Human Relations Committee

Name: Human Relations Committee — Laconia, NH
Start: 2024-07-11
End: 2024-07-11
Location: Laconia, NH

Regular Meeting

Laconia, NH · July 11, 2024

Minutes

Laconia Human Relations Committee NH Endowment for Health Grant Work Group July 11, 2024 Meeting Minutes Beth Vachon called the meeting to order at 3:00 pm. Attendance: David Stamps by Zoom, Heather Stanley, Cathy Bowler, Patricia Okinedo, Carol Pierce, Patrick Wood, David Osman, Beth Vachon, Faith Pakasuk (after 4 pm), Matt Soza (around 4 pm), and Carol Stone (after 4 pm by Zoom) There was a brief discussion of the event on May 23rd in conjunction with the Lakes Region Mental Health Center open house. It was agreed that the Mayor’s speech was very meaningful and powerful but that the opportunity to mention the efforts of the Human Relations Committee to implement the NH Endowment for Health grant was disappointing. Beth Vachon was thanked for her efforts on the “Good News Story” on the “HAWK” radio station on June 6th. However, it was agreed that more needs to be done about this publicity. Beth said she has some ideas on what she might do differently for such an event in the future. There were really not enough answers to the questions posed to reach any conclusions. Beth indicated her general feeling was that creating situations where people can talk to one another is important – this is a type of therapy. There was a recognition that the City had made some efforts to emphasize Mental Health Week but that perhaps more city-wide programs with more outreach would have a larger impact. It was noted that the New Hampshire Humanities Council might have some standardized questions that could be made available at future events to encourage community involvement. Patrick noted that he had communicated with Melina Hill Walker at the NH Endowment for Health to see if she had any updates on what the other communities are doing with their grants. Melina responded that she has not had the time to reach out to the other communities but hopes to do so soon. Beth then proposed that we consider developing “Human Libraries,” an idea proposed by Larry Frates. The concept of these “libraries” is to have some folks who have knowledge of some specific area or have made an impression on the world about them by some contribution be available for 30 minutes to talk one-on-one or in small groups about their expertise or experience – in effect be a “library resource.” Beth passed around a flyer from Humanlibrary.org for us to review. It was agreed that this would be an interesting way to develop some community engagement and could be presented at the Multicultural Festival in September. Patrick mentioned that during the Centennial celebration in 1993, some high school students interviewed various members of our community and that those interviews were recorded. He will try to find out where those recordings might be. We then discussed the funding for the Martin Luther King, Jr. Commemoration to see if the Work Group would be willing to allow funds from the grant to be used to cover the costs of the MLK event for January 2025. It was agreed to do so provided efforts would be made to raise sufficient funds to reimburse the grant. Patrick agreed to contact the City Manager about raising funds. There was a discussion of recent efforts to discourage companies from participating in Diversity, Equity, and Inclusion, “DEI”, programs. Beth noted that LRMHC has people who do make presentations to various companies in this area about DEI. Patricia asked who initiates those programs – the companies or LRMHC. Beth said the requests come from the companies. We then discussed how we could better publicize this service. It was agreed that it would be worthwhile to have LRHMC make such a presentation to the Laconia Human Relations Committee. It was agreed that the next meeting should begin focusing on the types of programs or events that might be beneficial for the community in the coming months. Beth, Heather, and Patrick will work on the agenda for that meeting. That meeting will be August 8, 2024. We thanked Cathy Bowler and Laconia Housing Authority for making their conference room available. Cathy said she would make sure it is available for the next meeting as well. The meeting was adjourned at 4:30 pm Respectfully submitted, Patrick H Wood, Secretary Pro Tem

Agenda

Laconia Human Relations Committee TM-CEI Agenda Tentative- July 11th, 2024 – Thursday 3:00pm – 4:30pm Laconia Housing Authority conference room 32 Canal Street, Laconia, NH Agenda Welcome and Roll Call Note Laconia Human Relations Committee which is an entity of Laconia Government is the official recipient of grant so all meetings of committees, etc. must comply with RSA 91-A Old Business:  First event held May 23rd in conjunction with LRMHC- Open House & Art Walk o Mayor Hosmer – gave a heartfelt address about the struggles of mental health and the importance of community.  Get Andrew’s permission before we post it or use it anywhere, due to its sensitive nature. o Marketing- Newspaper & radio. Beth recorded the “Good News Story” on Thursday, June 6th at the Hawk radio station, and talked at length about the event, the purpose of the grant, and what the event was intended to do. o Food- Invoice needed for the City's Finance Director o Summary of Questions  Question 1 – If you could change one thing about your community, what would it be? (9 responses) • More help and awareness for mental health and homeless - Laconia • Increase affordable housing - Laconia • More common sense – Rumney • More affordable housing – Laconia • Transportation problems – Laconia • People would not judge others without learning about them – Laconia • More opportunities to meet new people – Belmont • Wheeled scooters (not mobility chairs) and bicycles off the sidewalks – Laconia • Help people find their purpose, who they really are. Help others understand that not everyone learns the same, comprehends the same way. What may not work for one, may work for another. We all have gifts/magic inside. Help everyone shine, give hope. Because its going to take everyone to make change. – Laconia  Question 2 – I would like more information available to the community about: (3 responses) • Bicycles on the sidewalk (safety) – Laconia • Single payer medical system – Rumney • Mental health support – Laconia Interactive Map – Laconia, Gilford, Rumney, Belmont, Ashland, Loudon, Rochester, Meredith, Wolfeboro, and Concord o Organizations who receive grant funding may benefit from a framework to outline future events to work within the grant intention to foster trust- building around difficult topics through community interaction and engagement. Carrie will work on this. o Round tables encouraged. o Patrick will reach out to others who have received grant funding to see how they are strategizing around this. New Business:  Next Event o Potential Intentional Social Interaction (IZI) event o Location- Required to meet at location other than LRMHC? o Martin Luther King, Jr. Celebration- Jan 19th, 2025- Colonial Theater  Request for funding- $3,225.00  Promote community interaction  “Lost Boundaries” showing- Laconia Library on Jan 17th & Jan 24th, followed by community discussion. o Other?  Action Items: o a. Next meeting date: Thursday, August 8th, 3:00 PM, Location: TBD o b. Invite youth to attend next meeting Public Comment – The public is invited to offer their opinions. Initially, they will be limited to four minutes until all have had an opportunity to speak. Each person is constrained to their time period or to ask questions of the committee. Everyone is expected to speak respectfully. Microsoft Teams Need help? <https://aka.ms/JoinTeamsMeeting?omkt=en-US> Join the meeting now<https://teams.microsoft.com/l/meetup- join/19%3ameeting_MTNjNjA4YmUtYjlhNi00OWY5LTkzMmItZGUyNWVkZjgzNWMw% 40thread.v2/0?context=%7b%22Tid%22%3a%22c2c9bef9-3a81-48c7-a1ed- ed763e61dd3e%22%2c%22Oid%22%3a%223789f9a9-9923-4e9f-ae92- 53f01fbf2751%22%7d> Meeting ID: 270 987 390 925 Passcode: rXcjjU ________________________________ For organizers: Meeting options<https://teams.microsoft.com/meetingOptions/?organizerId=3789f9a9-9923- 4e9f-ae92-53f01fbf2751&tenantId=c2c9bef9-3a81-48c7-a1ed- ed763e61dd3e&threadId=19_meeting_MTNjNjA4YmUtYjlhNi00OWY5LTkzMmItZGUyN WVkZjgzNWMw@thread.v2&messageId=0&language=en-US>

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