What My First Advocacy Day Meant to Me

Chris-Hectic!

If I had to explain my first advocacy day in one word, it would be: Hectic. But, hectic for such an amazing purpose. Oh sure, we were staring at our watches shoveling food in our mouths at lunch while calculating whether we would be able to get to our next appointment in time. But we were stressing and worrying about all of these things because we want to make our case, advocate, for better health care coverage for injured veterans, better opportunities for low to mid-level income families to adopt, better awareness and education for everyone in the US through the CDC National Action Plan. To be hustling about the capitol with this purpose, it was truly an honor.

Let’s talk about who I shared the honor with though. How ‘bout 200+ advocates! Yep, I was by no means alone. The Virginia delegates alone were 25 strong.

(The Virginia Delegation outside of Senator Mark Warner’s office)

 

(Deep in conversation with Tim Kaine’s Office)

There were advocates from 26 states. We had advocacy letters from people that would not be able to attend from all 50 states. There was an estimate that approximately 4,000 letters were delivered to Congress. On top of that, there was a campaign for people to call their congressional leaders on Advocacy Day to ask for their support.   We leveraged every opportunity available. Beyond the number of people though, each person brought their story and their perspective. We were honored by the presence of several wounded veterans who received RESOLVE Hero Awards the night before Advocacy Day. They discussed how war introduced upheaval into their lives: physically, mentally, financially, emotionally. How these brave warriors returned to the US and, after extensive recovery, started down the path to having a family only to learn that they would not receive any support from the VA. “You served your country, nearly lost your life, suffered physical injuries that would make starting a family in a traditional sense impossible … and we aren’t going to help you out with that.” Seems like the wrong message to give to our veterans. Correcting this message was the focus of several of the bills that we were advocating for.

What was the schedule like Chris? Well, thank you for asking. Here is the run-down: Tuesday night-reception with Hero awards given out and motivational speeches. One of these speeches was given by our own effervescent Candace (Co-Vice-Chair for Advocacy Day). She practiced this speech over and over again and I can say with all honesty, she never gave it better than on Tuesday Night! I was very proud of her and could see the impact it had on the audience.

 

Engines revving, Wednesday morning started with training. We learned why what we were saying was important, how to deliver it, who to deliver our message to. Oh, and there was a little, no big deal thing, that involved Representative Tammy Duckworth talking about her story and her support of what we were doing. If you are not familiar with Representative Duckworth, check this out. She is a war veteran who served her country bravely and passionately and has retained that passion on the Capitol. An example of this was when she went on stage to give her remarks. There was some activity to lower the microphone so she could talk while sitting. She pushed the folks aside and stood up (on a single artificial leg since her war injuries included losing both of her own) and gave a 20+ minute speech on why we were there.

Compliments of Keiko Zoll from The Infertility Voice ( a fiery advocate and ridiculously talented in all facets of her life) :

 

If our engines were revved from Tuesday night, they were red-lining now. After morning training, we descended on Capitol Hill. An infertile locust swarm. Actually as we were walking from one meeting to the next, a passerby remarked that she had seen orange ribbons all over the place and wondered what they represented. That’s impact my friends.

There are a few things that I took from my first advocacy day experience:

1) What we did was important.

2) I need to learn more about how Congress works … what the eff is a CBO score? I got asked that in every meeting.

3) Advocacy Day was not really a stand-alone event.

Instead this was an activity for what could be considered the Advocacy Continuum. That is to say, we made promises during our meetings to follow up with our congressional representatives and their staffers. Now we need to be true to our promise and make sure they are true to their promises to review the bills that we advocated for and support what aligns with their agendas and the agenda of their constituents (us).

That being said, there is a lot I need to do, a lot that Candace needs to do, and a lot that you can do to keep the momentum going. Maybe I should motivate you for a second? Ready? Although we cannot say that it is entirely as a result of our Advocacy Day, as of tonight (approximately 52 hours after the last Advocacy Day appointments) already several congressional members have co-sponsored at least one of the bills we advocated for! That’s fast! Now that you are properly motivated, what are you going to do with all of that energy? You can call your representatives and ask them to support these bills if they agree with your beliefs and perspectives. To find out who your representatives are and how to contact them, click these links to find your Senators and your House Representative. Here were the bills that we advocated for:

S 469 and HR 3365: Women Veterans and Families Health Services Act

HR 4892: Bill to Pay Special Compensation to Certain Veterans with the Loss or Loss of Use of Creative Organs

S 950 and HR 2434: The Adoption Tax Credit Refundability Act

Advance of the CDC National Action Plan for Infertility

Support the Veterans Amendment to the Senate Mil-Con Bill

Screech … if you are reading this blog shortly after it was posted (May 15, 2016) we NEED your help! Here is how you can advocate for our injured veterans in a very real and tangible way.

WE NEED YOU- This amendment is a part of the OMNIBUS Mil-Con Bill that will be voted on next week. For more information on how to find  your senators and call/e-mail their office to ask them to support this amendment, here is where you can find your member of Congress.   You can ask them to support all of the items above, but specifically ask for them to support this effort.

So, to sum up a blog that is already too long. I was involved in my first Advocacy Day. It kicked ass. My fellow advocates kicked ass. It was an honor to be a part of this activity. I will be back next year.

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