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Families United for Racial and Economic Equality (FUREE)

Building power, developing leaders, and winning changes to end poverty, racism, and sexism.

Attendees at The Power of Global Networks, Women's Funding Network's 2011 annual conference, had the opportunity to participate in local-to-global exchanges with organizations throughout New York City working to improve the lives of women and girls globally. Families United for Racial and Economic Equality (FUREE) -- a grantee partner of The Eileen Fisher Fund, The New York Women’s Foundation and the Ms. Foundation for Women -- was one of the organizations we partnered with during the conference.

Families United for Racial and Economic Equality (FUREE) is a Brooklyn-based multi-racial organization that organizes low-income and working families to promote equality, improve economic conditions, and build collective power to win systemic changes at the local, state and national level. Primarily led by women of color with an emphasis on community and family, FUREE uses direct action, leadership development, community organizing, civic engagement and political education to achieve our vision and goals.

While founded in 2001 as a welfare rights organization by 15 women living on public assistance, in the past few years we have connected welfare rights to a broader struggle to create economic opportunity and eliminate poverty. Our member-led and member-developed organizing campaigns focus on problems with the goal of winning incremental changes towards racial, gender and economic justice locally and nationally so that all people have the wages and supports necessary to exit and remain out of poverty. Our current campaigns work to build the power of low-income and working class women, youth and families of color to:

  1. Increase the participation of low-income and working class voters by connecting civic engagement to organizing goals and holding elected officials accountable to the needs of low-income and working class residents of Brooklyn;

    2.  
  2. Win community led fair and accountable economic development to diminish economic segregation, and prevent displacement in Fort Greene and Downtown Brooklyn. This includes organizing to increase low-income and affordable housing, employment with living wages, and access to support services for low-income and working class families;

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  3. Ensure transparency in decision making around housing conditions, including hiring public housing residents in renovation projects, and preventing the privatization of public housing developments in Fort Greene and Downtown Brooklyn, and;

    4.  
  4. Build the power of Black and Latino youth to break the cycle of poverty and directly address barriers to sustainable employment for youth of color, so that youth are valued and earn living wages.

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Watch a Video of FUREE's Tour of Brooklyn During
Women's Funding Network's 2011 Conference

 

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