When Mary Harriman wrote the above
words in the early 1900s she was calling people to action, which is a key component in advocacy. Webster's defines advocating as pleading another's cause or a person who speaks or writes in support of something.
According to current Junior League of Miami leader Lyn Pannone, "One might define advocacy as being "political" with a small "p". Our efforts seek to influence governmental entities as well as raise people's awareness. Advocacy can make our shared values come alive." She added, "As we embark upon our next 70 years, advocacy will take on even greater importance. Why? Because funds for direct service projects are becoming more scarce."
To advocate also means to "lobby," "to take positions," "to improve, change or enforce public policies." Being willing to be an advocate-to stand for what you believe -is not an idle or an isolated action. Rather, it is intimately tied to what we believe about our world.
In researching the history of advocacy in the JLM I learned about some remarkable women, true pioneers in the field.
Racial Understanding
Back in 1948 Junior League Member Elizabeth Landsberg Virrick began her crusade for the rights of African Americans in her own back yard, Coconut Grove. Appalled at the poverty and living conditions, Mrs. Virrick co-founded the Coconut Grove Committee for Slum Clearance and was largely responsible for a City of Miami Ordinance passed in 1948 that required each household (residential unit) in the area to be equipped with a flush toilet and a sink, and eliminated 482 privies in the Grove.
Mrs. Virrick also founded Coconut Grove Cares, which helps ex-offenders and disadvantaged youths. She established a day-care center, a gym and a boxing program in Coconut Grove. Mrs. Virrick continued to work for social change right up until her death in 1990 at age 93.
Hathaway Rinehart was another early crusader who "helped give birth to racial understanding." In 1944 she fought to increase police protection for Overtown residents and worked with Father Culmer on many inner city problems,
Historian and Sustainer Arva Moore Parks McCabe explained.
"Hathaway Rinehart and Elizabeth Virrick were true pioneers. Their work on League and community activities helped steer the JLM to its current focus: Families at Risk," Arva said.
Children's Advocates
Sustainer Berta Blecke shared her League
experience when she advocated on behalf of the Guardian Ad Litem Program in 1980, at which time she became involved with the State Public Affairs Committee (SPAC), an advocacy coalition formed by individual states' Junior Leagues. Berta's testifying as a committee chair (Children's Issues) of SPAC before the Florida State Legislature in Tallahassee on behalf of the proposed Guardian Ad Litem Project signaled the first time that the Florida SPAC testified before the legislature. The goal was to obtain state funds for Guardian Ad Litem pilot programs in Jacksonville, Miami, Gainesville and Tampa. It is a program in which lay volunteers represent abused and neglected children caught up in the cycle of "foster care drift." The JLM partnered with the National Council of Jewish Women on behalf of Guardian Ad Litem.
This set the stage for future advocacy efforts such as CHARLEE and INN Transition. According to Berta there is a formula when it comes to successful advocacy efforts, which includes identifying a critical need, receiving the support of community leaders (establishing a broad based community board), soliciting funds from local foundations and corporations, and ultimately implementing the project. Of course, knowing and working with legislators sympathetic to the cause is also very important, particularly when it comes to state-wide advocacy efforts. (For a closer look at the Bush family, see "Bush Legacy" article in this issue.)
She emphasized that to be a successful advocate one must have hands on experience involving the "issue" on which you are advocating. Without that expertise you would not have a complete understanding of the issue, and would therefore lack credibility. Berta continues to be active in various community projects, including the recently opened Kristi House Program for sexually abused children.
Breaking the Cycle of Violence
Sus
tainer Claudia Kitchens was the driving force behind the JLM signature project, INN Transition, which provides transitional housing for abused women and their children. This project officially opened its doors in 1990.
Lynn Summers, former chair of INN Transition, shared her experiences: "Advocacy is about setting the agenda and it is the one single area that can impact a wide section of the population. It is such a satisfying experience to look at the changes we have made in the community's agenda, particularly for transitional housing for victims of domestic violence."
Claudia explained, "Advocacy involves multiple levels to change policy and public perception in solving problems." Claudia served as chair of SPAC in 1990. She feels advocacy efforts have grown dramatically in the last 15 years in Junior Leagues across the country. She credits JLM's experience with local advocacy efforts beginning in the 1970s with historic preservation and environmentalism.
"SPAC provided women with the necessary skills so they could go back to their respective Junior Leagues and make their members comfortable with the concept of advocacy as a part of community projects.
"We learned that because of our projects we were the experts. Political leaders began to see us as leaders who came prepared and understood the issues," she added. Claudia shared one of the most powerful statements she heard in the late 1980s in Washington, D.C. at an Association of Junior League International-sponsored National Public Affairs Conference. The speaker, Senator Patrick Moynihan, ".... If there is an issue pending that deals with oil or transportation, the Halls of Congress would be filled with lobbyists in Gucci loafers. However, if the issue happens to be poor children or those without supporters, we can always count on the Junior League to be there."
