Habitat’s online advocacy campaign bolsters post-disaster housing solutions

Habitat for Humanity’s Government Relations and Advocacy department in Washington, D.C., recently completed an online campaign that helped recruit more than 8,500 volunteers to advocate for post-disaster housing legislation in the United States Congress. In addition to its Gulf Coast rebuilding efforts, Habitat for Humanity has also striven to change government policy relating to housing needs for families that have been affected by disasters.

Habitat’s 8,500 new advocates used habitat.org to e-mail senators and encourage them to support legislation that would establish a National Commission on Children and Disasters. The commission would include a housing expert who could make recommendations to the president and Congress about post-disaster housing needs.

Sen. Christopher Dodd (D-Conn.) introduced the Senate legislation, while Rep. Corrine Brown (D-Fla.) introduced a companion bill in the House of Representatives on Sept 7. The bills both contain sections of Habitat-introduced language on shelter following disasters such as Hurricane Katrina.

Christopher Ptomey, Habitat’s congressional relations director, says the success of the online campaign will hopefully lead to similar advocacy recruiting drives in the future. For now, Ptomey says that Habitat will continue to work with its coalition partners, led by Save the Children, on the post-disaster legislation.

“In the coming weeks, Habitat will be working to secure additional co-sponsors for both bills in hopes of achieving final passage before Congress adjourns for the year later in the fall,” Ptomey said. Ptomey expects to continue sending out action alerts as the legislation process moves forward. The letter to senators is still available to send, and a similar letter will likely soon be available to send to House members.

If you’re interested in participating in the online campaign, please visit the following link: Tell Congress to improve support for hard-hit families

If you’d like to learn more about Habitat’s advocacy efforts in general, visit www.habitat.org/gov .

Those interested in reading the full text of the bills under House and Senate consideration may go to www.house.gov and www.senate.gov . The Senate bill is titled “Addressing the Disaster Needs of Children Act of 2007” (S.1970), and the House bill has been introduced as “Kids in Disasters Well-Being, Safety and Health Act of 2007” (HR 3495).