Andrea Thomas understands the power of dollar.  She understood it when she came into Ottawa ACORN’s free tax prep site, hoping to save a couple bucks on the cost of her return and she understands what a couple extra dollars an hour would mean to low wage workers fighting for a municipal living wage policy.

That’s the kind of leader Andrea is.  A community leader from Ottawa’s Vanier neighbourhood who has been active in campaigns for fair housing and tenants rights, a living wage policy for Ottawa and taken part in countless community meetings.

As a mother of three, it hasn’t always been easy for Andrea to stay active in her local organization.  She says she’s driven by “knowing that through ACORN I can help my neighbours”, whether its working to get their landlord to do repairs or arranging transportation to City Hall for a meeting - and her neighbourhs know they can count on Andrea.  

When asked what she wanted Ottawa ACORN to work on in the last half of 2010, she replied “I hope that we win our living wage campaign, because its something working families desperately need”. Adding that “Ottawa need to understand that ACORN members are taking responsibility for our neighbourhoods, we know no one is going to fix that, we can only do that by organizing.”

Like so many ACORN members, Tom Page first got involved as a member when a community organizer knocked on the door of his apartment in the Vancouver suburb of New Westminster.  

The message of ACORN as an organization out there standing up for working families immediately resonated with Tom who has struggled for years living on BC’s Provincial Disability Program that has been frozen for years despite the skyrocketing cost of living. 

Tom came to his first ACORN meeting shortly afterwards in the Whaley Chapter where members talked and planned action around tenants issues and other community concerns.  Since those first encounters with an ACORN organizer Tom has become one of BC ACORN’s leading members and has worked on the campaigns for tenants’ rights, a national affordable housing strategy and fair remittance rates for working families.  “I enjoy working with active and positive people who are committed to improving our communities and our world.  Most of the challenges that face us would be overwhelming if we tried to engage them alone, but with teamwork we can make a difference” he said.

As an active leader in BC ACORN Tom is now taking leadership in starting to get a Living Wage Campaign up and running in New Westminster.  By working with allies, helping build support for the campaign, and meeting with elected officials Tom has become a model of leadership in his community.  Something he attributes to that first knock on his door from an ACORN organizer – signing up as a member “Then and there”.

Sheila Searles is a Leader from the South Ottawa ACORN. She's a woman who has always been an active in her community, having served on tenants associations and as the Shop Stewart for her union.

She first became ACORN member in early 2009 after attending her first local chapter meeting. Sheila first heard of ACORN when another member knocked on her door asking her to buy a raffle ticket to help support the leadership conference to Toronto last year.
 
Sheila has been an active and passionate activist in our housing campaigns since she joined and was part of the leadership team that negotiated major renovations from Ottawa Community Housing (OCH) in summer 2009.  Those negotiations lead to her building and the neighbouring building receiving much needed new investments including new carpets in the hallways, new paint in the hallways, new security camera, new lighting on the outside of her building, new alarm systems, and individual unit repairs. She continues to be a leader within her building and community and actively meets with OCH as a leader of ACORN to ensure repairs and issues are addressed.

Read more: Member Profile: Sheila Searles

Roy Anderson was a long time resident of Vanier who became involved with ACORN at the second meeting that was ever head after the founding of Ottawa ACORN.

Many members know Roy for his hard work on a number of campaigns, but most notably his leadership on the campaign to regulate payday lending.  After being taken advantage of an unscrupulous payday lender, Roy became a powerful advocate for reform of the industry.

He helped organize rallies, was a spokesperson to the press and worked to develop ACORN’s policies on the campaign.  During the midst of the campaign to see the province regulate payday lending Roy was fond of saying that “Before ACORN, no one was talking about payday lending. Now, we're winning change”.  

When Ottawa launched a tax site to help low income families with their income tax filling Roy was among the first to sign up to help.  He wanted the community to know that his organization wasn’t only out there opposing predatory financial practices; it was part of the solution.  With working families facing setback after setback because of the recession, Roy urged his neighbours to take advantage of the services, billing the tax site as a “mini-economic stimulus package for Vanier”.

On Oct. 22, 2009 Roy Anderson passed away.  He will be missed and remembered.