With the elections right around the corner, now is the perfect time to engage Congressional and local representatives in your community to secure support for supportive housing programs. Make the most of the months leading up to November by encouraging policymakers to support key programs like the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants program and the Section 8 Housing Choice Voucher program. And ask them to reverse the potentially devastating cuts mandated by the Budget Control Act (known as sequestration).
Summer 2012 Advocacy Tips
- Invite a Policymaker on a Site Visit to a local supportive housing project. There is no better way for policymakers and their staff to understand how well supportive housing works and why the government should fund it than by seeing it for themselves. CSH partner, the Alliance has put together a site visit toolkit. Need more help? Ask CSH!
- Set a Meeting with your local officials or with federal representatives while they’re back home during the August recess. Contact CSH if you need help in setting up a meeting or with your talking points.”
- Write a Letter to the Editor urging candidates to address homelessness in their campaigns or debates. Candidates look to local media to hear constituents’ voices. A pointed Letter to the Editor asking a candidate to take a stand on issues related to supportive housing can be especially effective in the months before an election. See CSH’s Tips and Sample Letter.
- Write to a Campaign asking them to make a commitment to end homelessness and support key programs. Use our Sample Letter as a starting point.
- Attend a Town Hall Meeting and ask candidates questions about their position on the programs we care about. Ask where they stand on homelessness and try to get a commitment to take action to help assure the most vulnerable people in our country are protected. There may even be local press or bloggers in the room who will pick up your question and their response!
