“Advocacy,” by Shirley Soleil
Written by admin2 on February 13th, 2009Filed under: Uncategorized
According to the Oxford dictionary, advocacy is “the act of promoting or defending a cause by argument” or speaking up for another who cannot speak up for himself.
People respond negatively to the word “advocacy,” thinking it means activism or lobbyism. Although advocacy, activism and lobbyism are on a spectrum, there are differences. Advocacy begins with an individual and moves to a group. Advocates bring awareness through education to people’s needs. Activists try to bring about change by building on this awareness and education. Lobbying is the attempt to influence legislation in favor of some interest. I am an advocate who does the work of an activist in some situations.
I speak to hundreds of people across Canada. When I meet a new person, he is encouraged to tell his particular story. Oftentimes, it’s the first time the person receives the full attention needed to talk about his situation. At some point in the conversation I ask, “What are you doing to move towards a better quality of life?” The objective is to figure out the changes necessary to have a better quality of life. It does not mean fixing everything. It means taking small steps in regaining control of aspects of one’s life.
My workshops are centered on self-advocacy. The issues the person struggles with are usually non-validation and lack of practical resources that would make life easier. Eventually, a lack of self worth stops the individual from moving forward. I help people focus on specific issues they need to change in order to have a better quality of life.
A self-advocate is one who sees himself as deserving and is determined to speak up for himself. In other words, a good self-advocate has good self-esteem. An effective self-advocate recognizes the best time to make his request and/or determine if the other person understands the need and suggests solutions. Good self-advocacy empowers people and allows them access to reasonable accommodations and strategies. An assertive person makes a good self-advocate. A natural offshoot of speaking up for oneself is to speak up for others.
Right now, I am pursuing ways to give the homeless in our area the opportunities to regain human dignity; their rights have been taken away. People don’t even notice or want to know why people live on the streets. They like to think it is because people like to live on the streets. Would you like to be homeless? No? Neither do they.
There are as many reasons as people on the street to explain homelessness. For example, many employees become disabled on the job, due to poor implementation of safety regulations. They lose their pensions because regulations have changed so fewer people qualify. There are many homeless people with mental illness. The closing down of mental treatment facilities has forced many onto the streets.
What upsets me the most is the ruling that a person needs a fixed address to qualify for assistance from Community Services. They cannot even get food from Food Banks without a fixed address. The argument is people can travel from other parts of the province and receive money and/or food needed by those living in the area. No one seems to realize that homeless people are the neediest and require help in fixing this problem.
I am trying to formulate a plan around the use of addresses used by churches and community groups like the Lions for the homeless. In an area like Kentville, Nova Scotia, why can’t the local Community Services office be considered the fixed address?
People who are provided food and financial help can use their energy to meet needs that prevent them from regaining their basic human rights. For example, the provincial drug plan can help people who cannot afford the medications necessary for regaining health. The Community Learning Center and Work Activity Center help people gain the education and job skills required to earn a living. Even a minimum wage job can help someone get off the street. It takes one step at a time to move from homelessness to a home.
Advocacy means helping people help themselves!
Some “Sunny” Afterthoughts:
The newest four-letter word is advocacy. The government of Canada generally rejects proposals presented by groups stating the work they do is advocacy. Bizarre you say. Yes, indeed! Every group formed to assist people in dealing with issues ranging from learning disabilities to physical disabilities is doing advocacy. My own non-profit group, the Invisible Disabilities Association of Canada (IDA Can) is one of them.
There is also a resistance on the part of the public to help groups like IDA Can when told we do advocacy work. When I ask the reason for this it comes down to confusion about the meaning of the word advocacy.
Shirley “Sunny” Soleil is a Nova Scotia-based counsellor, public speaker, and writer who copes with Chronic Fatigue Syndrome, Fibromyalgia and Environmental Sensitivities. She was the 2006-2007 recipient of Canada’s Centennial Flame Research Award. She can be reached by email at idacan@ns.sympatico.ca. To learn more about the Invisible Disabilities Association of Canada visit http://www.nsnet.org/idacan. Shirley’s consulting business can be found at http://www.shirleyandyou.com.
