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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Rights and Diversity - 08/08/2024 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY COMMISSION THURSDAY, AUGUST 8, 2024 7:00 P.M., EDEN PRAIRIE CENTER Office of Housing and Community Services COMMISSION MEMBERS: Greg Leeper (Chair), Asad Aliweyd, Shana Bates, Samuel Griffin, Zaheer Khan, Jody Knight, Jessica Oaxaca, Brenda Pfahnl, Savannah Riese, Kuhu Singh, Philip Skeie, John Urbanski, Susan Weaver COMMISSION STAFF: Paja Xiong, Community Services Manager & Staff Liaison Julie Krull, Recording Secretary I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Vice Chair Singh called the meeting to order at 7:07 pm. Commission members Chair Leeper, and Aliweyd were absent. II. INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS Vicki Bomben from PROP Shop was in attendance this evening. III. APPROVAL OF AGENDA Skeie would like to add Splash Pad Debrief to Old Business under PeopleFest. MOTION: Urbanski moved, seconded by Weaver, to approve the amended agenda. Motion carried 10-0. IV. APPROVAL OF THE JULY 11, 2024 MEETING MINUTES MOTION: Knight moved, seconded by Urbanski, to approve the July 11, 2024 Meeting Minutes. Motion carried 10-0. V. COMMUNITY PRESENTATION Vice Chair Singh welcomed Vicki Bomben, Operations Manager, at PROP Shop in Eden Prairie. Ms. Bomben shared with the Commission that she is always available to give anyone who would like a tour of their facility. She stated Prop Shop has been in their current location for 17 ½ years and she has been with the organization the whole time and said they opened in April of 2007. PROP Shop is a non-profit organization serving family needs. She pointed out PROP is different than PROP Shop. PROP is approximately 52 years old and basically deals with food distribution for those in need in the Eden Prairie and Chanhassen area. Five years before PROP Shop opened, HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES August 8, 2024 Page 2 of 5 PROP started an area in their facility for children’s clothing as they were seeing a great need for this and eventually a need for adult clothing. The challenge they were facing was there was no free space and that is when PROP Shop was opened. It initially was in a different building than their current location. At that time they were leasing and ran out of space at that building and moved again to a larger facility. The owner of that building decided he wanted to sell it and so PROP Shop received a HUD grant and were able to purchase the building they are in now. Prop Shop serves 3,600 families and has given out approximately 180,000 bags of household goods and clothing. They have also given out 3,300 beds and 6,000 furniture items. Ms. Bomben also pointed out there have been 3,900 volunteers since they have started and the organization would not be able to exist without the volunteers and donations. The items that are needed most are kids clothing, pots and pans, drinking glasses, sheets and bedding and wash cloths. She said when they are in need of items they also have the ability to purchase them and this is in part because they own their building and not leasing so would have available funds. She also stated the true impact of PROP Shop is to provide dignity and compassion for families. In the past year, PROP Shop has seen more families in need but also fewer donations coming in to compensate for the needs. Riese asked what the best way the Commission could help. Ms. Bomben said donating items, volunteering or monetary donations. Knight commented there are a lot of good things at the PROP Shop to purchase. Khan also agreed with Knight. Weaver suggested buying things on sale and then donating them to the PROP Shop. Riese said the PROP Shop has their list of needs posted on line. Khan asked, in regards to bedding, if there is some soilage on the item, can it still be donated. Ms. Bomben said to donate the item and the volunteers will then make the determination if it can be used. Bates asked if someone has a bed to donate, will PROP Shop pick it up. Ms. Bomben said they do pick up these items but to call ahead first and make arrangements. Bates asked how the PROP Shop finds families in need. Ms. Bomben said there are a lot of resource organizations that will direct individuals to the PROP Shop and also word of mouth is effective. Khan asked where the funding comes from. Ms. Bomben said the funding comes from grants and private organizations and pointed out the only government organization that has helped them was HUD when they purchased their building. Bates asked if they assist with school supplies. Ms. Bomben said they do but when these items come in they turn around and give them to the schools. Bates asked if they have interpreters. Ms. Bomben said they have Spanish interpreters and are working on getting other language interpreters. Khan asked if the volunteers needed to be skilled at certain things. Ms. Bomben said they start taking volunteers at age 14 and will train them in. VI. OLD BUSINESS A. PEOPLEFEST! 1. Debrief Xiong thanked all the volunteers who participated in this event. She shared with the Commission it was her first year at PeopleFest and said the feedback she received was that there were less people in attendance this year than in previous years. She also thought the table seemed to be tucked away from the foot traffic. Xiong asked for feedback from the Commissioners in attendance. Weaver said she liked the new graphics and the flyer and also the sandwich boards. Urbanski commented that the flyer did not really address what the Commission had asked HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES August 8, 2024 Page 3 of 5 for, per the minutes. Xiong said she will follow up with the Communication Department as she did not have a chance to review the flyer this year, and she said she will also have it printed earlier next year. Bates stated it was her first time and felt the heat may have turned people away. She also said there were two books that were putting artifacts out on another table and speaking to people that way without getting checked out as a book and seemed successful. Xiong said for next year this may have to be adjusted as a lot of the books had their own table, such as the Police Chief. Khan said he also noticed fewer people in attendance and also noticed some of the attendees were late or did not show up at all. Xiong also said the heat was a huge factor in participation. Weaver said she and Pfahnl noticed the people that were there were basically with their own ethnic groups and stuck with them. She said she also felt bad for people that were books and did not get checked out. She suggested for next year the books introduce themselves on stage before the entertainment. Riese commented people may not be coming over to the table because there is no visual appeal and liked the idea of introducing the speakers prior to entertainment. Xiong said feedback from the books that have also been books in the past suggested to her to maybe pause this activity for a few years. Xiong suggested maybe just having a table with information on the HRDC versus an activity. Urbanski also felt bad for the books that were standing around and because of this does not feel this is the right fit for the HRDC. Khan said he feels the library offers entertainment and that is what the people are coming for and said the Commission should stay with what they are doing for next year and give it another chance. Knight said in regards to events, she feels having something like candy, beads or the spinning wheel would be more of a draw. Xiong suggested discussing this more at another time when the students are in attendance. Vice Chair Singh agreed and said everyone had great points and there can be more discussion of next steps at a future meeting. B. SPLASH PAD DEBRIEF Vice Chair Singh asked for comments from Commissioners that were in attendance. Knight said there were just a few people from the Somalia community and heard other volunteers commenting on that too. Knight pointed out the HRDC table had a lot of people there making bracelets and getting candy. Xiong said she spoke to Mohamed about this event and the one on August 13th and he said he will spread the word to more people. Xiong said notifications for the next splash pad event will be posted in places like apartment buildings. VII. NEW BUSINESS A. SUBCOMMITTEES HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES August 8, 2024 Page 4 of 5 1. Human Rights Award Sub-Committee Xiong said the volunteers for this sub-committee are Vice Chair Singh, Khan, Oaxaca, and Weaver. She would like the volunteers to review last year’s applications and discuss what changes need to be made for next year. 2. Promotional Sub-Committee Xiong pointed out that Oaxaca and Riese will be the volunteers for this sub-committee and she will email them their homework. B. HRDC CHARTER Xiong wanted to review the Charter and discuss if the HRDC meets the roles and responsibilities this year and what can be done for next year. Xiong said at the last meeting the Commissioners talked about bias incidents. She said previously the Staff Liaison would work with the Chair of the HRDC and decide what the next steps should be for an individual experiencing a bias incident. Next steps could be seeking additional resources or getting the police involved. Oaxaca said she thinks the statement on bias is very vague and needs more clarification. Xiong stated that topic is being discussed with herself and other City Staff to get more clarity on procedures. Oaxaca responded by saying there should be more involvement from the community on this topic. Bates pointed out she feels there are certain communities that have needs and asked how we would know about this if not that many bias incidents are reported. Khan commented some of the bias data comes from the Police Department and that would be beneficial for the group to see. Urbanski said the Charter seems like a big picture and asked if there is a more detailed description of the Commission’s duties and asked if that document exists. Pfahnl said the Commission should be spending time focusing on the needs of the community versus going to events. Xiong responded the HRDC should focus on events such as ADA events or Pride. She stated this is something the group can do in the future and asked if the group wants to do advocacy and education events with the City as it is more intentional. Khan said there is a lot of information in the Charter and asked if the Commissioners can email Xiong suggestions or suggested having a full meeting to discuss the document. Xiong said the Charter was done by the City Council and she stated she is not sure how easily it can be changed but wanted to give everyone exposure to it and said when discussing the work plan, the group should correlate the plan with the Charter. Xiong asked the Commission if they would like a speaker at the September meeting or spend the time discussing the Charter. Skeie commented as long as he has been on the Commission there have not been any ADA violations and only one bias incident. Khan agrees that the Charter needs to be reviewed because HUMAN RIGHTS & DIVERSITY MINUTES August 8, 2024 Page 5 of 5 there are gaps and they also would need to be discussed with the City Council. Vice Chair Singh suggested discussing this with Chair Leeper as to how the Commission should proceed with updating the Charter. Oaxaca said the Commissioners should discuss the end goals that should be measured up to as it relates to the Commission. She commented as it exists today, the Charter is very vague and needs clarifications. Khan said in regards to the REI report, the Manifesto was discussed and he thought it was a good prelude to what is going on now. Pfahnl said last year the Commission talked about welcoming activities and asked if that would take place this year. Urbanski said the Commission’s goals are not the same as say the Airport Commission and given that asked how can the Commission measure Race and Equity goals. Oaxaca responded that is why it is important to have speakers to give input and information. Xiong commented speakers give foundational language and once the Commission has that language it can be more intentional to discuss goals and how they can be measured. She will communicate this with Chair Leeper and can be discussed in more detail at the next meeting. Urbanski asked Xiong if she debriefs with Rick Getschow. Xiong said she does communicate with Chair Leeper first and then will meet with Julie Klima and Rick Getschow to discuss meeting topics. Khan said he feels HRDC events and activities are important and said when the Commission gets more clarity they can tweak plans for next year. Xiong responded that she has been looking for dynamic speakers to attend the meetings. VIII. STAFF REPORT – PAJA XIONG A. RACE EQUITY ACTION TEAM (REAT) UPDATE There were no updates. IX. UPCOMING MEETINGS A. September 12, 2024 X. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Weaver moved, seconded by Khan, to adjourn the Human Rights & Diversity Commission meeting. Motion carried 10-0. The meeting adjourned at 8:50 p.m.