It’s been a hard and scary year, but there’s also so much that’s worth celebrating. Human Dignity Groups across rural Oregon are combining small acts to form tidal waves of resistance. As a network, we are loudly defying the notion that rural communities will sit back and accept federal overreach and violence in our communities.
Thank you for all the ways you have shown up for ROP this holiday season and throughout the year. We admire your commitment to creating joy and justice in rural Oregon and beyond!
Your support helps us be leaders in state and national coalitions while continuing to criss-cross the backroads from coastal Newport to the Wallowa Mountains.
We are deeply grateful for all you do and hope the stories highlighted below give you strength and courage to take on the challenges ahead.
Warmly,
Sam and the ROP Team
There has never been a more urgent time to organize and build our strength than under growing authoritarianism. The ROP network of 95 Human Dignity Groups has been mobilizing around 4 pathways of resistance.
Protect People
Rural Oregonians doubled down on our work to keep each other safe, especially those most targeted in this moment. More than 20 rapid response groups were built or strengthened to defend against state and community violence.
From the South Lane Community Building Center, we supported the Mam community to access healthcare and legal support, offered Know Your Rights Information, provided translation and interpretation, and facilitated accompaniment to immigration appointments, supporting more than 500 people!
Defend Civic Institutions
The Cottage Grove Mam community gathered to celebrate a huge win: our legal victory enforcing Oregon’s Sanctuary Promise Act, ensuring local law enforcement is not collaborating with ICE.
Human dignity leaders from across the state deepened relationships with local elected officials, collaborating to address devastating federal funding cuts to our communities and to defend free and fair elections in 2026.
Leaders in Baker City built a community radio station, featuring high school DJs, local news reports, and education for the region. 89.9 FM Baker City and other local groups are filling the void left by defunded public media and governmental attacks on free speech.
Disrupt & Disobey
We refused to accept attacks on basic rights as normal. Rural Oregon mobilized for #HandsOff, #NoKings, and 700 protests, rallies, and events, bringing hundreds of new leaders into the movement!
1,000 people registered for our Meeting the Moment virtual gatherings to build a shared analysis of how authoritarian regimes can be dismantled through mass nonviolent civil resistance.
ROP leaders reached beyond our rural counties to build mass movement with statewide and national partners. We participated in national strategy spaces around disaster response organizing and noncooperation, and helped form strategic alignment amongst organizations responding to national guard deployment and other threats to democracy in Oregon.
Build Alternatives
The 34th Annual Rural Caucus and Strategy Session was the largest ever (160 people!) with many first-time attendees and leaders from 31 counties converging in Eastern Oregon. 76 groups convened for regional conversations to build a collective vision for just futures. New connections led to cross-county collaborations throughout the year.
The Immigrant Help Center in the Gorge hosted nearly a dozen events, leaning into joy as resistance! At Hood River Latino Fest, we celebrated cultural roots with performances and food, building connections with neighbors and spreading the word about legal support, healthcare, and food access.
Despite all there was to defend this year, we never stopped building the world we want.
Rural Organizing Project is meeting the moment
In 2025, ROP grew to include 95 groups, multiple community centers, and thousands of local leaders working together to advance democracy in small-town and rural Oregon.
