Members help community residents understand and exercise their civic rights
When proposed cuts to the Ohio state budget threatened to eliminate funding for Help Me Grow, a successful statewide child development program, staff at Alliance for Children and Families member Personal and Family Counseling Services (PFCS), New Philadelphia, Ohio, turned to those who could best convey the impact of losing the program: the families it served.
Marilyn Henry, president and CEO of PFCS, and Lisa Crites, PFCS’ project director for Help Me Grow–Tuscarawas County, asked the families to write letters to their state legislators explaining how the program helped them and why it should continue to be funded.
The response, according to Henry and Crites, was overwhelming. Many Help Me Grow families provided handwritten letters; some even accompanied by photos of their children. Several families also called their legislators and attended a rally at the state capitol, where they met with legislators and shared their experiences with the program.
The powerful testimony of these families was undoubtedly a major factor in legislators’ decision to maintain full funding for Help Me Grow—the only state social services program for which funding was not cut.
Civic Participation Empowers Youth
Another Alliance member, Methodist Youth Services (MYS), Chicago, specifically targets its civic participation efforts at young people leaving the child welfare or juvenile justice systems. The organization’s civic engagement work is designed to empower these young people so that they reach their full potential as adults.
MYS’ program initially developed out of the young people’s interest in learning how they could create social change to improve their own lives. In June 2009, MYS received a New Voices at the Civic Table grant from the Alliance’s civic engagement program, which provided $5,600 to support the organization’s efforts.
The grant enables MYS to empower youth by educating them about political advocacy, voting, and the importance of community service. Participants recently took a trip to the Illinois state capitol to learn about government firsthand.
MYS, which currently has about 150 participants in its civic engagement program, is seeking additional funding to support the future events. Potential activities include social and educational events related to the midterm elections, as well as a get-out-the-vote website, which has received technical support from the Alliance’s civic engagement program.
Toleda Hart, president and CEO of MYS, is emphatic about the importance of engaging young people in the civic process in order to empower them to live independently. “It helps them to become the best people they can be,” she says. “Participating in these activities improves their chances of leading successful lives independent from state support.”
Many Ways to Be Engaged
Teaching people how to use advocacy to influence public policy, as PFCS did with the Help Me Grow families, and encouraging residents to be more aware of their power to create social changes, which MYS is doing with youth, are just two ways for nonprofit human service organizations to involve their constituents in civic life, says Linda Nguyen, director of civic engagement for the Alliance.
Other options include election- and voting-related activities, or hosting and encouraging participation in public meetings and rallies. Efforts need not be complicated, Nguyen says; successful civic engagement activities are anything that help people understand their civic rights and put them to use.
“Helping community members understand and exercise their rights is especially critical given the volatility within politics today,” she adds. “The upcoming midterm elections for key seats in the Senate and House of Representatives, as well as for various state and local offices, will have significant implications on policy impacting low-income Americans and the human services field. It’s important for organizations to ensure their clients and community members understand how to participate in the political process, and also how the political process impacts them.”
Crites agrees. “The populations that nonprofits serve typically don’t have an audible voice in the policy and funding processes,” she says. “Nonprofits have an obligation to engage their constituents and help give them a voice.”
One Step at a Time
Nguyen believes it’s important for nonprofit organizations to make civic engagement a priority, and election-related activities are an easy, low-cost way to get started.
“Nonprofits serve some of the most disenfranchised, marginalized, and overlooked groups,” she says. “This is part of the work organizations can and should be doing if they’re true to their missions.”
The prospect of introducing a civic engagement initiative can be daunting, especially for nonprofit organizations, whose resources often are already stretched thin.
Nguyen advises organizations not to think of civic engagement in terms of starting a new program.
“Think of it as, ‘How do I gradually incorporate civic engagement values into my existing work?’ Maybe it’s adding a question during intake to see if new clients are registered to vote, and then providing them with the opportunity to register if they so desire. Or, you could put a suggestion box in a community area and encourage clients to respond to the question, “What issues do you care about?’”
Crites adds, “Don’t think you have to take on the whole world at the start. One small thing makes a ripple and it has an effect.”
PFCS, for example, started doing voter registration efforts several years ago. What started as a relatively small initiative has grown into more robust and sophisticated efforts to organize groups of people, including the Help Me Grow families. This has allowed PFCS to direct the organization’s energy to areas that will yield the greatest impact.
“All citizens have rights that they can and should exercise to influence public policy,” Nguyen says. “Alliance and United Neighborhood Centers of America members have a role to play in helping citizens leverage their voices in ways that can benefit local families and the community.”
Learn more about Personal and Family Counseling Services and Methodist Youth Services by visiting their websites.
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