Pierce County GrassRoots Organizing

PCGRO Stories – Jessica

If you have been following us for a while, you may recognize Jessica Rein. A lively mother of four, Jessica most recently started working with the PCGRO team as a Field Organizer. Although, her involvement with the organization goes further back.

Back in 2019, she was busy organizing a local chapter of “Moms Demand Action“. The organization describes itself as, “a movement of Americans fighting for public safety measures that can protect people from gun violence.” When Jessica wanted to get involved with the movement, she found that there were no local chapters to join, so she took matters into her own hands. “After the Parkland shooting, that was kind of the last straw for me” she says. “And I had to do something. Doing something, no matter how small, was more than doing nothing.” So Jessica and a friend created the local chapter of Moms Demand Action to create change in their community.

Pierce County GrassRoots Organizing (PCGRO) was just an idea at that time, and Jessica’s passion was inspiring. Two founding members of PCGRO reached out to her to see what this new local chapter was all about. “They were very interested in and wondered how we could support each other in our endeavors and just to make that community stronger.” This conversation connected her with what would eventually become PCGRO.

A year later, Jessica joined her first project with PCGRO. This project, known as the Voter Empowerment Project, looked to empower voters through accessible resources and election news. Two years later, she joined the PCGRO staff.

Jessica attributes her motivation to get involved locally to her children. “I just kind of see [getting involved] as an extension of motherhood,” she says. “I think a big part of motherhood is not just raising them in the house and making sure they eat healthy food and do their school work…now I see it as a much broader endeavor, making sure that the world that they’re going into is safe and the environment is healthy.”

As a Field Organizer, Jessica will spend the summer Deep Canvassing. Regular old canvassing is about knocking on doors and advocating for a candidate or issue. Deep Canvassing is about asking questions. Jessica says that volunteers are, “just knocking on doors and saying, hey, how is your life? Tell us about yourself. Tell us your story.” The goal is to have Conversations that Connect with people and to understand the shared issues the community faces.

Listen to Jessica tell her story here.

If you would like to learn more or get involved with PCGRO, contact us here.