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Like it or not, Seattle is changing, and not necessarily
for the better.
A series of news articles over March confirm what
many of us already know. Our city has become more unaffordable
to nearly everyone. Rents are at their highest levels
proportional to incomes in 20 years. In-city home prices
have risen out of reach. Inequality is growing.
According to new census figures, incomes for the richest
tenth rose by 9 percent in 2005 while average incomes
for the bottom 90 percent fell. More and more of us
are feeling the economic vulnerability that increased
inequality creates.
| This year we
set a very big goal for our summer
fund drive: $140,000. This money
will strengthen our organizing resources, fund critical
infrastructure to create long-term stability, and
firm up our capacity to publish a quality weekly
paper with just 2.5 dedicated news staff. |
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The role of Real Change in our community —
as a bridge between the haves and the have nots, as
an independent media source that watchdogs the issues
you care about, as an organization that builds for power
and supports a broad progressive movement — is
more critical than ever.
This year we set a very big goal
for our summer fund drive: $140,000. This money will
strengthen our organizing resources, fund critical infrastructure
to create long-term stability, and firm up our capacity
to publish a quality weekly paper with just 2.5 dedicated
news staff.
We need to do this. And with your help, we will succeed.
In more than a dozen years of leading this newspaper,
I can’t remember a time when our work has been
either more exciting or necessary, or when our vendors
have been more engaged and proud to sell Real Change.
• Circulation and vendors served is at an all-time
high, with the number of papers sold this year up 17
percent over that of last year.
• There is considerable momentum locally toward
the goal of ending homelessness by 2015, and Real
Change has a clear role to play in building and
sustaining the political will to make that possible.
• We have redesigned the paper to attract new
readers with our award-winning content. This will create
new levels of success for our vendors and enhance our
capacity to mobilize for social change.
• Recent advocacy successes have helped us understand
that our vendors are often our most effective messengers.
As an organization we are focused on building vendor
leadership to move an anti-poverty advocacy agenda.
• Beginning this year, Real Change
will regionalize our readership and advocacy by building
a network of satellite distribution locations.
Our broad base of community support
makes all of this work possible. Last year, reader donations
from more than 1,000 contributors made up 45 percent
of our funding.
While 2007 offers many exciting opportunities for
our work, there are challenges as well. We remain a
relatively small organization that struggles to push
forward a very big agenda on limited resources.
I want to hear from you. If you have any questions
or concerns about Real Change, or would just
like to connect, call me at 441-3247, ext. 202.
Finally, as a part of our organization, we think you
should have the opportunity to have the same information
we do. Toward that end, we invite you to go behind the
scenes at Real Change at realchange.wikispaces.com
There, you’ll find our strategic plan, a detailed
history, and deep information about our important work.
You can donate using our simple and secure on-line
service located at www.realchangenews.org,
or make a check out to Real Change and mail
it to 2129 Second Ave., Seattle, WA 98121. Thank you
for your support.
This summer, we invite you to help support our work
by telling 20 of your friends why you support our work,
and asking them to make a $20 donation to Real Change.
By helping to spread the word and broaden our base of
community support, you help to ensure that Real
Change will continue to support opportunity for
the very poor, publish quality progressive journalism
each week on the issues you care about, and build for
power through effective organizing and advocacy.
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