Friends,

Thank you for supporting Make the Road New York (MRNY). Right now, hundreds of other generous individuals like you are helping us to make real impact for hundreds of thousands of working class families.

Please join with us by making a contribution today: https://www.maketheroadny.org/donate 

Despite being perhaps the toughest economic year since MRNY’s founding, 2011 has also been our most successful. While faith in government is at an all-time low and political infighting is at an all-time high, Make the Road New York is proposing and winning concrete, meaningful reform and helping lawmakers come to agreement on good policies to support New York’s working class and immigrants.

This year, we passed FIVE new city- and state-level policy changes, born from our work in immigrant communities, drafted by our legal staff, and won through member-led organizing to build support one elected official at a time. Our members shared their personal stories at press conferences, participated in evening planning meetings, lobbied elected officials, gathered postcards, and didn’t give up until unjust or lacking policies were changed.

These core strategies are yielding real results to ensure equal access for immigrants, stop unjust deportations, mandate safe and affordable housing, promote dignity for students and LGBT, and eradicate wage theft across New York. Click here to download our 2011 Victories Report.

Alongside these victories, we provide direct services that support families and help individuals to achieve stability and reach their full potential. This year, we assisted 3,100 families with critical legal services, helped 1,640 adults develop literacy skills, served nearly 400 job seekers with training and counseling (placing 114 of those in good jobs with a decent wage), and achieved a 97% college acceptance rate for graduating high school seniors involved in our college access program.

MRNY’s innovative model has proved so successful that in 2012 we are taking our work to national scale by launching a sister organization, the Center for Popular Democracy, to partner with base-building organizations nationwide in order to build infrastructure and to develop and replicate important policy victories that working families can see and feel every day.

It is thanks to our many individual donors that we can have this kind of impact.

Please help MRNY build on these achievements by making a contribution today or becoming a Make the Road Sustainer by pledging a monthly donation. For $5, $10 or $25 a month, you can help MRNY grow stronger, expand our advocacy, education and services down the road, and keep winning victories that improve the lives of hundreds of thousands of New Yorkers.

Your commitment, right now, will help ensure another year of critical victories. We cannot do this work without you.

Please give generously today: https://www.maketheroadny.org/donate

On behalf of my fellow Co-Executive Directors and MRNY’s 10,000 members, thank you for your support and happy holidays!  

Warm Regards,   

Andrew Friedman
Co-Executive Director