Jose Anaya, Cleveland, OH

Last month Jose Anaya, 19, was robbed only blocks from his home in Cleveland, Ohio. The criminals took his money and, he says, "a can of pop." 

Jose wasn't surprised when it happened, and he says, his heart didn't pump any faster at the time. But since then he's spent his nights inside his home like a man waiting out the storm. Unlike the weather, Jose thinks that his situation can change, and he can help change it. 

One of the ways he wants to change his life and his community is through voting, and electing leaders who will help rid his community of poverty and crime.

His family arrived in Cleveland back in 1998 from Rhode Island. The move was full of promise. But lately this promise has turned bitter. Seven houses in his neighborhood are vacant due to inability to make payments. Jose left school before graduating, he left his parents' house to help them make ends meet and he has to protect himself against going out at night because of "all the trouble it brings."

A couple of months ago Jose was walking down the street when someone on that street asked him if he had registered to vote. He turned to find a red-T-shirted ACORN canvasser with a clipboard, ready to help eligible Americans register. Jose said that he was not registered, and the ACORN worker quickly gave him a form a registration form and assisted Jose through the process. Jose filled out the form and joined the electorate. 

Jose went home and talked to his fiance Marisa and now she is registered too. Jose felt like he was a part of something when he filled out the form. 

"It feels good to do the right thing - to be part of something great, something national," he says.

Jose says he has already voted by mail in his precinct.

After getting himself registered, Jose decided to help others like himself register to vote, too. He responded to an ad for canvassers with ACORN to help members of his community register.

Jose now works with ACORN, helping people register to vote. He tells his friends about voting and encourages them to take voting seriously. Because he has become more interested in the electoral process, civic issues and his community, Jose is now working to change his own life. This work, he says, has been the branch Jose needed to pull himself up. He is now completing the GED requirements to get a high school diploma. 

Jose relishes meeting other people who feel the same way as he does, that democracy works best when every American participates and every voice is heard.

For more information on this story, please call (202)518-6186.