What is advocacy and why does it matter? August 28, 2025

September 5, 2023

Written by Joe O’Sullivan, Director of Public Policy and Advocacy

Do you want to know how you can make your voice heard by the people elected to represent your community? Clearbrook Advocacy empowers you to use your voice and influence change for those who need it most – individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Advocacy can mean many different things. At Clearbrook it means using your voice to speak up and speak out about the issues impacting individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities.

Clearbrook Advocacy is a comprehensive platform which empowers our community to become grassroots advocates and influence decisions made by the Illinois House of Representatives and the Illinois Senate. Clearbrook advocacy has grown quickly and made a big impact in just a few short years.

Advocates can make an impact in many different ways. They can take action on advocacy campaigns, educate others on the issues, meet with their legislators, attend advocacy events, register people to vote, and more. You decide what kind of advocate you want to be and your level of involvement.

Anyone can be a Clearbrook advocate and use their voice to make an impact. You do not need to be connected to Clearbrook or have an intricate understanding of the issues impacting individuals with disabilities. All you need is a desire to see individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities receive the services and support they need.

Clearbrook advocates use their voices because they want to see individuals with disabilities live independent and fulfilling lives in the community. Our advocates come from diverse backgrounds but are united in their pursuit to improve disability services in Illinois.

Clearbrook advocates are disability professionals, individuals with disabilities, family or friends of individuals with disabilities, community supporters, donors, volunteers, and even those with no other connection to Clearbrook whatsoever.

Our diverse grassroots advocates use their voices to fight for individuals with disabilities, and many voices are needed right now because Illinoisans with intellectual and developmental disabilities have been underrepresented and underserved for many years.

Illinois is among the worst states in the country regarding disability funding, more than 14,000 individuals with disabilities remain on a waiting list to receive services, and the Direct Support Professional (DSP) staffing crisis is crippling providers’ ability to provide services. The disability service system is in crisis and we need grassroots advocates to speak out and take action. We need you.

Our advocates have stood together in response to this crisis and collectively sent a clear message to the Illinois General Assembly demanding better treatment and additional resources for individuals with disabilities. Because of our advocacy efforts, there has been a major impact over the last few years.

In the past few years, hundreds of millions of dollars have been invested into disability services in Illinois and these investments have been made with bipartisan support. Thousands of grassroots advocates used their voices to contribute toward securing these major investments, and their voices were heard.

We need to continue growing our network of grassroots advocates so our voices continue to be heard. Elected officials have a wide-variety of competing issues and interests to consider. Advocacy is how we make the issues impacting individuals with disabilities a priority.

Legislators receive hundreds of emails and phone calls every week about a wide variety of topics. They depend on you to inform them of what issues deserve their attention. Through advocacy, we can ensure that legislators are fully aware of the issues and convince them to support our efforts.

Advocacy is our megaphone to help ensure that the issues impacting individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities receive the proper care and consideration they deserve. But without your voice, our efforts cannot succeed, these issues will go unaddressed, and individuals with disabilities will suffer.

We are not interested in politics. We are interested in providing high-level services for individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities. In order to do that we need significant support from the General Assembly and they need to hear from you, their constituents, to guide them.

Being an advocate is simple, but the impact you can make is enormous. Clearbrook’s large and diverse network of grassroots advocates helps influence decisions made at the highest level, and our streamlined program makes it possible to do so in just a few clicks.

Being an engaged citizen and speaking up for individuals with disabilities has never been easier or more convenient. From our advocacy action center you can see and take action on our campaigns, find your legislators, learn about our policy priorities, register to vote, learn about events, and more.

Illinois has neglected individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities for years, but through advocacy, we have begun to turn things around. We are moving in the right direction, but we are just getting started.

Join us as we continue our advocacy journey to get disability services in Illinois back on track. You have the power to make a change in the lives of thousands of individuals with disabilities.

To become a Clearbrook advocate and use your voice to improve the lives of individuals with intellectual and developmental disabilities, please visit www.clearbrook.org/advocacy.