| 1.
Identify youself
as a stakeholder
2.
Clearly state your
request - Ask your
legislator to support Rental
Assistance for Virginia’s
working poor.
3.
Give just one or two
reasons for your request.
Here are some ideas. Feel free
to use these, or mix them with
your own outlook and experience.
- Rental
Assistance is a proven,
effective, and cost-saving
program.
- Rental
Assistance will help assure
that people moving from
welfare to work also work
their way out of poverty and
homelessness.
- Rental
Assistance can keep a family
in independent housing for
about half the cost of
providing emergency shelter
for the same family.
- Support
for the working poor helps
local economies—families
use their savings to buy
food, clothing, and other
necessities.
- Children
in stable homes maintain
better school attendance,
perform better in schools,
are less likely to drop out
and are healthier than
children in shelters.
- Homeless
Virginians need your help.
Rental Assistance meets
immediate basic human needs.
4. Close
Restate your request for action.
Include
your name and address on your
message as well as on the
envelope, to show letters are
coming from all areas of
Virginia
|
Dear
Senator (or Delegate) _______:
As
a resident of ____ and one of
your constituents, I am writing
to request your support for
Rental Assistance for
Virginia’s working poor.
Time limited Rental Assistance
will help low income working
Virginians fill the gap between
their income and housing costs.
Rental Assistance can be
provided for about half the cost
of providing emergency shelter.
Rental
Assistance is a proven,
effective, and cost-saving
program. Rental Assistance
upholds the promise of work, and
will help women transition from
welfare to work, and low-income
workers moving from shelter to
home. Housing stability
supports family stability--and a
stable home helps children
achieve in school and parents
advance at work.
Rental
Assistance also supports local
economies, as working families
buy the things they need to
survive and thrive.
I
hope that I can count on your
support for Rental Assistance.
I look forward to hearing about
your position and your vote.
Sincerely,
_____________
(your
name and address)
|
|
Legislators
do not respond to form letters,
so take a moment and make this
letter your own. To
contact the Governor
write:
The
Honorable Timothy M. Kaine
The Governor’s Office
P.O. Box 1475
Richmond, VA 23218
|
Legislative
Advocacy in 3 minutes or less:
Rental Assistance