WADE RATHKE is the founder of ACORN, Chief Organizer at ACORN International, and Author of "Nuts & Bolts", "Citizen Wealth", "Global Grassroots", and "The Battle for the 9th Ward".
Toronto At the ACORN Canada head organizers’ meeting there were deep dives into issues, campaigns, staff development, training methodology, grant prospects, and more. All of this was exciting. Reports on meetings the federal government’s housing and justice ministers and their staffs requested with us, when usually it has been the other way around, often …
New Orleans During the campaign discussion at the ACORN Canada YE/YB there was ongoing attention to the financialization of housing, winning heating and cooling thresholds for tenants, and expanding internet access, but there was also a proposal from the Toronto organizers that sparked an interesting discussion. Members at local meetings kept bringing up …
Stoney Lake, Ontario The ACORN Canada organizers spent a lot of time on their agenda discussing various strategies to implement retrofits by our members in Eco-Tenant Unions organizing and pressuring landlords to get the job done. In the discussion, a common complaint surfaced. Where the tenants paid the water utility, called hydro in …