Last month, 80 tenants packed the YMCA on Neptune Street in Lynn to learn more about the housing crisis in the city, meet neighbors struggling with high rents and bad conditions, and vision a way forward.

Winning campaigns means putting democracy into practice along the way – and the Lynn Tenant Forum is a shining example of what that looks like.

Early this spring, members of the Lynn chapter’s housing committee had an idea to bring renters in the city together to learn about our shared housing struggle. We know that we need to build a bigger base of people to win the kind of change we need.

Members set a date for an event that would become the Lynn Tenant Forum. Then they made a plan to get people there, especially people they’d not yet met.

We knocked doors – more than 10 doorknocking shifts in just six weeks. We tabled at food pantries. We held phone banking shifts, sent hundreds of emails and thousands of texts.

At every door, people told us stories about homes with rats and mold. Rent hikes that force families to move – and how hard it is to find a place you can afford. People waiting on lists for affordable housing for years – even decades.

We met more than 200 people who want to be part of ending the housing crisis in Lynn and beyond.

At every door, we invited people to come to the forum. We followed up. We offered rides to the forum, got childcare on-site, and secured interpretation into Spanish, Russian and Arabic.

On the day of the Lynn Tenant Forum, members were the ones in the front of the room talking about the housing crisis, sharing their stories, and speaking powerfully about what we can win through organizing.

Members and organizers traveled from Holyoke and Springfield chapters to run the sign-in table, help facilitate small groups, and share stories from their own work.

And now, weeks after the forum, members are the ones following up with everyone who was there to invite them to be a part of Neighbor to Neighbor.

This is democracy in practice, members making decisions together and rolling out a plan to get us there. Bringing in people will be part of the next decisions as our base gets bigger and bigger.

We’re building something bigger than ourselves. Thank you for being part of it.