Want to Be an Advocate?
Advocacy is about caring for an issue deeply enough to stand up and say that something needs to be done about it. Advocacy is speaking out on issues that you care about; offering your opinion and suggestions for how to improve something to the people who are in control.
In order to be able to stand up for and speak about an issue, two things are needed:
- a passionate desire and willingness to see the desired change;
- a sound understanding of the issue
However, advocacy is not about just knowing everything about an issue; advocacy is about using that knowledge to cause changes in the way things are. Advocacy is not about the person doing it; it is all about the issue, and the desire to see something done about that particular issue.
Advocacy is working in favor of something, such as a cause, idea, or policy. You can be an advocate by meeting with a legislator on an important issue, writing an editorial for a newspaper, raising awareness for a cause at a community event, or even promoting an issue while having dinner with friends.
To learn more about St. Joseph’s advocacy work, click here.
St. Joseph Community Health is a member of Catholic Health Initiatives, a national nonprofit health organization with headquarters in Denver, Colorado. CHI is a faith-based system that operates in 20 states and includes 78 hospitals; 40 long-term care, assisted- and residential-living facilities; and two community health-services organizations. Together, these facilities provided $536 million in charity care and community benefit in the 2008 fiscal year, including services for the poor, free clinics, education and research. CHI is the nation's second-largest Catholic health care system.