Grantee Spotlight: Down Home North Carolina

Supporting Local Power: Down Home North Carolina Leads the Way

We are proud to partner with organizations whose work is rooted in community wisdom and that builds power where it’s needed most. Down Home North Carolina is one of those essential movement builders.

Their work begins in the places where national narratives often fall short — rural towns across the state where poor and working-class people carry the weight of economic change without the political influence to shape it. Down Home NC was founded to change that dynamic by ensuring rural residents lead the decisions that shape their lives and communities.

Their approach is straightforward and grounded in the belief that those closest to the challenges are also closest to the solutions. They build local chapters, develop local leaders, and knock on doors year-round to understand what working-class communities care about most. That listening work shapes everything that follows.

Across their chapters, neighbors organize to address issues they identify as urgent: expanding Medicaid, protecting public schools, strengthening wages and workers’ rights, securing housing and eviction protections, and advancing policies that give families a fair chance. They run deep canvassing programs, engage in multiracial base-building, and support members as they take on leadership roles, from school boards to county commissions, so decisions reflect the priorities of the people who live in these communities.

Their vision reaches beyond any single issue. Down Home NC is building a long-term, multiracial movement of rural residents who can counter division with shared purpose and collective power. They achieve this through sustained organizing, local campaigns, membership development, and 501 (c) (4) advocacy, which strengthens rural democracy and ensures that poor and working-class people have a real voice in shaping their future.

This is what it looks like when long-term power grows from the ground up. We believe their work is charting a path toward a more equitable future shaped by the people who live it every day.

Learn more about their impact: downhomenc.org