advocacy all-staff

i must say, i really enjoyed the opportunity to discuss such important issues with almost the entire staff yesterday! thanks again for all the great participation, it would have been a flop without it :-)

i wanted to share the great suggestions we got yesterday and also, to encourage people with other suggestions to add their comments here. we're looking forward to hearing from you.

advocacy suggestions:

1) look into the differences between our housing programs and whether or not they accept people on methadone

2) look into recycling programs

3) have potluck all-staff meetings from 11am - 3pm

4) TANF (Temporary Assistance for Needy Families) has not changed the amount of assistance they provide for families in 11 years. can we look into it?

5) start a loan program that will fund loans at no interest with a low payment plan. we could use some of the lottery money for this cause! :-)

6) can the advocacy team send out emails to staff or post info on the blog about issues that we can call our legislators about? i.e. issues that pertain to our mission, homelessness, etc.

7) we need more women's shelters in tucson.

8) at each all-staff, let one or two programs talk about what we do and have time open for questions.

9) i would like to send emails to legislators, but i don't know what to say. if a pre-formatted letter was sent to our staff, to me, i can review it and send it in if i support it! i could also send it to friends , contacts, and family.

10) i would like to see more all-staff meetings, this was great!

11)veterans are in need of more advocacy. the current war has created a back log with V.A. a large percentage of primavera clients are veterans in need!

aren't these great? i am so glad to have heard from so many people after our meeting and i hope that we can keep up this type of communication! remember, if you want to join the advocacy team, just let me know :-)