History of House Meetings

Strategy first used by the National Farm Workers Association, co-founded by César Chavez and Dolores Huerta.

United Farmworkers Website describes house meetings as “the basic organizational building block of the farmworker movement”.

Chavez and Huerta traveled around the central valleys of California, going from town to town to meet with farmworkers in their homes and learn about their struggles.

Fred Ross Sr. mentored them in the house meeting strategy.

“Sometimes 2 or 3 would come, sometimes none. Sometimes even the family that called the house meeting would not be there.”

Why House Meetings?

  • Perfect example of grassroots organizing

    • Collective intelligence to inform decision-making.

    • Bringing demans from the “roots” (people) to the “branches” (government).

  • Creating an inclusive, comfortable space

    • Not everyone feels safe enough to come to a government building to give their input on policy decisions.

    • Translation and childcare is usually not provided in places of governance.

    • House meetings provide a familiar setting, as well as personal connection, for participants to feel comfortable enough to share their ideas.

  • These are all crucial in achieving intelligence through diversity.

    What are other benefits of house meetings? Or any other ways to make them more inclusive?

Good Questions to Ask During House Meetings

  • Who has heard about the Green New Deal and/or the Red Deal?

  • How does everyone feel about these ideas (within the Green New Deal or Red Deal)?

  • Is there anything that has not been thought of already that should be included in developing our People’s Red Deal/Green New Deal for the Central Coast?

  • Can you think of other good questions for conversation startes on a Central Coast Green New Deal?

Roles in Organizing a House Meeting

  • Outreach

    • Reach out to a small group (5-10) of friends, family, and co-workers.

  • Facilitation

    • Choose an accessible date, time, and location with that small group.

    • Until COVID-19 is over, we should host online conversations using free tools like Google Hangouts, or Zoom

    • Share background info! Never assume that everyone automatically knows terms like “Green New Deal”

    • Listen and learn!

    • Take notes!

    • Conduct the post-house meeting survey

  • After you’ve hosted a house meeting, reach out to your friends, family, neighbors, and/or co-workers to see if they are interested in hosting one of their own. Alternatively, host another if there is unfinished conversation!

Take the next step.

First: Submit a form to host your own house meeting.

CCCJN will be in touch with you shortly to help support you and answer any questions you may have.