True North Organizing Network assists local immigrants

Up in the redwoods, True North, an  organizing network, works to advocate  for social justice, environmentalism and  social and economic equity for the many  underserved communities in Northern  California.  

Named after the region of  Humboldt County, Del Norte and  neighboring tribal lands — True  North started as a community driven  social justice organization aimed at  bettering education, environment and  relationships with local Indigenous tribes.  In 2009, the California Endowment  identified Del Norte County as a  Building Healthy Communities (BHC)  initiatives site, prompting community  organizing.  

“There was a desire to start something  different, start an organizing movement  more responsive to what community  members were really experiencing on  the ground,” True North leader Carmen  Elena L’Annunziata Monge said. 

In 2013, True North formed as  a Pacific Institute for Community  Organizations (PICO) affiliate. They  modeled their approach to organizing  after PICO to support ongoing, long term work and promote sustainability.  The following year, they set out  to understand what marginalized  communities in Humboldt, Del Norte  and tribal lands needed, through a series  of listening sessions. True North leaders  held over a thousand conversations with  the community, asking the questions:  Where is the pain in your community?,  What keeps you awake at night? and What is your vision for the future of our  region? 

After these listening sessions, True  North dedicated their efforts to water and  environment, homelessness and housing,  public education, immigrant rights and  police accountability. Since then, True  North has worked on a handful of  projects such as calling for local parks to  be referred to as their Indigenous name,  holding forums on immigrant issues and  fighting for increased funding to rural  school facilities.  

Recently, True North has allocated  a lot of their resources to organizing  with local immigrant communities and  supporting undocumented community  members amid an increase in ICE  presence throughout the country.  

While there are no confirmed ICE  sightings in Humboldt County, True  North is actively working to protect  immigrant communities by hosting  family preparedness workshops, civil  disobedience training and accompanying  community members to immigration hearings. 

Benjamin Shaeffer, assistant professor  in the philosophy department at Cal  Poly Humboldt, has been a volunteer  with True North since 2018. Shaeffer  focuses on the immigrant community  in anticipation of ICE raids and finding  ways to protect families. 

“The thing about True North is that  we’re social organizers, so basically  our work is to help people themselves  organize,” Shaeffer said. “True North is  really about empowering the community itself. We try not to forget that it’s not  about us stepping in and doing things for  people.” 

Ellie E. first heard about True North  through a friend six years ago. Over  the years, True North has become a  great resource for her, functioning as a  form of therapy, accompanying her to  immigration hearings and allowing her  to become a leader in her community.  E. recently hosted a house meeting  where over 20 people were present. She  described the feeling of seeing allies show  up for the local immigrant community as  powerful.  

While True North focuses largely on  offering direct help to immigrants, they  also offer resources for allies in the area.  They are in the process of planning a  civil disobedience workshop for allies,  emphasizing knowing your rights as a  legal observer. They’re also hosting a  know your rights workshop on Feb. 6 at 6  p.m. where participants will learn how to  create a family preparedness plan. This  workshop will be located at 4700 Valley  East on the corner of Valley East and  Howland Drive.  

“Allyship could turn into this thing  where you’re telling other people what  they need and what they should be  doing and I wanted to be in a situation  where I’m not doing that and that’s what  I really appreciate about True North,”  Shaeffer said. 

Shaeffer reflected on what the  organization has meant to him and how  their true goal is not speaking for our  local community but rather amplifying what they have to say.  

“I think it’s important that we  are really interested in empowering  communities and I’ve always found  that to be the thing that’s attracted me  to True North — that we really take the  idea of social organizing seriously and  by empowering other people,” Shaeffer  said.  

Those interested in becoming a leader  at True North can sign up on the website at  truenorthorganizing.org. True North also  has volunteer positions open at all times.