Dorothy Boyd

When Dorothy Boyd started out this election year, she had no idea what an active role she would play in making change. A dietary aide at Baltimore’s

Ravenwood Nursing Home, she quickly became an 1199 Delegates as she had been previously at another institution.

In May the Union initiated the Heal Maryland campaign and Dorothy became a Member Political Organizer. “I went through the interview process and was selected to be a part of the Heal MD team,” she says. “I felt great that I was selected because I had minimum experience with canvassing and this would be an opportunity for me to learn more about the election process as well as reach out to my fellow Union members and the community.   This was the first time for such a program in Maryland and I believed it was something we needed for our state. 

“Our first assignment was going door to door to ask people to sign a Heal MD card in order to target healthcare voters. We were able to reach out to over 30,000 people and collected 10,000 cards.”

During the primary elections, the Union’s MPOs started their Healthy Maryland campaign, visiting on behalf of healthcare candidates. This created a voters base, and a body of experience for Dorothy and her fellow MPOs.

In the general election,” she says, “we continued to support candidates like Peter Franchot for Comptroller, Mayor Martin O’Malley for Governor, Ben Cardin for U.S. Senate and Doug Gansler for Attorney General.   Our hard work and dedication to the campaign paid off with us knocking over 90,000 doors, talked to over 33,000 contacts and dropped over 100,000 pieces of literature for our candidates.  I spoke to many members about the election and how important it was that we all get out and vote. 

“I am proud that Maryland played a part in the change for a democratic leadership. I have faith that things will change; we will have better healthcare and hopefully more jobs for everyone and to think I was a part of this as an 1199SEIU member political organizer.   I will return to my shop as a delegate with more experience in the political politics and be able to share with my members why we need to continue to fight for quality healthcare for all and to talk to non-members on about joining our Union 1199. Why? Because we get results! “