Maybe you made a New Year’s resolution that 2016 will be the year you truly take action against sexual and domestic violence, because enough is enough! You’ll make time to volunteer, you’ll advocate for the issues that matter and you’ll do what you can to be a champion for survivors. Wish you knew where to start?
There’s so much important work to do in 2016 – how much time do you have?
If you have 6 hours:
1. Join Safe Harbor staff, interns and volunteers on the morning of Legislative Advocacy Day, Wednesday, Jan. 27! We’re organizing now to prepare, so sign up here to receive updates about Safe Harbor’s plans for the big day! You can view a general itinerary from the Action Alliance here.
2. Plan to meet with your representative about the issues. Once we know where the current session’s bills stand, Safe Harbor will organize advocate teams to speak with Henrico County representatives the morning of the 27th. See who your legislator is here and, if you like, you can plan to attend the afternoon sub-committee hearings (TBA).
If you only have 6 minutes:
3. Contact your representative directly! Look up who reps your district, write them a letter, send them an email or give them a call and share your ideas to address and prevent stalking, sexual and intimate partner violence in your community. No matter where you live, you can make yourself heard!
4. Sign up to receive updates on the major bills. With help from the Action Alliance, we’re staying tuned to learn what bills are up this session and how they could impact our work to prevent sexual and domestic violence. Sign up and we’ll keep you posted as soon as we learn more!
5. Ask a friend to take action with you. Do you have a family member, teammate, coworker or friend from church who wants to get involved? Here’s your chance to do something together for the good of your community, so how can you double your impact?
6. Spread the word! Talk to others about the issues and why they matter. Better yet, tell them what they can do to address sexual and intimate partner violence in our community, and why they matter to our movement! And don’t forget how many people you can reach through your social media – share a Facebook post from Safe Harbor on your timeline, encourage your friends to stay informed, and share content that helps others understand the issues.
See? No matter how squeezed you are for time right now, you can get your resolution off to a great start in January by taking action on Legislative Advocacy Day. There are lots of details still to come, so stay tuned and we’ll keep you updated through email.