What Is Citizen Advocacy? What is Citizen Advocacy? Citizen Advocacy is a group of citizens who care about other citizens. The ones we are particularly focused on are those with disabilities who often get pushed to the side by society and are frequently lost in the shuffle of social services. We are concerned about forming individual, lasting relationships in which free interchange, involvement, love, and hard-nosed advocacy can create richer, fuller, and better-served lives – for the person with a disability first, for the advocate second, and for society as a whole. Citizen Advocacy appeals to the best that is in us – neighborliness, human courage, and a concern for others. Citizen Advocacy develops and supports one-to-one relationships between local people and people who have disabilities and have been isolated from everyday life in the community. Citizen Advocacy builds community by nurturing these relationships and promoting the acts of extending friendship and sticking together as neighbors that serve to strengthen the glue of democracy that holds our way of life together. Why is There a Need for Citizen Advocacy? Because everyone needs other people in order to get along in life. Too often, a person with a disability leads a life separated from the rest of community, a life unconnected to friendships and the support of neighbors. Family members may have died, lost contact, or even abandoned the person because of the disability. Caring professionals provide needed services and programs and they are paid to do so. But the everyday presence and comfort of unpaid people, people who are there on a voluntary basis, may be missing from the life of the person with a disability. There is a need because of negative attitudes toward people with disabilities which are the result of ignorance, fear, and lack of contact with people who are perceived as different. There is a need because life conditions for people who have disabilities need to change for the better in order for our community to be stronger, better place for us all. Interested in becoming an advocate? Citizen Advocacy of Washington County | 120 N. Main Street, Suite 350 | West Bend, WI 53095 | P: 262-334-3384 F: 262-334-2075 © Copyright 2008 Citizen Advocacy. All Rights Reserved.