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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Rights and Diversity - 05/14/2015 APPROVED MINUTES EDEN PRAIRIE HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION THURSDAY, MAY 14, 2015 7:00 P.M., 125 EDEN PRAIRIE CENTER Office of Housing and Human Services COMMISSION MEMBERS: Sandra Filardo (Chair), PG Narayanan (Vice Chair), Tonj a Bivins, Jenny Buckland, Sana Elassar, Connie Iacovelli, Greg Leeper STAFF: Patricia Fenrick, Staff Heidi Wojahn, Recording Secretary STUDENT REPRESENTATIVES: Emily Higgins, Karena Lin, Beth Corpuz, Tanvi Mehta, Shreya Venkatesh L CALL TO ORDER/ROLL CALL Chair Filardo called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. Commissioners Elassar and Leeper and Student Representatives Mehta and Venkatesh were absent. Bivins and Buckland arrived at 7:09 p.m. and 8:10 p.m. respectively. II. APPROVAL OF AGENDA This item was addressed out of order under Item IV. B. SOCIAL SERVICES REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. MOTION: Narayanan moved, seconded by Iacovelli, to approve the agenda. Motion carried 4-0. III. APPROVAL OF MINUTES This item was addressed out of order under Item IV. B. SOCIAL SERVICES REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL. MOTION: Iacovelli moved, seconded by Bivins, to approve the April 9, 2015 minutes. Motion carried 3-0-1 with Filardo abstaining. IV. REPORTS OF STAFF -Fenrick A. BIAS CRIME No update. HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES May 14, 2015 Page 2 B. SOCIAL SERVICES REQUEST FOR PROPOSAL (RFP) Fenrick reported she recently sent the RFP for social services agencies to which the City awards grants. It will remain open until June 24. Two agencies previously declined grants awarded from the City citing reasons of too much work for too little money. This, in turn, has freed up additional funds for another initiative. The City plans to partner with Briarhill Apartments and YMCA to provide summer playground activities for children of immigrant families living at Briarhill. Briarhill residents came forth with the request because they want structured activities for their kids but have difficulty navigating the sign-up system for park and rec programming. The program will be geared towards children ages 5-12. Bivins arrived at 7:09 p.m. Passport to Fun, the City's park and rec fee-assistance program, offers funding of $100 per child per year for programs to those who provide paperwork proving income-qualification or special financial circumstances. Briarhill is a Section 8 property, and all residents income qualify to live there. People Reaching Out to Other People (PROP) helps subsidize the remaining cost families owe. Signing up for subsidies and programming has proven complicated, however, and is a barrier to accessing programs. Fenrick's office is working with the YMCA to pilot this program with the end goal of having families be able to sign themselves up for future programming. Narayanan suggested having a program to encourage and train teens to sign up. Fenrick said that has been offered in the past, but one problem is these families aren't accustomed to keeping track of schedules. They forget about the activity, the kids are no shows, and then the scholarship dollars don't get used which is frustrating to City staff. There should be fewer barriers with the programming being available on-site where the participants live. This is not meant to be a permanent solution, but rather a transition to becoming familiar with and using the online system. Now that the older kids will be occupied, the Family Center is looking at continuing its on-site parent/child early childhood education class into the summer. Iacovelli asked if there was any charge for the program. Fenrick said the program is free this and no sign-up is required this year, but pre-registration would probably be a requirement going forward. Iacovelli suggested charging a nominal fee. Fenrick said we could, but these are low-income families and with the cost of programming, the Passport to Fun covers only one class per year. Iacovelli said it is something to consider if we are trying to transition families gradually into these programs. She asked if transportation was another barrier. Fenrick said it definitely is. HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES May 14, 2015 Page 3 C. BEST BUY GRANT $5.10 remaining. V. OLD BUSINESS A. SUCCESSES 1. Town Hall Fenrick reported she presented findings from the Town Hall at Tuesday's City Council workshop and again to Community Development staff this morning. The remainder of this item was addressed out of order under Item V. D. STOP THE TRAFFICKING 5K. Higgins recounted her experience with an elderly woman during and after the Town Hall. The woman was blunt but polite in sharing her strong opinions about Somalians immigrating to Eden Prairie. She expressed concerns about her taxes increasing for amenities they are not paying for in terms of the school amendment and their request for a separate community center. She is on a fixed income is worried if this continues, she will not be able to afford to stay in the community she has lived in for many years. Higgins said she spoke with her at length after the event and felt the woman was listening. Filardo said she heard many comments about issues with transportation to preschool since bussing is only provided for students with a certain level of need, such as those on individualized education plans (IEP). Fenrick said typically the family has only one car which leaves the stay-at-home spouse with no means of transportation. Iacovelli said the response from ethnic restaurants was good and we should plan on continuing to network in that manner going forward. Fenrick said we will take the recommendations and themes from the Town Hall and weave them into our work plan. One way to reach residents is to make sure renters have access to welcome packets. Iacovelli suggested leaving postcards with apartment buildings which can be sent in to request packets. They are less bulky and help keep costs down. Fenrick said she would still like to see everyone receive a packet but thinks it is a good idea to reduce spending. Narayanan recommended leaving packets in the rental office. Fenrick said she would like to offer some sort of orientation for newcomers. If someone is a renter or does not have kids, it is harder to make connections. HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES May 14, 2015 Page 4 Fenrick said the Commission can start thinking about and discussing priorities in June. Her office is working with the school district and Southwest Metro on general transportation within Eden Prairie. Although we have metro transit, Dial-a-Ride must be scheduled a week in advance and users must leave a half-hour cushion on either end and sometimes they do not show making it a less-than-ideal option. She is hoping to get a service started where one can call and get a ride anywhere in the community. A survey will be available to help solicit feedback. Bivins said sidewalks would be helpful. When she lived in New York, there was a very popular $1/ride van option. Transportation needs are easier to manage now with applications such as Uber. Narayanan said it was important to educate the Council on the issues and all viewpoints. Fenrick said she will share her presentation to Council and staff with the commissioners. 2. The Mask You Live In Bivins said surveys indicated respondents didn't anticipate what the event was about but felt the information was valuable. The event did not meet her expectations in terms of turnout with about 50 attendees. The gap for her was not having the promotion in place. Ultimately, the goal was not to make a profit but rather to share the information and unfortunately it was too late to rectify that in time to increase attendance. Commissioners and Fenrick disagreed declaring the event a success. Bivins thanked Fenrick and the other volunteers for their help and support. She felt the panelists provided great insight and questions from the audience were insightful, as well. She learned a lot and would do some things differently next time. Her purpose was to raise money for Teens Alone so her focus was on selling tickets, but she realized the bigger cause was just to bring awareness. Of the $561.00 in proceeds, $250 each will go to HRDC and Teens Alone with the remaining $61.00 going to Bivins who fronted the money to show the documentary. 3. Girl Scout Event B. HUMAN RIGHTS AWARDS PRESENTATION The Human Rights Awards ceremony will take place Tuesday, May 19 at the City Council meeting. C. HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD (HRA)APPLICATION WORDING This item was addressed out of order under Item V. E. CULTURAL SERVICES UNIT UPDATE. HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES May 14, 2015 Page 5 Fenrick said Commissioners ran into issues this year with some of the HRA application wording not eliciting information useful in making a decision. Discussion and wordsmithing for how to revise the application for next year ensued. Filardo said the Manifesto language was too wordy and suggested breaking it down into three smaller parts. Iacovelli expressed it seemed repetitive. Fenrick suggested replacing the question altogether with three different questions. Corpuz agreed breaking it down was important so nominators would be less likely to skip over certain aspects. Narayanan recommended we tailor the questions to the different award categories. Higgins suggested sending the youth application to school teachers. They have access to more resources useful in nominating. Filardo said she liked the idea of distinguishing the line of questioning between categories. Corpuz said the Foundation for Eden Prairie Schools has a Student of the Year award which supports the idea of sending the form to teachers. Buckl and arrived at 8:10 p.m. Iacovelli suggested we focus on the business activity rather than the whole business or its mission statement. Placing a separate box next to each aspect of the Manifesto allows nominators to check which elements specifically apply. Lin said that was too specific. It aims inclusion at only one or a few groups, when we want to promote inclusion of all. Filardo said we should request citation of specific examples for each item they check. Higgins added they should also explain how they uphold those pieces. Higgins said it was important to keep the question about how the efforts benefit the community. Buckland said she likes the concept of requesting specific information to start and then heading in a more general direction. Fenrick said she will do a two-part mock-up. Part one will consist of three questions about 1)promoting human rights, 2)valuing diversity, and 3) making community more inclusive and welcoming (regardless of race, color, creed . . .) with a checkbox before each and a request to provide further explanation and specific examples for each one checked. Part two will address the broad summary of the community benefit. She will send a survey monkey with this format for review. She will also do a draft for the individual category and send it to commissioners for feedback. Further discussion occurred about use of the word `leadership' in the line of questioning. Higgins suggested `involvement' as a replacement. Lin requested we incorporate the word `initiative'. Fenrick said she ordered a more contemporary acrylic desktop award for this year's recipients as opposed to a wall plaque. Narayanan suggested issuing certificates to winners as well. HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES May 14, 2015 Page 6 D. STOP THE TRAFFICKING 5K The Stop the Trafficking 5K will take place June 13 with check-in/bib handout on June 11 and 12. Volunteers are needed to distribute information before the June HRDC meeting from 4 to 7 p.m. and again the next day. Sign-up is available online on the Eden Prairie Human Rights Facebook page or the Run for Justice website. Proceeds will go to four different agencies benefitting youth involved in trafficking. This remainder of this item was addressed out of order under Item V. C. HUMAN RIGHTS AWARD (HRA)APPLICATION WORDING. Buckland stated pick-up is also available on June 7 at Grace Church. There are about 250 registrations so far. Donations will go to 3 major organizations: The Link Passageways, Heartland Girls' Ranch, and Mission 21, as well as to prevention organizations. Volunteers can commit to staffing the information table on the Outlook sign-up Fenrick sent out. Water and food donations are still being sought. There is a big registration session happening this coming Sunday. They are hoping to reach 800 participants again. Pre-race speakers will each give two- minute talks on prevention, demand, and rehab. E. CULTURAL SERVICES UNIT (CSU) UPDATE Fenrick announced the first certified CSU cohort graduation was featured in the Eden Prairie News. This particular class is also a part of the Hennepin County Medical Corps volunteer pool. VI. NEW BUSINESS A. TRACKS IN THE SNOW UPDATE The"Tracks in the Snow" exhibit opens November 12 and runs through December 3. HRDC will partner with the Art Center for this event which takes the place of the getting to know your Muslim neighbor event. Fenrick said we want a panel and conversations to center on Islam and will be asking for ideas for panelists and logistics. The exhibit will be divided among the library, city hall, and the art center. It is important to note this exhibit is about individuals with a focus on diversity within Islam. Filardo said it should be promoted as a celebration about people. B. AMERICANS WITH DISABILITIES ACT (ADA) 25"ANNIVERSARY/ COMMUNITY CONVERSATION This year is the ADA's silver anniversary. Fenrick said she has been in talks with City staff and the parent of one of the youth Human Rights Award winners to gather information about how to have community conversations to solicit input on issues surrounding disability. HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION MINUTES May 14, 2015 Page 7 Filardo suggested inviting the Chilean ambassador, who lives in Eden Prairie, to address HRDC in the fall about what she does. C. EDEN PRAIRIE COMMUNITY FOUNDATION (EPCF) BOARD NAMES EPCF has requested names from us of potential members in order to better diversify their board. Information can be forwarded to executive director, Mark Weber. Narayanan expressed he might be interested. VIIL FUTURE MEETINGS/EVENTS The next HRDC meeting is scheduled for Thursday, June 11, 2015, 7 p.m. at Eden Prairie Center, Room 125. The Commission is not scheduled to meet in July or August. IX. ADJOURNMENT MOTION: Iacovelli moved, seconded by Narayanan, to adjourn. Motion carried 5-0. Chair Filardo adjourned the meeting at 8:53 p.m.