Advocacy Program

We seek to express our solidarity with those who lack the basic necessities of life, and build a society that promotes hope, health, and human dignity for all people. At St. Anthony Foundation we see the number or poor and homeless grow year by year.  As we continue our commitment to help the poor to meet their basic needs, it becomes increasingly clear that we must work for social justice by addressing the social, spiritual and political causes of poverty through advocacy.

What is advocacy?

Advocacy is the act of speaking up on your own or someone else’s behalf. Advocacy at St. Anthony Foundation centers around four main issue areas: Housing/Homelessness, Health Care, Hunger, and Work & Income. 

Who participates in advocacy?

St. Anthony Foundation goals include an advocacy role for our clients, guests, and residents, as well as staff, donors, and volunteers.  Advocacy enables individuals and groups to bring awareness to the abuses to which they are subjected, and to correct the situations that afflict injustice. Advocacy may include education, addressing a need for public policy reforms, and participating in nonviolent civil disobedience.

St. Anthony Foundation's role as an advocate also includes stimulating social awareness, not only among those who perceive themselves to be subjects of injustice, but also among those who are uncertain of their role in social responsibility.

How does St. Anthony Foundation do advocacy?

St. Anthony Foundation’s advocacy activities include:

• Issue Education: St. Anthony Foundation works with staff, volunteers, and guests to identify and understand social justice issues affecting the St. Anthony Foundation community.
• Voter Registration and Education: St. Anthony Foundation conducts non-partisan voter registration activities and facilitates non-partisan voter education activities for our staff, volunteers, and guests.
• Action Days & Legislative Visits: St. Anthony Foundation staff, volunteers, and guests participate in legislative advocacy at the federal, state, and city government levels.  In the past, we have opposed budget cuts to essential social services, have advocated for improvements in the food stamp program, and have rallied against cuts to low-income housing programs.
• Advocacy Trainings: Through skills-building sessions, St. Anthony Foundation staff, volunteers, and guests learn how to use their experiences to advocate for change.
• Letter Writing Campaign: Writing a letter to an elected official is one of the most powerful means of influencing the public policies that affect our guests, residents and clients.  St. Anthony Foundation conducts a Letter-writing Campaign with employees, volunteers, and other friends of the Foundation. When an advocacy issue comes to our attention, we generate letters to public officials and forward them to members of the Letter Writing Campaign.