Join Us to Advocate for Parents and Children!
Families Forward Virginia Is Organizing Two...
... in-person advocacy days this year at the YWCA of Richmond located at 6 N. 5th Street, Richmond, Va. 23219. This is a five-block walk to the Pocahontas Building where the Va. General Assembly meets.
Thursday, January 19th - Home Visiting Day! Register here!
Thursday, February 2nd - Child Abuse Prevention Day! Register here!
We'll be providing $300 stipends to attend either advocacy day for parents who are served by our home visiting or child abuse prevention programs.
Paid parking is plentiful near the YWCA:
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A large public parking lot at the corner of 5th and E. Cary streets
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A parking deck on 5th Street across from the YWCA
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A parking lot at 4th and E. Franklin streets
You can find more parking options on this map.
You can look up who your State Senator and Delegate are here.
This website is an easy way to look up a map for where your Delegate's office is located.
For more tips and information on how to talk with your legislator, visit this resource from our friends at Voices for Virginia's Children.
You can get updates on advocacy by following our Policy Director on Twitter!
Scenes from last year's advocacy days
What is Advocacy?
Advocacy is as basic as speaking on behalf of oneself or others to get something done. For example, as child advocates we seek to ensure that the children in our community have a voice and that their needs are met. This can mean speaking on behalf of children and families to your local community officials, your state-level elected officials, or your federal policy-makers.
Helpful resources include this Advocacy 101 Webinar and this Advocacy Guide.
Why Advocate for Families?
The most obvious reason to be a child and family advocate is that you care. You care about the children in our country and want them to be safe, healthy, and happy. It follows that you want to help ensure that local, state, and federal policy-makers adopt, implement, and maintain important policies and programs that support children families. In order to ensure that these policies and programs are maintained, it is critical to have a sustained vocal and noticeable presence at all levels of policy-making. You can be part of that presence; and therefore, you can be part of the effort to protect our nations children and families.
Decades of research have shown that the creation of positive childhood experiences can mitigate the effects of adversity.
While brain science has helped us understand how adverse childhood experiences cause toxic stress for children, which can lead to poor health outcomes, we also know that positive childhood experiences protect adult mental health and promote healing from toxic stress."