grown 3500 a month, to roughly 6000, or $72000 a year 2. DC, has grown $857 a month to $4640, or $55,680 a year 3. Vancouver, grown $800 to $1200, or $14,400 a year 4. Cincinnati grown 791 to 2183 a month, or $26,196 a year 5. Houston grown 710 to 3908, or $46,896 a year 6. Dallas, grown 590 a month to 4800, or $57,600 a year
(these are really growth since Feb 06)

BD rankings in NA*: 1. Philadelphia, 7997/ mo 2. Boston, 7722 3. Toronto, 6500 4. Dallas, 4800 5. DC, 4640 6. Baltimore 4110 7. Houston, 3908 8. Rhode Island, 2722 9. Orlando, 2570 10. Pittsburgh, 2306
(these are initial deposits)

D. Performance This has been a rough year in this category: we have seen our full membership numbers slide, well below 10 full members an organizer in 2006, to 7.5 full per organizer. This is hard to explain, although including HOs in the staff number, and given how few HOs actually sign up members, it is one explanation. The other is lack of doorknocking discipline, and we need to get back in double digits in 07. 300

We will continue to manage around $800 a month per organizer in money raised per month: $400-600 internal money $150 full member cash dues $100 Associate member dues This is a critical performance level for us to achieve: for offices to grow, they need to have a system in place and believe that they can actually hire and have them raise money off the bat. Fundraising Fridays/Canvassing Continue to be the best system we have developed in the organization for sustained, reliable funding. Financial Justice Centers: in most all of our cities in 2006 we ran VITA sites that were successful, and in 2007 we will run even more. A growing number of offices have also been developing a more year round Financial Justice Center, that has people coming in on a varied menu of services: from finding out about what benefits they are missing out on, to getting help with utility bills or getting LIHEAP, or staving off a foreclosure. We have also been holding Financial Literacy classes in a number of cities. This will be a continued work in progress-as VITA finishes up in April, looking to keep a staffer on in many offices and keep the intakes going. Key to this will be consistent fundraising around this-there is clearly resources out there.

E. External Fundraising
offices working with Janet and the national fundraising team will need to get out 2-4 proposals a month These offices are: Boston, Providence, Toronto, Cleveland, Cincinnati, Columbus, Wilmington, DC, F. head organizer supervision and training Head Organizer Meetings: we have HO mtgs in Philly each Feb, and in Pittsburgh in July; We also combined an all-staff training over two days with the Pittsburgh meeting We will repeat these two Regional staff meetings again this year; Expansion: in 2006, we opened offices in Springfield Mass, Erie, PA and Ottawa, Canada; in 2007, we will open Portland ME in the spring, Worcester Mass in the summer; also on the list is a 4th city in Canada-Winnepeg?

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G. Growth planning: each state and their cities are developing a plan over the next 3 months on getting to density in their turf. Meetings were held in NYC at the end of November with State HOs to start these discussions, and as part of YEYB reports, HOs are working on putting the numbers together. This is an exciting process, and forcing us to think about getting to a scale that is about real power. H. leadership development - Legislative conference : we will be much more organized and thoughtful this year in our delegate selection, as well as fundraising for it. At least one staff will be with each delegation for the lobbying visits. Since we are looking at big numbers for 2007, and it is earlier this year, we will need to move quickly starting after the new year on this. I. Politics 06 was a big year, and Im sure will be amply reported by Ohio (center of the political universe, seemingly now and forever!), PA, RI, Maryland, and to a lesser extent some good local work in Toronto, where our APAC helped elect a city councilman, Delaware where we did some work for a powerful state Senator, and Boston, where we mobilized voters in our neighborhoods. In 07, we will focus on some key municipal races: in PA: Mayor and council in Philly and Pittsburgh in May; and possible county commissioners races in Philly suburban counties; Baltimore has a Mayors race; Initiatives: we will continue to explore the opportunities for initiatives in places where they are possible: DC, some PA and OH cities and counties WFP expansion: has been stymied in DE, where we expect to have to ward off an attempt by the legislature to outlaw fusion; there is interest among some key groups in Maine, and continued discussions in Ohio and PA to win fusion legislatively.

Western Region YE/YB Report 2006 Swan Song Clare Crawford, Regional Director
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2006
New Members Full: 1682 Associate: 597 Provisional: 11294 Bankdraft Growth Net deposits for the West increased by 36.24% from $10,971.67 to $14,947. The biggest increases in bankdraft was in Phoenix, AZ and Denver, CO, with a $1652.50 and $665 increase respectively. Current Staffing Head Organizers: 4 (Colorado, New Mexico, Arizona, King County, WA) Field Organizers: 31 Staffing was a huge struggle, primarily due to hemorrhaging of Head Organizers. We lost 3 head organizers with more than 3 years of experience, two of whom left in spectacularly bad circumstances, and only one of whom had build a strong enough staff to continue the work without major interruption. Recruitment was tough, we many people getting sent out, and very few coming back. Two rays of hope were restaffing Washington State and Hawaii. Washington State is really back on the map with Alex King bringing us back as King County Head Organizer. In Hawaii, Maria Carrera is running our financial justice work and stepping in to do a yeomans job of continuing the community organizing after the crushing and sudden loss the second organizer to return from the mainland. Turnout Biggest Turnout: 400 at Nevada Immigration March. Other Turnout: Under Ben Hannas direction, Colorado ACORN splashed back on the scene, with consistently good turnout, and overall the highest in the region. Mesa and Phoenix, AZ also held several events, as well as AZ statewide events that exceeded 200 turnout, and events just in Mesa exceeding 100. Arizona also gets special mention for having the broadest and most consistent membership mobilization on electoral work. Finally, we need to recognize Alex King for putting Washington ACORN back on the map after a long hiatus with a 150 person meeting in South Seattle. Growth and Expansion for 2006 2006 was a year of largely restocking, rather than expansion. Offices that were more or less unstaffed at the end of 2005 that are now staffed include Denver, CO, Las Cruces, NM, Honolulu, HI, and Seattle, WA. Unfortunately, left empty are Portland, OR, Oklahoma City, OK, Las Vegas, NV and Tucson and Glendale, AZ. Currently in the trainee pipeline, we have people for Las Vegas, Oklahoma City and Salt Lake City, UT. We did not open any new offices as the focus was on restaffing existing offices, however, it is likely that Salt Lake City, UT will open up in early 2007. 303

Campaigns and Politics Obviously, the big campaign news for the West is the Minimum Wage victories in Arizona, Colorado and Albuquerque (and the forthcoming victory in Bernalillo County). All victories were impressive, but a special mention (since it was the only campaign I was there to witness) goes to Colorado and Ben Hannas excellent leadership on the campaign there. The election week operation ran like a well-oiled machine. The guy is a beast. Mesa ACORN made a major splash in the state and proved they were a force to be reckoned with by getting a Stable Funding Source (i.e. TAX, in an extremely conservative, anti-tax area) on the ballot and making a competitive showing at the polls. In New Mexico, we worked at the State Legislature on Payday Lending, State EITC and Minimum Wage, and were successful in defeating bad immigration legislation. Lots of solid neighborhood campaigns were carried out throughout the region. Mesa won $150,000 per year in the city budget for speed humps, King County, WA won repairs for tenants at the huge Lake Washington apartment complex, Nevada won a $5 million subsidy to bring a supermarket into West Las Vegas, and in Colorado, neighborhood campaigns that resulted in improved street safety and safer shopping centers, as well as our support for the Prevailing Wage Campaign and our efforts to force Simon Malls to stop their racist policies. On the streets on election day in the west, we had a total of 326 people in New Mexico, Colorado and Arizona. All three states ran significant GOTV programs, which will be reported on in their individual reports. Leadership Development For the most part, new and stronger leaders came from building new chapters and rebuilding existing ones, and from major efforts to engage membership in GOTV and ballot initiative campaigns, either through PAL or independently. In Arizona, two leaders, Alicia Russell and Tammy Pursley took leadership leaps, taking on major public roles as Minimum Wage Campaign Treasurer and running for the State Legislature respectively. New Association Board delegates were elected from Arizona, Nevada and Colorado. Mostly new leaders from Colorado, Nevada, Arizona, Washington, New Mexico and even Hawaii attended the Working Families Agenda leadership training and event in Washington, D.C.

Goals for 2007 and Beyond As the amoeba-like Western Region continues its process of binary fission, this year, the Western Region will cease to exist as we know it, splitting into two regions, Southwest and Northwest(+South Pacific?). The author of this report will be responsible for neither,

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and therefore feels it would be presumptuous to make plans through 2011. Below are a few staffing and expansion projections for 2007 that are merely to serve as helpful suggestions in thinking about the task ahead. Staffing (numbers do not include canvassers or VITA personnel) Southwest CO (from Ben) - 10: 2 HO, 5 field, 1 canvass director, 1 admin, 1 leg director AZ (from Josh) 39: 5 HO, 27 field, 7 Statewide (incl. Canvass & Leg Director, Admin) NM (from Matthew) 10: 2 HO, 7 field, 1 canvass director OK - 4: 1 HO + 2 field + 1 canvass director NV 5: 1 HO + 3 field + 1 canvass director Northwest WA - 15: 3 HO, 9 field, 2 canvass director, 1 leg director OR 6: 1 HO, 4 field, 1 canvass HI 5: 1 HO, 3 field, someone to do interisland stuff (maybe vol. coordinator) UT 2: 1 HO + 1 field ID 2: 1 HO + 1 field

ACORN Canada YEYB Report 2006

Numbers for 2006 # of new 2006 members full: - 925

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assoc: 401 prov: 3424 TOTAL # 2004 -2006 full: 1525 assoc: 485 Prov: 4200

Bank draft growth 06 Initial Deposit: $4125 Actual $3020 Bank Draft Total Initial Deposit: 7420 Actual: 5500 # of organizers 7.3 local office combined average 2 National staff average Budget Expenses: National: $150 000 Local office: $360 000 Total: $510 000 Budget Revenue: $510 000 Growth and Expansion for 2006 ACORN Canada opened the Ottawa office in July 2006. Toronto expanded to 9 chapters (5 active). GVRD expanded in Surrey and started the first New Westminister Chapter. National hired a new legislative director. Campaigns and Politics Toronto's political action committee endorsed a local councillor who got elected running on ACORN's Landlord Licensing Campaign. Toronto is moving City Wide Licensing Campaign in committee at the moment. Vancouver is moving a number of chapter crime and safety improvements including winning a commitment on a security booth a Surrey Central Skytrain Station Federal government, partially as a result of ACORN members continual pressure, introduced a bill to carve out a portion of the criminal code that would enable provinces to regulate the paydaylending industry if they choose. Launched a Canadian national campaign against sherwin williams and lead paint and the Canadian government for years of ignoring this issue. Both Vancouver and Toronto are creating a free tax preparation 306

clinic for intake style organizing. Leadership Development - September: second annual board meeting Goals on above categories for 2007 - 2011 1 new city per year

Year end report 2006 ---- Goals For Ottawa

2007 600 full members 300 associate members 3000 Provisional members 3000 Bank draft 5 organizers 4 active chapters Hold a leadership school Have a city wide campaign o Be a lead office in at least one national campaign Form an APAC that will win in 2007 provincial election in October Have a trained organizer run the Canvass program Have members who live in Houses!

2008 2009

1200 full members 600 associate members 6000 Provisional members 6000 Bank Draft 10 organizers 8 active chapters hold 3 leadership schools win city wide campaign and start to more

2000 full members 2000 associate members 10 000 provisional members 10 000 bank draft 10 organizers 10 active chapters hold leadership schools with out any effort win municipally win provincially win Federally (WWW)

2010 Break out year! 307

3000 Full members 3500 Associate members 15 000 provisional 15000 Bank draft 15 organizers 13 chapters WWW

Year End report Toronto, Ontario, Canada

Numbers Total 1275 full members 425associate members 3000Provisional members 6320 initial deposit / 4740 real Bank Draft 5 very active chapters

2006 growth 625 full members 371 associate members 2422 provisional members 3225 initial deposit growth / 2320 actual growth ---Bank draft 4.8 organizers 1848 members turned out

Growth and expansion

Geographic Started working in North York. ( Jane n Finch, Black Creek or Ward 8). o Working class (100%) / diverse / tenant ( 70%) Started a new chapter in Southwest Scarborough that had a 90 person action. Gordonridge Chapter is all tenants too. Constituency Furthered our density in our chapters, and grew a strong chapter in north york. All tenant. Grew so much that members can not move away from us, because we are everywhere. Canvass Started associate members canvass, mainly worked on Licence Landlords Now campaign in apartment buildings. Worked out to be a good 308

organizing tool in building the North York Chapter, and a good way to weed out weak organizers. Reputation o Have grown to be known as the best in the business in Toronto!

Camapaings
Licence Landords Now o Started the year picking up on the idea of other tenant groups (advocates) of landlord licensing. We had no support from council. We were told that Landlord licensing was a separate thing to the real victory, the rent escrow account where landlords dont get a dime unless they have a seal of approval from the city. We ended the year with city councillors claiming that the two landlord licensing and the rent escrow account were one in the same. We sure fooled them! Politics o APAC is the x factor in Toronto Politics. o We put ex NDP MPP Tony Perruzza over the top got lots of public credit for it too. o APAC unseated the only incumbent in the city. Leadership Development o Held a successful run leadership school in North York run by Marva Burnett, Mohanie Romanah, Sharon Shreive, and Toby Jayson. We got new board member out of it ( Kay Bisnanth - Gordonridge) o City Wide spokesperson for the Landlord Licensing Now, Marva Burnett, went to Leadership School in Columbus. o Lisa Fisher lead an action in Pennsylvania against the Dollar financial, she got an ACORN hoody and is now ACORN for Life! o Had a lot of Actions all year and too many members to mention are solid leaders. YEYB REPORT: City Vancouver, BC Canada

New full members for 2006 New associate members for 2006 New provisional members for 2006 Total members -- full, associate, provisional. Total # of groups active and inactive

200 30 1002 1232 4 active, 2 inactive 309

List staff and roles.

Katrina McKeown Head Organizer Persia Sayyari Lead Organizer Kay Chen Amanda Joy - Field Organizer -Field Organizer

Belinda Lovett -Tax Site Coordinator Turnout Numbers for 2006 =

888 2.5 Initial Deposit = $1020.00 $850 166 $100,000 Crime and Safety, Tenants Affordable Housing, LEAD, .

List average staff size for year. Current bank draft Bank draft growth for year # of members on bank draft Budget Size Campaigns moved in 2006 Rights, Payday Lending, Safe Transit

Expansion to new turf in 2006? Yes we are now in New Westminster as well as Surrey

Leadership Trainings held?

Not officially 9

Number of new leaders developed in 2006 Plans, Priorities, and Goals for 2007.

New full members for 2007 New associate members for 2007 New provisional members for 2007 Total # of groups active and inactive in 2007 staffing plans. of 4 Mass turnout events planned. Rally Feb07? Bank draft growth for 2007. deposit # of members on bank draft in 2007. Campaigns you'll be moving in 2007. Rights, Affordable LEAD, Payday Lending Campaign

400 100 1500 8 active 2 inactive Average staff size

Affordable Housing Goal of: $2,500 initial 466 total Transit, Tenants Housing,

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Expansion to new turf in 2007? office for South Vancouver?

Burnaby. Satellite East 2 leadership trainings Duncan 14

Leadership Trainings to be held? with Judy

Number of new leaders to be developed in 2007

Goals for 2008 and Beyond: 2008 1000 fm total 2009 - 1500 fm total 2010 - 2000fm total 2011 - 2600 fm total 6organizer 7organizers 8organizers 10organizers

Growth by 2010 should definitely include Vancouver (S.E.corner to begin) for Olympics

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ARGENTINA MXICO PER

Annual expenses for Lima office LIMA (4 org. + HO) RENT SALARIES L.A. DIRECTOR (split between 3 Latin American offices) 2880 35664 312 3336

Figure 1 Lima ACORN Members Protest Unfair Tax Rates in Their Neighborhoods 2006

Number of New Members: 6 members per organizer per week. 4 organizers: monthly: 96. year:1152. 650 Full, 250 Provisional , 250 Associate. Number of Organizers: 4 Bank draft growth: Bank draft non-existant. Number of active neighborhood groups: 18 (including 7 groups at Cruz de Motupe): Pando, Palomino, Bancarios, Republica de Venezuela, Chacra Rios, Cruz de Motupe (7 groups), Corazon de Jesus. Average turnout numbers: For quick hits: 15-20 people. For actions: 20-30 people For Big Meetings: 70-80 people.

Growths and expansion for 2006: A- New National Board elected. B- 10 new chapters opened and local Boards. C- 2 leadership development meetings.

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CAMPAIGNS: Campaign against SAT (Tax Administration System, part II: against seizures and extended plan: our new chapters in Cruz de Motupe) Campaign with FENTAP (Water Workers Union) against water privatization. Another victory: avoided the plan of water concession in Piura. Campaign against CLARO (phone company) Satellite anthenas out of our neighborhoods! Health Campaign: with INPARESS (health group) providing health care tpo ACORN members and neighborhoods. At the same time, the low cost and high quality of such campaigns was a way to show the government that a high quality and affordable health system is viable. Campaign against the modification of APCI (International Cooperation Agency in Peru) We want to avoid that the Congress finally approves a law under which Associations and NGOs budgets would be administrated by the government and the decission on which areas of work should be priorized would be set by the government.

Figure 2: ACORN members confront the Tax Administrative Services

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PROJECTIONS: 2007:

Number of New Members: Sign up 800 new members full, 1500 provisional. Number of Organizers: 6 Bank draft growth: Bank draft non-existant. Start making contacts with banks, so our members can access to bank accounts. Number of active neighborhood groups: Organizers will build 18 new local chapters. Head Organizers will hold monthly meetings between new chapters and older chapters. Average turnout numbers: For quick hits: 20-25 people. For actions: 25-35 people For Big Meetings: 75-85 people.

Leadership development: Develop 12 strong leaders to participate in local meetings and have opportunities to meet internationally. CAMPAIGNS and Projects: Create a satellite office in San Juan de Lurigancho . That is an area outside the Cercado de Lima, and we have very active chapters there. It has been decided that San Juan de Lurigancho will be a different district starting by the middle of 2007, therefore, will have different representatives and laws. Water Rights campaign launched in San Juan de Lurigancho Members will be mobilized through volunteerism by doing clean ups in the neighborhoods, petitions, phone banking, and strategic actions. Campaign against the change of the international cooperation regulation. 2008:

Number of New Members: Sign up 1000 new members full, 1800 provisional

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Number of Organizers: 7 ( between Lima and San Juan de Lurigancho office) Bank draft growth: Bank draft non-existant. Check campigns part for affordable bank accounts campaign.

Number of active neighborhood groups: Build 25 new local chapters. Average turnout numbers: For quick hits: 25-35 people. For actions: 35-45 people For Big Meetings: 85-95 people.

Leadership development: Develop 25 strong leaders. Hold a Latin American ACORN Convention. 3 National Board Meetings CAMPAIGNS and Projects:

Enviromental campaign against foreign telephone companies> antennas/ radio waves in public space Campaigns spanning the 18 months: Constant follow up on all campaigns. Launch an international campaign to reduce predatory lending and demand banks to provide lowincome people with access to bank accounts, loans ,credits, etc. Latin American wide campaign against high prices and bad quality of Spanish communications company, Telefonica. Access to water campaign for San Juan de Lurigancho.

2009

Number of New Members: Sign up 1400 new members full, 2200 provisional 316

Number of Organizers: 9 ( between Lima and San Juan de Lurigancho office)

Bank draft growth: At least a third of our membership on bank draft

Number of active neighborhood groups: Build 36 new local chapters. Average turnout numbers: For quick hits: 35-45 people. For actions: 45-55 people For Big Meetings: 95-100 people.

Leadership development: Develop 30 strong leaders. Hold a Latin American ACORN Convention. 3 National Board Meetings

CAMPAIGNS and Projects: 1. San Juan de Lurigancho already established as a strong, settled office. 2. One new office. 3. Latin American wide campaigns on one of the following: government accountability, trade, institutions, financial literacy campaign. 4. Minimum wage campaigns. 5. Dignified Housing Campaign.

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Figure 3: ACORN works with the Comisaria to make their neighbohoods safe

Figure 4: ACORN members work with INPPARES to improve healthcare 2010 Number of New Members: Sign up 1600 new members full, 2400 provisional Number of Organizers: 10 ( between Lima and San Juan de Lurigancho office)

Bank draft growth: At least half of our membership on bank draft 318

Number of active neighborhood groups: Build 42 new local chapters.

Average turnout numbers: For quick hits: 35-45 people. For actions: 45-55 people For Big Meetings: 95-100 people.

Leadership development: Develop 35 strong leaders. Hold a Latin American ACORN Convention. 3 National Board Meetings

CAMPAIGNS and Projects: Office expansion: 2 new offices. Campaigns for fair trade. Campaigns for access to water. Campaigns for descentralization and public budget. Campaigns to demand peoples participation in budget projects, local and national wide.

2011

Number of New Members: Sign up 2000 new members full, 3000 provisional Number of Organizers: 15

Bank draft growth: At least half of our membership on bank draft

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Number of active neighborhood groups: Build 60 new local chapters.

Average turnout numbers: For quick hits: 45-50 people. For actions: 50-60 people For Big Meetings: 100 people.

Leadership development: Develop 50 strong leaders. Hold a Latin American ACORN Convention and an ACORN International Convention with all ACORN offices worldwide. 3 National Board Meetings

CAMPAIGNS and Projects: Office expansion: 2 new offices. Follow up of all the prvious campaign: Campaigns for fair trade. Campaigns for access to water. Campaigns for descentralization and public budget. Campaigns to demand peoples participation in budget projects, local and national wide.

Create further links at the international membership. Develop more international campaigns. Global challenge to global corporations. 320

Figure 5: Organizing Motupe

Annual expenses for the Buenos Aires Operations BUENOS AIRES RENT SALARIES L.A. DIRECTOR (split between 3 offices) TELEPHONE SOCIAL SECURITY UTILITIES on landlord (ELECTRICITY, WATER) TRANSPORTATION OTHER EXPENSES (OFFICE SUPPLIES) (COPIES) 600 1200 3876 19200 3336 2780

ACORN in Cruz de

Buenos TOTAL 30992

Aires

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Argentina ACORN

2006 The Buenos Aires ACORN office opened the 20th of July of 2006. Staff: 2 Field Organizers, the Latin American Director who serves as Head Organizer, a Project Development coordinator for all 3 Latin American Offices. 322

Minimum Number of New Members: 6 full members per organizer per week, 2 provisional members per organizer, per week. 2 organizers: monthly: 48 full, 16 provisional. Year (from July 2006 to December 2006) 240 for 5 months plus 24 of ten days of July: 264 members full, 88 provisional. Bank draft growth: Bank draft non-existent. Number of active neighborhood groups: TWO: La Boca I, La Boca II (conventillos public housing) Average turnout numbers: For quick hits: 10-15 people. For actions: 20-30 people For Big Meetings: 70-80 people. Growths and expansion for 2006 (July- December) :

D- 2 new Boards. E- 264 new full members, 88 provisional F- 2 chapters in the Southern area of Buenos Aires.

CAMPAIGNS:

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Campaign for access to dignify housing. Campaign against heavy transit, to enforce the use to the access to highways already built. PROJECTIONS: 2007: Minimum Number of New Members: Sign up 800 new members full, 1500 provisional. Number of Organizers: 4 Bank draft growth: Bank draft non-existant. Start making contacts with banks, so our members can access to bank accounts. Number of active neighborhood groups: Organizers will build 16 new local chapters. Head Organizers will hold monthly meetings between new chapters and older chapters.

Average turnout numbers: For quick hits: 20-25 people. For actions: 25-35 people For Big Meetings: 75-85 people. Leadership development: Develop 12 strong leaders to participate in local meetings and have opportunities to meet internationally.

CAMPAIGNS and Projects: 1. Human Rights Campaign for the Housing Rights with Local and International allies. 2. Continue to network with local unions, churches, other community groups, and community organizations to make our root in the neighborhood stronger. 3. Campaign to give low-income people secure bank accounts and low-interest loans, campaigns against predatory lenders.

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4. Enviromental campaign against the pollution of the Riachuelo (one of the most polluted rivers in Latin America that runs right by ACORNs chapters) 5. Health campaign for all the people that has suffered the consequences of the pollution at the Riachuelo (respiratory problems, lead poisoning, cancer, etc.)

Figure 3: The new stop light in front of an elementary school, won by the La Boca chapter of ACORN . 2008: Minimum Number of New Members: Sign up 1000 new members full, 1800 provisional Number of Organizers: 6 Bank draft growth: Bank draft non-existent. Check campaigns part for affordable bank accounts campaign. Number of active neighborhood groups: Build 25 new local chapters. 325

Average turnout numbers: For quick hits: 25-35 people. For actions: 35-45 people For Big Meetings: 85-95 people.

Leadership development: Develop 25 strong leaders. Hold a Latin American ACORN Convention. 3 National Board Meetings

CAMPAIGNS and Projects:

1. Campaigns spanning the 18 months: Constant follow up on all campaigns. Launch an international campaign to reduce predatory lending and demand banks to provide low-income people with access to bank accounts, loans ,credits, etc. 2. Latin American wide campaign against high prices and bad quality of Spanish communications company, Telefonica (and ensure corporations are giving communities the best deal for having suchwealthy company neighbors) 3. Access to water.

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2009

Number of New Members: Sign up 1400 new members full, 2200 provisional Number of Organizers: 9 Bank draft growth: At least a third of our membership on bank draft Number of active neighborhood groups: Build 36 new local chapters. Average turnout numbers: For quick hits: 35-45 people. For actions: 45-55 people For Big Meetings: 95-100 people.

Leadership development: Develop 30 strong leaders. Hold a Latin American ACORN Convention. 327

3 National Board Meetings CAMPAIGNS and Projects: 1. Expansion: 1 new office, on the suburban area of Buenos Aires city, by La Matanza, one of the biggest districts in Latin America and a key district to win for any political candidate in Argentina 2. Latin American wide campaigns on government accountability, trade, institutions. 3. Minimum wage campaigns

2010 Minimum Number of New Members: Sign up 1600 new members full, 2400 provisional Number of Organizers: 10 (between 2 offices)

Bank draft growth: At least half of our membership on bank draft Number of active neighborhood groups: Build 42 new local chapters. Average turnout numbers: For quick hits: 35-45 people. For actions: 45-55 people For Big Meetings: 95-100 people. Leadership development: Develop 35 strong leaders. Hold a Latin American ACORN Convention. 3 National Board Meetings CAMPAIGNS and Projects: 1. Office expansion: 2 new offices. 2. Follow up of all campaigns. 328

3. Campaigns for fair trade. 4. Campaigns for access to water. 5. Campaigns for descentralization and public budget. 6. Campaigns to demand peoples participation in budget projects, local and national wide.

2011 Minimum Number of New Members: Sign up 2000 new members full, 3000 provisional Number of Organizers: 15 Bank draft growth: At least half of our membership on bank draft Number of active neighborhood groups: Average turnout numbers: For quick hits: 45-50 people. For actions: 50-60 people For Big Meetings: 100 people. Leadership development: Develop 50 strong leaders. Hold a Latin American ACORN Convention and an ACORN International Convention with all ACORN offices worldwide. 3 National Board Meetings CAMPAIGNS and Projects: 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. Office expansion: 2 new offices. Follow up of all the previous campaign: Campaigns for fair trade. Campaigns for access to water. Campaigns for de-centralization and public budget. Build 60 new local chapters.

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6. Campaigns to demand peoples participation in budget projects, local and national wide. 7. Create further links at the international membership. 8. Develop more international campaigns. 9. Fair rules against global corporations.

Tijuana MEXICO ACORN

Annual expenses for the Latin American Operations TIJUANA (5 org+ HO) RENT SALARIES L.A. DIRECTOR (split between 3 offices) TELEPHONE SOCIAL SECURITY UTILITIES (ELECTRICITY, WATER) TRANSPORTATION 5040 76368 3336 7800 9468 600 40,80 330

OTHER EXPENSES (OFFICE SUPPLIES) (COPIES) TOTAL

3000 105652,8

2006

Minimum Number of New Members: 4 full members per organizer per week, 3 provisional. 6 organizers until September. 4 organizers from then on. Partial year: until September: 864 full, 648 Provisional. Until December.: 192 full, 144 provisional. Total year: 1056 full, 792 provisional.

Bank draft growth: Bank draft non-existant. Number of active neighborhood groups: 8 active neighborhood groups: Guaycura, Presidentes I, Presidentes II , Bancarios, Comunidad Habitacional San Carlos, Baja Mac Norte, Villa del Real, Villa Fontana.

Average turnout numbers: For quick hits: 10-15 people. For actions: 15-25 people For Big Meetings: 45-65 people.

Growths and expansion for 2006:

A- 2 Leadership Meetings. B- 5 new chapters oponed.

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CAMPAIGNS: Environmental Campaign. To avoid and clean up the pollution created by the maquiladoras plants, located nearby ACORN chapters.

Citizenship Security Campaign. Prevention of crime and violence. Pavement campaign. Winning pavement for the streets of all ACORN chapters.

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PROJECTIONS:

2007:

Minimum Number of New Members: Sign up 800 new members full, 1500 provisional. Number of Organizers: 4 Bank draft growth: Bank draft non-existant. Start making contacts with banks, so our members can access to bank accounts. Number of active neighborhood groups: Organizers will build 16 new local chapters. Head Organizers will hold monthly meetings between new chapters and older chapters.

Average turnout numbers: For quick hits: 20-25 people. For actions: 25-35 people For Big Meetings: 75-85 people.

Leadership development: Develop 12 strong leaders to participate in local meetings and have opportunities to meet internationally. CAMPAIGNS and Projects: 6. Campaign to give low-income people secure bank accounts and low-interest loans, campaigns against predatory lenders. 7. Bring local issues of ACORN female member workers to a national and international outreach campaign to reform maquiladoras (Sony for example). Use of consumer campaigns. Build allies local (maquiladora union) and international (USAS).

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8. Continue to network with local unions, churches, other community groups, and community organizations to make our root in the neighborhood stronger. 9. Begin environmental aspect of maquiladora campaign. For example, testing of lead and air pollution in ACORN neighborhoods.

2008:

Minimum Number of New Members: Sign up 1000 new members full, 1800 provisional Number of Organizers: 6 Bank draft growth: Bank draft non-existent. Check campaigns part for affordable bank accounts campaign. Number of active neighborhood groups: Build 25 new local chapters. Average turnout numbers: For quick hits: 25-35 people. For actions: 35-45 people For Big Meetings: 85-95 people.

Leadership development: Develop 25 strong leaders. Hold a Latin American ACORN Convention. 3 National Board Meetings

CAMPAIGNS and Projects: 1. Constant follow up on all campaigns.: the full maquiladora campaign: labor, community, and environmental aspects. 2. Hold a conference in Mexico City to gather allies from national and international communities. 3. Launch an international campaign to reduce predatory lending and demand banks to provide low-income people with access to bank accounts, loans ,credits, etc. 334

4. Latin American-wide campaign against high prices and bad quality of Spanish communications company, Telefonica. 5. Look into opening up an office in Mexico City. 2009

Number of New Members: Sign up 1400 new members full, 2200 provisional Number of Organizers: 9 ( between Tijuana and a fellow Mexican office).

Bank draft growth: At least a third of our membership on bank draft

Number of active neighborhood groups: Build 36 new local chapters.

Average turnout numbers: For quick hits: 35-45 people. For actions: 45-55 people For Big Meetings: 95-100 people.

Leadership development: 1. Develop 30 strong leaders. 2. Send members to a Latin American ACORN Convention. 3. Three National Board Meetings

CAMPAIGNS and Projects: 1. 1 new office (border city or Mexico City) 2. Latin American wide campaigns on government accountability, trade, institutions. 3. Minimum wage campaigns. 335

4. Dignified Housing.

2010 Number of New Members: Sign up 1600 new members full, 2400 provisional Number of Organizers: 10 ( between two offices) Bank draft growth: At least half of our membership on bank draft Number of active neighborhood groups: Build 42 new local chapters. Average turnout numbers: For quick hits: 35-45 people. For actions: 45-55 people For Big Meetings: 95-100 people.

Leadership development: Develop 35 strong leaders. Hold a Latin American ACORN Convention. 3 National Board Meetings CAMPAIGNS and Projects: 1. Office expansion: 1 more new offices. 2. Campaigns for fair trade in and out of Mexico to the United States including maquiladora issues. 3. Campaigns for access to water in hills of Tijuana. 4. Campaigns for decentralization and public budget.

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2011

Number of New Members: Sign up 2000 new members full, 3000 provisional Number of Organizers: 15 Bank draft growth: At least half of our membership on bank draft Number of active neighborhood groups: Build 60 new local chapters.

Average turnout numbers: For quick hits: 45-50 people. For actions: 50-60 people For Big Meetings: 100 people. Leadership development: Develop 50 strong leaders. Hold a Latin American ACORN Convention and an ACORN International Convention with all ACORN offices worldwide. 3 National Board Meetings

CAMPAIGNS and Projects: 1. Office expansion: 2 new offices. 2. Follow up of all the prvious campaign: 3. Campaigns for fair trade. 4. Campaigns for access to water. 337

5. Campaigns for decentralization and public budget. 6. Campaigns to demand peoples participation in budget projects, local and national wide. 7. Create further links at the international membership. 8. Develop more internationally coordinated campaigns. 9. Global challenge to global corporations. Participated in global conferences (organizers or members).

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