News Article

This past Saturday, Working America hosted our first volunteer canvass. We are excited to share that we had 18 of 18 committed volunteers make the drive from the Bay Area and canvass in Modesto! These 18 people are just some of the dozens of volunteers who have been trained to canvass.

The volunteer team knocked on 565 doors in sunny Modesto, and had 186 conversations resulting in 131 new Working America members. In addition to conducting member recruitment, the team gathered emails, phone numbers, calls to action and identified four potential local volunteers. We will build relationships with those local volunteers and invite them to join us in action.

When we asked people in Modesto what issues were most important to them, what we heard most frequently included people’s concerns regarding access to high-quality, affordable health care, investing in public education and addressing homelessness.

This week we are following up with the first group of volunteers, asking them about their experience, listening to suggestions and exploring how we can improve the program. People have been positive, with many saying they can’t wait to canvass with us again.

Our professional paid canvass is also well under way. The team has been making longer drives to Turlock and recruited 171 new members last week. Across the region’s neighborhoods, we are hearing that our politicians are not representing their constituents. “They do what they want and don’t think about us,” said one young Modesto father, who works in construction. Members are signing a petition to urge Representative Denham to listen to working families and address their concerns by funding education and health care. 

Overall, a great start to a promising project; we have our first 300 members in the district from the combined efforts of volunteers and staff. Our next volunteer canvass is Saturday.