Loading...
2019-03-26 Minutes Page 1 Minutes New Hanover County/City of Wilmington Community Relations Advisory Committee NHC Library 101 Chestnut Street, New Hanover Room March 26, 2019 5:30 PM Committee Members Present: Chair Evelyn Bryant, Vice-Chair Owen Wexler, Rev. Charles Davis, Melanie Frank, Jeff Hovis, Jen Johnson, Kathy King, Lori Wainright, Dr. Anne York Absent: Kristen McKeithan, Elise Rocks, Florence Warren Staff Present: Dahria Kianpour I.Call to Order Ms. Bryant called the meeting to order. Quorum established. Members and public introduced themselves. II. Approve Agenda MOTION: Owen Wexler MOVED, SECONDED by Kathy King, to approve the agenda as presented. Upon vote, the MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. III. Approve Minutes MOTION: Owen Wexler MOVED, SECONDED by Reverend Davis, to approve the minutes of February 26, 2019. Upon vote, the MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. IV. Public Comments: Revered Davis stated that there are issues in the Creekwood Community and two individuals that he knows through his ministry are present at this meeting. He invited them to attend to provide insight regarding the status of their community. Glendora Mullins, Vice-President of Creekwood Community, invited the members to visit their community. The main issues they are concerned with is the violence and lack of transportation. They also need assistance with their afterschool program. Ms. Mullins explained they are trying to find a way to stop the violence as some of the residents are fearful of retaliation. Chantell Roland, secretary of Creekwood Community, stated the main concerns she wanted to bring forward is the need for transportation and help with the afterschool program. She explained that she has reached out to people and organizations, but . She said she loves kids and created a dance team for the children of Creekwood to help stop the violence. There will be a performance on April 6 th at the MLK Center and on the 13 th for a Stop the Violence event in the Creekwood area. Ms. Roland also stated that she has rThey have many activities during spring break for the children in order to help keep them out of trouble. There was a brief discussion regarding transportation needs for the community. A discussion was also held regarding crime occurring in the community and the fear of reporting to police due to retaliation. Text to tip has been shared with the residents. Ms. Mullins invited the CRAC members to attend an executive or community residence meeting. The next executive meeting Page 2 th is on April 10 at 11am at the Wilmington Housing Authority central office. The next community residence is tentative for April 24 th at 5pm. They try to schedule meetings on the second Wednesday of each month, but can be flexible so that CRAC members can attend. Regarding uniforms for the dance team, Ms. Rowland stated they needed $550 for the uniforms for 15 kids. There are more trying to join the team, but she needs additional help to coordinate. It will be shown multiple times on April 10 th at Ironclad Brewery. After each screening, a facilitated discussion will be held. Ms. Wainright stated th the District Court is also showing a screening on April 9 at 5:30pm. Ms. Baker stated that the NHRMC Medication Disposal event is on March 27 th with 19 locations. Also, UNCW School of Social Work will be convening a group for an initiative to gather data. Research has shown aging population will far exceed the younger generation. The group will look at aging in diverse populations and challenges they will face, such as transportation, low income, disability, and bias. Information will be collected from residents at Glover Plaza regarding the challenges they currently face. Ms. Baker wanted to make members aware of the initiative and she will be part of that group. V.Sub-Committee Reports: There was a brief discussion regarding the Implicit Bias training recommendation. Ms. Wainright stated that Ms. Bradley- Thomas has reported the County already provides the Implicit Bias training. So far, there are about 173 employees who have completed the training and 77 additional employees have signed up to take it. Discussion was held regarding following up on the formal recommendation to require mandatory training for all City and County employees. Ms. Franks stated she would share the draft of the letter with the committee for review and edits. Chair Bryant recommended to gather more data from other organizations to see whether they require mandatory implicit bias training. At this time, the Board of Education trains administrators and then works down from there. Action item for next agenda is to vote on the recommendation letter whether to send it to governing officials. Mr. Wexler reported for the Crisis Prevention/Preparedness Sub-Committee as follows: rd Mr. Wexler is the new chair as Ms. Franks had resigned from being the chair. Meetings are scheduled for the 3 Tuesday of each month at 4pm. There was discussion regarding changing the meeting dates and will re-confirm once new dates are set. Ms. Franks announced that she will be moving out of the area in June and said she is resigning from the committee as a result. Ms. King also announced she would be moving, but does not have a definite date yet and will confirm once set. The sub-committee reviewed goals and strategies which will include focusing on areas regarding education, housing, law enforcement, and discrimination issues. One of the goals is to establish periodic community meetings and meet and greets to reach out to communities. An action item they have is to make request that the City of Wilmington Police and County S Department to become re-engaged with monthly CRAC meetings. Ms. Wainright reported for the Programming Sub-Committee as follows: th Sub-committee meetings are scheduled at 4:30pm on the 4 Tuesday of each month. There was a recommendation made to follow up on the Implicit Bias Training recommendation. Members plan to invite groups to come learn more about CRAC and members will offer to meet with groups for lunch or meet and greets. There is a plan to create a calendar of events to share with all CRAC members to keep track of community activity. Ms. Wainright stated that Ms. Bradley-Thomas is looking into the new affordable housing committee to find out if CRAC members can recommend someone to be on that committee. Members plan to following specific people and/or groups on Facebook who are affected by prejudice and discrimination. A list will be created for this. Dr. York reported for the Public Education Sub-Committee as follows: Monthly meetings have been confirmed for the 2 nd Wednesday at 2pm. They are working on possibly creating a Facebook page or a webpage to communicate with the public and disperse information. Members are planning at least four meet and greet events. Some suggested meeting locations are Maides Park in May and June, Pine Valley Library in August and Page 3 September, DC Virgo Prep Academy in January and December, and for April they are looking for a location in the Hispanic community. Members will look into meeting at Creekwood Community as well. Meet and greets are open for all CRAC members to attend. The sub-committee is working on a complaint form and process for discrimination issues. It will be in Google docs for all members to review. The meet and greets will be held at various locations each time and they are reviewing how to make the public aware of this. One idea is to schedule one hour every week at a location to share resources and information with the public. A suggestion was to meet at Jamaica House on Carolina Beach Road every week and to rotate members to be present. Possibly meet at Creekwood or set up a table at different events such as the Health Fair and the Latino festival. A recommendation was also made to share the information with Melissa Talbert at the City of Wilmington so they can share announcements as well. The CRAC brochure has been updated and will be available on Google docs for review. On Google docs, there is a list of community resources and advisory board community contacts. Members are encouraged to add organizations and contacts that they know of. Kathy King was excued at 6:30pm. There was a brief discussion regarding the process of sub-committee reports, which are to be shared with the whole committee during the regular meeting. At sub-committee meetings, this is where members will work on their action items and other various tasks. VI. Discussion/Planning of Presentation to City of Wilmington and New Hanover County A brief discussion was held regarding sharing a presentation at the City Council and County Commissioners meetings. Chair Bryant thanked the members for their time and participation on the committee. She will work with Ms. Bradley-Thomas to share a document in Google Docs for members to add their input and suggestions for the presentation. She is planning to present in June. VII.Announcements: It was confirmed that NHRMC is not purchasing Houston Moore Terrace Apartments April 10 th: 9am, 11am, 1pm, 3pm, 5pm, 7pm follow April 27 th, 10am-2pm: Medical Disposal Event hosted by NHRMC at various locations throughout New Hanover, Brunswick, Pender, Bladen, Onslow, and Duplin County VIII. Adjourn: Meeting adjourned at 6:37pm.