Advocacy & Referral Services
The Advocacy Program at Heartside Ministry actively addresses socioeconomic injustice and systematic failings in the Heartside neighborhood and the greater Grand Rapids area. This is primarily achieved in two ways: the first, is through grass-roots empowerment and information sharing. Persons in need are invited to make an appointment with the advocacy coordinator, Sister Francetta McCann; in these confidential sessions, neighbors (as well as other persons in need) work with the Advocacy Coordinator to assess needs and the priority of each need (e.g. sending for a birth certificate, then applying for a state ID). Once needs have been identified, neighbors are referred to agencies or programs where they will find the appropriate resources (e.g. Network 180). If--as is often true--direct advocacy is necessary, a call is made on behalf of neighbor can help clear up a misunderstanding, cut through bureaucratic red tape or encourage non-responsive or antagonistic landlords, social service works or other persons, to work constructively with the neighbor. This advocacy is paced according to where the neighbor finds him/herself and carried out in a respectful and empowering way. This advocacy is coupled with general information sharing (e.g. if you accept help from such and such agency you may loose these other benefits). In addition to personal advocacy, the ministry works with local government and community to plug systematic holes and inconsistencies (e.g. the lack of affordable housing). The ministry also works to inform the public about the struggles and humanity of persons struggling with issues of homelessness, mental illness, poverty and addiction through programs such as Urban Plunge or involvement in inter-agency initiatives such as the Vision to End Homelessness.