If organizers learn anything from election results this year — and potentially any year — it might be a reaffirmation of the need for groups to work together in advancing progressive priorities. A loose coalition of anti-MAGA voters kicked Donald Trump out of office four years ago, but around four million of those voters chose to simply sit it out this year.

Those coalitions are just as important when the goal is to move a policy agenda, rather than win an election. A case in point is the unexpected success of a few housing organizers in Greensboro, North Carolina — known as “the Gate City,” in a nod to its once prominent role as a railroad transshipment point across the South. In fact, their recent victory might give us all a roadmap for how to win in 2025, including one particularly relevant detail: The journey grew out of a series of losses.