Youth United Advocacy

What is advocacy?
Habitat for Humanity defines advocacy as changing systems, policies and attitudes to achieve decent housing for all.

While raising public awareness about poverty housing issues is an important step in the process, great advocacy campaigns ask for action to help change the systems that lead to poverty housing.

Here are just a few ways that Habitat if advocating now:

Build Louder
Focuses on changing U.S. policies surrounding neighborhood revitalization and secure tenure to improve access to adequate and affordable housing around the world.

Neighborhood revitalization refers to Habitat for Humanity’s initiative to turn neighborhoods around through partnering with families, mobilizing volutneers and fixing homes. Habitat seeks to revitalize neighborhoods and to create resilient communities across the country, in part through leveraging U.S. government programs and resources. To learn more, click here.

World Habitat Day
The United Nations has designated the first Monday of every October as World Habitat Day, a day to reflect on and call attention to the state of human settlements and the basic right to adequate shelter. This is an excellant time to remind your local community and legislators about Habitat’s work toward ending poverty housing both in your community and abroad. Habitat provides toolkits and materials to help your group get involved. For more information, click here.

Act! Speak! Build! Week
Act! Speak! Build! Week are student-initiated weeks of advocacy on behalf of Habitat for Humanity and housing issues. Though Habitat encourages students to hold Act! Speak! Build! Week adound World Habitat Day, it can occur any time throughout the year. This event empowers young peoplw, ages 5 – 25, to educate themselves and their communitutes and move people to social action. To learn more, click here.

Habitat on the Hill
Habitat’s Government Relations and Advocacy Office runs a annual, national Habitat on the Hill conference. For more information and conference dates, click here.

Student Advocacy
A few dedicated youths can inspire others in the community to embrace Habitat’s mission. Youth people around the country are advocating to put poverty housing on the hearts and minds of all people, including our legislators. Get involved!
Habitat student advocates, like all of Habitat supporters, are:
> Working to raise public awareness of poverty and substandard housing.
> Garnering support for efforts to address these issues.
> Facilitating progress toward the goal of eliminating substandard housing.

Advocacy as a Campus Chapter or Youth United function
Advocacy should and can be incorporated into the vision and activities of every campus chapter or Youth United group. Youth participation in advocacy can aid in Habitat’s mission of eliminating povery worldwide, and meaningfully educate and engage youths who are too young to work at a build site.