While Obama was working as a community organizer for the Developing Communities Project in Chicago, he and other organizers teamed up about the issue of asbestos in apartment buildings. During a community meeting, Obama had corralled some of the tenants to speak publicly, but some of them were beginning to lose their nerve, said another community organizer, Jerry Kellman. According to Maraniss, Kellman remembers Obama telling them, "You are the most qualified person. I have every confidence. All you have to do is get up and tell the truth. You're going to do a fantastic job and all of us are going to be right there behind you. Nothing to be afraid of."
