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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Rights and Diversity - 01/08/2015 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION THURSDAY,JANUARY 8, 2015 7:00 P.M., 125 EDEN PRAIRIE CENTER Office of Housing and Human Services COMMISSION MEMBERS: Sandra Filardo (Chair), PG Narayanan (Vice Chair), Tonja Bivins, Jenny Buckland, Sana Elassar, Connie Iacovelli STAFF: Patricia Fenrick, Staff Molly Koivumaki; Mgr. —Housing/Comm. Services Heidi Wojahn, Recording Secretary STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES: Emily Higgins, Karena Lin, Elizabeth Corpuz, Tanvi Mehta, Shreya Venkatesh I. CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Filardo called the meeting to order at 7:15 p.m. Commissioners Narayanan and Buckland and Student Representatives Corpuz, Lin, and Venkatesh were absent. Bivins joined the meeting via telephone. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA MOTION: Bivins moved, seconded by Iacovelli, to approve the agenda. Motion carried 4-0. III. MINUTES MOTION: Iacovelli moved, seconded by Elassar, to approve the December 4, 2014 minutes. Motion carried 3-0-1 with Filardo abstaining. IV. BRIEF STUDENT REPORTS Mehta said she was only able to go to the first Youth One Voice session in December and nobody showed up for it. Higgins said the third session was cancelled due to continued lack of attendance at the second session. It seems the student population is complacent when it comes to doing anything about their complaints other than venting. Since they were not coming forward, the thought was it would be easier to go to them. Mehta said originally she had thought CORE would be a good time for the event,but in hindsight a lot of students use this time for academic purposes and are already committed. Higgins stated the December timing also was not ideal for students because teachers were trying to cram a lot in before break. This would likely not be the case at the beginning of a quarter. HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES January 8, 2015 Page 2 Filardo suggested narrowing the focus and partnering with one or two groups. Higgins agreed it would be better to work with two or three smaller clubs. The student commissioners could look at club activities and decide on a couple groups they feel represent the widest range of issues. Mehta recommended working with groups already accustomed to holding in-depth discussions such as Amnesty and Youth in Government. Iacovelli asked if they want commissioner assistance. Higgins said one commissioner would be nice. Mehta stated it would help to have an authoritative figure. Filardo agreed students are more focused and serious when an adult is present. Iacovelli suggested contacting the groups Mehta mentioned regarding scheduling and then coordinating with an adult commissioner. Fenrick requested this be completed by next month's meeting given the tentative event date of April. V. REPORTS OF STAFF —Fenrick A. CULTURAL SERVICES UNIT (CSU) Fenrick, Hennepin County, ECHO, and the Community Emergency Response Team(CERT) are meeting next week to finalize curriculum for on-call medical corps training. Elassar is involved as a member of CERT. Recruitment of multi- lingual volunteers will begin in February. Commissioners should contact Fenrick if they know of any interested candidates. Elassar said there is a weekly commitment of three hours for several weeks. B. HUMAN SERVICES REVIEW COMMITTEE (HSRC) The City gives grants to service agencies in Eden Prairie supporting people in need in the areas of family stability, vulnerable children, and elders. Fenrick will be doing monitor visits to all agencies which have been awarded grants. HSRC will be accepting new grant proposals in June of this year for the next grant cycle. Fenrick talked about programs available for homeless youth in the Eden Prairie community. The statistics she receives from the school district reflect only those being bussed from shelters; the number of couch-hoppers is unknown. C. BEST BUY GRANT $5.10 remaining. VI. NEW BUSINESS A. HUMAN RIGHTS AWARDS - Fenrick Applications will be on the website by the end of this week. Fenrick will forward the link to commissioners who are encouraged to nominate candidates in the areas of youth, business, non-profit, and individual. Those who live, work, or attend school in Eden Prairie are eligible. Application questions are tied to the Eden Prairie Manifesto and will remain the same as last year. Those wanting a paper HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES January 8, 2015 Page 3 copy of the application can contact Fenrick. The deadline is March 10, and decisions will be made at the April meeting with presentation of awards in May. Fenrick would like to make a bigger deal of it this year on television at the high school. Filardo asked if the youth category was limited to high schoolers. Fenrick said there is not a hard and fast rule about where the youth/adult line is drawn. There is nothing preventing middle schoolers from being nominated. There will be a proclamation announcing the kick-off of the awards at the January 20 Council meeting. B. COUNCIL PRESENTATION - Fenrick Filardo will present the work plan at the January Council workshop. Ten minutes is the allotted time. Fenrick will put together the PowerPoint. C. COMMISSION RECRUITMENT - Fenrick There is one commissioner slot known to be open. Filardo's term is expiring soon, and Fenrick asked her to inform her in the next couple of weeks if she intends to renew. Commissioners are encouraged to personally ask people they think would be a good fit. Candidates must reside in Eden Prairie. The applications go online Monday and are available through February 6. Interviews will be held February 24. Youth commissioners' terms run through the end of the school year. Applications will be available near the end of the semester for the fall. D. "THE MASK YOU LIVE IN" FILM—Bivins The Representation Project has produced a new documentary on males and how they are raised in families, and on gender assignment in the media. Bivins has been working on how to go about procuring a screening with the hopes this will foster discussion about the issues and allow people to share their perspectives and ideas for solutions. She shared the synopsis and trailer she received from the organization with the commissioners. Fenrick has helped her identify a fiscal co-sponsor in Teens Alone which will allow us to get the non-profit rate of$750. This will also help make it a community event getting it out to those who need to hear the message. Fenrick explained Bivins is paying the fee, but the funds will be funneled through Teens Alone. Teens Alone will include their network, participants and youth they work with so it will be of great benefit to them. Bivins said she is often away for work and would like to form a planning committee to help with scheduling, promotion, and recruitment of a panel of speakers credentialed to address this topic. Someone is needed to work hands-on with Teens Alone to make sure we are targeting audiences and spreading the message. We need to brainstorm and develop this into a memorable experience rather than just a viewing. HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES January 8, 2015 Page 4 Filardo said she could not commit to leading but volunteered to help. She has some ideas for groups to involve. Higgins said she would also help in whatever capacity she could. Elassar said a couple people can co-lead, but everyone can contribute in some way. Bivins said she envisions a marketing/promotions team. Ticket sales are a possibility with proceeds going back to the sponsoring organization. There is also venue and logistics to consider. Fenrick said she can work on finding a venue. The more partners we have, the more we will be able to get the word out. Higgins and Filardo both shared that this topic resonates with them. Bivins said most of us do not have the tools to deal with this sensitive topic. We may not be able to change everyone's lives, but we want to be able to have an enlightened discussion because men need to know they are valuable. Fenrick asked Bivins to put together a preliminary task list. Bivins said she could do this but would like someone else to look it over. Iacovelli suggested she send it to everyone. Fenrick said we should also put together a list of additional groups with which to potentially partner. It would be a good idea to plan Friday meetings with partnering groups when Bivins is in town so they are included in planning. Bivins said she will send out a to-do list in the next week. VII. OLD BUSINESS A. YOUTH ONE VOICE This item was discussed out of order under Item IV. BRIEF STUDENT REPORTS. B. 2015 WORK PLAN - Fenrick We have a kitchen through Community Ed for the cooking classes, and several potential cooks have been identified. It was too late for inclusion in the Community Ed catalog so we have to do our own advertising,but we can advertise it electronically via Community Ed. The layout of the middle school kitchen, format, and scheduling were discussed. Filardo suggested billing it as a date night. Iacovelli recommended holding one session on April 24 or May 1 and another in the fall. She asked if we could charge for materials. Fenrick confirmed we can. It would probably work best to have this be a demonstration and culture talk rather than involving participants in cooking. Higgins suggested having the featured food available for tasting and sharing the recipe if the cook is willing. Fenrick recommended capping registration at eight couples and doing a dry run first. Iacovelli suggested Buckland be the dry run guinea pig. Filardo said she would also be willing to do this. Fenrick will pursue availability for a dry run in February. Discussion followed about listing the use of certain food types in promotional materials as needed in an effort to be culturally sensitive. HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES January 8, 2015 Page 5 Fenrick is pursuing funding through the Arts Center and Parks and Rec for funding for the "Tracks in the Snow" exhibit. Fenrick is working with her HTC contact and Buckland on scheduling a showing of"Dakota 38" sometime during the"Why Treaties Matter" exhibit being held at HTC March 3-30. Higgins said she will work on getting permission for an HRDC booth at the high school Diversity Fair. Timing for the intergenerational One Voice community conversation was discussed. Fenrick asked commissioners to think about June, August, and September as possibilities. We need to think about cementing a date next month. C. TOWN HALL - Fenrick This item was discussed out of order under Item VI. D. "THE MASK YOULIVE IN"FILM. The March 25h Town Hall has been cancelled as this date does not work for the mayor. Wednesdays in April are being considered for an alternate date. D. COMMUNITY CINEMA - Fenrick This item was discussed out of order under Item VI. D. "THEMASK YOULIVE IN"FILM. "A Path Appears" is the next Community Cinema film. This three-part series is very hope and action-oriented and is the sequel to"Half the Sky". Each part covers a different topic and can stand alone. Filardo said she will approach her women's group at St. Andrew Lutheran Church to see if they are interested in co- hosting/partnering. They are an outreach and public service-oriented group. Fenrick said the only requirement is it must be open to the public. It will premiere on television January 26. There is no target date for the showing. Iacovelli volunteered to preview the movie. Elassar asked if the film had to be shown in Eden Prairie. Fenrick said technically there should be an Eden Prairie connection. We were given the project because there was not already a community cinema project in the area. Elassar suggested Hennepin Technical College as a possible venue. Fenrick said she could talk to her contact there,but the location has not proven conducive to evening events given the timing of classes. Filardo said most of the student body is made up of those who work outside of class and do not tend to stick around on campus. HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES January 8, 2015 Page 6 VIII. FUTURE MEETINGS/EVENTS The next HRDC meeting is scheduled for Thursday, February 12, 2015, 7 p.m. at Eden Prairie Center, Room 125. January 20, 2015, 5:00 p.m. - work plan presentation at Council workshop. IX. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Iacovelli moved, seconded by Elassar, to adjourn. Motion carried 4-0. Chair Filardo adjourned the meeting at 8:49 p.m.