VOP Front Porch Diaries

Anne Kern

Richmond/Petersburg Team

A lot of times I come home after work and think: “Wow, what a day…”

Sometimes I think that way because I’m upset, other times because I’m excited, and a lot of times it’s simply because people make me think. It’s amazing to see so many different people and experience their way of life – even if it’s just for a few minutes (or even seconds!).

You knock on doors where you’re clearly being ignored and you’re not wanted. You talk to people that “really don’t have time because they have to go for a swim in their pool now”. You talk to people that are “in the middle of something” and that are “incredibly busy” (watching TV? sleeping? playing golf?).

But then you meet that ONE person, that smiles, that is happy that you’re there.

That person always manages to make my day. It’s just amazing how I can forget everything that frustrated me about an area or somebody I talked to (or not) if I just meet somebody who cares. Somebody that needs help – or that wants to help. Like all of us, I have heard many different stories in the past couple of weeks.

They vary from interesting over upsetting to completely shocking. One of the stories that I can’t seem to get over is from a family I talked to in Petersburg. When I knocked on their old and broken door of their little gray house a short woman with a massive scar straight down her chest opened up the door for me. I introduced myself to her and explained why I was here. While I was talking her face lit up and her suspicious look from the beginning turned into a big smile. “I can’t believe someone actually cares about us…” were some of the first words she spoke after that. When I asked her what her most important issues were she said “health care and safety”.

She started telling me about her three (!) open heart surgeries she had had already, and that that was one of the reasons why she had moved back in with her dad. Meanwhile he and her child had joined our conversation, and all four of us were huddled on their tiny front step. The father started talking about how difficult everything was for them and how he also had many health problems but didn’t go to the doctor, because he wanted to save up that money for his daughter and grandchild. He hardly had any teeth left, but he refused to see a dentist for his daughter’s sake. To make things even worse he started talking about how they needed warning street signs as soon as possible, because of his grandchild is deaf. I was so shocked I hardly knew how to respond. But in that moment nobody expected an answer from me, because they wanted to talk. They wanted me and others to hear their story.

They were so happy to have me there and could hardly grasp that somebody was there to talk to them. A father without any teeth, a heartsick mother and a deaf child. And that is only one single family.

This is why we are doin this.

We have the information of how to reach these people.

We know their stories.

We can help.

Joseph  Huennekens

Northern Virginia Team

Canvassing in Springfield the first day, my heart dropped. I had expected to be canvassing in primarily low-income communities and helping to engage underrepresented constituencies in Virginia politics.

Anyone who has been to Northern Virginia knows that the West Springfield area is not underrepresented at all. It is a fairly well-off middle class neighborhood. If West Springfield has any overriding characteristic it is its “normalcy.” The cookie-cutter middle class subdivisions in which we canvassed were populated almost entirely by two-parents, 2.5 kids, and a ferocious dog. Half the houses had the exact same doormats (either “Live, Laugh, Love” or the even cutesier “Wipe Your Paws”). My initial assumption was that such a homogenous community would be a place full of either ambivalence or political conservatism.

While this is certainly true of some of the people I have met, it has been amazing to me to discover the diversity of opinions that lie behind the uniformity of these homes. From the self-described “Republican” housewife who railed against the current healthcare system, to the Prius-driving man who vehemently denied the existence of global warming, the opinions have been diverse to say the least.

 Discovering this diversity of opinions has been one of the most rewarding experiences for me so far. In fact, talking with people of highly different opinions is oftentimes more rewarding that talking with people who agree with me, if only because it helps to understand how successful the Right-wing propaganda machine is in disseminating its flawed and often untruthful opinions on healthcare reform and global warming. While it may sound bizarre, beyond helping to fight for a public healthcare option, the opportunity the VOP internship has given me to meet and talk with my fellow citizens has been one the most interesting and rewarding experiences of the summer.

Ashley Hammons

Southwest Team

When I began this job I knew I was in for a wild time. I expected to see some things I didn’t like, and I also expected to see some things that I liked as well. However, what I was not expecting was the impact that children have had on me. As s social work major I am constantly looking for signs of distress in and among families. I knew I would come across many children in this line of work; I was just completely unaware as to how much I would see them, as well as how much their memories will forever me engrained in my head.

The first child I saw was about 4 years old. I was in a working class neighborhood and most of the people were at work at the time. My next house was a small one story brick, with a makeshift sandbox on the front porch. The sand had been thrown all over the outside of the house and throughout the yard. So I knocked on the door and a child answers. He flings the door wide open and is standing in the doorway with just a pair of underwear on. He is so sweet and starts to speak to me about his beloved sandbox, and his toy trucks. I can tell tell that there is no parent around watching him and it makes me sad as I can see he obviously spends a lot  of time alone.

The next child I encountered was in a large house in a nice neighborhood I made my way up the long driveway to the massive porch. I knocked on the door and a thirty-something woman answered. As I was talking to the mom her eight year old daughter joined us. I continued to ask her mother questions about which issues in her community are most important. As her mother stood and thought about her answers, the daughter says “I think it is important that everyone go to the doctor.”  My jaw dropped and I said “That’s what I think too.” The daughter got a huge smile on her face and continued to talk to her mother about why people need doctors. I just kept thinking to myself that this eight year old girl was able to pinpoint a critical issue in the community faster than her mother. I was proud that the daughter has such a strong understanding of issues and I hope that she influences her mom to get active on health care issues so that all eight year old girls like her can go to the doctor.

Jeffrey Hunt

Petersburg Team

The issue of crime & safety has been selected as the most pressing social issue to me countless times when talking to people out in the community.  In fact, it has only been outnumbered by the economy.  This came as a surprise to me, because crime & safety has always been near the bottom of my own “most important issue” list.  The pervasive nature of this issue surprised me even more.  Crime is an issue that people bring up at the door regardless of their age, class or race.

However, even though a multitude of people place a similar value on safety, I think they have different reasons for doing so.  In some of the more affluent communities we visit, it seemed as though everyone was obsessed with protecting what they already have.  When I asked people in the in these neighborhoods why safety concerned them so much, they always said something like “Well-no one’s ever broken into my house before, but I’ve heard stories about it happening.”  I try my best to think of some viable reason for them to be concerned about safety but could not come up with one.  People have been taught to be afraid of crime regardless of whether there is a pressing danger to them or not.

It is a completely different story in some of the lower income neighborhoods that we visit.  In neighborhoods that do see a lot of crime, I feel that people had a legitimate reason to be concerned with their safety.  The people of these cities had horrific stories to tell me.  On the first day in Hopewell, we canvassed a road where a man had been shot just a couple of days ago.  There was another woman on the opposite side of town who had been robbed four times in the past 2 years, but the police were unresponsive and had not helped her at all.  Worst of all, one day I was canvassing a man and his daughter when a kid about ten comes up on his bike.  He asks us whether we’ve seen another boy riding his bike, carrying a knife.  When we say we haven’t, he tells us that if we see the other boy we should tell him because the boy with the knife “is coming for me.”  I told the boy he should call the police immediately, but he said he wouldn’t because his grandfather told him not to.

Witnessing the way that different communities deal with the crime has helped put the issue in perspective for me.

Come in Unity

By: Jona Noelle Baily-Ellerbeck

Charlottesville Team

come-in-unity (community)

for a brief time

we come into your lives

hoping to find

an open mind

and comfort in humankind

a clenched fist knocks on your door

eager to release it and reach for

a connection between two strangers, a cause and “come in!”

for this truly is where social justice begins

although we cannot step into your house

we will gladly talk with you about

the issues that bother you and what you want to see changed

for you deserve to be listened to

when you call out those issues that need to be named

how close the houses are in proximity

but how distant they feel from unity

too many voices have been silenced

by those who choose fear over kindness

whose sharp words bleed verbal violence

with all the discrimination and pain in this world

i can’t help but wonder what we all are here for

is it not to come in to people’s lives and find

the unifying Humanity that resides

in the grateful smiles and hands that we shake

in the long lasting connections that we make

for a brief time

we come into your lives

searching to find

like-minds

and although it may be hard to believe

you hold all the power that you need

to transform your situation and community

for when open doors meet open minds

possibilities fill the sky

and we can change all that is unjust and wrong

we can create a community of which everyone belongs

for in this small space

between a front door and welcome mat

our Humanity brushes up against each other

and we exchange just that

for what is a community (come-in-unity) based on but

different people willing to open up

to each other and each concern

for justice is something everyone deserves

and because there will always be

interns working for VOP

who unite under justice and equality

we cannot be discouraged, we cannot weep or cry

because we are standing up for people whose access is denied

therefore, we will continue to door knock

and adopt front porches as our own

for like front porch flowers

there will always be room for hope to grow

Jared Perminter

Fredericksburg Team

I remember my Comparative Democracies course at Randolph College. My professor succinctly described basic political terminology. She defined Civil Society as “bridges that connect ordinary citizens desire for political change to moving important government actors into doing so. ’’

I like to think of the Virginia Organizing Project as the construction of a bridge. We are all in the process of building a solid structure that connects desire for social justice in Virginia into holding our legislators and political leaders accountable for doing so. Metaphorically speaking, each door I knock and each individual I speak to can be compared to a building unit for the bridge. Bridges are being built all across nation and world, but I am proud to be a builder for this one.

We are nearly half way through the Summer Civic Engagement project and I often wonder when our product is complete, will I reflect on the all the stories of injustice and how we were instrumental in linking them to lobbying and holding important legislators accountable for their actions.

Atlee Weber

Northern Virginia Team

I started the VOP internship with a few preconceived notions about the issues that people would emphasize. At first, I dreaded the question on the survey regarding climate change. Because the implications of problems such as poor health care coverage and unemployment are painfully obvious to those affected, I assumed that few people would be concerned with environmental issues. Though I have believed that it is a vital, universal problem, I acknowledge that many people have other, more urgent hardships to deal with. I believed that the obsession with “going green” was a luxury reserved for the middle-upper class, though I wished it wasn’t so.

I was actually surprised by the number of people who responded to the climate change question with enthusiasm. Yes, I received some blank stares and the occasional rant about the global warming conspiracy, yet many people asserted the importance of recycling at the least. Whether the person believed felt a moral obligation that “it is our responsibility to protect the Earth that God created,” or was so intrigued by the environmental science industry and technological advancements that they wanted a turbine affixed to their home, people were much more responsive than I expected.

The environment has never really been an important issue to me. Healthcare, the Iraq War, and the economy have always been what I call “the pressing issues.” However, through my canvassing experiences in Springfield, VA, the environment has honestly become an issue I think about on a regular basis-perhaps I feel hypocritical asking VA residents about the environment (climate change, issues of global warming, recyclying; etc) and not following environmental-safe rules myself. I have met numerous Springfield residents who are passionate about recycling, building solar-powered homes, and driving fuel-efficient cars. Talking with these individuals has made me more cognizant of some of the lazy mistakes I make (such as throwing trash on the side of the road or not recycling “easy” products like water bottles). My family currently does not recycle; in fact, I am not sure that many people in my neighborhood do either. Hopefully I can convince my family to  become more environmentally responsible , and then perhaps we can inspire our neighbors to do the same.

Andrew Pericak

Charlottesville Team

Walk it Out: VOP Remix

For the 2009 Civic Engagement Project, the Virginia Organizing Project has interns working in teams in eight different areas of the state. Each team of interns had to choose a theme song that represents them. The Charlottesville interns decided our theme song would be based on the song “Walk It Out” by the rapper UNK.

We modified the lyrics to explain what we do every night in the community. In about half an hour, I wrote the following new lyrics to the song. My team members loved them so much that they encouraged me to make them a blog post. So here we are.

Enjoy.

“Walk It Out: VOP Remix”

To the music of “Walk it Out” by UNK

Ayyyyy!

Chorus: (Echo)

Now walk it out                         Now walk it out

Now walk it out                         Now walk it out

Now walk it out                         Now walk it out

Now walk it out                         Now walk it out

Salem walk it out                      Salem walk it out

Southwest walk it out                Southwest walk it out

Danville walk it out                    Danville walk it out

NOVA walk it out                      NOVA walk it out

Now walk it out                         Now walk it out

Now walk it out                         Now walk it out

Now walk it out                         Now walk it out

Now walk it out                         Now walk it out

Petersburg walk it out               Petersburg walk it out

Fredericksburg walk it out         Fredericksburg walk it out

VA Beach walk it out                 VA Beach walk it out

C-ville walks it out!                   C-ville walks it out!

Verse 1:

School year just ended

At least for most of us

We found this job here

Or did it find us?

But now we are here

Knockin’ on every door

VOP, son

How could you ask for more?

About that health care

That climate change too

Listen up, ma’am

I’ve got important news

Make a difference

Give Warner a call

Cell phones and ink please?

We gonna go far

Organizin’ all day

Fundraisin’ all night

The life of an intern

But I like it alright

Salem walk it out                      Salem walk it out

Southwest walk it out                Southwest walk it out

Danville walk it out                    Danville walk it out

NOVA walk it out                      NOVA walk it out

Chorus

Verse 2:

I see that doggie

He come runnin’ at me

He lookin’ vicious

Can’t go there, I see

Only a puppy

But teeth larger than me

I’ll circle IN

And that’s my guarantee

I hear the thunder

And then it starts to rain

Pull out umbrella

Man this is such a pain

I see the lightnin’

And the wind comes fast

Back to the car quick

This storm’s unsurpassed

Of course there problems

Not just dogs or rain

But social justice in VA

Boy, that is our refrain

Organizin’ all day

Fundraisin’ all night

The life of an intern

But I like it alright

Chorus

Extro:

Okay, now do it how you do it go and walk it out

I said, do it how you do it go and knock it out

Okay, do it how you do it go and talk it out

Interns, do it how you do it go and walk it out!

Woah, woah, woah, now walk it out

Woah, woah, woah, now knock it out

Woah, woah, woah, now talk it out,

C-ville do it like we do it as we walk it out.

Ayyyyy!

Virginia  Beach Team at VOP/HCAN! Rally in Hampton

by Nik Belanger

The week before last, the Virginia Beach team headed to the Virginia Peninsula Chamber of Commerce in Hampton for a VOP & Health Care for American Now (HCAN) rally organized by the Peninsula chapter of VOP.

We held a brief press conference and then presented the Chamber with a recent HCAN! report describing the consolidation of health care in Virginia. We did the event at the Chamber of Commerce because the report focused on the lack of competition in the private health insurance market. We figured why not hold the press conference in front of  the organization that prides itself on competition and free enterprise more than any other? While we knew we would not likely receive a warm welcome for the Chamber of Commerce we hoped that our being there would get the message across that competition is good for all business, including health care.

Tiffany-whom I’m lucky enough to spend five days a week in Virginia Beach-spoke about her personal experience with a broken health care system. The rest of us joined chapter members to hold banners and signs in the background. VOP Board Chairperson Jay Johnson spoke about VOP’s work across the state in and a couple Greater Williamsburg residents that shared their experiences with our broken health care system.

At the end of the event, we walked into the Chamber’s office and delivered the HCAN! report findings to some of the group’s staff. The Chamber representative who came out to meet us was caught off guard by us being there but the conversation ended well. She said to have her hands tied, as some of the Chamber’s members are insurance companies. VOP members stressed that health care costs are negatively affecting small businesses on the whole. After several minutes of useful discussion, she agreed to leave a stack of VOP fliers out for visitors to pick up and gave us one of her business cards.

Ultimately, I hope that our unexpected visit to the Chamber did more than just raise a few eyebrows that one afternoon but brought the poor state of health care in our country to the attention of a new group of people. The same way that our door-to-door canvass seeks to reach people who have otherwise not heard our message, the press event in Hampton exposed a new audience to our health care reform message.

Needless to say, the event left an impression on me. Unaffordable health care does not express itself as isolated incidents in certain parts of society. It permeates the whole of society and leaves a lot of families and communities in difficult situations. I trust our trip to Hampton put us one step closer to affordable quality health care for everyone.

Want to watch the news conference? Check out the video on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YuReI5pRiFc.