bell hooks said that love is profoundly political and that our deepest revolution will come when we know this truth. She went on to say, “the moment that we choose love, we begin to move against domination, against oppression…we begin to move towards freedom.”
Last year, the Alliance shared the core values guiding our strategic plan: we will inspire faith that ending homelessness is possible. We will lead with love and equity in everything that we do. And we will continue to bring people home.
Now more than ever, we must use our collective power to demand that both Congress and the administration preserve critical federal funding to prevent and end homelessness. Those funds must advance programs using evidence-based approaches and solutions that we know work. Advocacy is an incredibly powerful way to influence public policy. It allows individuals to have their voices heard as a collective. When there are enough voices, advocacy can serve as catalyst for change.
Your Voice Matters
The Trump Administration has already taken steps through executive actions and other federal guidance that would have significant impacts on our work to end homelessness in the United States. As a field, we must strengthen our collective advocacy muscle so that this becomes a part of our day-to-day work: not just something we do when standing at the edge of the cliff.
The Alliance is a vehicle for national advocacy actions – providing support for advocates in their efforts – but the voices that Congress needs to hear are yours! They are most interested in hearing from their own constituents about what their community needs to prevent and end homelessness. From identifying resource gaps to promoting strategies and approaches that work—you have the ability to hold your elected officials accountable to effectively represent their communities. Because, after all, they work for you.
Our goal in the coming weeks and months will be to prepare the field for the fight ahead. That will include sharing resources and tools around advocacy, as well as providing timely and comprehensive information on the issues that have the most direct and immediate threat to our efforts to end homelessness. We will also be sharing a survey in the coming weeks to hear about what resources and support you need to become more engaged in advocacy.
Things You Can Do Today
- If you are not already engaging in advocacy with the Alliance, please sign up for our advocacy alerts.
- Bookmark the Alliance’s website; be sure to read communications that you receive from the Alliance to stay up-to-date!
- Explore the Alliance’s Take Action section on our website to find current actions that you can engage in.
- Take advantage of free training resources on How to Advocate to Your Lawmaker.
- Share this blog post with your networks and encourage them to sign up, too!
- Start reaching out to your lawmakers in Congress. Even without an Alliance-initiated action, you can contact your Members of Congress in the House and Senate and talk to them about homelessness in their district and state, the solutions that work, and the importance of federal resources and guidance.
- Call your member of Congress: U.S. Capitol Switchboard: (202) 224-3121
- Find your Representative here: http://www.house.gov/representatives/find-your-representative
- Find your Senator here: https://www.senate.gov/senators/senators-contact.htm
Last week, as many of you were faced with a freeze of federal funding, and homeless services providers were locked out of essential funding platforms, we had our most successful advocacy action in history at the Alliance: more than 11,000 people acted through our online portal. Even more of you made phone calls, sent emails, or showed up in offices. THAT is the energy we need to bring into to 2025 and beyond.
Because if not us, then who?