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Here are some simple steps you can take to join with the millions still living in poverty in advocacy for change.
Spread the Word
Promote Justice-based Social Policies
Promote Understanding
SPREAD THE WORD: Begin by talking directly with poor and low-income people, especially those involved in self-help, community-based organizations (learn about groups in your local region.. Learning about their lives, the challenges they wrestle with, and the solutions they are working toward will strengthen any other advocacy you participate in. Share what you discover with those you know - and consider what more you can do to work with them.
Write a letter to your local newspaper, alerting the editors to the information you've learned about poverty, and what is being done to eliminate it. Refer to a related issue currently being discussed in your local newspaper or media, and include poverty statistics pertaining to your region or state.
Ask local reporters to cover the state of poverty in your community and the positive steps being taken to help those in need. Point them to the facts and figures contained in this Web site for background information.
Submit an article to the newsletter published by your church, synagogue, mosque or house of worship about poverty in your community, and about successful initiatives that are bringing long-term results. Learn more by reading about successful local efforts.
PROMOTE JUSTICE-BASED SOCIAL POLICIES: Follow local politics, and tell your local elected officials that you support policies aimed at permanent solutions to poverty in your community and your nation. Time and again, letter-writing campaigns have demonstrated that, when people combine their energies in a single purpose, the results are magnified.
Organize a letter writing campaign through your local faith community about an issue of local concern. If you volunteer or work with a charitable service organization, suggest that others who participate in that work get involved in advocacy on the issues that keep people trapped in a cycle of poverty.
Question candidates on their plans to address poverty in your state and nation, vote your conscience -- and hold politicians to their promises if elected.
Attend or help organize neighborhood meetings and public hearings and give testimony on programs and policies affecting low-income families in your community, sharing information you've learned about.PROMOTE UNDERSTANDING: Become a personal advocate for and with those living in poverty by developing more compassion in the way you talk to others about the reality of poverty in America. Such small changes, when multiplied, can lead to larger changes in the way society sees and treats people experiencing poverty.
Help those directly affected by proposed legislation to get involved. Through your local coalition, mobilize the very people experiencing poverty to contact officials at all levels of government. Volunteer to help with a registration drive in your local community.