Advocacy is the act of speaking out for something you believe in. Habitat for Humanity defines advocacy as changing systems, policies and attitudes to achieve decent housing for all. One of the best ways to change systems and policies is to change the attitudes of lawmakers.
Lawmakers are the people who actually make and amend laws at every level of government. There are lawmakers for neighborhoods, counties, states and entire countries. To learn more about lawmakers and how laws are made, check out these sites:
The official kids' portal for the United States Ben's guide to the U.S. Government for kids To find out who your lawmakers are and how to contact them, visit Congress. You can see who influences laws in your city, region, state and country.
Volunteers everywhere are supporting Habitat’s mission to eliminate poverty housing by physically lifting a hammer and building houses. This is a big part of ending poverty housing, but it doesn’t end there. In 30 years Habitat for Humanity has built more than 225,000 homes with more than 1 million people around the world. But the need for safe, decent shelter is growing faster than we can build. Other actions are necessary to assist people who live in poverty. Advocacy is knowing that it takes more than a hammer to end poverty housing. Advocacy efforts include raising awareness and influencing laws. Making and amending laws can leave lasting effects on poverty issues for large numbers of people.
Advocacy Toolkit A comprehensive guide to developing youth advocacy. Includes checklists and tips to for planning and implementing advocacy events, statistics, HFH information, etc. Youth Activities Teach fun curriculum, host a candlelight vigil, or lead a reflection. This guide has a variety of simple, interesting activities to help youth learn and promote change. Letter-Writing Campaign Learn about how you can make influence lawmakers. Resources to find contact information, sample letters and more information are included. Habitat for Humanity’s Government Relations and Advocacy site Habitat for Humanity defines advocacy as changing systems, policies and attitudes to achieve decent housing for all. Act! Speak! Build! Week Habitat’s international, student-initiated week of advocacy. It empowers youth to educate themselves and their communities and move people to social action. Check out our monthly advocacy updates These updates are available in the Youth Programs monthly e-mail newsletter. To subscribe, send a blank e-email to join-ypupdate@lists.habitatforhumanity.org. October 2007 September 2007
