John — domestic work is incredibly personal. Our members pour their heart and soul into the lives of the families they work with.

So one of the most heartbreaking things we deal with is our members finding out their employers have not been paying for work they’ve already done.

Oftentimes speaking out means they will be fired on the spot. Domestic workers aren't rich — often living from paycheck to paycheck — and having thousands of dollars stolen is extremely devastating.

That's where we come in: in New York City alone over $500,000 in stolen wages have been recovered for domestic workers.

It's just one of the crucial and life-changing frontline programs our organizing team runs. The work is 1-1, takes time to nurture, build trust and foster a relationship, and it's deeply personal — and grassroots financial support is critical to keep it up.

Can you make your most generous donation today to fuel our organizing work supporting domestic workers in every way we can?

If you have saved your payment information with FastAction, your contribution will go through immediately on clicking a link.

Most domestic workers don't even know their wages are being stolen. It’s the work of our organizing team — with calculators, notebooks and pens in hand — to recognize the ongoing legacy of slavery and connect the dots to see how that shows up in domestic work today and to offer our members present-day strategies to combat it.

The reactions are heartbreaking. Silence. Shock. Outbursts of tears. It's so hard to say to a worker who's given everything to care for a family for extremely low wages that they’ve had thousands and thousands stolen from them.

But that's the first step of our work to reach justice: we connect domestic workers with legal support, advocate for enforcement of labor violations, and change laws to end wage theft violations.

It's an emotional process. It’s so hard to separate the love for a family, for the kids you've been caring for, from the stolen wages, and our organizing team is there every step of the way.

This is what it looks like to be on the frontlines of deeply personal organizing, turning heartbreaking situations into justice. It’s not easy but it’s extremely important, and that’s why we’re asking:

Can you make your most generous donation today to fuel our work recovering stolen wages and doing whatever it takes to support low-paid domestic workers?

If you have saved your payment information with FastAction, your contribution will go through immediately on clicking a link.

Important as this is, recovering stolen wages is just one part of the work our chapters and affiliates do.

This year alone we’ve run vaccination clinics, been instrumental in passing a bill that includes domestic workers into the NY state and city human rights laws, pushing for a $41 million budget in D.C. for workers excluded from federal COVID relief, and creating an essential workers board in Houston. We have also provided support for many individual domestic workers dealing with sickness, housing and food insecurities, and challenges with school enrolment and virtual support for their children.

Now more than ever, we need to take care of one another and that’s what our work at NDWA is all about.

Thanks for all you do,

Allison Julien, We Dream in Black Organizing Director
National Domestic Workers Alliance