Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Day (HHAD) in Washington State has two important objectives: 1) to bring new advocates into the fold, show legislators and the media that many people care about the issues of housing and homelessness, and generally make a visual impact with sheer numbers of people; and 2) to actually meet with legislators and talk to them in depth about the policy changes that will make a difference to low-income and homeless people. Local agency representatives from Washington Low Income Housing Alliance (WLIHA), Washington State Coalition for the Homeless (WSCH), the Committee to End Homelessness (CEH), Spokane Low Income Housing Consortium (SLIHC), Multi-Service Center, the Tenant's Union, and Building Changes got together yesterday (November 20^th) to kick off planning for Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Day, an event that in 2008 brought over 500 volunteers and advocates from all over the state to Olympia.

To address the first objective, the planning group is currently in the recruitment phase, meaning that we'll be talking to friends, colleagues, and particularly folks we know who have been homeless or at risk of being homeless, and assessing interest in and barriers to attending Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Day 2009 on February 24^th. The group discussed at length transportation options that might be available for getting low-income people to the Capitol, including rental vans, trains, and carpooling options. Housing advocate Nancy Amidei, who has trained thousands of people on how to effectively advocate for policy change, suggested that WLIHA hold a contest among agencies to reward organizations with the most consumers and/or board members participating in the day-long advocacy, training, and workshop events included in HHAD. The more people from different walks of life that can be present, the bigger impact the day will have.

In accomplishing the second objective, it will first be essential to ascertain which legislators are on which committees. This information won't be available until after the first week of December (known at the Capitol as "Committee Week"), after which the HHAD planning group will meet again and begin nailing down solid meeting times with key legislators. The idea was also brought forth that legislator meetings could potentially be held via conference call, with constituents in the appropriate legislative districts calling in as a group to participate in a scheduled meeting. Other ideas are in development about how to use technology (streaming video, virtual "briefing rooms", etc.) to make this event as rich and memorable as we can.

Listen to Charlie Corrigan, Community Planner at Building Changes, talk about the importance of Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Day:

Stay tuned for more details on Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Day 2009!