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1. Virginia Organizing members attended a bill signing in Richmond, supporting Governor Terry McAuliffe’s “Classrooms not Courtrooms” initiative. This model memorandum of understanding for school resource officers was based on Virginia Organizing’s work in the Fredericksburg Chapter.
   
   
2. Each of our 15 chapters has organized for health care many times this year. We have held rallies, forums, town halls, meetings with elected officials, and media conferences in all major media markets and in a large number of State House and Senate districts. (Pictured: the New River Valley Chapter’s media conference on December 5, with faith leaders and the Virginia Interfaith Center for Public Policy.)
   
3. We helped create procedures for accessibility in area hospitals for the deaf community. We provided several first responder agencies with training materials on deaf communication. We also assisted in the development of an American Sign Language video on voter registration and voting procedures.​
   
   
4. The Portsmouth Chapter won its first campaign to disrupt the school-to-prison pipeline! The Portsmouth School Board agreed to change the student code of conduct, and the number of suspensions has started to go down. (The Lynchburg, Fredericksburg, New River Valley, and Eastern Shore Chapters have also worked on school-to-prison pipeline campaigns.)
5. Thousands of community leaders learned new democratic skills. They attended workshops, held meetings with law enforcement officials about discrimination and civil rights, and wrote letters to the editor and op-eds. All of these activities helped them to build long lasting relationships and strategic grassroots organizing capacity to fight for social change. (Pictured: the Dismantling Racism Workshop in Williamsburg in November.)
   
   
6. We helped returning citizens get their voting rights back!​ We also registered voters, called hundreds of eligible voters, and canvassed from door-to-door to make sure people voted on election day.
   
   
7. The Harrisonburg Chapter prevented the deportation of Cesar Lara Rios and organized monthly rallies and media conferences to protect DACA and TPS recipients.
   
   
8. The Martinsville/Henry County Chapter worked to put Dismantling Racism into practice. They registered young voters of color, promoted inclusion of authors of color in local libraries, and met with local school superintendents to learn more about their anti-racism efforts.​
   
   
9. The Charlottesville/Albemarle County Chapter held two candidate forums, one for city council and the other for commonwealth’s attorney candidates. Voters were able to ask questions about these candidates’ policies on mass incarceration, affordable housing, LGBT rights, and a living wage for all workers.
10. The South Hampton Roads Chapter raised awareness of climate change with its “Flood of Voices” conference. Virginia Organizing, along with the Chesapeake Climate Action Network, held pipeline protests all over the state, including the one pictured below outside the DEQ office in Abingdon.