OOC
As part of our growing statewide work, NOAH conducts weeklong trainings in conjunction with its other affiliates in the state in Cincinnati and Youngstown/Warren. Our statewide 501c3 is the Ohio Organizing Collaborative, the OOC, and includes Unions, faith networks like the Ohio Baptist State Convention, community organizations, the Center for Community Change, and the Kirwan Institute on Race and Ethnicity at Ohio State. This unique collaboration brings together key power players throughout the state to begin advocating on a statewide level.
Our first statewide action took place in September of 2008. The OOC held a day of action where over 250 leaders from across the state held a protest at the largest healthcare insurer’s office in the state, Anthem Blue Cross/Blue Shield, to protest the profit being made from denying claims. Leaders then visited Cincinnati Processing, the owner of a local slaughter house that was abusing workers and taking advantage of undocumented workers shutting their office down and delivering over 5000 support letters in solidarity with the United Food and Commercial Workers. The final action was on the University of Cincinnati which was in a labor dispute over healthcare and wages with the Service Employee International Union that represents janitors at the school. Our statewide work continues to grow as leaders from different progressive organizations from across the state continue to build relationships and work collectively. In the 2008 election our three affiliated groups contacted over 56,000 registered voters in the last three days leading up to the election in addition to previous voter contacts. Overall, our work continues to grow and shows a level of sophistication that not just in Ohio, but across the country.