Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Day

Housing & Homelessness Advocacy Express Bus for Feb. 2!

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Housing & Homelessness Advocacy Day 2017 is Thursday February 2nd! Ride down to Olympia in style on the Coalition’s Advocacy Express! We’ll have 70 seats total on two buses and priority registration for the bus is offered to Coalition members, staff, and clients/guests/members. Our voices are needed in Olympia now like never before! This is a “long” session year – the session officially started on Monday, January 9, and is scheduled to run through April (though very likely there will be at least one special session after). We want to have as many Coalition members and participants as possible sharing their real experiences with lawmakers in Olympia at HHAD. To sign up for a spot on the bus for you and others, email your contact info and group size to denise@homelessinfo.org or call (206)-204-8350 by Wednesday, January 25th! Seats fill up fast! Priority is given to staff of Coalition member organizations and individuals with personal experiences of homelessness. Click here for a PDF poster to share. Attending HHAD is a great opportunity for folks who have never been to Olympia before to join. We’ll share advocacy tips and what to expect on the bus, and the beginning of the day is full of workshops that can help people prepare. This will be a powerful experience whether it is your first advocacy day or if you’ve been too many times to count. Coalition staff, and friendly folks at HHAD will help make everyone’s experience as fantastic as possible! Make sure to also register for Housing & Homelessness Advocacy Day at www.wliha.org/HHAD  

Reflections on a rousing 2015 Housing & Homelessness Advocacy Day!

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On February 17, 2015, 650 of our closest friends and allies from all across the state of Washington gathered in Olympia at Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Day to speak up for affordable housing and an end to homelessness. Driven by an enthusiastic and cheerful bus driver, we headed to Olympia at 7:15 a.m. with 30 Coalition members and friends –  service providers, clients, residents, guests, and others. For some, it was their first time to Olympia and an introduction to advocacy in action. Others were veterans of HHAD. Everyone on the Advocacy Express bus was rearin’ and ready to make a difference, and that they did! The Coalition’s Advocacy Express bus rolled up right on time to the morning activities, and found inspiration from the first of many speakers that day. Housing Alliance staff, State legislators, and superstar Real Change vendor Pam Russell all spoke how POWERFUL we housing advocates are when we speak up and act together. It’s because of our collective action and advocacy that the Document Recording Fee bill came back from the dead last session, remember! Our rally at the Capitol steps was a sight to be seen (and heard!). We were inspired by the voices around us. People who have experienced homelessness personally, service providers, representatives from advocacy organizations, students, community members, and people from all walks of life from all over the state were represented as we chanted from the steps through the buildings of the Capitol: “When they say ‘cutback’ we say fightback!” “Get up, get down, there’s a housing crisis in this town.” We were a sea of 650 people wearing red scarves, red shirts, red hats, and many people wore our One Night Count ‘3772’ and Student Homelessness ‘32,494’ buttons. Even as folks dispersed into their legislative district groups, we were unified and unmistakable throughout the halls of the Capitol. Each button and …

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