‘A vote is an act of hope’: Philly nonprofit connects with voters using unique approach

Adam Barbanel-Fried believes in the power of personal connections As director of the nonprofit Changing the Conversation Together for Progress he focuses on training deep canvassers We really try to connect with voters openly nonjudgmentally and by the telling and eliciting of personal stories he announced We re connecting emotionally in this very open space and we are then able to have a much more impactful conversation And it s been shown in randomized control trials to be the the bulk effective form of voter persuasion that s ever been measured Barbanel-Fried s supporters take a unique approach While traditional canvassers often reach out during the last scant weeks of a political campaign for quick transactional conversations he noted CTC s helpers focus on year-round vulnerable and open conversations Deep canvassing is a very different approach he mentioned It s face to face It is a form of voter engagement where we try to connect with folks authentically and vulnerably and as opposed to trying to approach people who may not see the value of voting or engaging in politics or your perspective We really don t try to approach them with a goal of trying to reason or rationalize or argue or go through issue talking points The strategy CTC launched in to connect with swing voters in Staten Island N Y The group of canvassers focused its efforts on Max Rose a Democrat running for a seat in the U S House of Representatives Barbanel-Fried reported the goal at the time was to have nonjudgmental dialogue around contentious topics Rose won a district that had voted for President Trump in It was the first time Staten Island had flipped in a midterm for multiple years and that story went viral and we were invited into Pennsylvania he announced We were happy to be invited in because we knew we yearned to use CTC s efforts in an crucial part of the country There are several key areas in the country that are continuously seeing these very close elections The group started deep canvassing in Pennsylvania ahead of the electoral process They continued to canvas in Philadelphia ahead of the and elections focusing on areas like West Philly where Barbanel-Fried stated the impacts of framework decisions are often felt After this past ballot this current year we really started talking to folks about the cuts to Medicaid and other social services he revealed We were canvassing in West Philly for the last series of years and the impact that is going to be felt by people in neighborhoods like West Philadelphia or Philadelphia or all the lower-income neighborhood communities around the country is huge and yet there s this huge universe of people who either they don t know or if they know they don t know how serious it is In the voting the group canvassed for voters to encouragement presidential candidate Kamala Harris The group s focus wasn t to change people s minds if they were set on their vote Barbanel-Fried mentioned but to help educate residents about politics and to help encourage nonvoters to register to vote A canvasser knocks on doors in West Philly ahead of the presidential electoral process Photo courtesy of Changing the Conversation Together Barbanel-Fried recalled an example of the group s efforts in a conversation with a woman named Faith sitting on her porch with her partner in West Philadelphia The conversation often starts by testing the resident s willingness to vote I stated to her How likely are you to vote on a scale of zero out of he explained And she commented Presumably a four So four obviously that s a very low chance I questioned Why is that the right number for you Faith And Faith says Well I don t really get involved in politics very much That is when I as any of our canvassers would start telling a personal story The group is trained to avoid lectures or lists of facts at that moment he noted because this isn t very effective One option is I could just jump into a lecture and say This is why you need to vote he revealed But we believe that that doesn t work No one likes to be lectured The reason people do or don t do things it s not necessarily a rational thing The stories are often unconventional Barbanel-Fried mentioned but have one theme in common love In this situation he chose a story about a heartwarming present he received from his wife I came home one summer and it was my birthday and there was no one around he revealed She had sent me this wonderful gift that was handmade The packaging itself was so elaborate with streamers and drawings and poetry and songs and just very celebratory things And I was so surprised It meant a lot to me The point he revealed is that sharing this kind of personal story and showing vulnerability can help others feel more connected to you This is sort of a universally relatable story and Faith revealed That s really sweet he noted And I inquired her Well what about you Who are several of the people who you love And she advised me about her sister and she started opening up with a story about her sister who really manifested up for her right after her mother died Barbanel-Fried shared that he could see that Faith valued caring for others during tough times That s when he shifted the conversation back to politics I disclosed to her And that s what I think politics is basically about There s a world of people who are advocating that We don t take care of the most of of the least fortunate but I think that people like you and me and the greater part people in the world we care about each other He stated the exchange ended with Faith saying she was now a when it came to likelihood of voting The conversations that canvassers have tend to invite authenticity rather than a set script explained Elizabeth Eagles a volunteer with CTC In the types of conversations that we have deep canvassing is leading with your humanity rather than a specific agenda in a way that really invites an authentic conversation with someone she explained Eagles came to CTC with more traditional canvassing experience She revealed the flexible nature of the organization s approach also makes it stand out from other canvassing methods Unlike majority of of the canvassing I ve done in the past where you were really wedded to your knock list like you sought to talk to the precise individual who was on your list CTC really encourages you to strike up a conversation if you encounter somebody on the street so that is a sort of more organic approach she declared A CTC canvasser stands with a member of the district who has decided they are now a on a scale of - in likelihood to vote Photo courtesy of Changing the Conversation Together Impact The organization has also measured the impact of its canvassing efforts In and the voters that CTC spoke with voted at rates - higher than their neighbors In the voting rates of those who were deep-canvassed by CTC were higher than the voting rates of their comparable neighbors Barbanel-Fried mentioned the group s goal is not to change voters minds If a voter is already set on their vote or is unwilling to engage canvassers are taught to move on There are various people who ve been pretty burnt in life or have really become very cynical about the world he declared And who am I to judge that there s a world of people who don t see it the way that we do and my goal is not to persuade someone who I can t persuade But there s a world of people out there And I would say those who are hateful or hostile are not the majority I would say they are a slim minority of the people we encounter Deep canvassers are taught to roleplay and figure out solutions in real time he announced CTC members meet to train and roleplay situations before going out to canvass Photo courtesy of Changing the Conversation Together The group presently does monthly canvassing sessions in West Philly Eagles shared Groups of five or six canvassers will go out in pairs to knock on doors and talk to individuals on the street in various neighborhoods The work has benefits for the canvassers as well It doesn t totally feel natural for me as an introvert to knock on someone s door or stop someone on the street but I think it s essential to overcome my discomfort and just press on because there is really this kind of magic that can happen because you re engaging in this kind of radical act of vulnerability opening up to a stranger and then holding space for them to choose to share about who and what is central to them and their lives she reported Eagles declared she is often surprised by how welcoming strangers can be recalling a heartwarming conversation she had while canvassing in recent months I saw a young woman walking on the street and I started walking next to her she disclosed Her body language was pretty closed off and she was not really giving me an in But I ended up talking about my daughters who are and and how I really feel a responsibility for the kind of world that they are growing up in And I could feel her body language soften towards me and she reported I have a daughter too And then she really listened and she narrated me about her daughter as we walked And at the end of the conversation she stopped and looked me in the eye and she stated Thank you for being out here and doing this The group will continue with monthly canvassing even outside of voting process season Eagles reported As polling season nears there will be increased canvassing efforts Eagles is a believer in the approach and felt it was a positive force in the vote So in talking about love and sharing stories about people we care about and sort of distinguishing the choices we had in that presidential poll I think it helped people recognize and say I am going to vote she commented Like it s an act of hope It s an act of resistance The post A vote is an act of hope Philly nonprofit connects with voters using unique approach appeared first on Billy Penn at WHYY