Rural Organizing Project

Capacity building support for human dignity groups: rop supported more than 91 autonomous, volunteer-led human dignity groups to increase their impact and ability to organize for the long-haul. We focused on making sure each group has a leadership team that shares the work, systems for communicating with a growing base, and short- and medium-term action plans that center campaigns that build the group's local base and power in the community. Rop also supported groups by hosting strategic communication trainings, facilitating planning processes and meetings, coaching and training, sharing our capacity building toolkit, connecting leaders to resources similar groups have already developed, and convening our 33rd annual Rural caucus & strategy session that was attended by 150 Rural community leaders.

Confronting and transforming systems that prevent Rural oregonians from living their lives fully with safety and dignity: rop was one of the leading organizations to make sure Oregon's 2021 sanctuary promise act was getting fully implemented at the local and statewide levels. This year we celebrated the victory of our lawsuit against the city of cottage grove for breaking state sanctuary laws. We partnered with the hood river latino network to open rop's newest field office and immigrant help center in hood river, a cultural resource, training, and event hub to foster community leadership development.

Advancing democracy and defending human dignity through collective statewide and local community action that advances social, racial, economic and climate justice, counters white nationalism, and promotes inclusive democracy. Community members from 18 counties came together for our defending democracy living room conversations to make plans for keeping temperatures low in their counties during election season and to ensure access to voting in the may primary.