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Civic Engagement Toolkit

CCDA has a long-standing commitment to the confrontation of injustice and is actively working to create opportunities to practice civic engagement and mobilize our communities so their voices can be heard.

Why should we civically engage?

Although government policies and funding decisions affect us all, we know that many voices remain unheard or marginalized in the public square. As advocates for the poor and marginalized, we are committed to doing our best to bring what we know to these critical spaces. We do this because we know that advocacy works. Sharing your community’s story can change attitudes, opinions, behaviors, and even policy and funding decisions. That is why we speak up and out about what we and our communities are experiencing. We have and will continue to mobilize & organize to see justice come to our neighborhoods. During August Recess, we recommit to and act out our desire to living the mantra, ‘without justice, there is no peace.’ We know this is how we will create justice and peace for all. 

Will you join your CCDA family and commit to telling our representatives the stories of our communities?

Our goals are:

  • Attend a local town hall or schedule a meeting with your Senator and House representative.
  • Connect your representative with your community by telling them your community’s stories.
  • Demonstrate how policies are impacting your community by sharing your community’s priority talking points.

In this toolkit, you will find:

Tools to Get Started

Contact your Representative

  • Identify your Congressional leader
  • Call your Representative today

    • Enter your zip code here to find your representative’s phone number
    • Call the U.S. Capitol switchboard at (202) 224-3121 & get transferred to your representative.
      • Calls can be an effective way to let your representative know how constituents are feeling about a certain issue. The staff tally how many times a call comes through re: a specific issue.
    • Script:
      • Hello, my name is [insert your name]. I’m a constituent from [insert your state], zip code [insert your zip code]. I am calling to ask [insert your representative’s name] to support/not support [insert an issue]. [Share a personal story]. Please [include advocacy for specific issue]. Thank you for your time and consideration.
      • IF LEAVING A VOICEMAIL: Please leave your full street address to ensure your call is tallied.
  • Get a meeting with your representative (In Person / Virtual)
  • Engage your representative on social media
  • Find a town hall to attend in your area

    • Check out accounts and websites run by the elected officials and their staff including Facebook, Twitter, official government websites (specifically check out sections on press releases, events), media alerts, official government newsletters (sign up page is typically found on their websites), local newspapers, Eventbrite, Vekeo (for telephone town halls), & neighborhood websites

Follow up

Spiritual Preparation

Meeting Preparation

Issues Members are Lifting Up this Year

We have incredible and dedicated practitioners within our association who carefully curated the following sources of information. It’s important to note that these sources were not created solely to reflect the views of CCDA overall, but rather to offer a diverse range of perspectives from within our association. Should you require further clarity on any of the issues, we encourage you to reach out to Christina at christina@ccda.org, who will be more than happy to assist you!

Alternative Crisis Response

  • Behavioral and mental health issues are prevalent in marginalized communities, which often face increased police presence, higher socio-economic stressors, and fewer community resources. Alternative crisis response models aim to address these issues by providing supportive community and mental health resources, increasing harm prevention and reduction practices, and reducing police involvement and related fatalities.
  • Organizations like Knoxville Heart, Vera Institute, and research from Stanford highlight the benefits of alternative responses to behavioral health crises. Take action today by reaching out to your representative and promoting increased mental health resources, harm prevention practices, and reduced police engagement in crises.
  • The People’s Response Act
    • The People’s Response Act is a groundbreaking piece of legislation designed to address community safety comprehensively. It focuses on preventing violence and other harms before they occur, investing in data-proven solutions, and creating a flexible infrastructure to support cutting-edge approaches at the national level. The bill aims to advance community safety through prevention, community leadership, and public health, without exacerbating racial inequities or increasing incarceration rates.
  • Click here to tell your legislator about how the following policies affect your community:

Black Maternal Health

Clean Slate Initiative 

  • The Clean Slate Initiative is a bipartisan effort that passes and implements laws that automatically clear eligible records for people who have completed their sentence and remained crime-free, and expands who is eligible for clearance.
  • Check out the federal bills and share with your legislator how the following policies affect your community:
    • The Fresh Start Act (H.R. 2983), sponsored by Reps. David Trone (D-MD) and Kelly Armstrong (R-ND), creates a federal grant program that enables states which passed automatic sealing laws to apply for federal funds to implement and automate those laws. As a result, millions more people will be able to access employment, housing, and education.
    • The Clean Slate Act (H.R. 2930), sponsored by Reps. Lisa Blunt Rochester (D-DE) and Nancy Mace (R-SC), creates a first-ever federal process that enables individuals to petition for clearance of low-level conviction records and establishes a streamlined system to automate sealing for eligible drug records for people who have completed their sentences and remained crime-free for a period of time.

Comprehensive Immigration Reform

  • Our national immigration laws have created a moral, economic, and political crisis in America. Initiatives to remedy this crisis have led to polarization and name-calling in which opponents have misrepresented each other’s positions as open borders and amnesty versus deportations of millions. This false choice has led to an unacceptable political stalemate at the federal level at a tragic human cost. We urge our nation’s leaders to work together with the American people to pass immigration reform that respects the God-given dignity of immigrants (EIT/World Relief).
  • Act now by identifying your congressional leader and telling your legislator about how the following policies affect your community:

Education Equity

  • Counseling Not Criminalization in Schools Act
    • This bill aims to prevent federal funds from supporting the presence of police officers in elementary and secondary schools. Evidence suggests that police in schools do not necessarily enhance student safety. This bill directs funds toward mental health and trauma-informed services. Rather than punishing kids in schools for behavior, this bill provides ways of healing the underlying cause of that behavior. For more information, visit Police Free Schools.
  • Tell your legislator about how the following policies affect your community:

Mass Incarceration

  • Outdoor space for inmates
    • Most states permit county jails to not provide outdoor space for inmates. This practice violates basic human rights, as access to outdoor space is essential for physical and mental wellbeing. Ensuring that all county jails provide outdoor space for inmates is a crucial step in upholding their human rights and improving their overall quality of life. 
    • Take action today and tell your legislator about how this policy affects your community.
  • Abolition of the federal death penalty
    • The death penalty raises significant concerns. It is often racially biased, costly, and ineffective in deterring crime. It also involves severe methods and fails to provide healing for the families of murder victims. Even with improvements, the risk of wrongful execution remains significant, as evidenced by the exoneration of over 200 individuals from death row. Pursuing solutions that foster healing and peace aligns with the values of many Christians and promotes restorative justice over execution.
  • Tell your legislator about how the following policies affect your community:

Stop Gun Violence

  • Gun violence prevention experts have recommended a number of policy approaches to reduce gun violence:
    • Congress can close legal loopholes that allow people to buy guns without background checks from private sellers, websites, or gun shows. A move that over 80% of gun owners support.
    • Congress can institute universal background checks for both gun and ammo purchasers and require gun licenses, all measures supported by the vast majority of Americans.
    • Congress can adequately fund community-based interventions such as the nearly 20-year-old Ceasefire program, an underfunded effort that has helped to reduce gun violence in cities through education and public health crisis strategies.
    • Congress can reinstate the assault weapons ban that expired in 2004, or pass new legislation banning the purchase of high-capacity magazines and military-style assault weapons.
  • Tell your legislator about how the following policies affect your community:
  • Break the Cycle of Violence Act
    • Congress has the opportunity to pass legislation that directs vital funds to communities impacted by violence to help them implement evidence-based programs that stop violence, heal trauma, and prevent harm.
    • Follow these links to tell your legislator about how these policies affect your community:
Contact your Legislator Today

More Ways to Engage

Thanks for taking a faithful step in sharing your community’s story with our legislators. We pray that through your advocacy, your neighbors are able to experience community flourish as God intended. Please share your stories of engaging in the public square with us by emailing info@ccda.org.