As part of the FY 2017 Homelessness Funding Campaign, the Alliance is launching an August 2016 Site Visit Campaign to encourage advocates across the country to engage with their Members of Congress while they are home for the August recess. The Campaign aims to:
- Raise awareness among the public and Congress about the issue of and solutions to homelessness;
- Educate Congress on the need for increased resources for HUD’s McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants and Housing Choice Vouchers and to ensure that it provides enough funding for these programs; and
- Ask Members to commit to communicate the messages that “providing at least the House level of $2.487 billion for the McKinney-Vento Homeless Assistance Grants program in FY 2017 is a high priority” to the Chairs and Ranking Members of the House and Senate Appropriations Committees.
The best ways advocates can achieve these goals are by taking the below actions:
1. Host A Member for a Site Visit
- *Site Visit Sample Work Plan (Note: links to the below site visit materials denoted with a * are also included in this Work Plan)
- *Site Visit Sample Invitation
- *Site Visit Sample Letter of Support
- *Site Visit Sample Agenda
- *Site Visit Sample Briefing Memo
- *Site Visit Sample Media Advisory
- *Site Visit Sample Thank You Letter
- Achieving Effective Site Visits Toolkit
2. Conduct In-District Congressional Meetings
If your Members do not have time in their schedules to attend site visits, or if you do not have the capacity to plan one, the next best thing you can do to engage your Members this October is to conduct in-district (or state) congressional meetings. The Alliance has materials to help you plan and execute these meetings, including the following (that denoted with a * is specifically meant for use during the August 2016 Site Visit Campaign):
We are happy to work with you every step of the way to help you customize these materials, strategize about which Members of Congress to engage, and with anything else for which you may need assistance. Please contact Julie Klein to get involved!