What is Citizen Advocacy?
We are a small Not-for-Profit organisation made up of local people who care for and value other people in the community. We focus on those members of the community who have intellectual disability - people who are often neglected, vulnerable and alone and who need someone to speak up for them and represent their interests.
Citizen Advocacy responds to that neglect, vulnerability and loneliness by encouraging and supporting voluntary, one to one, long term relationships of support. Within these relationships, practical assistance, guidance and friendship can result in richer, safer lives for people with intellectual disability.
Why should I donate?
Your generous donation will:
- Help ensure that this powerful and unique form of social justice continues in South Australia, even if government funding stops
- Increase the number of people with intellectual disability we can match with a Citizen Advocate
- Help us provide more support and development opportunities for Citizen Advocates, enabling them to be even more effective in their roles
- Allow our staff to undertake important professional development that is not possible within our current funding arrangement
- Reduce our dependency on a single source of funding that might be reduced or withdrawn at any time
How will my money be spent?
It is important for anyone considering a donation to Citizen Advocacy SA to know that all money will be spent in the forging of new Citizen Advocacy relationships and the support of existing ones.
That means every dollar will in some way be helping our staff:
- Identify some of the most vulnerable people in the community with intellectual disability who may have "slipped through the cracks" of the human services system, have little or no support around them and be living a life of isolation, rejection and neglect.
- Find, recruit and match them with a suitable, competent and highly committed community member who is willing to become their Citizen Advocate.
- Provide support, ideas and development opportunities to Citizen Advocates (currently we have around 60 relationships we are supporting) so they can become more confident and effective in their roles, irrespective of how long they have been matched.
In Citizen Advocacy, promoting, protecting and defending the welfare and interests of a person with intellectual disability is always the central focus and highest priority of our work.
