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Families Are PRIMARY
2009 Parent Advocacy Day, a great day for advocacy in NH!
On October 15, 2009 about 100 parent advocates joined us at the Legislative Office Building in Concord for a day of learning and an opportunity to build their skills to become a stronger advocate for their family and community.
The event included workshops on:
- health and well-being
- using your voice
- mental well-being
- dental health
- how to be an effective partner in your child's education
Parent Advocacy - 8 Very Good Reasons to Advocate for Your Family
What is Advocacy? According to Webster’s Dictionary, Advocacy is: Active support, as of a cause. An advocate is one who supports or defends a cause (an advocate of equal rights). One who pleads on anothers behalf.
Here are 8 Reasons to Advocate:
- You make a difference. It only takes one person to initiate change. Michelle’s Law. One mother fighting for her daughter’s right for health insurance.
- People working together can make a difference. Groups like Mothers Against Drunk Driving have come together and convinced dozens of states to toughen up on their drunk driving laws. Many people find healing from tragedy by telling their stories and working to prevent it from happening to others.
- People can change laws. Many of us think that ordinary individuals can’t make a difference. It is hard to change laws and policies. But it can be done. It has been done, over and over again in our history, in the face of great obstacles. Our history is full of
stories of people and groups that fought great odds to make great change a few examples are child labor laws, public schools and social security. These changes were not easy to achieve. It took thousands of people who felt something needed to be changed. - Advocating is a democratic tradition. The act of telling our policymakers how to write and change our laws is at the very heart of our democratic system.
- Advocacy helps find real solutions. People thinking creatively and asking their elected officials for support can generate innovative solutions that overcome the root-cause of a problem.
- Advocacy is easy. Many of us think that it is difficult to make change. But with a group of people committed to the same outcome, anything and everything, is possible. It is just a matter of learning how, when and where to get your voices heard.
- Policymakers need to hear from YOU. Few people are closer to the real problems than community groups. You see problems first hand. You know the needs. You see what works and what doesn’t. YOU can make problems real to policymakers. Your passion and perspectives need to be heard. Policymakers can learn from your stories.
- Advocating helps people. All the work that you put into your cause will pay off. The research, the strategy planning, the phone calls and the visits with the policymakers will help you fulfill your goal whether it is finding a new way of doing things or improving the system we already have. Through your advocacy work you could help yourself and those around you and could even help on a larger scale.
Parent Advocacy Resources throughout the State.
Here is a list of different programs throughout the state that can be easily accessed by the web.
American Friends Services Committee
Belknap County Citizens Council –Parents as Leaders in Society (P.A.L.S.)
Casey Family Services
Child and Family Services of NH
Children’s Alliance of NH
Directory NH
Early Learning NH
Every Child Matters
Families and Work Institute
Family Support NH
Kids Count
Million Mom March, NH Chapter
NH Citizens Alliance
NH Women’s Lobby
Parent Information Center
Parenting NH Magazine
Real Clout – the Public Policy Institute
Voices for America Children