Self Advocate: A Hero In ACTION

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Self Advocate A Hero In ACTION

• Molly Sullivan, Associate
• Center for Social Capital

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• WHAT ARE YOUR POWERS??

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An Advocates Power

• KNOWLEDGE POWER
• Know yourself!
• Self-Awareness
• Know what change you want

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An Advocates Power

• KNOWLEDGE POWER
• Know your community!
• Rights and Responsibilities
• Know what the process is to make change
• Social Capital
• Know who can help and know how to develop and
  maintain those relationships (Support Team)

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What is Social Capital (Team Support)?

• Robert Putnam defines Social Capital as
• the social networks and the norms of
  trustworthiness and reciprocity that arise from
  them.

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What is Social Capital (Team Support)?

• Social Capital (Team Support) Focuses on
• The people you know, and the people they know
  (Social Networks)
• AND
• The Character of these Networks
• The Strength of our Ties
• Levels of Trust
• Levels of Reciprocity

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What Social Capital (Team Support) means to
Advocates

• Change takes a TEAM
• You can be self-aware, know your rights and
  responsibilities, but without team support change
  might not happen

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2 Types of Social Capital

• 1. Close Relationships (Bonding) Links people
  together like themselves (special interest
  groups, neighborhood associations, hobby clubs)
• POWER in numbers
• Help you identify a job goal or find a job
• Help you plan for living in your own apartment
• Help you find resources and plan to become a home
  owner

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2 Types of Social Capital

• 2. Acquaintance (Bridging) Social ties that
  attempt to cut across differences including Race,
  Gender, Disability, Class, Religion
• POWER in numbers
• Rally people together to protest potential
  funding cuts at your state capital
• Ask people to contact their legislature regarding
  a particular vote

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How do you develop your Social Capital (Team
Support)

• Identify what your goal (self awareness)
• Identify your rights and responsibilities
• Identify WHO in your social network can help
• Identify WHO is NOT in your social network that
  you need to help you reach your goal, and BUILD
  YOUR NETWORK!!

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Maintain and Build your Social Capital

• Getting Others Interested Involved in your
  goal
• Appeal to peoples motivations (shared personal
  professional interests and self-interest,
  hobbies, affiliation needs)
• Find ways to reciprocate (give and take)
• Avoid yet another meeting or committee approach
• Make the task appear reasonable

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Use your Social Capital to help you TAKE ACTION!

• Advocates cant work in isolation
• There is POWER in Numbers
• There is POWER in Knowledge
• Develop your POWERS---Use your knowledge of
  relationship building to build your Social
  Capital to help you TAKE ACTION!