For the Long Haul: Down Home secures a movement center to help anchor our work
When Down Home was founded in 2017, we started at square one. In those days, we had no base, no staff, no resources, and no offices…but we did have a vision. Down Home set out to build the power of the multiracial working class in small town and rural North Carolina, not just today but for generations to come.
This year, Down Home is taking an exciting step in the pursuit of that vision. Walking the path of our dream, we have secured Double Oaks Bed & Breakfast as a property in Greensboro, which will serve as an anchor for our work across North Carolina and a center for movement strategy, training, and the development of future organizers for decades to come.
This is a bold new step for Down Home, and we know that among our community, there is a mix of excitement and curiosity about this development. Below, we’ll engage with some of those questions and share more about our vision for the property. Above all else, we want our community to understand that this center represents a fierce commitment to the long-haul vision for Down Home’s work, which has always been about more than winning a single campaign or a single election. In founding the Reclaim Carolina Center, Down Home North Carolina is committing to the work of fighting for and investing in the future of our communities without an expiration or end-date.
We are excited to share more with you about the Reclaim Carolina Center in the coming months and years, and we are so grateful for our supporters, members, and staff who are transforming North Carolina today, tomorrow, and beyond.
Where did this idea come from?
Down Home has been inspired by the example of our allies and partners who have launched movement centers, both in North Carolina and beyond. In Greensboro, we are so grateful for the example of the Beloved Community Center, whose space has nurtured generations of Black movement leaders, including many of our staff and allies. Other NC partners who have taken this step include the Southern Vision Alliance, which maintains movement spaces in Durham, and the NC Justice Center in Raleigh.
Across the country, many base-building organizations have launched their own centers, including the Southwest Organizing Project (SWOP) in New Mexico, our allies at PUSH Buffalo in New York, and Hoosier Action, who organize in small-town Indiana. There are so many beautiful examples of how movement spaces can contribute to the culture and longevity of base-building organizations, and our team spent time discussing and visiting some of these allied centers as we explored opening the Reclaim Carolina Center.
We have also been listening to the wisdom of movement elders, many of whom have shared their belief that the legacy of organizing over the previous generation would have been better secured if more effort had gone into the development of movement centers. As we prepare for the possibility of far-right rule, we thought deeply about the ways in which a movement hub can help to protect and extend the longevity of our organizing cultures and structures.
How will the Reclaim Carolina Center serve our movement?
Down Home is committed to organizing ALL of North Carolina’s rural places, and our state is really big! No matter what year it is, or what the issues of the day are, we know that it will be necessary for Carolinians to come together from across our state to strategize, plan, train, and build relationships. We envision the Reclaim Carolina Center as a meeting place for those transformational gatherings for decades to come.
In addition, the Center will be a daily workplace for nonprofit staff, from both Down Home and our allies. Over time, we envision developing the Center as a training center and movement library, a community resource center for art and movement history, and a source of revenue for our organization. This property will be a gift to our movements, and part of a statewide network of movement centers affiliated with the collective NC infrastructure.
What does this mean for the 2024 election and Down Home’s ongoing work in rural places?
Don’t worry y’all, we aren’t taking our eye off the ball, and neither should you. We know we are in the fight of our lives, and Down Home’s staff and members are laser focused on beating back the threats posed to our communities by radical far-right extremists. This week, we will reach the milestone of 100,000 rural door knocks, on our way to knock more than 500,000 doors across more than 25 counties.
We won’t be opening the Reclaim Carolina Center until after the election, likely in early 2025. In the meantime, we will be using the grounds of the property to stage door canvasses as part of our ongoing organizing efforts in the region.
Opening the Reclaim Carolina Center won’t change the ongoing scale and depth of our local organizing work in rural places. Down Home will continue to maintain local organizing hubs in our field offices across North Carolina, which can be found in Alamance, Ashe, Cabarrus, Franklin, Granville, Johnston, and Watauga counties.
Why Greensboro?
We understand that folks may be surprised that an organization focused on rural organizing work would choose Greensboro as home for our movement hub. In our search for properties, we cast a wide net, and looked at possibilities across North Carolina, both rural and urban.
Ultimately, we landed on Greensboro due to its central location, both for North Carolina broadly and for our staff. We already convene training bootcamps for our statewide membership on a regular basis, and Greensboro is an ideal central location that is maximally convenient for our members from both western NC and the coastal plain. More than half of our organizing staff live within an hour’s drive of Greensboro, and we have many active county-based organizing projects in the “neighborhood” (Rockingham, Alamance, Chatham, Person, and Iredell, among others).
We also feel a deep alignment with the incredible movement and organizing history of Greensboro, the birthplace of the sit-in movement for civil rights and home to decades of powerful organizing work since that time. We are excited to build urban-rural alliances as we join the Greensboro community through the Reclaim Carolina Center.
Why this property?
The Reclaim Carolina Center offers some really unique features we didn’t see anywhere else. The property features a backyard stage and event venue, tons of space for gatherings and meetings, and opportunities to develop community offerings like a movement library, lectures, and art exhibits. Over time, we are interested in exploring ways to generate some revenue from these activities to help support Down Home’s rural organizing mission.
How did Down Home raise the resources for this purchase?
Down Home is funded entirely through individual donations, member dues, and grants. Over several years, we have been able to set aside funds for the eventual purchase of a movement space. This year, thanks to the generosity of our supporters and grant partners, we were able to reach our goal of securing a movement center.
Already this year, Down Home has hosted a number of training bootcamps and strategy sessions for our members and partners in Greensboro. Until now, the expenses associated with space and office rentals have left our organization in the form of rent. With the Reclaim Carolina Center, we won’t continue to spend our resources on rent, and can direct those funds toward organizing. While paying rent means losing funds, purchasing a building creates a permanent store of value for our organization in the Reclaim Carolina Center, which will help secure the future stability and survival of Down Home.
When can I visit the Reclaim Carolina Center?
If you’re local to Greensboro, or passing through, the property is open to the public during the Double Oaks Bed & Breakfast’s regular hours at 204 North Mendenhall Street. Be sure to grab a drink from our friends at Borough Coffee while you’re there!
We will be sure to announce an opening celebration for the Reclaim Carolina Center, likely in late 2024 or early 2025…but the best experience will always be to join us for an organizing bootcamp as we continue to fight for the communities and people we love. We can’t wait to dream and build with you, so don’t be a stranger.
