The Lay of the Land: Updates from our Grassroots Groups
At this critical moment, donors from CVM have directly funded six grassroots groups that are active in California’s CD 22, an area within the Central Valley.
All the groups have been vetted for their work in Central Valley communities to improve the lives of hardworking but marginalized people. Most of the group members have grown up in the same communities, and many of them speak Spanish, so they can communicate with most residents and understand how to reach people there. When residents say they don’t vote because all their time
goes to work and family — and that their vote doesn’t count anyway — our
groups know how to respond.
They are going door-to-door canvassing in areas known for low voter turnout. They are calling households on the phone; some are using text-messaging to reach a larger audience.
To expand their reach, they go to popular swap meets and farmers markets, grocery stores and big-box stores, town hall meetings, community health fairs, high schools and colleges. Everywhere, they are working to educate, register and motivate eligible residents to vote.
Here are updates on each of the groups supported by CVM:
Delano Guardians (Kern County)
Based in Delano, Delano Guardians is working in Delano, McFarland, and Shafter. They’ve also been invited by major Kern radio stations to be interviewed about voting in the election and to make public service announcements. Closer to the elections, if funding allows, the group plans to put up billboards along Highway 99 to urge people to register to vote and then get out to vote.
As Delano Guardians engages with people in the community, the group is hearing about hardships from rent increases and higher water bills, especially in Delano where they say a major bottling company is placing a heavy burden on the city’s water well. Lupe Martinez, long-time member of Delano Guardians, says these stories show residents feel their voices are not being heard. He says this is why Delano Guardians works with CVM to help residents realize they do have power, and their voices and votes do matter.
Community Water Center Action Fund (Tulare, Kern, and Kings Counties)
The Community Water Center Action Fund is canvassing and phone banking in Tulare, Kings, and Kern Counties. They are also doing voter outreach at farmers’ markets, food distribution spots, and community events. On the phone, they are hearing that residents are facing problems with water quality and affordability. People need to travel 15 to 20 minutes to get free bottled water at refill stations. That means many working class families end up paying double for water: once for their water bill and then again for bottled water (if they can’t get enough for free).
“Something so necessary to living has become so expensive,” said Imelda Ramirez, field director for the group. “This is especially hard in high temperatures when drinking water is essential.”
Phone bankers report they are engaging with young voters who are not excited about the upcoming election. What is working with them is making the connection between voting and real power. Canvassers connect voting to the affordability of water. The examples of how close some races are, and the tangible benefits of electing good candidates, can connect the voters to their potential power.
Valley Voices (Kings County)
Valley Voices has doubled down on outreach in its home base of Kings County.
First, the group does “community canvassing” — they set up a booth at regularly scheduled popular events, such as the Kings County Swap Meet. At these events, Valley Voices teams visit each vendor, finding out if they are registered to vote and, if not, they offer to register them. They also have an average of 80 to 100 conversations as they walk the area, and more with the typically 300 people who visit Valley Voices’ own booth.
Second, the group’s teams continue to canvass in neighborhoods with a high percentage Latino population and to focus on voter registration, especially new citizens and youth. This fall, the group plans to visit all four local high schools to register eligible new voters.
In addition to hearing about the same problems that plague other communities in CD22 — inflation, lack of affordable healthcare, scarcity of good jobs for high school graduates — Valley Voices finds that misinformation and disinformation are rampant but accepted as fact. Their canvassers work to replace that deceit with true and compelling information. Valley Voices has built a track record of helping their communities, which makes them effective as trusted messengers.
Dolores Huerta Action Fund/Dolores Huerta Foundation (Kern and Tulare Counties)
The Dolores Huerta Foundation and the Dolores Huerta Action Fund are working in neighborhoods and creating hotspot community events in Southeast and East Bakersfield in Kern County and Tulare Counties. By building on the foundation’s powerful work during the 2020 census and their historic 2022 redistricting efforts, they are able to reach and move thousands of voters during this upcoming general election. The foundation’s work plan includes 35,000 voter contacts and 2,000 volunteer shifts. The foundation is also creating local committees in key areas to lead get-out-the-vote efforts.
As they canvass and engage in outreach, they also recruit interested volunteers and invite them to train to work within their own neighborhoods to get out the vote. Canvassers are also learning about the serious problems residents are experiencing, especially during the current heat wave. A shortage of work, due to increased temperatures impacting the health and safety of people working outdoors, is devastating farmworker families. And undocumented workers, who we know make up a majority of California farmworkers, are generally not eligible to receive unemployment benefits.
Families impacted by high housing costs are forced to live in crowded dwellings with family or strangers. Some are homeless, which endangers their lives during the heat. Families are also facing increased food costs. Many must look to churches and food banks for the food their families need to live.
The DH Foundation and DH Action Fund use a multigenerational approach to ensuring that every impacted generation of people in the Central Valley is activated, informed, inspired, and supported to create tangible local change. This includes training on how to create and exercise “people power” and influence in critical decisions by local governments.
Their voter, civic, and local government education programs not only make residents aware of their power of voting together, but also lead to increased representation by leaders who prioritize their issues.
Loud for Tomorrow Action Fund (Kern county)
Loud for Tomorrow (Loud) is a youth-led organization whose mission is to build youth power through civic engagement, advocacy and justice. Loud is dedicated to the belief that the future of the Central Valley depends on the leadership development and the political education of young people. Loud trains young activists to lead local issue campaigns with an environmental and electoral
justice lens.
A primary program aims to increase voter engagement through voter registration, contact, and connecting rural communities with health resources. The voter engagement programs are reaching out to low-propensity Latino or first-time voters aged 18 to 35. Loud plans to register and pre-register young voters through school-based programs. The group will also mail voter and disinformation guides to priority voter blocs.