Tenants and Workers United (TWU)

Tenants and Workers United (TWU), also known by the Spanish translation of the name, Inquilinos y Trabajadores Unidos, is a community activist group based in Alexandria, Virginia. TWU originated with campaigns agitating for tenants’ rights and housing subsidies, but eventually embraced broader left-of-center community activism, including support for liberal immigration policies, higher minimum wages, and left-of-center education policies. 1 1

Read More

At-A-Glance

Type: Non-profit, 501(c)(3)
Issue Areas: Labor Policy, Housing Policy
Website: www.tenantsandworkers.org
Executive Director:

Evelin Urrutia

Location: Alexandria, VA View on map
Tax ID: 54-1515305
Most Recent Filing: 2024
Budget (2024): Assets: $2,002,574 Revenue: $1,347,240 Expenses: $761,583

Contents

    History

    Tenants and Workers United (TWU) was founded in the mid-1980s to organize protests and against evictions of low-income renters in Arlandria, a district of Alexandria. 1 TWU stopped the evictions with a class action lawsuit. TWU then launched a ten-year campaign to acquire the Arlandria-Chirilagua Housing Cooperative, a 282-unit housing block “owned and democratically controlled by predominantly low-income residents.” The property was purchased with financial assistance from the Federal Reserve, the City of Alexandria, and the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. TWU described its acquisition as: “the ACHC effectively removed a bloc of housing from the ravages of the market.” 1

    TWU then expanded to left-wing activism across Alexandria, including healthcare access, education funding, and immigration. 1

    TWU founded Alexandria Union Cab, a company with more than 230 drivers and a $2 million value. 1

    In 2004, TWU opened the Arlandria-Chirilagua Community Center to host public space, TWU’s offices, and other commercial real estate. TWU was built with $100,000 in donations and additional financial support from the City of Alexandria, the Meyer Foundation, the Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz Foundation, former U.S. Representative James Moran (D-VA), and BB&T Bank. 1

    Activism

    As of June 2024, the Tenants and Workers United (TWU) operates a campaign to encourage Fairfax County to provide housing subsidies to the owners of mobile homes. 2

    In 2019, TWU filed a lawsuit against Morgan Properties for allegedly mistreating tenants. In 2023, TWU launched a public relations campaign against minority shareholder Mitchell Morgan, the owner of the NFL’s Washington Commanders. In a press release, TWU stated: “If the NFL values social justice and racial equity, then it must bar Mitchell Morgan from ownership until he adequately addresses the deplorable conditions of his apartments in Alexandria City and beyond.” 3

    TWU successfully pressured the Alexandria City Public Schools to hire bilingual parent liaisons. 1 TWU led the College Prep for All Campaign that led to the creation of “culturally sensitive” education programs in Alexandria. 1

    TWU co-founded the Right to the City Alliance, a national coalition of left-of-center advocacy groups involved in tenant organizing. 1

    TWU successfully pressured Arlington County and the City of Alexandria to reduce their cooperation with the Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE). 1

    TWU helped raise the minimum wage in Arlington. 1

    TWU has advocated for loosening taxi regulations in Arlington. In 2013, the organization led negotiations for taxi drivers against a city task force dealing with regulations. 4

    TWU has protested to end the deployment of SROs, a type of police officer stationed in schools. 5

    Funding

    In 2024, Tenants and Workers United (TWU) received funding from the Junior League of Washington. 6

    In 2022, TWU received $25,000 from the Community Foundation for Northern Virginia, 7 and $185,000 from the Emergent Fund. 8

    In 2021, TWU received two $20,000 grants from iF. 9

    In 2007, TWU received $20,000 from the Northern Virginia Health Foundation. 10

    TWU has also received funding from Act for Alexandria. 11

    Financial Statistics

    Total Assets

    Total Revenue

    Total Expenses

    YearTotal AssetsTotal RevenueTotal ExpensesFiling
    2024 $2,002,574 $1,347,240 $761,583 View
    2023 $1,470,657 $563,200 $718,380 View
    2022 $1,592,118 $917,464 $685,151 View
    2021 $1,381,428 $755,405 $583,552 View
    2020 $1,287,907 $1,136,060 $858,811 View

    Prior year filings: 2015, 2014, 2013, 2012, 2011, 2010

    Revenue Detail

    Expenses Detail

    Employee Compensation

    • Number of Employees: 10

    Highest Earning Employees

    EmployeeTitleTotal Compensation
    Evelin UrrutiaEXECUTIVE DIRECTOR$109,884

    Grant Activity

    All-time grants received statistics from Candid dataset:

    • Total Grant Value: $5,854,306
    • Number of Grants: 170
    • Number of Funders: 44

    Selection of highest value grants received from the last seven years:

    AmountYearFunderSubject
    $536,1132020 ACT for AlexandriaPROGRAM SUPPORT
    $300,0002024 Meyer Foundationto support general operations over three years
    $210,0002021 Meyer FoundationTo support general operations over three years
    $188,6002022 ACT for AlexandriaPROGRAM SUPPORT
    $181,0002023 Human Services Alliance of Greater Prince WilliamFunds were used to to help contacts connect with services/resources, and provide deeper one on one service naviagation to clients.
    $150,0002020 Virginia New Majority Education FundGeneral Support
    $110,0002022 Virginia New Majority Education FundGeneral Support
    $110,0002021 Virginia New Majority Education FundGeneral support
    $106,5242023 Equal Justice WorksFELLOWSHIP SUPPORT
    $90,0002024 WEISSBERG FOUNDATIONCAPACITY SUPPORT
    $89,8052024 Human Services Alliance of Greater Prince WilliamFunds were used to help contacts connect with services/resources, and provide deeper one on one service naviagation to clients.
    $50,0002021 Meyer FoundationTo support general operations
    $48,0002020 The Comcast Nbc Universal FoundationGeneral Support awarded on behalf of NBC Bay Area and Telemundo 48 in response to coronavirus pandemic
    $40,0002022 Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter RockTo build a powerful working People's organization in northern Virginia that can influence public policy outcomes
    $40,0002020 Meyer FoundationTo support general operations
    $40,0002020 Unitarian Universalist Congregation at Shelter RockTo build a powerful working people's organization in northern Virginia that can influence public policy outcomes
    $37,1982022 Potomac Health FoundationWOODBRIDGE EVICTION PREVENTION, HEALTH & HOUSING INFORMATION SHARING, AND COMMUNITY DEVELOPMENT
    $37,1982021 Potomac Health FoundationWOODBRIDGE EVICTION PREVENTION, HLTH & HOUSING INFO SHARING & COMM DEV'T
    $30,0002020 Meyer FoundationTo support general operations
    $25,0002022 The Community Foundation for Northern VirginiaSummer Youth Institute for Low-income Youth of Color in south Fairfax County along Route 1
    $25,0002021 American Heart Association, Inc.CHILDHOOD OBESITY
    $25,0002020 American Heart Association, Inc.Childhood obesity
    $20,0002024 The Morris and Gwendolyn Cafritz FoundationGeneral support.
    $20,0002024 Northern Virginia Health FoundationSOCIAL CONNECTEDNESS
    $20,0002024 Meyer Foundationto support board development

    Contact InfluenceWatch to report errors, suggest edits, or provide tips for additional profiles.

    Contact Us

    Financials, employee compensation, and grant information provided by Candid.

    Mentioned in this Article

    References

    1. “Our History.” Tenants and Workers. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://www.tenantsandworkers.org/about.
    2. “Tell Fairfax County Supervisors: Fund and preserve mobile home communities! / Dígales a los Supervisores del Condado de Fairfax: ¡Financien y preserven a las comunidades de casa móviles!.” Tenants and Workers United. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://www.tenantsandworkers.org/support_mobile_homes_fairfax.
    3. “Tenants to NFL: “Mitchell Morgan is Unfit for Ownership of Washington Commanders”.” Tenants and Workers United. July 19, 2023. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://www.tenantsandworkers.org/tenants_to_nfl_press_release_mitchell_morgan_unfit_for_ownership_of_washington_commanders
    4. “TWU, cabbies slam recommended taxi regulations.” Alexandria Times. November 21, 2013. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://alextimes.com/2013/11/twu-cabbies-slam-recommended-taxi-regulations/.
    5. Horner, Rick. “Tenants and Workers United upset by City Council restoration of school resource officer program.” ALX Now. October 14, 2021. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://www.alxnow.com/2021/10/14/tenants-and-workers-united-upset-by-city-council-restoration-of-school-resource-officer-program/.
    6. “Current Grant Recipients.” Junior League of Washington. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://www.jlw.org/current-grant-recipients/.
    7. “Community Foundation Awards $613,725 in Community Investment Fund Grants.” The Community Foundation for Northern Virginia. April 27, 2022. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://www.cfnova.org/news-and-stories/impact-stories/announcing-the-2022-community-investment-fund-grantees.
    8. “2022 Grantees.” Emergent Fund. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://www.emergentfund.net/2022.
    9. “Grantmaking.” iF. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://www.iffdn.org/grantmaking-all.
    10. “Our Grantees.” Northern Virginia Health Foundation. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://novahealthfdn.org/grants.
    11. [1] “Alexandria Community Access Grant Program.” Act for Alexandria. Accessed June 26, 2024. https://www.actforalexandria.org/initiatives/t/alexandria-community-access-and-emergency-support-grant-program/.