One of our policy priorities, a bill to maintain document recording fee funding for programs that are ending homelessness, had a wild ride in the legislature this year. Advocacy, both online and in-person, kept pressure on lawmakers to ensure that important services like domestic violence shelters could stay open. Here’s a look at some of the tweets, blog posts, photos, news stories and Facebook updates that made a difference.
Featured
Photo Booth Advocacy: Nine Tips for Picturing Success
Followers of this blog have heard about the success and fun we had with our photo booth at this year's Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Day. In Olympia, we had the privilege of inviting committed housing advocates to pose for a picture displaying an advocacy message of their choice. At the same time, Seattle University student Tiana Quitugua was hosting her own photo booth on campus. She was not only asking her peers to pose for a photo, but also providing information about housing and homelessness that was new to some students. Tiana was kind to share some insights from her experience. Read on for great tips and fun photos!
Spark Change Podcast Episode 5: Unselfies and Photo Booths
“Unselfies” and photo booths make advocacy fun! We’ve seen an explosion of selfies, or self-portraits, as camera phones have become ubiquitous and people want to share photos of themselves on networks like Facebook and Instagram. Now, nonprofits have flipped the term and asked people to share unselfies -- photos of themselves advocating for a cause. In today’s Spark Change Podcast, we share our experiences with unselfies, as well as photo booths for advocacy.
Announcing the Spark Change Essay Contest for High School Students
High school students have a lot at stake in the journey to end homelessness. We want to share their voices. Encourage the high school students in your life to write and submit an essay about homelessness to the Spark Change Essay Contest. We'll post winning essays on the Firesteel blog!
Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Day in Pictures
Housing and Homelessness Advocacy Day was a great opportunity to let our friends, family and other online contacts know about our advocacy efforts and encourage them to join us. To make online advocacy easy and fun, Firesteel set up a photo booth, complete with pre-made signs, dry-erase boards for those who wanted to write their own messages, and props. Hundreds of advocates took pictures, which were shared on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram and a slew of websites. Check out some of our favorite shots!