RAD staff across New Hampshire have been leading and supporting local mutual aid. Pictured above is a drive through assembly of supplies for those in the Greater Nashua region.
RAD LEADERS IN ACTION
RAD leaders were among the featured speakers at Women’s March events earlier this year: Jodi Newell, Duua Zahra, Laura Lynch, and Andrea Polizos were featured speakers in New Hampshire. And, you can watch and listen to these amazing speeches in New Hampshire on our new video page! In addition, our bistate RAD Board co-chair Alison Nihart gave one of the opening speeches during Bernie Sanders’ Super Tuesday rally in Vermont. You can see her speech on CSPAN.
Welcome to our inaugural, monthly newsletter!
This year is already taking a toll on many of us – emotionally, politically, and physically.
RAD is responding to COVID-19 in our communities in a variety of ways, which we outline below, as we shift our work during these times and continue to support the needs of our communities while pushing for the structural change needed to provide for everyone’s basic human needs.
But, first and foremost, we’ve ensured that staff are supported and safe: We’ve closed down our offices and staff are working remotely; all regional Chapter meetings have gone virtual. In addition, we’ve moved all canvassing and outreach work to phone canvassing, texting, and digital outreach via email and social media.
At the same time, we are excited to announce that we’ve retained two amazing organizers from our Keep in the Ground team and added a third new organizer as we gear up for a busy election cycle.
Finally – tonight! – join us for a special Zoom forum where we’ll talk about what is next for the #NotMeUs movement here in New Hampshire and how we can channel our energy into other elections this fall. We will be joined by RAD elected leaders, members, and national allies, including Rep. Ro Khanna.
To RSVP and gain call access, click here.
Stay safe, wash your hands, and practice social solidarity.
– Isaac Grimm, NH Organizing Director
CAMPAIGNS
COVID-19
We’ve called on Gov. Chris Sununu to do more than just stay the course during this crisis response, but to leverage federal and state dollars to ensure that any financial relief is centered on the needs of communities and not corporations.
You can read, sign, and share our petition on our website.
NEW STAFF
We had to say goodbye to a number of awesome field organizers and coordinators after the Presidential primary, but we’ve retained two of them – Giselle Hart and Lisa Demaine – to add to our work moving forward in 2020. In addition, we’ve hired Tom Labore as a lead canvasser focused on building out RAD’s canvassing team.
Welcome them aboard!
RAISE THE WAGE & ELECTION 2020
Good news for the effort to raise the minimum wage – over 90 NH business owners signed on in support of federal $15 min wage in January.
Have you ever thought of running for office or wanted to help someone in your community get elected, but didn’t know where to start? That’s why this Thursday, we’re hosting a training, How to Run & Win: Election 2020 & Beyond. For more info and to RSVP, click here.
OPIOID & OVERDOSE CRISIS
We’ve been taking part in a national messaging project that included two focus groups in Manchester, NH before the COVID-19 clampdown began. We’ve started a small leadership team of staff and members to begin looking at best practices and policies to identify in our states.
HEALTHCARE JUSTICE
Every third Thursday of the month, RAD hosts a healthcare call alongside local healthcare leaders, professionals, and activists to discuss how we can best protect the health and wellbeing of our communities everyday and in the context of the COVID-19 pandemic. You can RSVP and find more information for April’s call on our Facebook event page.
RAD JOBS
We are also hiring! We’re looking for a bistate Data & Technology Manager (which means the person can be . located in either VT or NH) and Movement Politics Director for NH. You can check out the job descriptions, and salary ranges, on our website. Click here for details.
KEEP IT IN THE GROUND
RAD’s Keep It In the Ground campaign team was the single most robust bird dogging team interacting with all of the major presidential candidates in the first-in-the-nation primary in New Hampshire. We engaged with all leading Democratic presidential candidates at nearly three-dozen events with some of our interactions going viral and seen by hundreds of thousands of people across the country, created a climate scorecard, and most importantly, pushed candidates to improve their climate action plans.
MANUFACTURED HOUSING
We’ve begun work to identify and build a leadership team of folks in New Hampshire who live in manufactured home communities. You can read about it here, and let us know if you, or someone you know, would be a good match.
IN CASE YOU MISSED IT
Here are a few of our top Instagram posts from the past month.
Our pre-social distancing handwashing meme still applies….
Town Meeting Day in Hartford, VT.
PRESIDENTIAL PRIMARY
Our endorsed candidate – Sen. Bernie Sanders – won both New Hampshire and Vermont (yay!) thanks, in part, to the volunteer hours put in by RAD folx across both states as well as those who texted and phone banked into other critical Super Tuesday states. Our focus will soon turn to ensuring that Trump does not win New Hampshire – as we know he’s stated that he would like very much to do so. Eff that.
We were saddened to see the end of Bernie’s campaign this week, but grateful for how much his campaign has shifted the political conversation and contributed to movement building work. Read our thoughts on it here.
Earlier in March, we launched a #SocialSolidarity campaign on social media, in which RAD staff and members share books, music, podcasts, self-care practices and even their work-from-home setups – anything that is getting them through our time of social distancing. Executive Director, James Haslam and New Hampshire Organizing Director, Isaac Grimm shared their favorite books.
CHAPTERS
RAD Organizers in New Hampshire made over 1200 calls and sent more than 3000 texts to our members in the Monadnock Region, Lakes Region, Manchester/Nashua, Sullivan County/Upper Valley and the Seacoast to coordinate COVID-19 mutual aid efforts and share our list of COVID-19 resources.
As follow-up to this initial outreach, our organizers have been working with regional leaders to support mutual aid coordination.
In the Lakes Region, Organizer Kevin Pentz worked with volunteers to establish a regional mutual aid network. One person who called the network could not walk or read, was running out of food and household supplies, and had a broken stove. Within 24 hours, a volunteer delivered food and cleaning supplies, and we had leads on replacement stoves. The network also connected the person with local services to help with overdue bills and roof repair.
Organizer Alissandra Rodriguez-Murray shared mutual aid efforts with RAD contacts in the Manchester/Nashua region. Within a few days, Alissandra was contacted by someone who had not eaten in two days because his disability check had not arrived. Unable to find a volunteer, Alissandra got groceries and delivered them to his apartment in Nashua. Relieved and grateful, he has since reached out twice to thank Alissandra.