Home > 2008-10 Policy Priorities > How Can You Help Move Wisconsin's Familes Forward?

How Can You Help Move Wisconsin's Families Forward?

Advocacy simply means speaking up, so that our vision of what “should be” can become reality. Advocacy takes lots of shapes. Below are some easy ways you can help turn our policy priorities into reality for Wisconsin’s kids and families:

1. Sign up for the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families’ action alerts or e-newsletters.

Subscribing to our various email lists can help keep you up to date on legislation and budget items related to these advocacy priorities. You’ll get easy-to-digest and timely information, talking points, links to more resources, and ways to contact your legislators easily. You’ll also be invited to informational sessions and advocacy trainings in your part of the state. Sign up at http://capwiz.com/wccf/mlm/signup/ or by clicking on the “Take Action” link at the top of this page.

2. Contact your legislators and the Governor and urge them to support policies that move all Wisconsin families forward.

Pick the one or two issues that are most important to you and make sure your elected officials know that you care about them. Speak from your heart and express why those priorities matter to you, your community, and/or the families you work with. You can email the Governor at www.wisgov.state.wi.us or call him at (608) 266-1212. To find out who your legislators are and get their contact information, visit www.legis.state.wi.us or call the toll-free legislative hotline at 1-800-362-9472.

3. Take one step forward in your advocacy!

Advocacy can be seen as a spectrum of activities, ranging from donating time or money to local social service organizations to writing a letter to the editor about a policy issue to speaking at a local hearing or meeting with legislators.

All forms of advocacy are valuable, but this year, WCCF challenges you to take just one step forward along that spectrum.  For example, if you have volunteered at a food pantry for years, what if this year you wrote just one letter to the editor of your local paper describing what hunger looks like in your community? That would be one step forward in your advocacy. Or what if you showed up at a local candidate forum and asked candidates what they would do about hunger? Or wrote a simple email to your elected officials describing what you see at the local food pantry and urging them to support policy solutions that address hunger in our state? Or encouraged just five of your friends, colleagues, neighbors or clients to join you in sending that simple email? Or attended a WCCF-sponsored advocacy training?