2018 Homelessness and Housing Advocacy Days

Wednesday, April 11th & Thursday, April 12th

CAN-Specific Files & Information

We’re fast approaching the re-scheduled 2018 Homelessness and Housing Advocacy Days. Thank you for all of your hard work.

CCEH and the Partnership for Strong Communities will provide hard copy folders for every legislator across the state. If you have any community specific materials to be included in the folders, please email them to sfox@cceh.org before noon on Monday, April 9th.  

Logistics for the Day

Meet CCEH and Reaching Home Staff in the Cafeteria

Please arrive at the Legislative Office Building (LOB) approximately 45 minutes in advance of your meetings. There are a lot of events taking place at the LOB and it may take time to secure a parking spot. It also may take time to go through the security checkpoint at the door. The LOB is located at 300 Capitol Avenue, Hartford, CT. Our meetings will take place in RM 2600.

Prepare for Advocacy Days

1. Follow Up with your Legislators

With Advocacy Days just over a week away, it is now more important than ever to reach out to legislators and ask them to attend Advocacy Days. Calls or emails from constituents and agencies serving a legislator’s district make a difference. Click on your CAN specific link above to access helpful templates, CAN legislative contact info, and more. If the legislator is not able to attend, please encourage legislative aides to attend. Remember to ask your community members, board members, and colleagues to reach out to their legislators and extend an invitation to the 2018 Homelessness and Housing Advocacy Days. Please feel free to forward your CAN materials link to all of your partners.

2. Update your CAN’s Legislative Directory with RSVP’s

Update your CAN’s Legislative Directory with RSVP’s and send it back to Sarah Fox at sfox@cceh.org by COB on Monday, April 9th.

3. Send Invites and Letters

For your convenience, your CAN specific link above contains a template legislative invitation, template email legislative invitation, and a “Dear Colleague” letter for legislators to share with their colleagues. Feel free to edit and send out similar versions. Note that we will be sending out a reminder email, following up with phone calls, and dropping by the Legislative Office Building to encourage legislators and staff to show up. We ask that you all reach out to legislators and ask your partners to do the same.

4. Email your finalized Power Point

Email your finalized Power Point presentation to Sarah Fox at sfox@cceh.org by COB Monday, April 9th.

Key points you might consider including in your presentations are: State and local victories, the impact of cuts on your community, and the importance of preserving the Reaching Home legislative priorities:

  • Preserve DOH Housing and Homelessness line item – $78.6 M
  • Preserve DMHAS Housing Supports and Services line item – $23.3 M
  • Preserve DOH Homeless Youth line item – $2.3 M
  • Preserve DOH resources for Coordinated Access Networks (CANs)
  • Reduce barriers for child care for families with children experiencing homelessness
  • Identify and educate unaccompanied youth experiencing homelessness

5. Get familiar with the Regional Fact Sheets

In your CAN-specific link above.      

6. Watch the Advocacy Days Preparation Webinar

Click here for a link to the Advocacy Days Preparation Webinar. Feel free to distribute it to your community. This webinar covers everything you need to know about Advocacy Days. In addition to support and training, you will receive an overview of issues we’ll be discussing, an update on the legislative session, and tips on helping your clients to effectively tell their story to legislators. Lydia Brewster, Assistant Director of Community Services at St. Vincent de Paul Middletown, joins us to share some insights on how best to work with client advocates to help them prepare for Advocacy Days.

If you just have 10 Minutes, click here to watch Lydia’s presentation on “Sharing the Lived Experience Story Effectively”.

For your convenience, we have also attached a link to the PDF of the webinar in your CAN-specific link above.

7. Stay after to drop off leave-behind materials 

Remember to leave yourself plenty of time after your session to drop off folders for legislators who are unable to attend Advocacy Days. CCEH and Partnership for Strong Community Staff will be on hand to assist and will accompany you as you drop off these materials.

 

As always, please feel free to forward all of this information onto your CAN. If there is anything we can do to help, please let us know. We are happy to assist in anyway as you prepare for Advocacy Days.

Contact Sarah Fox (sfox@cceh.org) and Liz Roberts (Liz@pschousing.org) if you have any questions or concerns.