What You Can Do Locally: A Practical Advocacy Guide for This Fall

Categories: Affordable Housing, Article Series, Policy, Pressure & What's At Stake

All month, we have written about policy and pressure: federal funding in retreat, Indiana’s new camping law, a rising count of unhoused individuals, and the families and older adults behind the numbers. The question we hear most after posts like these is: What can I actually do?

It turns out there is quite a lot, and most of it is close to home. This is a practical guide for the next three months. Pick one thing. Then pick another.

One note before we start: Homeward Bound Villages does not endorse candidates or parties. Affordable housing is not a partisan issue, and nothing here asks you to vote a certain way. It asks you to show up informed about affordable housing in your community.

1. Show Up for Your Community’s Housing Hearing

If you do only one thing on this list, make it this. Under Indiana’s new housing law, House Enrolled Act 1001, every county, city, and town with zoning authority must hold a public hearing by January 1, 2027, to review its zoning rules to increase housing. That includes Michigan City, La Porte, and La Porte County.

Find the date. Call your planning department or check the plan commission and council agendas posted on your local government’s website. Ask: “When is our housing review hearing under HEA 1001?”
Go or write. Public comment is usually limited to a few minutes. If you cannot attend, a short written comment sent ahead of time becomes part of the record.
Keep it simple. Say who you are, where you live, and what you support. For example: “I live on the west side. I support allowing duplexes, backyard cottages, and smaller lots so that people who work here can afford to live here.”
Bring one other person. These rooms are usually filled by people who came to object. Two people saying yes changes the tone of a meeting.

Our last post, Land Use Is Housing Policy, walks through exactly what is on the table at these hearings.

2. Vote With Housing in Mind

The general election is Tuesday, November 3. Many of the offices on this year’s ballot have a direct hand in housing: county commissioners and council members who adopt zoning and budgets, township trustees who administer emergency help with rent and utilities, school board members, and the state legislators who wrote both HEA 1001 and the camping law.

October 5: Last day to register to vote or update your registration. Online registration closes at 11:59 p.m.
October 6: Early in-person voting begins. Locations and hours vary by county, and you need a photo ID.
October 22: Deadline for your county to receive an application to vote absentee by mail.
November 3: Election Day. Polls are open 6 a.m. to 6 p.m. local time.

You can register, check your registration, find your polling place, and see who and what is on your ballot, including any public questions, at indianavoters.in.gov.

If you get the chance to talk with a candidate, at a forum, at your door, or online, here are three questions worth asking:

What will you do to make it easier to build homes that working families and people on fixed incomes can afford here?
How should our community respond to people living outside, now that the state camping law is in effect?
Will you support our community’s housing review under HEA 1001, and what changes would you want to see come out of it?

3. If You Rent, You Count

Renters are less likely to be registered at their current address and less likely to be heard at public meetings, even though housing decisions affect them first.

Moved in the last year? Update your voter registration by October 5. It takes a few minutes online.
You do not need to own property to speak. Public hearings are open to every resident. A renter explaining what it takes to find an affordable place in this county is some of the most valuable testimony a plan commission can hear.
Help a neighbor. If you manage property, run a workplace, or lead a congregation, share the registration deadline with the renters you know.

4. Speak Up on Federal Homelessness Funding by October 13, 2026

Most federal funding for homelessness reaches communities through HUD’s Continuum of Care program. The funding notice HUD released in June would sharply reduce the share of renewal funding that is protected and shift priorities away from permanent housing. The National Low Income Housing Coalition estimates that at least 97,000 people nationwide could lose their housing as a result.

That notice has been tied up in court. A federal judge set it aside, and on September 16th, an appeals court allowed HUD to move forward while the case continues. In the meantime, HUD opened a public comment period that closes October 13. This is moving quickly, so check for updates before you act.

Comment. Anyone can submit a public comment to HUD, including individuals. Tell them what permanent housing has meant in your community.
Call. Contact your U.S. representative and both U.S. senators. Ask them to protect Continuum of Care funding for permanent housing. A two-minute call to a district office is logged and counted.

5. Know the Camping Law, and Ask How It Is Being Used Here

Since July 1st, sleeping or camping on public property without authorization is a Class C misdemeanor in Indiana, punishable by up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine. The law requires a warning and information about services before any enforcement action and gives a person 48 hours to move. It also provides that a person cannot be prosecuted if no shelter or mental health bed is available within five miles.

That last provision makes local shelter capacity the center of the conversation. The most recent count found 4,860 people experiencing homelessness across Indiana’s 91-county Balance of State region, up 10.5 percent in a year. Good questions for local elected officials and law enforcement:

How many shelter beds are available within five miles on a typical night, and who keeps track?
What information and services are officers offering when they give a warning?
What is our community’s plan to add shelter and housing, so that citations are not the only tool we have?

Asking these questions is not taking a side. It is how residents find out whether a law is working the way its supporters intended.

6. Say Yes Out Loud

Most people support affordable housing in general. Far fewer say so when a specific proposal comes to their part of town. That gap is where homes are lost.

Say “yes on my street.” When a proposal comes up near you, send a two-sentence email of support to the plan commission. Supportive comments are rare, and people notice.
Correct the myths. When you hear that affordable housing lowers property values or brings crime, share what the evidence and our own neighborhood experience show. Our Myth vs. Reality Blog series is a good place to start.
Write a letter to the editor. Keep it to 200 words, make it local, and name the hearing date once you know it.
Talk to three people. A conversation with a neighbor, a coworker, or someone at church moves opinion more than any post we can write.

7. Stand With What Is Working

Policy matters because of what it makes possible. Karwick Village in Michigan City is proof: homes that exist today because a community decided to make room for them.

November 15 marks one year since the Karwick Village ribbon-cutting. Watch our channels for ways to celebrate with us.
December 1 is Giving Tuesday, a key moment in our year-end campaign supporting the Phase 2 community center.
Any day: subscribe to our newsletter, follow and share our posts, and invite us to speak to your group, club, or congregation. Sign up here.

Your Fall Checklist

By October 5: Register to vote or update your address.
By October 13: Submit a comment to HUD and call your members of Congress.
October 6 to November 3: Vote.
Before January 1: Find your community’s housing hearing and show up.
All season: Ask good questions, say yes out loud, and bring someone with you.

None of this requires expertise. It requires neighbors who are willing to be counted. From policy to porch light, that is how homes get built.

Read More in this Series:

Land Use Is Housing Policy: The Local Levers Communities Control

Who’s Actually Becoming Homeless: Families, Older Adults, and the Priced-Out

The 2025 Count in Context: Indiana’s Rising Homelessness by the Numbers

We Can’t Cite Our Way Out of Homelessness: Why Criminalization Fails

Indiana Bill SEA285: What It Means Now That It’s in Effect

The Federal Retreat From Housing: What the Latest Funding Cuts Mean for People at Risk