E-Advocates #2 

Opportunities to Advocate Now! 
October 16, 2023 | By Christina Ingoglia 

Here at Emmaus, we will continue to advocate with you to improve funding for our Direct Support Professionals! Why? Well, funding is not secured year-to-year in the Missouri General Revenue budget, and we know that justly paid support staff means better services and quality of life for our clients.

The next Missouri legislative session begins January 3rd. Now is a great time to meet your legislators in your hometowns to share why people with developmental disabilities deserve to live in their own communities with high-quality support staff. Do you know who your state legislators are? If not, we’ve got you covered. Click here. Want some help on what to say? Write to Christina at Advocacy@EmmausHomes.org.

In addition to this ongoing and critical effort to secure funding for our DSPs, we want to have more dialogue with you! What are the issues most affecting your day-to-day lives? What do you want to learn about advocacy so that you can use your voice to make your life better? Join us at Coffees for Change! These will be local, in-person exchanges among clients, staff, families, and all Emmaus Homes stakeholders. We’ll supply coffee and advocacy training. You bring your advocacy talents and/or a willingness to learn more! Here is a form to RSVP for these. Lastly, whether advocacy is comfortable for you or brand new, or you’re just curious about it, please take about 5 minutes to fill out our advocacy experience survey. This will help us plan training and what the needs are of all we serve. Thank you!

*Why “E Advocates”? Well, these posts will reach you through the internet, perhaps through email or a social media post. And E also stands for Emmaus, of course!