Organize! Columns // Feature Articles 

Shelterforce Organize! Columns, by date and issue number:

• Homeless Revolution An organization of homeless New Yorkers rallied residents of Harlem and Manhattan to stand up and take notice of the city's long-standing practice of warehousing vacant properties. (Fall 2007, #151)
• A Matter of Trust Housing Trust Funds gain popularity nationwide (Summer 2007, #150)
• Building for the Future Using a regional initiative to bolster local capacity and support (Spring 2007, #149)
• Rhode Island Tenants Fight and Win! Tenants organize an independent tenant association and lead a successful campaign to save their homes (Winter 2006, #148)
• Make Your Nonprofit a Media Empire Using soap operas and talk shows to mix entertainment with financial education. (Fall 2006, #147)
• Thirsty for Justice Residents of a New Mexico colonia organize to win water rights. (Summer 2006, #146)
• Still Riding Route 61 A labor/community partnership stops a fare hike and gives workers a boost. (Spring 2006, #145)
• Demanding a Better Deal In the face of eminent domain, organizers force redevelopers to meet residents' demand for fairness. (Nov/Dec 2005, #144)
• The Fight to Save Section 8 Responding to Bush's attempts to defund the housing voucher program. (Sept/Oct 2005, #143)
• A Victory Over the Slumlords Tenants and advocates win passage of a bill in Washington State that requires landlords to compensate victims of poor housing conditions. (July/August 2005, #142)
• A Guide for Tenants on Leadership and Building Control Renters in one neighborhood use a manual to organize and contemplate buying their buildings. (May/Jun 2005, #141)
• A Neighborhood in Brooklyn Says "No" to Worker Exploitation Two Brooklyn, NY, community organizations fight for basic wages for undocumented workers. (Mar/Apr 2005, #140)
• In Red State Florida, Victory for Working People A Get-Out-The-Vote campaign to pass minimum-wage legislation in Florida. (Jan/Feb 2005, #139)
• Alabama Arise Fights For Tenant Protections How one advocacy group is trying to change legislation. (Nov/Dec 2004, #138)
• San Francisco Housing Activists Win Land and Shift the Debate UC-Irvine graduate students fight an uphill battle to retain affordable housing on the university's campus. (Sep/Oct 2004, #137)
• No Place For Us UC-Irvine graduate students fight an uphill battle to retain affordable housing on the university's campus. (Jul/Aug 2004, #136)
• Economic Rights are Human Rights Philadelphia activists are fighting to integrate economic human rights into Pennsylvania's law and policies. (May/Jun 2004, #135)
• From Brooklyn to Berlin: Organizing Shoeneweide The efforts of one German activist organization to re-energize a distressed neighborhood in Berlin. (Jan/Feb 2004, #133)
• New Jersey's Campaign Against Lead How New Jersey Citizen Action Lobbied for Lead Awareness and Prevention. (Nov/Dec 2003, #132)
• Listen to Me How a group of frustrated parents banded together to fight for better communication with their children's teachers and school administrators. (Jul/Aug 2003, #130)
• Housing Set-Asides: An Idea Whose Time Has Come National momentum can’t substitute for hard organizing work at the local level, but sometimes it can set the stage – or provide a needed burst of energy. (May/Jun 2003, #129)
• Helping the Mayor Get Your Way How organizing in Miami won massive public transportation investments – only a few years after a similar measure lost. (Mar/Apr 2003, #128)
• Winning a War, But Losing the Battle Louisville Tenants Organize - with Unexpected Results (Jan/Feb 2003, #127)
• The Right to Know How Latinos in Chicago fought for tax information in their own language and launched a movement. (Nov/Dec 2002, #126)
• High Stakes for Public Housing As the government continues to rethink what public housing is – and who has a right to it – organizing residents is more important than ever. (Jul/Aug 2002, #124)
• Affordable Housing... on Billboards? A grassroots coalition shapes a media campaign on the value of affordable housing. (Mar/Apr 2002, #122)
• Organizing with the State on Your Side Advocates help fulfill promise of California's fair share law. (Jan/Feb 2002, #121)
• Better Housing Through Science Housing Advocates Track Indoor Environmental Hazards to Spur Improvements. (Nov/Dec 2001, #120)
• Vertical Integration Section 8 Collaborative Connects Tenant Organizing with Policy Advocacy (Sep/Oct 2001, #119)
  
• Patience and Politics Alliance Schools develop parental leadership (Jul/Aug 2001, #118)
• Don't Start Small Tenants organize for ownership (May/June 2001, #117)
• Unexpected Allies Involving welfare office workers in welfare organizing (Mar/Apr 2001, #116)
• Turning Out People for Housing Greater Boston Interfaith Organization (Jan/Feb 2001, #115)
• Bringing Down the Barriers Low-income leaders address obstacles to enrollment in federal programs. (Nov/Dec 2000, #114)
• Persistence Pays (Sep/Oct 2000, #113)
• Money Doesn't Always Win Community groups take on the University of Colorado. (Jul/Aug 2000, #112)
• Improving Schools from the Bottom Up Oakland ACORN. (May/Jun 2000, #111)
• Using Information to Confront Corporate Power Researching corporations, online and off. (Mar/Apr 2000, #110)
• Tenant Organizing Wins One-for-One Replacement (Jan/Feb 2000, #109)
• Clearing the Air The Point CDC Uses Research to Fight Pollution (Nov/Dec 1999, #108)
  
• "No Evictions. We Won't Move!" The Struggle to Save the I-Hotel, Excerpted from the book Roots of Justice. (Sep/Oct 1999, #107)
• Philadelphia Campaign Reshapes Homelessness Debate (Jul/Aug 1999, #106)
• Grassroots Advocacy Strengthens Housing Trust Fund (May/Jun 1999, #105)
• Strategy Shift Yields Jobs from Marriott (Mar/Apr 1999, #104)
• National Collaboration Drives Transportation Policy (Jan/Feb 1999, #103)
• Park 1 – Stadium 0: The People Win! (Nov/Dec 1998, #102)
• They’ll be Working on the Railroad Alameda Corridor Jobs Coalition (Jul/Aug 1998, #100)
• Divide and Conquer Housing and Community Gardens in New York City (May/Jun 1998, #99)
• Leveling the Playing Field Brownfields in Minnesota (Mar/Apr 1998, #98)
• Living Wage Lives in L.A. (Jan/Feb 1998, #97)
• Oakland Campaign Puts Kids First (Nov/Dec 1997, #96)
• Fighting for Worker’s Rights in Maine (Sep/Oct 1997, #95)
• A Winning Strategy New York State Tenants and Neighbors Coalition policy director Mike McKee reveals the secrets to winning the rent control battle. (Jul/Aug 1997, #94)
• Tenderloin Senior Organizing Project (May/Jun 1997, #93)
• Gaining Ground by Holding Back (Mar/Apr 1997, #92)
• Finding Common Ground: Consensus Organizing (Jan/Feb 1997, #91)
• All Organizing is Constant Re-organizing (Sep/Oct 1996, #89)
• Shedding Some Light on Fighting the Right (May/Jun 1996, #87)
• Organizing to Build a Movement New York State Tenants and Neighbors (Mar/Apr 1996, #86)
• Not Another Parking Lot: Fight City Hall - and WIN! (Jan/Feb 1996, #85)
• Building A Power Base (Nov/Dec 1995, #84)
• Holding Politicians Accountable (Nov/Dec 1994, #78)

Shelterforce Feature Articles, by date and issue number

• Keeping Kukui Gardens Faced with the prospect of losing their homes, residents of a Honolulu affordable-housing complex defied Hawaiian cultural traditions, getting organized and vocal and achieving a victory for affordability in one of the country's most expensive cities.. (Fall 2007, #151)
• Long Time Coming D.C.'s once-vibrant Shaw neighborhood used a community benefits agreement to redefine the value of its people and place. (Summer 2007, #150)
• The Purchase of a Lifetime When luxury condo developers starting buying up properties on W Street in D.C.,
  the low-income tenants who already lived there decided to get in the game. (Spring 2007, #149)
• A Winning Campaign Affordable-housing advocates in D.C. won legislation to keep poorer residents
  from being victims of the city's economic prosperity. (Spring 2007, #149)
• Obama's Third Way Lessons learned as a community organizer may propel Barack Obama to the
  White House. (Spring 2007, #149)
• 2006 Housing and Community Development Victories While housing and community development stalled at the federal level, advocates scored victories around the nation. (Winter 2006, #148)
• Thinking Collectively Boston's Community Labor United helps unions and housing activists build power together. (Fall 2006, #147)
• Budgeting for Democracy Citizen engagement is changing the way one city develops its budget. (Summer 2006, #146)
• Let the People Decide Two Canadian cities are trying different approaches to participatory budgeting. (Summer 2006, #146)
• Following the Money Trail For 18 years, Neighborhood Capital Budget Group has supported Chicago's grassroots community groups in understanding where and how their public dollars are spent. (Summer 2006, #146)
• Planning Beyond the Project Neighborhood planning, while complex, strengthens communities and brings support for projects. (Summer 2006, #146)
• Building Trust After 9/11, when economic forces threatened Chinatown's survival, collaborative planning built consensus on where to go next. (Summer 2006, #146)
• Managing the Message The right choice of words, stories and images can have a remarkable effect on how the public views affordable housing. (Summer 2006, #146)
• Designing A Socially Just Downtown A grassroots coalition in Oakland used its organizing and design skills to produce a housing proposal the city couldn't refuse, despite the mayor's stiff opposition. (Spring 2006, #145)
• Picking Up The Pieces Displaced and overwhelmed, three major organizing networks provided immediate aid to evacuees after Hurricane Katrina and began working for long-term equitable recovery. Will they be able to rise to the human and political challenges they now face? (Spring 2006, #145)
• Power in Numbers New alliances and collaborations are winning community benefits agreements that dramatically improve the lives of low-income residents. (Nov/Dec 2005, #144)
• The Battle in Brooklyn Will New York ACORN's decision to partner with a private developer to provide major affordable housing in a gentrifying community pay off? (Nov/Dec 2005, #144)
• Looking Back, Looking Forward Former Shelterforce Editor Woody Widrow speaks with tenant activists from the days of Shelterforce's birth to understand where our movement came from, how it has changed and where it's going. (Nov/Dec 2005, #144)
• The Power of a Community-Based Development Coalition The rise and fall of the Chicago Association of Neighborhood Development Organizations illustrates the challenges facing advocacy organizations when they shift to service delivery. (May/June 2005, #141)
• Listening to the Community Hope Community Inc. organized residents to discuss and plan the future of a local park, allowing them to control the change in their neighborhood. (May/June 2005, #141)
• Network Organizing: A Strategy for Building Community Engagement In weak market cities where cynicism and dysfunction have become the norm, it takes a different kind of organizing to bring people together to demand change. (Mar/Apr 2005, #140)
• Advocates for Healthy Housing Environmental justice and tenant advocates are getting together to document lead, asthma and other hazards in their housing – and winning policy changes as a result. (Mar/Apr 2005, #140)
• Tearing Down the Community In spite of millions of dollars spent and the good intentions of many, the promise of a better life for the displaced residents of Chicago’s notorious public housing has not yet been met. What will it take for Chicago’s HOPE VI project, the nation’s largest, to find success? (Nov/Dec 2004, #138)
• The Housing That Community Built Refusing to go through the trauma of displacement, public housing residents in Pittsburgh’s Hill District put meaning into the term “resident driven.” (Nov/Dec 2004, #138)
• Be It Ever So Humble What outsiders saw as blight, many residents of the Hill District saw as a living, breathing community. The old buildings, alleyways and narrow streets held an intangible wealth that cannot be replaced. (Nov/Dec 2004, #138)
• Fifty Years After Brown, the Fight for Equality in Mississippi’s Delta Schools Though it has been 50 years since the Brown v. the Board of Education of Topeka, KS decision, grassroots organizations are still fighting to equalize education opportunities in Mississippi. (Jul/Aug 2004, #136)
• Public Dollars and Private Interests How the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless discovered limits -- and strengths -- in its 10-year battle with developers and HUD over the heavily subsidized luxury development, Presidential Towers. (Mar/Apr 2004, #134)
• Blocking Crime How strong block clubs are saving Chicago’s neighborhoods. (Nov/Dec 2003, #132)
• The World As It Should Be Ruminations on the state of progressive politics and organizing. (Sep/Oct 2003, #131)
• The Black Organizer Blues Though there are numerous successful, black-led organizer groups in New York City, why are the best-funded and highest profile groups in black neighborhoods not black-led? (Jul/Aug 2003, #130)
• Fighting for Air South Camden, NJ, residents are taking on the industrial polluters that are poisoning their community. A review of what they’ve gained so far by organizing, and the legal setbacks they must overcome. (Nov/Dec 2002, #126)
  
• When Your Bank Leaves Town How to hold a bank accountable – and pressure it to take responsible corporate action – when it decides to close a branch in your community. (Nov/Dec 2002, #126)
  
• Direct Action For Housing Nothing draws attention like the in-your-face tactics of direct action. It's not for everyone, but advocates say it can bolster the efforts of traditional lobbying groups and build a stronger housing movement. (Jul/Aug 2002, #124)
• Building Blocks Block groups can be the ultimate expression of the grassroots, but they are also challenging to sustain. People working with them offer some insight on incorporating block groups into a larger community strategy. (Mar/Apr 2002, #122)
• LA Story It was an audacious three-year campaign for nothing less than a $100 million housing trust fund. Here's how Housing LA crafted a can't-lose strategy that held together despite recession and war. (Mar/Apr 2002, #122)
• Building Democracy Faith-based community organizing doesn’t just win particular issues… it builds democracy. (Jan/Feb 2001, #115)
  
• We Can’t Be Pegged The Catholic Campaign for Human Development is the largest funder of organizing. Considered a hero of many working for economic justice, it’s not beyond controversy. (Jan/Feb 2001, #115)
• From Parents to Strong Community Leaders Community Organizing and Family Issues (COFI) sees parents as an untapped source of community leadership, and helps them organize for more family-friendly neighborhoods. (Nov/Dec 2000, #114)
• The People Shall Rule Chicago ACORN members and SEIU Local 880 banded together to elect one of their own leaders as an alderman. How do strategies for holding political leaders accountable differ when those leaders are “one of our own?” (Nov/Dec 2000, #114)
• Hearts on Fire What causes the only-too-common plague of organizer burnout? And what can organizations do to keep the fire alive? (Sep/Oct 2000, #113)
• Twin Pursuits HANDS, a CDC serving two cities in New Jersey, was a successful housing developer. But the community needed more. In trying to fill a bigger role, HANDS discovered firsthand the difficulties and joys of pairing community development with community building. (Mar/Apr 2000, #110)
• The Last Stop Sign Community organizers have won small victories, but to become a significant movement they must work with other progressive activists and confront difficult "wedge" issues. (Nov/Dec 1998, #102)
• Some Good News for Organizers Focusing on issues of class and rebuilding civil institutions holds the key to overcoming concentrations of corporate wealth and power and spurring progressive reform. (Nov/Dec 1998, #102)
• Ten Reasons to Cheer Organizing today is diverse, robust, innovative—and more! (Sep/Oct 1998, #101)
• Building a FORCE for the Common Good United Power for Action and Justice brings together faith-based, community, and labor groups in the Chicago region. (Sep/Oct 1998, #101)
• Organizing Renaissance: Massachusetts CDCs explore organizing. (Sep/Oct 1998, #101)
• Organizing’s Past, Present, and Future: Essays by Kim Fellner, Ernesto Cortés, Jr., and Michael Eichler. (Sep/Oct 1998, #101)
• Pulling Together to Fight for Jobs The Center for Community Change convenes grassroots coalitions to develop national strategies that advance their local work. (Mar/Apr 1998, #98)
• Taking Charge: Public Housing Tenants Organize Two national groups are organizing public housing tenants to bring their voices to the attention of the local authorities and the national scene. (Sep/Oct 1997, #95)
• I'm a Tenant and I Vote! A brilliant tenant organizing campaign kept New York State's rent control laws on the books. But, while the battle's won, the tenant losses were heavy and the war continues. (Jul/Aug 1997, #94)
• Community Building And Community Organizing: Creating Effective Models How community development organizations can enhance their effectiveness by incorporating organizing into their agendas. (Jan/Feb 1996, #85)
• Colonias Organize Community-based organizations in the colonias provide a range of services, from political organizing to self-help housing development. All tap into the energy and resources of the people in the colonias. (Jul/Aug 1995, #82)
• Neighbors Plow Field of Nightmares An innovative use of self-help nuisance abatement law and effective neighborhood organizing clears the drug dealers out of one Baltimore community. (Mar/Apr 1995, #80)
• Book Review: Organizing the South Bronx (Jan/Feb 1995, #79)
• ACORN Organizes Should public housing tenant organizations be part of the local Housing Authority or outside and independent of the authority? ACORN stands firmly for independence. (Sep/Oct 1994, #77)

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