Promoting Advocacy
To learn more about how student shelters can implement an advocacy program, I decided to reach out to Y2Y Harvard Square, which is another student-run shelter in Cambridge. Y2Y Harvard Square was founded by two former HSHS directors who were passionate about establishing a youth shelter in the community. When it was founded in 2015, it was based on the HSHS shelter model but over the past three years ago, Y2Y has developed its own unique model and initiatives. One major difference between HSHS and Y2Y is that Y2Y has an advocacy program led by two student directors. The mission of their Advocacy program is “…to inform public understanding to promote policy decisions that direct increased attention and resources toward [young adult homelessness].” I am grateful to have had the opportunity to sit down with one of the directors of this program to better understand how their model can be adopted by other programs, especially shelters. There were two main goals that the student Advocacy director described for the program. The first goal is to promote community engagement by increasing awareness about what youth homelessness entails. The second goal of the Advocacy program is to promote self-advocacy. This mission focuses on finding spaces for guests to share their stories as a way of strengthening their sense internal drive. The Advocacy directors and the students involved in these initiatives want the narratives to be directly from the guests they work with because the ultimate goal of the program is to for guests to be able to have a social impact in a way that helps them and others exit homelessness.
One of the ways that the Advocacy program at Y2Y Harvard Square achieves these goals is by participating in legislative advocacy. On Legislative Action Day, Y2Y advocates joined the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless, as well as other supporting organizations, to speak up against policies that prevent people from exiting homelessness. This past year, a major topic discussed with state legislators was the importance of supporting investments in housing initiatives, such as emergency shelters, homelessness prevention, income support programs, etc. (mahomeless.org). Y2Y advocates also brought some of the young adults staying at their shelter so that these individuals could share their legislative priorities as citizens of our Cambridge and Greater Boston communities. Y2Y also sponsors a housing awareness week alongside PBHA, HSHS, and Habitat for Humanity. This awareness campaign is a great way to inform students about the issues surrounding homelessness and to increase community engagement in discussion and efforts to fight this issue. One event that was a part of this awareness campaign was a phonebank for legislative housing advocacy; students called legislators to vocalize their support for policies and initiatives that would increase the availability of affordable housing in Boston. In all their efforts, Y2Y advocates aim to reflect the experiences of their guests and to provide opportunities for their guests to convey their own stories directly.
Based on my research on the Y2Y Harvard Square Advocacy program, there are a few recommendations that I would suggest to HSHS with respect to introducing an advocacy program of their own. (1) The first suggestion is to develop an aspect of the program that focuses on legislative advocacy. More largescale events like Legislation Action Day are great opportunities for influencing policy but there are also other ways that students can affect policy. Since the event mentioned previously is once a year, students can do directly lobbying more frequently. As a part of legislative advocacy initiatives, students can look into current policies and bills being considered; they can draft letters and reach out to legislators to share their views and urge them to vote in favor of initiatives that will address the issue of homelessness. These kinds of efforts will help students be active agents of change in the community and will increase their own awareness about how to fight homelessness from the service and policy approach.
(2) The second recommendation is for students to use their privilege and platforms to give a voice to their guests. One idea that the Y2Y Advocacy director kept emphasizing was the power of storytelling. “Advocacy should be done by the people who are affected the most. People with power should open up spaces that should be filled with the people who are affected. This allows a greater amount of change to happen because it will allow more diverse narratives to enter the public consciousness and therefore breaking stereotypes that already exist. This begins the destigmatizing process.” With social media and other technological advances, there are many potential ways to share the stories and experiences of people whose voice isn’t heard. From Sociology 130, we have learned the importance about being active in telling our own personal stories instead of giving others a chance to narrate for us. This will be especially important since as student advocates, most of us don’t know what it’s like to experience homelessness so having our guests share their own stories can be powerful way to motivate people to act.
(3) The third recommendation would be for the advocacy program to partner with Harvard, PBHA, and the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless. These collaborations can be useful for organizing largescale awareness campaigns, similar to the housing awareness week that is sponsored by PBHA and the student shelters in Cambridge. Partnering with the Massachusetts Coalition for the Homeless can also be a great way to be more involved in legislative advocacy measures and lobbying efforts.
(4) The fourth recommendation is to have an intersectional advocacy agenda. The issue of homelessness is deeply connected to issues of education, incarceration, housing, poverty, race, and other major issues. The intersectionality of homelessness with other issues is most clearly evidenced by the fact that individuals experiencing homelessness face exclusion on various levels, whether in regard to race, disability, etc. Therefore, by supporting movements for some of these other issues, we can work to shift attitudes to promote rights and dignity for all. Addressing homelessness in an intersectional manner can also help to identify blind-spots and perceptions that people may have, intentionally or not. By helping people understand the issue of homelessness in a more comprehensive way, we can hope to increase awareness and spark constructive conversations about addressing this problem.
The Harvard Square Homeless Shelter is a wonderful program that has made incredible strides at providing emergency resources and support for individuals experiencing homelessness. In addition to its Resource Advocacy program, introducing an advocacy program that pursues legislative and policy initiatives through collaboration with local institutions and guests can be a powerful tool to expand the social impact that HSHS can have in the Cambridge community.
