Congress’s summer extended recess, which typically takes place through the month of August, is a great opportunity to engage with your Members of Congress when they are back at home. You can take advantage of their planned public events, schedule time to meet with them at their nearest district or state offices, or invite them for a site visit.
In order to make ending homelessness a priority for Congress, it is important to take advantage of these opportunities to have your voice heard by planning your advocacy and building a team within your community to help maximize the voices of those who know the issue best. Here are some tips for building a successful advocacy effort during the extended recess.
How to Engage Members of Congress During Recess
The first step to engaging your Members of Congress is identifying who they are. If you live in one of the 50 states, you’re represented by two Senators and one Representative. You may also want to think broadly about your Representatives by identifying all who represent your Continuum of Care service area. Plug in zip codes to find all Representatives in your area:
Tip One: Find Out Where Your Members of Congress Will Be During Recess
It is important to know what events your Members of Congress have already scheduled in order to engage them. There are a number of ways to follow your elected officials’ activities while they are in your area during a recess, including:
- Find and follow Members of Congress on social media.Nearly every Member of Congress has an official account on major social media platforms, and they often use those accounts to announce public events. Go to their official websites to get connected to their social media platforms.
- Ask their state or district office.While on your Member’s website, find contact information for the closest district or state office. Ask them about events that are coming up in your area, if they are open to the public, and/or how you can attend.
- Keep up with local media. Most Members will announce public events in their district or state ahead of time. Check your local media outlets regularly to see if there are any upcoming events in your area.
Tip Two: Expand Your Coalition
As you plan how to leverage the in-district time of your Members of Congress, it is important to partner with other advocates and those who work in homeless services, as well as other organizations and leaders in your community who are invested in and support your work.
Consider including representatives from the following: state and local governments; businesses and chambers of commerce; homeowners and neighborhood associations; faith-based groups; landlords and public housing authorities; health care partners (including hospitals and insurance carriers); and law enforcement. Also consider including partners from adjacent sectors, who are probably also serving your clients (e.g., health care clinics, vocational education providers, and food banks).
Strategically utilize the partners that your Member of Congress will be most persuaded by. Be sure to include these partners and allies in any prep sessions as well.
Tip Three: Schedule a Site Visit
This extended recess is a perfect opportunity for you to invite your elected officials to a site visit at your program. Site visits are an important way to show Members of Congress firsthand the impact and importance of federal homelessness funding. These opportunities allow Members of Congress to see the success of your work, and will encourage them to vote in favor of more funding for homelessness programs.
- Invite your Members of Congress to tour your organization. Call the district or state office and schedule a site visit with the Member of Congress when they are in the area. If the Member is unavailable, schedule a meeting with a senior staff member that works in the district or state office.
- Prepare for the site visit. Consider who should attend the site visit, such as other dedicated advocates in your community and local leaders (such as the mayor or city councilmembers) who may be influential.
A Member of Congress may also be more willing to attend if there is a photo opportunity with press present. Prepare questions and stories to talk about with your Member during the site visit that are focused on the policy issue you want to address. In particular, share stories that will demonstrate the importance of the federal funding that supports your work.
Handouts and fliers may be useful to provide the Member’s office, in the event that you do not have time to discuss additional information and data during the visit. Check the Alliance’s Advocacy Toolkit for sample invitations, letters of support, and agendas to prepare for hosting a site visit.
- During the meeting. Use your time strategically so that the Member of Congress leaves with a clear understanding of the good work happening to end homelessness in your program and in your community. Be sure to take pictures to share on social media and to send to your Member when following up.
- Following up. Always send a thank you email to the Member and their staff who participated in the site visit. In your email, reinforce the key messages that you discussed during the meeting. If your Member agreed to any course of action, be persistent to ensure they follow through.
Tip Four: Meet with Your Members of Congress in Person
- Schedule one-on-one meetings with your Members of Congress or their staff. Individual meetings are a great way to communicate directly with your lawmakers and in a more private way. Call your Members of Congress’ district or state offices to find out the best way to schedule a one-on-one meeting to talk about your program and the importance of funding HUD’s homelessness and housing programs.
Prior to the meeting, Congressional offices will often ask you to complete forms on their website or over email. Be prepared to provide the names and addresses of people attending the meetings, as well as an agenda with the topics you wish to discuss. Follow up politely but persistently when scheduling the meeting, in additional emails to ensure the office has received the agenda, and in providing a list of attendees prior to the actual meeting. Be flexible throughout this process, and be prepared to meet with staffers who work for your Members of Congress. District and state staff are generally people-pleasers who are most interested in your work in the community.
- Prepare for your meeting with Members of Congress.Meetings with Members of Congress are usually no longer than 30 minutes. To make the most of your limited meeting time, hold a prep session in advance with your colleagues: identify two or three policy requests to make, determine the order of speakers, and make sure everyone is comfortable with their roles. Sometimes, a Member of Congress will unexpectedly join your meeting with a staffer for a few minutes, so prepare shortened, “elevator pitches” of your most important policy requests.
- Research your Members of Congress and know the following information before the meeting. Do they serve on committees which oversee HUD housing and homelessness programs? Are they in leadership positions? What are their records? What are their values? How can you appeal to their heads and their hearts? Would it be helpful to check with the Alliance on any other details before your meeting?
- Meet with Members of Congress.Be polite; they take a lot of abuse and you want them to view this meeting in a positive light. Don’t be nervous — you and your team are the experts! Make sure you introduce each person, mention the specific policy requests your team discussed in your prep session, and ensure everyone has a role to play. But also, be honest — if you don’t know something, say you’ll get back to them. Lawmakers appreciate inspiring stories which show how people benefit when programs work and sad stories which show how people suffer when programs aren’t sufficiently resourced. Localize your policy requests by showing the importance of your organization’s work in their district.
- Follow up after meeting with Members of Congress.Always send a follow up to your meeting to thank lawmakers and their staff for meeting with you. Use this as an opportunity to provide additional information (handouts/fliers, updates, photos, answers to their questions, or other related materials) and remind them of your policy requests.
Tip Five: Attend Town Hall Meetings
A town hall is a public meeting in which Representatives and Senators talk about their votes and policies, and hear directly from their constituents. Attending these meetings and sharing your concerns allows you and your partners to put the issue of homelessness on your Members of Congress’ radars. Unlike most other advocacy opportunities, these events also provide a great platform for getting Members to publicly commit to doing something to help end homelessness.
To prepare for a town hall:
- Find out when the town hall will happen. Sometimes Members, if they choose to host a town hall, widely publicize them. However, some may choose to only invite members of their own party or host town halls on short notice. Here are the best ways to find out if your Members of Congress will be holding a town hall: visit their websites, check their newsletters, and call their district offices. If necessary, check Facebook, Eventbrite, local newspapers, and neighborhood websites and listservs.
- Spread the word. Let your colleagues and networks know the locations and times of these events. Ask them to join you to show that a large number of constituents care about this issue.
- At the event, raise the issue of homelessness. In addition to showing up with friends and colleagues, bring fact sheets or other informational material to provide context on the nature and extent of homelessness in your district or state. Use any opportunity you have at the mic to briefly review the accomplishments of the local homelessness response system and the role that HUD’s homeless assistance grants programs play in making that happen. Have a concrete “ask” for the Member of Congress. When the meeting is over, engage with the Member’s staff: hand over your fact sheets ask for your own meeting, exchange business cards with the lawmaker’s staffer, and follow up with that staffer the next business day to schedule a meeting.
Tip Six: Convene Homelessness Round Tables
Rather than waiting to see if a Member of Congress will be holding their own town hall, you can also organize a roundtable for elected officials and their staffers to come discuss homelessness and affordable housing issues. This is a win-win approach: you and your allies win because you get face time with important elected officials and their staffers, and Members of Congress and their staffers win because they get the opportunity to meet the area’s housing and homelessness stakeholders in one place, and can be briefed on issues important to the community.
You also can control the schedule and plan ahead of time by organizing these roundtables annually or biennially around big events (like federal appropriations season or the opening of the state legislative session); at future roundtables, include representatives from other sectors (e.g., business, homeowners, faith communities, and health care).
- Planning and logistics. Secure a centrally-located space that’s accessible to the public at a convenient time. Invite representatives from the Continuum of Care, local homeless services providers, people with lived experience, staff and residents of affordable housing programs, Public Housing Authorities, and relevant state and local government agencies.
- Setting the agenda.Craft a consensual agenda in advance so that each of the organizations represented can concisely discuss their achievements, their challenges, their goals, and their needs.
- Setting the table. Because these roundtables are an opportunity to promote your policy agenda, be sure to plan your speakers strategically. For example, if you need more funding for Permanent Supportive Housing, make sure several of your presenters discuss chronic homelessness and the need for more rental assistance paired with wraparound, individualized services.
Your meetings with lawmakers are beginnings, not endings. You’re building lasting relationships, which will feature regular meetings back home and in Washington, D.C., along with intermittent calls and emails on pending legislation. Ideally, lawmakers and their staffers will soon be reaching out to you for information and insights.
If you need help or have any questions, please reach out to Tamina Chowdhury (tchowdhury@naeh.org), Samantha Wood (swood@naeh.org), and John Threlkeld (jthrelkeld@naeh.org) at the National Alliance to End Homelessness.
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