This publication, written for ACORN's 25th Anniversary in 1995, describes ACORN's philosophy and program. Although some of the information is dated and there have been many accomplishments since 1995, it is still an accurate description of the organization.

In 1995, ACORN celebrated 25 years of organizing. A milestone for any group, among low- and moderate-income community organizations a 25th anniversary is all too rare. Yet ACORN has not only survived but steadily grown from the small group of welfare mothers who began the organization in Little Rock back in 1970 to a membership of over 100,000 families in 30 cities today.

Its longevity, size and scope make ACORN unique but two other features truly distinguish it—an absolute commitment to organizing the poor and powerless plus a constant willingness and ability to break new ground.

From the beginning, when it brought together Black and white, welfare and working poor, ACORN defied expectations of what a community organization could be. It pioneered multi- racial and multi-issue organizing, led the way in electoral organizing, and branched into innovative housing development, community media and labor organizing.

No issue has been too large or small for ACORN. From the proverbial traffic light on the corner which often gives a neighborhood group its first taste of power to winning community reinvestment agreements from the nation’s largest banks, ACORN’s accomplishments have made a real difference in the lives of its members.

While some organizations have moved away from organizing low-income communities, ACORN has never wavered in its belief that without large scale organizations of poor people, progressive change is not possible in America.

Fundamental Principles

For 25 years, ACORN has steadfastly built a grassroots organization from the bottom up. The same principles that guided the first neighborhood groups in Arkansas still guide the organization today. ACORN members are active members who participate in local meetings and issue campaigns. They are not just contributors whose sole contact with the organization is to write a check. Neither are they counted as a member because their church or union affiliated. Each takes the initiative to join ACORN and plays an active role.

ACORN is committed to organizational democracy and grassroots leadership. Members, not staff, speak for and lead the organization. They elect leaders from within their communities to serve on city, state and national boards which set policy for the organization.

Finally, ACORN is committed to the principle of financial self-sufficiency. Members pay dues and organize a wide array of grassroots fundraising events which today account for 75 percent of the entire organization’s budget.

New Approaches

While the fundamentals remain the same, ACORN has developed new approaches in recent years that have made the organization both larger and stronger.

As always, "a lot of people are jumping on the bandwagon," according to ACORN's National Secretary Dorothy Amadi from Brooklyn, "because we’re addressing crucial issues that need to be addressed." New members are still recruited in the traditional way by organizers and members doorknocking in low- and moderate income neighborhoods and building neighborhood-based chapters. But large numbers of new people are coming to ACORN in other ways.

Many are drawn to the organization because of the services it provides, especially the loan counseling and home ownership programs that have evolved from ACORN campaigns on housing and community reinvestment. In some offices, citizenship classes and lead paint screening also bring people into contact with ACORN and more often than not, those who utilize the services join.

In New York, ACORN realized that the usual neighborhood-based model was not the best way to organize in Latino communities which shared common concerns but were geographically dispersed. Instead of doorknocking, members invited friends to their homes where an experienced ACORN leader led a discussion of the organization and asked people to join.

New York ACORN holds an average of 50 of these house meetings a month attended by 20 to 75 people each. As several thousand families in Brooklyn and Queens became active through the house meeting approach, ACORN organizers and leaders around the country adapted it to their own situations. Now it is part of a concerted effort to reach new members through an array of preexisting networks including extended families, ethnic clubs, workplace and church ties.

Strengthening Staff and Leadership

As the membership of ACORN grows more diverse, so has the staff, partly by necessity. As Dorothy says, "We needed Spanish speaking organizers." But a dramatic increase in the number of people of color on staff is part of a deliberate effort by ACORN to define new staff and leadership roles and provide more extensive training for both.

Over the past five years more than half of the new organizers hired by ACORN have come from within the membership or the constituency. People of color now comprise more than 65 percent of ACORN’s staff. Extensive training programs were put in place to give staff at all levels the skills they need.

At the same time, ACORN concentrated on developing new training programs for leaders. The week-long ACORN Leadership School, held every summer since 1983, now has three sessions a year, one in Spanish. It gives emerging leaders an intensive introduction to skills ranging from leading an action to understanding a budget. ACORN President Maude Hurd and former president Elena Hanggi run the sessions and are on the road conducting weekend leadership trainings throughout the year.

Since 1993, ACORN also has held an annual national Legislative and Political Conference. It brings 150 ACORN leaders to Washington, DC for five days of training focused on ACORN’s legislative and political priorities.

At the local level, ACORN is creating additional new vehicles for leadership development. These include issue committees such as New York’s ACORN Education Committee whose 50 members met weekly for over two years to become experts on school reform. In Chicago, ACORN leaders in the Englewood neighborhood are engaged in an in-depth study of the political economy of their community.

Of course, a lot of leadership training still happens "on the job." As Dorothy Amadi describes it, " ACORN has a clever way of saying we need somebody to do such and such a thing and Dorothy, I think you’d be good for that. Before you know it, you’re just doing it."

The transformation of people like Dorothy who had been "a follower all my life," to effective community leaders is the backbone of everything ACORN has accomplished.