In 2005, the Dolores Huerta Foundation launched its first house meeting campaign – a foundational piece of DHF's community organizing model – and organized its first grassroots volunteer groups to work on infrastructure improvements in Kern County, California. From this effort, Vecinos Unidos was born!
In its very first year, DHF's Vecinos Unidos network successfully advocated for the Bakersfield Board of Supervisors to improve public safety by building sidewalks around three area schools that lacked them.
Within the following year, the Vecinos led a successful campaign to remove the Texas company that had been hurting the community with its mismanagement of the local water board and bring in local management. Under its new leadership – which included three Vecinos who independently ran for and got elected to the water board – the board stabilized water rates, installed water meters in residents' homes for correct water usage monitoring, exposed gross mismanagement of funds by the previous board, and called a grand jury to investigate.
Even in its earliest years, DHF's community-based model of training and organizing local volunteer leaders showed the tremendous impact that improved the daily lives of community members. It's a model – invented by legendary community organizer Fred Ross, Sr. and pioneered by our founder and namesake Dolores Huerta – that has been expanded, refined, and replicated over the past two decades, leading to the growing list of successes, the empowerment of communities, and life-changing benefits for tens of thousands of families and individuals.
Vecinos Unidos, specifically, continues to empower community leaders through hands-on training to lead civic engagement campaigns, hold elected officials accountable, and secure positive outcomes to address the needs of their community. Vecinos chapters have successfully advocated for community improvements such as more parks, paved roads, pools, sewer connections, education equity, and more.
Thanks to the ongoing dedication of our volunteers, network members, and supporters like you, we'll keep making a difference in people's lives, protecting fundamental rights, and helping marginalized and vulnerable communities find their voice in our democracy for decades to come!
Stay tuned for more stories of impact as we celebrate 20 years of the Dolores Huerta Foundation, and if you're on social media and not already doing so, follow DHF's social media channels for even more updates on our work and ways to engage:
Thank you for everything you do!
– Your friends at the Dolores Huerta Foundation
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