Kirk McClain, Advocate

I received a grant from the Washington Low Income Housing Alliance that enabled me to attend the 2014 Conference on Ending Homelessness in Yakima, Washington. As a homeless person, I did not have the financial resources to attend on my own. So I was very excited when I received the acceptance email from the Housing Alliance.

The conference lasted two days, and I had the opportunity to attend six workshops. The two workshops most important to me were Lawmaker Engagement Strategies During The Legislative Interim and Housing & Essential Needs (HEN) Provider Discussion because they were directly related to where I am in life. The two major things I want to do right now are to obtain housing and learn how to become an advocate for homeless services and social safety net programs in the state legislature. My first experience with ever speaking to a lawmaker was a couple of years ago during a community listening session moderated by Kate Baber back when she was working at Seattle-based organization Statewide Poverty Action Network.

Kate now works for Washington Low Income Housing Alliance and was one of the presenters of the engaging lawmakers workshop. I mentioned my first experience with Poverty Action because that was really my first time advocating to a lawmaker. Although I felt really good about the experience, I also was left with a great desire to know how laws are made and how advocacy can affect change in what legislation becomes law. The workshop on engaging lawmakers really got into the details of how to advocate in Olympia and even in my own legislative district. For me, this is what having a voice is all about – learning how to communicate effectively with lawmakers. The two presenters Kate Baber and Michele Thomas spoke passionately and honestly. Both had a great deal of knowledge about topics like one-on-one meetings with legislators, how to organize a site visit, inviting lawmakers to fundraisers, and other events that can provide a great opportunity to build relationships.

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To me, learning how to advocate for the homeless in Olympia and applying that education to help homeless persons (myself included) are simply two points on a continuum that will eventually help me to find myself and to re-evaluate and rebuild my life. The conference helped me to see that the many service providers who work to assist the homeless are caring people who would do more if they could. I believe if we could get better laws passed to help homeless folks, more effective homelessness services would inevitably follow. Since attending the Conference on Ending Homeless, I feel more empowered to join with others who care enough to make the changes necessary to see more people find homes and get on the path to a stable and productive life.

Pictured (L to R): Emerging Advocates Program graduate Nick Maxwell and author Kirk McClain during one of the conference workshops.