Building stronger communities, one helping hand at a time
About us
No matter our zip code or background, most Americans value our freedom to access quality healthcare, safe housing, good jobs, and other basics we consider essential for a good life. At times, some of us may have difficulty accessing these basics and could use help in getting back on track. The Democratic Help Hub is a new effort to offer that help to people in Durham.
The Democratic Party has traditionally valued empowering people to improve their lives. Democrats have created institutions and agencies that give people the crucial assistance they need to be healthy, safe, and to get ahead. Durham has many of these empowering resources, both public and private.
The volunteers of the Democratic Help Hub will work to connect neighbors with the resources they need. As we enter uncertain times this meaningful interaction will build trust and strengthen the community. Democrats intend to be there for our Durham neighbors and together we will meet the challenge of today for a stronger Durham tomorrow.
Our Mission
We are Democrats in Durham who have started a precinct-level mutual aid initiative called Democratic Help Hub. Our immediate aim is to build a network of volunteers that connect neighbors in need with existing community resources. Our long term goal is, through this work, to return to our roots when the Democratic Party was a welcome and trusted community presence.
Our Audience
We are looking for both our neighbors in need and our neighbors who want to help. The Democratic Help Hub was created to connect these two groups so they can work together in navigating the system. A neighbor in need could be any one of us. A neighbor who wants to help can be a community member with good listening skills and some time on their schedule to respond to help requests.
'The system' is the existing agencies and organizations that are available to us but that can be hard to find, seem intimidating, or just confusing. When we face a daunting problem, we can be overwhelmed and wonder, “where do I even start?”. Who better to be able to reach out to for help than a trusted neighbor with a network of experts to tap into for help navigating the system?
Our Process
A small team of Help Captains will take help requests from neighbors who live in their precinct. They will use an already existing virtual resource library to find solutions. For requests that cannot be resolved via the resource library, Help Captains will hand off to a Volunteer Navigator with expertise in that area of assistance. Democratic volunteers in Durham have careers or lived experience in areas of need such as healthcare, housing, food security, child care, jobs, and more. We are harnessing that experience and building a roster of multiple Volunteer Navigators for each area of need.
Our Motivation
Democrats worked very hard during the 2024 “Get Out the Vote” campaign and the result in Durham was 1129 more voters than in 2020 but a lower percentage voter turnout. We heard from some folks at their doorsteps that the only time they saw us was when we were asking for votes. That was both difficult to hear and difficult to argue with. We want to get back to doing more than asking for votes every four years.
