Member leads campaign to help thousands avoid foreclosure
9:31 AM - April 5, 2010
Workshops help furloughed state employees keep homes
PROFILE: Claudia Gambaro
Claudia Gambaro often looks for ways to help fellowstate workers
but she never predicted she would become Local 1000’s expert in
helping them avoid foreclosure.
But when the housing crisis hit Gambaro and tens of thousands of
state employees, she wanted to help herself and others keep their
homes.
Gambaro, an activist since junior high, realized that the
information she received that helped her hang onto her house
could help people suffering the same predicament because of
furloughs.
Local 1000 sponsors counseling
Gambaro was able to pair Local 1000 with Hope Against Hope, a
Sacramento non-profit that helps financially challenged home
owners, including those
who owe more than their houses are worth. Since last fall Local
1000 helped Gambaro organize more than a dozen homeowner
counseling workshops reaching more than 1,000 state workers all
over California.
“Once I had the information to help myself, I thought ‘I know at
least 95,000 other people who need this too’ so we started the
workshops,” said Gambaro, biologist at the California Military
Department. “Because of furloughs there are thousands of us at
risk of losing our homes. We are all in this together.”
Her leadership on homeowner issues is a natural outgrowth of
lifelong activism that began when she in junior high school,
continued through college life at Chico State University,
nonprofits such as the Make A Wish Foundation and on to Local
1000 as a steward, Classification Bargaining Unit Representative
(CBUR) and bargaining team member for Unit 1.
Knowledge is power
Gambaro, who was hired in 2001, became a steward in 2003. She
sees the union as a place to channel her desire to be active and
make a difference. She also came to see that our contract was a
powerful tool to help fellow workers.
“Knowledge is power – I believe that with my whole heart,” she
said. “And, you also must be your own best advocate; while you
are advocating for yourself you may as well do so for
others.”
Foreclosures hit home
Gambaro isn’t just an advocate for those trying to avoid
foreclosure–she herself was financially challenged by the
furloughs.
But she refused to sit back. Instead, she chose to be a leader in
helping others.
“These sorts of challenges seem to find me,” Gambaro said. “I
don’t care for conflict, but I am not willing to stand idly by
and watch bad things happen to good people. That’s why I became a
steward. There is much adversity in the world. We can’t fix
everything, but we need to try to do what we can. We may not be
changing the world here, but we are helping to change the path
that some folks are on.”