Over the past year, CPD, working closely with our partner organization Make the Road New York, has supported the launch of new sister organizations: Make the Road Connecticut (MRCT), Make the Road New Jersey (MRNJ) and Make the Road Pennsylvania (MRPA).  The organizations are based in Bridgeport, CT; Elizabeth, NJ; and Reading, PA, respectively.

In this short time, these new organizations have made tremendous headway, bringing low-income and working class Latino residents of their respective cities together to support or launch campaigns to secure progressive policy change on immigrant rights and worker justice. 

In Connecticut, MRCT has anchored state efforts to secure fair scheduling protections for CT workers, and members of the organization recently hosted a highly successful BBQ, which drew over 80 community residents, and a visit from U.S. Senator Richard Blumenthal, who pledged to work with the organization to make the changes our communities need to see. MRCT has also been working with CT Working Families to maintain the momentum on the women’s economic agenda in CT. They organized a community delegation in support of a Make the Road member, Dina Laura, who was terminated from her job because of her leadership to advance the movement for working families.

In New Jersey, members and staff have been knocking on neighbors' doors to secure support for a statewide earned sick days ballot initiative, and have secured a vote from their county-elected body in support of drivers’ licenses for immigrants in New Jersey, making them the first county in New Jersey to do so.

Finally, in Pennsylvania, members have mobilized to support statewide budget fights and a campaign to raise the state minimum wage to $10.10 an hour, and have provided leadership to a local fight to secure municipal IDs for residents of Reading, PA. 

CPD is proud to support these local leaders and our powerful partner organization Make the Road New York, as they forge powerful new capacity in places where it is sorely needed.  Si se puede!