Mary, Melissa, Cyndi

Cyndi, Cheryl Liptrot, Mary

Homeless Advocacy Days at the State Legislature

03/18/08 - 03/19/08

Cyndi Lauritsen and Mary Lawrence traveled to Tallahassee March 18 and 19, 2008 to participate in advocacy for the homeless in conjunction with a statewide action coordinated by Florida Homeless Coalition. Tuesday night, advocates were briefed on bills that the coalition felt were most likely to move forward. We were instructed to encourage our lawmakers to support a redefinition of homeless to include many children who are currently left out of the definition as written. We advocated for maintaining current funding levels for programs despite the budget cutting process underway right now. We also highlighted the Sadowski Trust Fund's importance to affordable housing in the state and requested action to raise the present cap.

We put our case to Becky Starr, Senator King's Senior Aide, Cheryl Liptrot, Senator Hill's aide and Representative Proctor. We felt Senator Hill's office and Representative Proctor were the most interested and sympathetic. Melissa Strohminger, Program Coordinator of the Emergency Services Homeless Coalition, joined us for the session with Ms. Starr.

- Mary Lawrence