Act! Speak! Build! Week guide for local Habitat affiliates

Act! Speak! Build! Week guide for local Habitat affiliates

Thank you for your interest in Act! Speak! Build! Week! Habitat’s Volunteer Mobilization department invites YOU to get involved in this week of student-led advocacy.

What can youth in my community do during Act! Speak! Build! Week?

  • Raise awareness of poverty and poverty housing issues.
  • Invite new volunteers to become involved in Habitat.
  • Develop advocacy skills.
  • Create media attention around Habitat’s mission.

How can my affiliate be involved?

  • Encourage your partner student groups to register. This includes campus chapters, Youth United groups and youth volunteers.
  • Help students create messages to share with the community.
  • Use your knowledge of the community to help determine the most effective advocacy efforts.

How do I get started?

  • Review the Advocacy Toolkit.
    The Advocacy Toolkit provides tips for educational and political advocacy events, media relations, international poverty statistics and facts about Habitat for Humanity International. Download the Advocacy Toolkit (.pdf).
  • Contact young people in your area.
    Encourage goal-setting and brainstorming sessions and teach actions that will help them be successful.
  • Offer guidance.
    Designate someone as a youth contact person to advise the group―perhaps a longtime volunteer or board member. The event and the youth involved will greatly benefit from assistance. Additionally, this guidance will help ensure that the event corresponds with your affiliate’s objectives.
  • Contact an Act! Speak! Build! Week coordinator.
    If at anytime you need assistance or additional resources or want to share your successes, contact the Act! Speak! Build! Week coordinator at actspeakbuild@habitat.org.
  • Register for the event.
    Registered groups can receive resources, updates, recognition and free promotional materials. Fill out an online form when registration opens! Also, make sure any group you are working with has completed the Act! Speak! Build! Week registration.
  • Encourage collaboration.
    If you have groups working on similar projects, encourage them to collaborate when appropriate.
  • Recognize.
    Applaud the efforts of young people, whether in your monthly newsletter, at a board meeting or through a story in the local paper (Refer to "Media Involvement" for sample press releases.).