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New York Acorn prides itself on standing up for some of the poorest people in the city. But a recent scandal has threatened to bring it down. Now, roles have changed and the large powerful organization is asking its 45,000 members to stand up for ACORN. WNYC’s Cindy Rodriguez reports.

REPORTER: At the front door of a nondescript building on Nevins Street, there’s a sign that says “There will be no new intakes for any of the services at Acorn until further notice.” That’s because last month two ACORN workers were filmed advising a couple posing as a pimp and prostitute on how to hide their illegal work in order to qualify for a home loan. The outrageous video caused every level of government to freeze Acorn’s funds and the organization itself shut down services until a management review by a white shoe law firm is complete. Now in addition to advocating for community members workers are advocating for themselves.

ADAMS: Good afternoon Aidan. This is Amelia from Acorn how are you doing. I am just calling to follow up, have you been seeing the recent press about ACORN. You’re like one out of a million who hasn’t seen it.

REPORTER: Organizer Amelia Adams asks the man on the line if he’ll attend a stand up for ACORN rally and gives him the details on where and when it will be.

ADAMS: In the morning, between eleven and one, and we’re getting as many people out as possible. Can we count on you to be there?

REPORTER: The man says he will go. Adams says she’s made about a hundred of these calls and response has been positive.

GROUP CHANT: We are the community...

REPORTER: Over a hundred people showed up at the raucous rally. It was organized by a dozen community organizations and labor groups, including the teachers union. Billie Easton from the Alliance for Quality Education says ACORN sits on his group’s board. He credits the organization with saving billions of dollars in school funding.

EASTON: Even today as Governor Paterson is proposing cuts in the mid-year budget which may affect schools, if ACORN’s not here, I’m very concerned about what that means.

REPORTER: Many non-profits want the power of the group on their side. Easton says there is no matching their size.

EASTON: They have a lot of members who are passionate about the issues who get involved. Acorn helps people to make democracy work.

REPORTER: Besides suffering a serious blow to its reputation, ACORN’s finances have suffered. According to a spokesman, about a million dollars in federal, state and city funds are currently frozen pending a review of contracts. Some members are trying to help make up for the shortfall, including tenants at this modest building in Flatbush, Brooklyn. Leroy Johnson is an ACORN member and neighborhood co-chair and says he plans on raffling off electronics for the group.

JOHNSON: I want to put on a fundraising to make sure we raise funds for them. We are talking to members to pay up their dues. And even some of the members who have not paid dues in a long time assure me that come this weekend. They’re going to try to do their best because we want ACORN to stay right here.

REPORTER: It costs $10 a month to be an ACORN member. Not a small amount for a low-income person like Johnson. He says the money is worth it, and so does Julia Yepez. Both credit the group with stopping their landlord from converting their building to market-rate housing. Currently all tenants pay the rent with subsidies from the federal government. Yepez says tenants lacked the resources to fight the landlord themselves.

YEPEZ: All the letter writing, all the phone calls. This takes not only hours, but also it takes a lot of money and ACORN just says okay, we’ll make a phone call. We’ll do this. And I’m going like ohhh. These people never say to us no.

REPORTER: After ACORN helped win the fight with his landlord, Leroy Johnson says he joined the group to rally for dozens of other causes.

JOHNSON: Yeah, queens for homeowners, Brooklyn for homeowners, these are the ones I personally attend for ACORN. They call me I’ll be there.

REPORTER: The group is known for taking a righteous and aggressive stand against landlords and loan servicers threatening to foreclose on homeowners. They also send members to lobby aggressively in Albany. Frank Ricci is director of government affairs for the Rent Stabilization Association, a large landlord advocacy group in the city.

RICCI: I just think their main tactic is intimidation and some elected officials respond to it and others do the exact opposite.

REPORTER: Ricci says members who show up in Albany often don’t know the issues, plus he accuses Acorn of using taxpayer funds to pay members for attending rallies and other functions in Albany and the steps of City Hall.

RICCI: That should be part of the public debate so the public knows about it.

REPORTER: Acorn says no advocacy activity is paid for with public funds. A spokesman calls the accusation a pile-on effort to smear one of the few organizations that has ever given the RSA a run for its money. The group also has a strong lobbying arm and recently narrowly fought off a slew of tenant friendly bills pushed by ACORN and others.

But ACORN has bigger problems right now . Sources who did not want to be named say private investors who partner with non-profits to fund affordable housing are wanting to dis-associate themselves with acorn related projects. And then there are the politicians trying to distance themselves, such as Senator Charles Schumer, who recently voted to de-fund ACORN.

SCHUMER: ACORN does a lot of good things, but they've got to get better control on their people and what they're doing, so this was a message.

REPORTER: ACORN along with Schumer successfully stopped a private developer from buying the largest subsidized housing complex in the country for over a billion dollars. The victory won ACORN tremendous support from low-income tenants at the complex known as Starrett City. Many remain loyal members and at least some are convinced that the workers in the scandalous video were paid by right-wing activists trying to bring the group down. Back at the Brooklyn offices on Nevins Street 20-year ACORN member Marie Pierre also remains loyal.

PIERRE: I know that tape had to be doctored….you think it was doctored….did you know those two women in the tape….one of them…one of them was my counselor.

REPORTER: Pierre did not want to give the counselor’s name but credited the woman with helping her become a first time home buyer.

PIERRE: Every step of the way she would show me, she actually tell me listen the bank will ask for this. So this is why it really stunned me.

REPORTER: Pierre insisted the group would survive as she called members in Brownsville to get them to go to the next meeting. First thing on the agenda: police brutality. And second, keeping ACORN alive. She also is planning a fundraiser, maybe a bake sale. All proceeds she says will go to ACORN. For WNYC, I’m Cindy Rodriguez.