Empowering West Virginians: Organizing Revival Update

By Dani Parent, WV CAG Organizing Director

Last summer, West Virginia Citizen Action signed on to the People’s Action Organizing Revival — a commitment to doubling our base in two years, leaning in to becoming a member-led organization, and dedicating ourselves to knocking on doors, meeting people where they are, and giving them the tools they need to solve problems in their own backyards. Our WV Organizing Revival is part of a national initiative with People’s Action, and we’re proud to say we’re chipping away at it.

Training

The most recent success in the WV Organizing Revival was the quarterly iteration of our Fundamentals of Organizing training in July. During this day-long intensive workshop, we brought folks together to learn about movement ecology, levers of power, how we can individually and organizationally make real change, and the tools for building public relationships. We had a phenomenal turnout and committed to developing our skills and building the movement together. Please find more information and RSVP here for our Organizing 102: Intermediate Skills training or if you missed us in July, please join us for next quarter’s Fundamentals of Organizing in Morgantown in November! 

 

 

Canvassing

You may have seen our recent rally outside of AEP in Charleston or heard that we got a huge win by way of a delay on the proposed rate hike, but WV Citizen Action is not done fighting for utility justice! During the rally, we spoke with multiple press outlets, including WV Metro News, WCHS, Charleston Gazette-Mail and West Virginia Watch. Make no mistake, this is a deferment and Appalachian Power customers haven’t seen the last threat of an 18% residential rate hike, along with 20%+ for schools and churches. Join us in using this time to organize, mobilize, and fight back! Sign up now to canvass in your neighborhood – we’ll train you in messaging, set you up with our mobile canvassing tools, and help you organize your friends and neighbors to stand up against our monopoly utility nickel and diming us for their record profits. In addition, please sign our petition against these unfair rate hikes. Every signature strengthens our fight for fair utility rates!