On Monday, we began a series of blog posts that will highlight each of our offices in New Mexico. Today, we're highlighting our office in Santa Fe.
Here is an account of working in the Santa Fe office from local Field Organizer Zoe:
As I write, there are about 30 people in our office on the phones, recruiting for our statewide canvass this weekend. What is so impressive is that the people in this office represent the many sides of Santa Fe. In our office now, I see my volunteer, Cathi, who lives in the mountains outside of Santa Fe. Cathi is over 60 years old and is soft spoken and shy. She is phone banking because, for the first time, she is inspired to become politically active. Barack Obama has inspired her. Sitting next to her is Willy, her neighbor who she met at a house meeting a month ago in their neighborhood. Sabina is sitting at the table next to them. She is a 17 year old volunteer who, although she isn’t old enough to vote yet, is in the office every day after school volunteering. Emilia, also a local Field Organizer, is sitting with one of her neighborhood team members, making calls with them. This happens every day here -- volunteers come in and interact with this office’s strong community. Virginia owns a hair salon two doors down, and her daughters come in every day to help organize youth meetings and enter data. Virginia will be chopping all my hair off tomorrow! Ken and his wife are retired; they canvass for us every weekend and always come back with a full report on how the day went. My cousin Louis is training a woman right now on Virtual Phonebank. He was always a really shy guy, who has been transformed as he has taken ownership of his contribution to the campaign. This office is a community. People walk in off the street, never having stepped foot in our office before, and they are welcomed warmly. These are the people who keep coming back to volunteer, because they feel that they are a part of this movement. That is how Kai became part of our team, and now she is a Field Organizer! This campaign is about organizing communities, empowering and including people in the political process that have never been involved before. It is about respecting all the differences that characterize Americans, and embracing those differences. Our office embodies these ideals. I am honored to be organizing in my hometown, and I am lucky to be working in such a motivated office with such wonderful people all united in one common cause -- electing Barack Obama. Everyone here has a different story, but we are together because we are moved by a common urgency to change this country.
As I write, there are about 30 people in our office on the phones, recruiting for our statewide canvass this weekend. What is so impressive is that the people in this office represent the many sides of Santa Fe. In our office now, I see my volunteer, Cathi, who lives in the mountains outside of Santa Fe. Cathi is over 60 years old and is soft spoken and shy. She is phone banking because, for the first time, she is inspired to become politically active. Barack Obama has inspired her. Sitting next to her is Willy, her neighbor who she met at a house meeting a month ago in their neighborhood.
Sabina is sitting at the table next to them. She is a 17 year old volunteer who, although she isn’t old enough to vote yet, is in the office every day after school volunteering. Emilia, also a local Field Organizer, is sitting with one of her neighborhood team members, making calls with them. This happens every day here -- volunteers come in and interact with this office’s strong community. Virginia owns a hair salon two doors down, and her daughters come in every day to help organize youth meetings and enter data. Virginia will be chopping all my hair off tomorrow! Ken and his wife are retired; they canvass for us every weekend and always come back with a full report on how the day went. My cousin Louis is training a woman right now on Virtual Phonebank. He was always a really shy guy, who has been transformed as he has taken ownership of his contribution to the campaign.
This office is a community. People walk in off the street, never having stepped foot in our office before, and they are welcomed warmly. These are the people who keep coming back to volunteer, because they feel that they are a part of this movement. That is how Kai became part of our team, and now she is a Field Organizer!
This campaign is about organizing communities, empowering and including people in the political process that have never been involved before. It is about respecting all the differences that characterize Americans, and embracing those differences. Our office embodies these ideals. I am honored to be organizing in my hometown, and I am lucky to be working in such a motivated office with such wonderful people all united in one common cause -- electing Barack Obama. Everyone here has a different story, but we are together because we are moved by a common urgency to change this country.
Find the office nearest you and get involved today!
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