Students and their adult allies across the state are building power to make each and every school inclusive of 2SLGBTQIA+ people, from inclusive curriculum to welcoming hallway culture to gender-free bathrooms. Read the inspiring story of the Lakeview High School and Daly Middle School Gay-Straight Alliance below. After organizing for months, they convinced their school […]
Read MoreDefending Human Dignity
Action Planning for Sanctuary Promise
Rural communities and human dignity leaders have organized for decades to build safe and welcoming communities for all. We won a huge victory in 2021 when we passed the Sanctuary Promise Act (SPA) through the Oregon legislature to expand our decades-old Sanctuary Law. Oregon now has the strongest sanctuary policies in the entire country. They […]
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Sweet Home Organizers Build Low-Barrier Shelter and Resource Center
As communities across the state are experiencing harsh winter weather and housing remains unaffordable and scarce, many are feeling a growing urgency to address the housing crisis. Today we want to share the story of how Sweet Home organizers built a low-barrier shelter and resource facility, as well as statewide opportunities to advocate for housing […]
Read MoreTaking Legal Action for the Promise of Sanctuary
Today the Rural Organizing Project and Community Alliance of Lane County (CALC) filed a lawsuit against the City of Cottage Grove and its Police Department for violating Oregon’s Sanctuary Promise Act. With Oregon Law Center’s legal representation, ROP and CALC are asking a judge to order Cottage Grove to stop using local resources to assist […]
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Make Your 2023 Legislative Action Plan!
Kitchen Table Activism (KTA) is a monthly activity by the Rural Organizing Project. The idea is that small actions can lead to powerful collective results when groups of people gather to complete the same action across the state of Oregon. ROP works to keep each KTA easily achievable so that groups with other projects or […]
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The Rural Caucus is Coming – May 20th!
Mark your calendars and get your group registered: this year’s Rural Caucus & Strategy Session will be Saturday, May 20th in the Linn/Benton county area! For more than 30 years, small-town and rural organizers and community leaders from across Oregon have joined together annually at the Rural Caucus & Strategy Session to reflect on the […]
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New Oregon Eviction Data and Housing Bill
When we had conversations with human dignity leaders around the state to create a Roadmap to a Thriving Rural Oregon in 2020, safe and affordable housing was a top priority. Now, three years later, more evictions are happening than even before the pandemic, and rental prices are skyrocketing! Many human dignity groups are working on creative local solutions, including […]
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Celebrating 30 Years of Rural Organizing!
It’s said that history doesn’t repeat itself, but it does often rhyme. 2022 has included countless challenges to inclusive democracy that echo what rural Oregon experienced in 1992: the insistence that we should be scared of our neighbors and that our differences are too great to find common ground. What we knew then, and what […]
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Sanctuary Promise in Action
Over one year ago we celebrated a huge victory when we passed the Sanctuary Promise Act! Thanks to the hard work of human dignity leaders, Oregon now has the strongest sanctuary policies in the entire country. Now we get to make sure everyone knows about this big win so that we can uphold the new protections and […]
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Advancing Democracy in Rural Oregon
2022 has been another monumental year for rural Oregonians and for our democracy. As we begin to wrap up the year, it’s a good time to reflect back on what we’ve been able to accomplish together as more than 70 human dignity groups and thousands of everyday rural Oregonians.For ROP, 2022 included our 30th birthday […]
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