We believe that all people should be treated fairly and with dignity in all aspects of life, regardless of race, class, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, ability or country of origin. Discrimination must be eliminated in our schools, communities and workplaces. Virginia Organizing leaders speak out against discrimination of all kinds whether it be housing discrimination in Richmond, paratransit issues in Hampton Roads or the school-to-prison pipeline in Montgomery County.

We believe that we should enhance and celebrate diversity in our community and in our state.

Read more

We strive to work towards a long-term solution that restores balance to the state’s budget and tax structure.

We do not support further budget cuts to vital services like education, transportation, and public safety. When we cut our state’s infrastructure and services to the bone, it keeps our economy from moving forward.

Additionally, we support progressive tax reform. Virginia’s tax structure is “old and rusty” and is in need of modernization. Low- and middle-income families in Virginia pay a higher share of their income in state and local taxes than do the richest families. We are all making sacrifices in this financial climate and we should not be paying a higher percentage of our income to taxes than the wealthiest Americans.

Virginia has a regressive and unbalanced state tax structure that relies too much on sales taxes that disproportionately impact low and middle income families as well as an almost flat income tax in which not all taxpayers pay their fair share. This tax structure needs to be changed.

Read More

We are dedicated to encouraging civic engagement and empowering people in local communities to address issues that affect the quality of their lives. Virginia Organizing especially encourages the participation of those who have traditionally had little or no voice in our society. By building relationships with individuals and groups throughout the state, Virginia Organizing strives to help them to work collaboratively together, democratically and non-violently, for change.

We work toward this end so that those who have positions of authority in our governmental bodies, law enforcement agencies and institutions of learning will reflect the diversity of our communities. We organize meetings, actions, and campaigns so that our public officials will be held accountable. We believe in the rights of workers, consumers, shareholders and taxpayers to democratic self-organization.

Read More

Virginia Organizing is a member of the Climate Equity Working Group and the Virginia Environmental Justice Collaborative, and we organize on a number of issues related to environmental justice. We support the work of organizations fighting for clean air and clean water for the Commonwealth. We support green jobs as a way of bringing employment to the state and bringing us closer to energy independence. We believe in enacting common sense solutions to environmental problems whether it means weatherizing homes in low income communities or opposing harmful compressor stations. We support a just transition away from fossil fuels.

Read More

We believe that every person in the Commonwealth is entitled to a living wage and benefit package that is sufficient to provide the basic necessities of life, including adequate housing, a nutritious diet, proper child care, good mental and physical health care, a secure retirement, and an equal educational opportunity.

We believe in eliminating the extremes of wealth and poverty. We strive towards a common sense, responsible, progressive tax system based on the ability to pay. By bringing communities together, we fight for jobs, fair wages, and equality in the workplace.

Read More

We believe that every person is entitled to an equal educational opportunity.

We have worked to pass LGBTQ nondiscrimination ordinances through local school boards and state government, protect education funding from cuts in the General Assembly, and disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline.

Read More

Virginia Organizing has identified access to health care as one of the major issues facing its members and other residents in their communities.

We are the Virginia partner for the largest health care campaign in the country, Health Care for America Now. We joined in 2008 along with hundreds of organizations nationwide to fight for affordable, accessible health care for all Americans.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA), passed by Congress and signed into law by President Barack Obama on March 23, 2010, gives Virginians better health security by putting in place comprehensive health insurance reforms that hold insurance companies accountable, lower health care costs, guarantee more choice, and enhance the quality of care for all Americans.

After the passage of the ACA, we worked for nearly 10 years to achieve Medicaid expansion in Virginia. Since the General Assembly finally accepted it in 2018, hundreds of thousands of people have signed up for Medicaid and received life-saving treatment. Medicaid expansion was especially beneficial during the COVID-19 pandemic.

We continue to work to improve the accessibility and affordability of good health care for all Virginians, especially in areas such as health care for immigrants, Black maternal mortality, and mental health care, which have not yet been adequately addressed.

Read More

Virginians face a worsening housing crisis. As a result of decades of neglect of public spending and growing income inequality, more and more people cannot afford safe, adequate housing in their communities. We believe all people have a right to a home. We work to make housing universal by organizing for tenant rights, public spending on affordable housing, transitional housing, and temporary shelter for the homeless.

Read More

We need comprehensive immigration reform. But the change we need won’t happen without support from the White House and Congressional leadership, immigrants, advocates, faith communities, business, labor, and activists.

Our vision of reform includes immigrants and native-born U.S. citizens working shoulder to shoulder to achieve better wages, working conditions, and labor protections-—making sure everyone is playing by the same set of rules so that it is harder for unscrupulous employers to cheat immigrants, thus making it more difficult for any workers to be cheated. We need to build faith in our immigration system so that people respect the process and the process respects them. That’s our vision for a stronger America.

When the Administration and Congress finally address the need for immigration reform, we urge that the following principles guide our policymakers:
• Immigration reform must promote economic opportunity.
• Immigration reform must be comprehensive.
• Long-term reform requires long-term solutions.

Read More

For a number of years, Virginia Organizing has joined with many other organizations in urging the members of the Virginia General Assembly to stop predatory lenders and the financial trap they set for people in dire financial straights.

In 2008 a payday loan bill was enacted with provisions that fell far short of what we wanted at the time as it only helped reduce, not stop abusive financial practices of payday lenders. However, our efforts to end predatory lending in Virginia continue because predatory car title loans and open-ended loans simply took over where payday loans left off.

In 2010, the Virginia General Assembly enacted legislation providing some reforms to car title lending, helping protect consumers from this financial trap. The legislation was not perfect due to the high interest rates permitted, but was considered a major victory because it included time limits on the loans, interest rate caps, notices before cars can be repossessed, more information provided to borrowers and licensing requirements for lenders.

After another ten years of regular meetings with legislators, chapter rallies, workshops, and joint efforts with many partner groups, especially the Virginia Poverty Law Center and the Virginia Interfaith Center, Virginia Organizing saw all of our efforts come to fruition. In the General Assembly session of 2020, legislators passed the Virginia Fairness in Lending Act, which finally regulated payday, vehicle title, installment, and open-end credit loans.

Read More

Some politicians in Washington are working to end Social Security, Medicare, and Medicaid as we know them. They want to cut Social Security benefits and raise the retirement age.

Social Security belongs to the people who have worked hard all their lives and contributed to it. It is a promise that must not be broken. If you pay in, then you earn the right to benefits.

We need to strengthen Social Security, not cut it. That is why Virginia Organizing opposes any cuts to Social Security benefits, including increasing the retirement age. Virginia Organizing also opposes including Social Security in any deficit-reduction plan. Social Security does not contribute a penny to the deficit; it should not be cut to reduce the deficit.

Read More

Women’s rights and access to health care, fair wages, employment, housing, and more is under attack in Virginia. Virginia Organizing is committed to organizing for all women, especially women of color whose rights and access to important parts of life are even more restricted by policies designed to discriminate. We believe that all people should be treated fairly and with dignity in all aspects of life, regardless of race, class, gender, religion, sexual orientation, age, ability or country of origin.

In 2021, Virginia Organizing began work on a federal and statewide campaign for access to quality affordable childcare for all.

Read More