Advocacy Update: Quarterly Report
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Advocacy Update | December 22, 2010
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Advocacy Update: Quarterly Report
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This Quarterly Report includes updates on several different policy and advocacy initiatives, as well as a preview of upcoming opportunities. Specifically, the Quarterly Report details:
- A preview of advocacy efforts next year, including efforts to:
- Educate new and returning Members of Congress;
- Secure increased funding for the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act; and
- Secure increased funding for the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants programs.
- A summary of the Homeless Youth Site Visit Campaign; and
- A reminder of the January Media Campaign around an upcoming report from the Alliance.
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Upcoming Advocacy Campaigns
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The Alliance is getting ready to launch several advocacy campaigns in 2011 in order to educate Members of Congress about local efforts to prevent and end homelessness, as well as the important role key federal programs play in that effort.
The Alliance will start the year by working to educate new and key returning Members of Congress about homelessness and its nature, causes, and solutions, as well as how Members of Congress can help. Ending homelessness has been a high priority for both Republican and Democratic congresses and administrations over the last decade.
It is CRITICAL that we continue our momentum and secure new champions and supporters for the important work that we do every day to prevent and end homelessness. If you are interested in collaborating in this work to educate Members of Congress, please contact Amanda Krusemark at akrusemark@naeh.org / 202-942-8256.
The Alliance will work on federal appropriations and legislation in numerous areas throughout 2011. However, we anticipate specific, year-long campaigns to provide adequate funding for two key federal programs in particular: the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants program within the Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD) and the Runaway and Homeless Youth Act (RHYA) programs within the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). If you are interested in participating in either of these efforts, please contact Kate Seif at cseif@naeh.org / 202-942-8281.
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Homeless Youth Site Visit Campaign Summary
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During this quarter, the Alliance and the National Network for Youth coordinated a Homeless Youth Site Visit Campaign with advocates from across the country. Advocates encouraged Members of Congress to visit their local youth homelessness assistance programs in order to educate them about solutions to youth homelessness.
In the weeks following the Campaign's launch, advocates committed to sending out more than 80 site visit invitations to Members of Congress representing more than 20 states.
To date, more than 20 site visits have been hosted or scheduled for Members of Congress to youth homelessness assistance organizations, with more expected in the early part of 2011.
It is still too early to judge the full impact of these site visits and this Campaign, but dozens of Members of Congress are now more aware of and better educated about youth homelessness and its policy solutions. A summary of the Campaign and its results is available on the Campaign website.
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Media Campaign on Upcoming Alliance Report
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The Alliance invites you to collaborate with us on the national media release of a new report on homelessness counts, demographics, and economic indicators. The release of this report is a key opportunity to better inform important decisionmakers about the scope of homelessness and how homelessness has changed in recent years, especially in light of the recession.
To launch this effort, the Alliance will host a webinar on Wednesday, January 5 at 2 p.m. ET to review the highlights of the report and discuss strategies for approaching reporters. After the webinar, sample talking points, a sample "pitch," and a sample press release will be disseminated to webinar participants. A full copy of the report - including state-level data - will be sent out the following week. Click here to register for the webinar.
If you are unable to participate in the webinar but would like to collaborate on this effort, please contact Amanda Krusemark at akrusemark@naeh.org.
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BUILDING
POLITICAL WILL
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The Alliance works collaboratively with its local, state, and national partners to advance policies and programs that prevent and end homelessness.
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