What Person to Person Advocacy Does
The
Person t
o Person Advocacy organization looks at individual advocates and
protégés and – like the pieces of a puzzle – brings them together, interlocking
side by side, one on one, into a match. Advocates, protégés, and matches have a
wide variety of different shapes and sizes, and taken together they complete a
community – they bring into focus the full puzzle picture.
Day
to day staff activity concentrates on identifying protégés and recruiting
advocates. Protégé needs and circumstances must first be understood, and then
potential advocates can be sought out. Potential advocates first go through a
thorough screening, orientation, and training. Once these
steps are complete,
the staff person introduces the protégé and advocate and then facilitates the
match. From this beginning if there is mutual agreement between the protégé and
advocate to continue meeting, a match is made. The protégé and advocate are
then in charge of the match: how long their relationship will last, how often
they will have contact, and what they will do during contacts – just like any
other relationship. The only difference is that the staff member is always
there for support of the match. Staff support and guidance is of particular
importance when there are situations in which the advocate determines that
changes need to be made to the protégé’s environment. However, the advocate is
responsible for carrying through on these initiatives.
Dual benefits from matches are significant and far-reaching:
Protégés more fully integrate into the community, avoiding social isolation from a new relationship. They also benefit should there be environmental circumstances that can be upgraded through the efforts of their advocate.
Advocates receive all the typical benefits from volunteering and giving back to the community. Additionally, they almost always find unexpected but magical benefits from a truly unique, strong, and sustaining relationship – which they often characterize as changing and transforming their lives.
The community benefits from the presence and contributions of persons with developmental disabilities and the realization that people are more alike than different. The community also receives tremendous financial leverage from the fact that service delivery is through monetarily uncompensated community volunteers.
Person to Person: Citizen Advocacy Association, Inc.