Be Heard!

Be Heard!

Tuesday, November 4, 2014

BLOG FOR NOVEMBER 7 (By Wendy Sorensen)


BLOG FOR NOVEMBER 7

WENDY SORENSEN
I read the following article and shared with the group:

Voting Rights: Registration Manual. You don’t need a Home to Vote. A report from National Coalition for the Homeless.  This report is designed to provide ideas to help overcome obstacles that prevent homeless people from registering. It was helpful information in prompting me to organize a registration and transportation drive for veterans at the VA Freedom Landing facility. 

I also took the information I read in the Voting Rights Registration Manual and discussed it with my practicum supervisor at the VA homeless housing facility called Freedom Landing. I coordinated a program to help register veterans to vote and also coordinated transportation on the voting day, November 4, to enable veterans to exercise their right to vote more easily. Approximately six veterans took advantage of the program. 

I attended the Fall Veterans Honoring & Outreach dinner for American Indian Veterans at the Urban Indian Center. There were approximately 30 to 40 veterans and their families who were honored. They encouraged veterans to get discuss their needs and get involved in change.

ARIELLE SPANVILLE
Hey guys here are some articles:


This one talks about the fourth amendment and the homeless which maybe too far out of scope, although it has some good stats


Has anyone looked into project H.O.M.E. or the MiKinney Act or the Supreme Court ruling on Reynolds v Sims?  Also since we just discussed theories of poverty in class, maybe looking at constructive disenfranchisement as a theory. 

EMILY HORTON AND SUE ATIVALU
I would love to go meet with the Consumer Advisory Board.  Let me know when you schedule and I'll try to make it. Sue and I were working on putting together a list of needs assessment type questions to ask in a group she is planning to do at Cornerstone, related to political and community involvement.  Below are my questions, thought that might be good to include in the blog:

Did you vote in the last presidential election?
Did you vote in the last non-presidential election?
How many times have you voted in the last 5 years?
Do you plan to vote in the upcoming election?
What barriers do you face that prevent voting?
Do you want to vote?
Do you feel that your vote would make a difference?
Have you ever been to a city council meeting? Or taken political or other action to make change in your community in another way?
What community issues affect your life?  Are there any of these you would like to take action to change?  Any ideas about how you would do that?

I heard back from one of the members from Consumer Advisory Board with the 4th Street Clinic.  He is pretty passionate about the topic and wants to schedule a time to meet.  Does anyone want to join when I set this up?  Or if anyone has any questions they would like posed, please let me know. 

1 comment:

  1. This is all great! Regarding the needs assessment, I especially like the following questions:

    "What barriers do you face that prevent voting?"
    "Do you want to vote?"

    I'm wondering about the best way to collect data. Conducting a focus group is good, but I'm wondering if conducting a small survey could reach more people. Also, you may want to pare down the questions to about five. I could see it being difficult to get through all of these questions in one session. These are just some things to think about. I'm really impressed by the work you're doing around this issue. Keep up the good work.

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