Southside Together Organizing for Power

What Southside Together Organizing for Power does

Southside Together Organizing for Power (STOP) is a 501(c)(3) community organizing nonprofit founded in 2004 as the Student Tenant Organizing Project and headquartered at 602 E 61st St in Chicago's Woodlawn neighborhood. The organization operates three interlocking member-driven programs: housing (tenant organizing, anti-displacement campaigns, Community Benefits Agreement enforcement), mental health (the Treatment Not Trauma campaign advocating for reopened public mental-health clinics and police-free crisis response), and youth organizing (restorative justice, school-police removal, leadership development at Hyde Park Academy and Parkside Elementary). STOP's membership model requires attendees to affirm the mission, attend two events, and contribute $60/year or $5/month. The organization has secured documented policy and land-use victories including the 2020 Woodlawn Housing Preservation Ordinance, 20+ City-owned vacant lots for affordable housing, $2.1M/year in restored mental-health clinic staffing, and referendums passing at 90%+ voter approval. STOP co-leads multiple coalitions including the Obama CBA Coalition, Collaborative for Community Wellness, and the national Tenant Union Federation, and announced a merger with Not Me We in October 2024 that expanded its geography across additional South Side neighborhoods.

STOP generates revenue through four streams: individual donations (tax-deductible under EIN 71-1034518), annual fundraising galas and community events, membership dues ($5/month or $60/year), and foundation grants from 12+ funders including Woods Fund Chicago, Field Foundation of Illinois, Chicago Community Trust, Albert Pick Jr. Fund, Ben & Jerry's Foundation, RRF Foundation for Aging, Wieboldt Foundation, and Crossroads Fund. The organization runs a lean team of approximately four organizers plus a Development Director, with no proprietary technology products; its stack is built on EveryAction CRM, a Squarespace website, Zoom, and social media. STOP's "products" are programs and policy outcomes: affordable housing units secured, public clinics reopened, school resource officers removed, and referendum ordinances passed.

STOP is currently navigating a leadership transition following the 2024 departure of long-time Executive Director Alex Goldenberg and the June 2025 departure of Development Director Dominic Surya, while actively pursuing the 2025 CBA campaign, a $1 billion reparations demand against the University of Chicago, and intensified support for the 7500 South Shore Tenant Union.

Name

Southside Together Organizing for Power

Legal name

Southside Together Organizing for Power

Website

https://stopchicago.org

Company type

Private

Founded year

2004

Operating status

Operating

Short description

Southside Together Organizing for Power is a Chicago-based 501(c)(3) nonprofit that organizes South Side tenants, mental-health advocates, and youth to win housing preservation, public mental-health clinic funding, and school-police removal through coalition campaigns and Community Benefits Agreement enforcement.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Community Organizing and Advocacy Services

NAICS

Social Advocacy Organizations (81331), Human Rights Organizations (813311), Other Community Housing Services (624229), Child and Youth Services (624110)

SIC

Services-Social Services (8300)

akta.pro primary industry

Human Rights & Anti-Discrimination Organizations (BPAGAFAB)

akta.pro secondary industries

Housing Policy, Standards & Fair Housing Enforcement (BPAIANAG), Community Health, Prevention & Health Education (BPAGACAC), Gun Violence Prevention & Public Safety Policy Advocacy (BPAGAFAM)

Keywords

• Community organizing
• Tenant organizing
• Housing justice advocacy
• Grassroots organizing
• Nonprofit advocacy services

Headquarters

HQ city

Chicago

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Services

Cost components

Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Technology or R&D, Infrastructure, Others

Revenue model

1. Individual Donations: STOP collects one-time and monthly donations from individuals. Donations are tax-deductible as STOP is a 501(c)(3) organization. EIN: 71-1034518. The organization runs periodic matching campaigns (e.g., Foundation for Aging matching donations for senior organizing).
2. Annual Gala and Events: STOP hosts annual fundraising galas. The 2024 gala raised $46,000 (double the $23,000 raised in 2023). Galas feature live music, dinners, sponsorship packages, and table sales. STOP's 15th-anniversary gala was held in November 2023.
3. Membership Dues: Members contribute $60+ per year or $5+ per month. Dues-paying membership is encouraged but not strictly required for participation.
4. Foundation Grants: STOP receives grants from foundations including Woods Fund Chicago, Field Foundation of Illinois, Chicago Community Trust, Albert Pick Jr. Fund, Alternatives Inc., Ben & Jerry's Foundation, Catholic Campaign for Human Development, Chicago Racial Justice Pooled Fund, Cricket Island Foundation, Crossroads Fund, RRF Foundation for Aging, Wieboldt Foundation, and others. A reserve fund is maintained.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels2 records

Marketing channels8 records

Core offering

STOP is a grassroots community-organizing nonprofit that mobilizes South Side Chicago residents through three programs: housing justice (tenant associations, CBA campaigns, anti-displacement organizing), mental health advocacy (Treatment Not Trauma campaign for public clinics and police-free crisis response), and youth organizing (restorative justice, school-police removal, leadership development). Services are delivered free of charge to members through door-to-door outreach, leadership training, coalition campaigns, and direct-action tactics.

Product overview

Southside Together Organizing for Power (STOP) is a community organizing organization, not a technology product company. It does not offer software products, platforms, or technology services. STOP's programs consist of community organizing initiatives including housing justice (Chicago Tenants Council, Community Benefits Agreement campaigns), mental health advocacy (Treatment Not Trauma campaign), and youth organizing (school safety, restorative justice).

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Housing Justice Program Tenant organizing, rent control advocacy, affordable housing preservation, relocation support, CBA campaigns, and homeownership support for low-income and working-class residents facing displacement on Chicago's South Side.
• Treatment Not Trauma Campaign (Mental Health Program) Advocacy and organizing to reopen public mental-health clinics, increase clinic staffing, and implement police-free mental-health crisis response in Chicago.
• Youth Organizing Program Youth leadership development, school-safety organizing, restorative-justice programming (Peace Room), and campaigns to remove School Resource Officers from Chicago Public Schools.
• 7500 South Shore Tenant Union Support Organizing, emergency relocation fund coordination, legal-support coordination, and media amplification for the 7500 South Shore Tenant Union facing displacement.
• Membership Program Members affirm the mission, attend two events, and contribute $60+ per year or $5+ per month to participate in STOP's organizing campaigns and leadership development.

Quantifiable outcome

• Won 20 City-owned vacant lots on 63rd St for affordable housing (157+ units) — grew from 0 lots through sustained organizing pressure
• +4 more outcomes

Named customers6 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles4 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Partnerships

Ten partnerships are on record, tiered core and key.

• Not Me WecoreStrategic or Co-development Partner · 1 November 2024STOP and Not Me We announced their merger in October 2024, officially combining the two organizations to expand organizing capacity across South Side neighborhoods. The merger was celebrated at a joint gala on November 1, 2024, at the South Shore Cultural Center. The combined organization continues under the STOP name.
• Collaborative for Community WellnesscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerA city-wide coalition co-led by STOP. Its main effort is the Treatment Not Trauma campaign, which fights to open more public mental-health clinics, make clinics more accountable to residents, and replace police with clinicians in mental-health crisis response.
• Tenant Union FederationcoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerA national federation of tenant-union organizations; STOP is a founding member. The federation connects tenant unions across the country to share organizing strategies, resources, and campaign support.
• Obama CBA CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition organized around the Obama Presidential Center Community Benefits Agreement. STOP co-leads this coalition with other community organizations, working on housing preservation and anti-displacement measures in Woodlawn and South Shore. Key campaigns include the 2025 CBA ordinance and the Jackson Park Housing Pilot.
• UChicago Against Displacement (UCAD)keyStrategic or Co-development PartnerA University of Chicago student group allied with STOP since 2004 (evolved from groups SSN, SHE, and PAC). UCAD and STOP collaborate on CBA campaigns, reparations demands, and campus-community solidarity organizing.
• #CopsOutCPS CoalitioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition focused on removing School Resource Officers from Chicago Public Schools. STOP's youth program is a key member; the coalition won removal of police from Hyde Park Academy and is pushing for system-wide changes.
• #Defund CPD / De-fund CPDkeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerCoalition campaign that STOP participates in, advocating to redirect police funding toward community services like mental-health care, housing, and restorative justice.
• Access Living (Advance Your Leadership Power)keyStrategic or Co-development PartnerSTOP partners with Access Living's racial justice organizing group on the Community Emergency Services and Support Act (CESSA) campaign at the state level, advocating for police-free mental-health crisis response throughout Illinois.
• Black Lives Matter ChicagokeyStrategic or Co-development PartnerSTOP co-hosted a community event with BLM Chicago featuring Brazil's Landless Workers' Movement (MST), demonstrating ongoing solidarity between racial and economic justice movements.
• 7500 South Shore Tenant UnioncoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerSTOP supports the tenants union at 7500 South Shore through organizing, emergency relocation funds, legal support coordination, and media amplification. STOP's website features the union prominently as a key organizing priority in 2025.

Scale indicators13 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights4 records

Direct peers

• Access Living: Chicago disability-rights organizing group; already an active STOP partner on the CESSA campaign for police-free mental-health response. Comparability runs through shared organizing model, Chicago focus, and overlapping Treatment Not Trauma / CESSA coalition work.
• ONE Northside: Chicago-based multi-issue grassroots organizing coalition focused on affordable housing, racial and economic justice, and community development. Closely comparable to STOP in operating model (member-driven, door-knocking, coalition-based campaigns) and geography (North Side vs. STOP's South Side focus).
• Brighton Park Neighborhood Council: Southwest Side Chicago organizing group running multi-issue campaigns on housing, immigration, education, and police accountability. Uses comparable door-to-door, member-led base-building tactics and pursues similar policy wins at the city level.
• Action Now Institute: Chicago grassroots organizing and civic engagement group that builds power in Black and Latinx neighborhoods through door-to-door outreach and base-building. Highly comparable operating model and Chicago focus to STOP.
• Metropolitan Tenants Organization: Chicago tenant-rights organization that organizes renters around habitability, rent control, and anti-displacement — directly overlapping STOP's tenant-association work at Island Terrace, Woodlawn Park, and 7500 South Shore.
• Chicago Rehab Network: Citywide coalition of Chicago neighborhood housing organizations doing affordable housing preservation, anti-displacement policy, and tenant organizing. Highly comparable to STOP on the housing pillar and serves as a peer through coalition overlap.
• Chicago Coalition for the Homeless: Statewide Illinois advocacy and organizing group for people experiencing homelessness and housing insecurity. Comparable to STOP in policy-advocacy approach (Treatment Not Trauma analogue: housing-is-a-human-right campaigns) and in relying on member testimony and coalition pressure.
• Grassroots Collaborative: Chicago coalition of community organizing groups (including ONE Northside, BPNC, and similar groups) pursuing progressive state and local policy on housing, schools, and criminal justice. STOP is a comparable member organization and active collaborator.

Broad incumbents

• Community Change (formerly Center for Community Change): National racial and economic justice organization that funds and trains local community-organizing groups on housing, immigration, and worker power. Comparable as a broader-incumbent peer that operates in STOP's organizing space with national infrastructure rather than neighborhood depth.
• People's Action: National federation of community organizing groups running multi-issue campaigns on housing, healthcare, and economic justice. Comparable as the national-level umbrella that STOP's Tenant Union Federation work plugs into, with broader reach but less neighborhood depth than STOP.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat5 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Xx.com/ssidetogether
• YouTubeyoutube.com/@southsidetogether
• Facebookfacebook.com/southsidetogether
• Instagraminstagram.com/southsidetogether

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles6 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Southside Together Organizing for Power