Community Power Team: Creating Better Lives in 2021

Community Power is a union initiative that harnesses the power of our member leaders to exert the power necessary to achieve the Local 1000 Purpose: To create a good life for All Californians through social, economic, and environmental justice.

Carolyn Moyer, one of our newest member leader advocates and part of the Community Power Team, said it best. “I believe our members have huge hearts, and it’s great to have an avenue where we can use those hearts to improve our communities for ourselves, our families, and our neighbors.”

In 2020, our Community Power Team members advocated for affordable housing and renter protections; provided meals to the unhoused population of Sacramento through a partnership with Loaves and Fishes, an oasis for adults and children experiencing homelessness; built and distributed dozens of self-contained hand washing stations to aid the homeless in securing personal sanitation; and sponsored a highly-successful coat drive and, shortly thereafter, a toy drive that offered help and joy to hundreds of less-fortunate area families.

Expanding Community Power in 2021
As we continue to develop a strong corps of member leaders dedicated to a better community, our efforts are turning toward finding real solutions for the unhoused, affordable housing options, and adequate investment in our communities by pressing our local city and county governments for systemic change.

At the same time, the Community Power team will continue to provide essential survival gear and services. However, as we build power, our focus is on creating lasting change.

Town Halls planned for February
In the near future, the Community Power Team will be hosting two virtual town halls to enhance our relationships with elected officials. On February 11, Sacramento Mayor Darrell Steinberg will meet in a forum with Community Power members to ask questions and learn more about the issues we all face. We will then follow up one week later on February 18 by meeting with Eric Guerra, the Sacramento City Council member representing District 6, which includes Campus Commons, Fruitridge Manor, and Tahoe Park.

While Community Power is presently focused in the Sacramento region, the team is planning to expand to other areas where there is member density and member leadership willing to engage in community issues.

Are you a leader in your community or interested in becoming one? Do you have a vision for what your community could become? Join us! For more information contact communitypower@seiu1000.org