As you know, 2010 has been a momentous year for Causa Justa :: Just Cause. While the recession looms low over the horizon and working-class communities continue to be pitted against each other, Causa Justa :: Just Cause is defying divide and conquer strategies by proving that our strength is in our unity. As a fully merged organization, we are moving forward with a massive expansion of our grassroots organizing efforts to invest deeply in our membership and win crucial improvements in the lives of low-income Bay Area residents. Help us continue proving that the power of collective action and mutual aid is greater than what we’re up against. Join us by signing up to give a monthly donation of $5, or if you’re already a Monthly Sustainer, make a one-time donation of $60.

Here are just a few of this year’s many successes that we will be building on as we move ahead:

•    Keep the Utilities On! This past month we achieved huge wins in the campaign to keep the utilities on for tenants in foreclosed properties. After our housing counselors witnessed banks using utility shut-offs as an indirect tactic to illegally evict tenants, CJJC launched its first cross-bay campaign to bring together our membership in a united fight for tenants’ rights, and successfully pressured the SF City Attorney to extend a directive that prohibits PG&E and SFPUC from shutting off the utilities on tenants in foreclosed properties. This is an important step in ensuring that we keep the lights on for tenants, stop illegal evictions, and continue the fight for housing as a human right.

•    Foreclosures Make Us Sick! We published a report on the health effects of the housing crisis on East and West Oakland residents in collaboration with the Alameda County Public Health Department. The only one of its kind to document the public health impact of foreclosure, the report will be a key tool for sparking meaningful policy change. Download a copy of the report, “Rebuilding Neighborhoods, Restoring Health,” on our website at www.cjjc.org and check it out for yourself.

•    Voter Organizing for Radical Democracy! We completed an enormous six-week outreach drive to educate voters on the new Ranked Choice Voting procedure for local elections in Oakland, and to mobilize voter turnout for November 2nd, helping to pass statewide Proposition 25 along with Oakland Measures BB and V, while successfully defeating statewide Prop 23, SF Prop B, and SF Measure K.

•    Protect Tenants Rights Now! We’re doing all this while everyday making sure that hundreds of low-income folks are able to stay in their homes by providing free housing counseling services at our three Tenant Rights Clinics in East Oakland, West Oakland, and the Mission District of San Francisco.

In the coming year, Causa Justa :: Just Cause will be working hard to build the leadership of our members to take on the life-and-death struggles ahead. Your support will be critical to ensuring that we are able to keep fighting for and winning grassroots community justice.  As you well know, unity = power.

Donate today.

And thank you for your support!