Exciting New Advocacy Tool

by Jay K-C, Instructor -
Good morning,
Happy Friday! A few of us met yesterday to discuss creating story-sharing workshops for parents and providers. Our goal is to help providers who might be unsure of which aspects of their journey to share, making it easier for them to articulate their experiences and highlight systemic barriers. We came away with some fantastic ideas that we look forward to exploring soon.
In the meantime, I stumbled upon an incredible new app developed by a colleague that I think will be a powerful tool across all of our networks. It is called My Democracy. The tool is completely free to use (though the developer does accept donations) and entirely nonpartisan. It helps users easily locate their federal and state representatives and write to them in their own words.
The developer, Jared Busker, recorded a quick 5-minute walkthrough to show how it works, which I’ve attached here: MyDemocracy App Sample Please watch it! 
It is a fantastic tool. As you'll see in the video, the process is incredibly seamless. Users enter their address, select which representatives they want to connect with, select the issues they care about, and the app helps them transform those thoughts into a deeply personal message for each official, avoiding the feel of a generic form letter.
I wanted to share this with everyone as we continue our concerted effort to gather powerful stories. Jared also mentioned that he is currently building out a campaign function. In the future, we could launch a specific campaign, invite people to join, and provide pre-structured prompts to help participants write their stories. Those stories would then be funneled directly into our own data bank for future advocacy use.
There is so much potential here, and I'm very excited about how this can support our mission! I'll be sharing with my networks, and please share with yours. Have a wonderful weekend!
Blessings, 
 

Lela Gonzales, MSML  Project Coordinator

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Keeping Children Safe and Families Together 

The Children’s Cabinet
961 Matley Lane #110, Reno, NV 89502
Office: 775-391-5727
www.ChildrensCabinet.org

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My thoughts

by Thea Bueno -

I think a CHW can use their personal values to improve their work in multiple ways.  I think they can be empathetic and be an active listener which allows clients to feel heard and understood. It also allows the CHW to listen and not judge which is important in identifying barriers in care(like lack of food, and transportation).  

I think there are many instances where a CHW should put their personal values aside to best serve their clients.  I believe no matter what sexual orientation, gender identity, lifestyle, or cultural beliefs a client has we should be providing respectful, non judgmental care no matter what our differences are. 

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