One of the most powerful outreach tools we have is the Health Care Access Survey, a tool volunteer organizers are using for one-on-one outreach in communities across New York to guide conversations about personal health care experiences. 

On Saturday, September 23 we are organizing teams of volunteers to go door-to-door using the Health Care Access Survey to hear from members of our community about the challenges they face accessing healthcare. Our goal is to organize outreach teams in EVERY Upstate New York county. Would you sign up to be a Canvassing Team Leader on September 23?

What do we expect of Canvassing Team Leaders?

• Choose a geographic area for outreach. 
• Recruit friends to join you. The Campaign for New York Health will help you connect with other volunteers in your area.
• Plan to attend, bring materials, and welcome volunteers. The statewide Campaign for New York Health will make sure you have materials (surveys, scripts, flyers, and buttons) the day of your event. 
  
  

Learn more about the September 23 Outreach Day of Outreach and register your event here and don't hesitate to email [email protected] with your questions.

Outreach Materials - Request in Time for Labor Day!
There are still several weeks of warm weather ahead and Labor Day is just around the corner. Are you planning to attend a local Labor Day event? Would you like to raise awareness and build support for New York Health at your local Labor Day event?

• Request outreach materials - flyers, petitions, and postcards - via the Campaign for New York Health website.
• Purchase buttons and bumperstickers via the Campaign for New York Health website. 

Base Building to WIN - Organizing Training
Base building refers to “people who are directly impacted by injustice joining together to build power and develop leadership in order to collectively change our conditions.” Largely missing from our organizing have been the uninsured and underinsured, the working-class, people of color, immigrants, the disabled, folks most impacted by the disparities inherent in the current system. The only way to reach them is through deliberate one-on-one outreach and relationship building.

The Campaign for New York Health has developed a Health Care is a Human Right Base Building Training and a Health Care Access Survey to help grassroots volunteer organizers have one-on-one conversations about people’s lived health care experiences. This is a first step for bringing new folks, non-yet-activsts, into our work. Through the end of the year, we are asking grassroots volunteers to use the Health Access Survey in communities around the state, especially in Upstate New York. We will publish our findings in a report in Spring 2018 and want to make sure the entire state is reflected in our findings. Please REPLY to this email if you or your organization would like to help host a Base Building training in your area.

Since the beginning of 2017, there has been a surge of support for New York Health across the state. In preparation for 2018, we are working on identifying and training volunteer Regional Coordinators. Regional Coordinators work with the Campaign for New York Health to develop base building activities in their area (door-to-door canvassing, outreach to businesses, outreach at community events, and more). Regional Coordinators receive ongoing organizing training, have their contact info listed on Campaign for NY Health website, and inform interested individuals about way to get involved organizing support for New York Health. The time commitment for Regional Coordinators is between 3-10 hours per week. To learn more about being a Regional Coordinator, contact Ursula Rozum, [email protected]

Looking for resources to help you better understand the New York Health Act? Check out this short animation (http://www.nyhcampaign.org/piisd) or this longer video featuring Dr. Gerald Friedman about how the New York Health Act would be funded (http://www.nyhcampaign.org/study).

Thank you so much for being part of our growing movement to win universal health care. Please do not hesitate to be in touch with questions or ideas for organizing in your area.