Voluntary Organizations and Advocacy: The Case of Housing for Older Americans

Abstract

This article provides a brief overview of nonprofit organizations and advocacy that outlines the multiple forms that advocacy might take and introduces a conceptual frame work for understanding better the discursive attributes of advocacy. Housing opportunities for older people in the United States are then reviewed, focusing in particular on the role of nonprofit organizations. This brief historical review provides the context for a consideration of the ways in which nonprofits have advocated on behalf of elderly people, in debates about housing, looking in particular at representations made at the Select Committeeon Aging. Conclusions address matters relating to both housing in particular and the role of nonprofits in a more general view.