Commission on the Social Status of African-American Males

MICHIGAN CITY COMMISSION ON THE SOCIAL STATUS OF AFRICAN-AMERICAN MALES -------------------------------------- Mr.Marty Corley Mrs. Joan Ganschow Ms. LaTonya Troutman Ms. Nila William I. Call to Order AT 12:01 PM II. Roll call A. Quorum of 12 B. See attendance sheet III. Treasurer’s Report A. 6/29/2021 2021 Scholarship Awardee – Jibreel Hoskins - $1,000.00 B. ENDING BALANCE 1. $573.9 C. Treasure request fundraising ideas D. Back 2 School Rally 1. Commissioner Tillman raised questions regarding a table for the Social Status at the Back 2 School Rally. If we would have a table and Commissioners, if able could donate some items. 2. Chairman Corley state Back 2 School Rally will be held August 14th, but will not be able to join 3. Executive Director James Garrett agreed to come support if it's going to be similar to the past. Willing to bring some back to school items but supplies are limited due to the pandemic. But can get together the pocket brochure and other things that may be useful to table 4. Commissioner Williams Thanked Mr.Garrett,being on the committee for the Back 2 school rally which will be from 12- 4 pm. Since we are non profit we shouldn't  have to pay $40 for the table but maybe all Agreed Commissioners could donate personally to gather school supplies for the rally. 5. Commissioners Tillman and Hogan will coordinate donor efforts. 6. Commissioner Ganschow can not attend personally but will donate. She will reach out to commissioners that volunteered. 7. Motion to accept Treasurer report as read made by Commissioner McCormick 8. Motion seconded by Commissioner Fly E. Corley Yea Ganschow yea Troutman yea Williams yea Tillman yea Milap yea Carroll yea Cox yea Allen yea Fly yea McCormick yea Hogan yea Ayes have it IV. New Business A. I had nothing for new business does anybody have anything for new business B. Director James Garret wanted to share with the Michigan City Commission we will be having our first call Conference for the Indiana Annual Black Barbershop which will be on the 4 Saturdays in April 2022. C. Spoke with Commissioner Ganschow about vaccinations or possible booster shots to increase the number of black males that are getting the vaccination or have gotten the vaccination or need the booster shot. If it is deemed that is something that needs to happen or occur in April of 2022. We can begin the discussion, I am hoping that we can began the trial run in select cities and barbershops this fall so in select cities roll out the barbershop initiatives and do the screen so we can better understand so we can better understand what the shots are confronted with with this new normal post pandemic. We have to do some things differently. Are we going to have to incorporate social distancing in the barbershop screening strategy. So it's kinda a trial run hopefully this fall. But we are looking for 16 cities to participate fully in april of 2022 and we probably again do that regionally so it will be the central indiana communities, the southern indiana communities the northern indiana communities. Then the northwest because we've got 4 participating cities in Lake County. So with the number of shops they have participating they can almost have exclusively for themselves. The beauty for Michigan City is we always allow you all to choose if you want to be with Northwest Indiana or with the Northern Indiana communities of Fort Wayne South Bend and Elkhart. Like I said we've got 4 Saturdays that will be available in April of 2022 and As we go through the calls that will be the 4th Monday of each month. We will designate what regions will have what saturday. Hopefully that will fit your schedule. We look forward to you all participating as you have in the past. One.of the new wrinkles that we may incorporate into the barbershop strategy is Vaccination information and actual vaccination sites will be incorporated if barbershop is not large enough or suitable for actual vaccinations then we can have St Francian or Health Link or some health partner in the participating city community provide those vaccinations. I can tell you that the state dept of health does have a mobile unit. We were able to utilize that mobile unit on april 24th in Gary. It worked very well. They rolled it out to Marquette Park where the Black Men's Health Fair was occurring. They had Indiana National Guardsmen and the medical professional to provide the vaccine and it happened right on site. If we have a shop that  would like to provide the vaccines & we’ve got a location that provides a high volume of participants, we may seek to incorporate or utilize the mobile unit from the State Dept. of Health to provide those vaccination shots. D. Commissioner Allen said we just finished up our 2nd vaccination clinic here in Michigan City. The National Guard and Indiana Dept. of Health were here. We did it at the Pencostal Temple of God in Christ. When you get that shot. You have to have a place for the person to stay for at least 20 minutes. I don't know about Mr. Wright’s Barbershop because he’s moved to a new location. But we would need to have space for people to go and sit. V. ED James Garrett responded Albertine you are absolutely right because before they rolled out the mobile unit I had a conversation with Dr. Box and Antoinette Hope. They were wanting to incorporate vaccination shots at the barbershop.I Had to inform them. Great idea but.Too many of our shops are not conducive To lending themselves to vaccinations like you said? To have 15 or 20 minutes where they can sit following the injection. We just had shops that were too small and did not have a well defined sanitary area for vaccinations. But I like the concept because the hesitancy of black males getting the vaccine is due in large part to past history and lack of trust. The thinking was how can we take and provide the vaccine where the men are instead of them having to seek out a location or going somewhere else. VI. Commissioner Allen stated. That she would be willing to.Work with.Mr. Garrett on ThatShe would try to see what.Minority health Partners could do. I've worked with Antoinette and the Indiana State Department of Health Both of the times.We have given out the vaccine.The church was a huge.Place for us to use.You could see at least 25 people at one time after they had their shot, soTrying to figure out how We could use that mobile unit and still have a place for them to sit. VII. Executive Director Garrett responded I appreciate your support with that because again, I need the people in the respective  Communities Help identify where would be the best location to provide those vaccination shots. Any other questions? VIII. Commission Allen said I'm thinking maybe The barbers Would be willing to go somewhere and cut hair, they would have to take their equipment and stuff, where it's large enough to cut hairHave some place.Where they can come and sit after they get vaccinated. IX. Executive Director Garrett responded.We did that in Gary where the barber college Actually brought their chairs and their barbers to Marquette Park to provide free haircuts and beard trims. Again to generate interest of black males to come out to the Health FairAt that location they were able to.visit many health providers get information, and screening .And they were also able to get their.Vaccination. X. Dishner Allen stated I will start working on that with Chairman Corley and anybody else on the Commission that would like to work toward that effort. XI. ED Garrett said thank you. XII. Commissioner Allen said your welcome. XIII. Chairman Corley asked if anybody else had any questions? Seeing None . Addressing ED Garrett he stated Thank you Sir Always good to see you! XIV. ED Garrett stated alright and the other thing I wanted to share with you all is we have 2 tentative dates for our Black Males Annual Conference October 19th or on October 20th It will be a one day event. It will both be in person and streamed.StreamLive stream, so we're hoping that Michigan City.Like you all have done in the past will bring a contingent down to the conference and those who can't we hope you will join us virtually on the live stream. As I get the final date back, I'm hoping to have that back at our commission by next Wednesday. But I can tell it will be either October 19th or October 20th. XV. Chairman Corley said Thank You Sir! If you can get me a flyer as soon as possible I can get with the council to get a group of young men that could go down there with us. XVI. Old Business A. Hybrid meeting policy 1. Last meeting we did vote to have a hybrid meeting which means we can meet by electronic device. This was based off the Board of Works policy we had adopted. Chairman Corley was advised to have one that basically puts our name in the policy. We need a motion 2. Motion made to accept Hybrid policy as written made by Commissioner McCormick 3. Motion seconded by Commissioners Milsap and Tillman B. Corley Yea Ganschow yea Troutman yea Williams yea Tillman yea Milap yea Carroll yea Cox yea Allen yea Fly yea McCormick Aye Hogan yea Ayes have it C. Review and approval of amended Bylaws 1. Chairman Corley acknowledges questions amended by laws regarding residency. Reached out to attorney Lapaich. She pointed out in the ordinance it says you must be a Michigan City Residents. Information was sent out. Any questions 2. Commissioner McCormick says I have a statement. we should put more emphasis on attendance, to do something about attendance. 3. Commissioner Ganschow said she wanted to confirm that She pointed out in the ordinance it says you must be a Michigan City Residents. 4. Chairman Corley agreed and explained yes and that may include business as well 5. Commissioner Hogan asked if that would exclude Commissioners 6. Commissioner Ganschow said yes 7. Chairman Corley said it may include 2 or 3 people 8. Commissioner Ganschow asked if it was the same on the old ordinance. 9. Commissioner Tillman majority of boards and commissions is Michigan City residents on ordinance.But they do have different requirements but it is possible to hold those seats. 10. Commissioner Troutman would like to know if it is possible, considering the commission is currently made up of 50-70% Michigan City Residents, with some from other organizations holding seats on the commission; also considering attendance is critical. If your place of residency in the county is not affecting your attendance then I believe it should not be an issue to reside on Commission as long as commission is made with more than 50-70 % or a certain percentage of residents from Michigan City. Would that be possible?’ 11. Chairman Corley would appreciate the great discussion but will table bylaws meeting and discuss further with Councilwoman Tillman to iron out the details and bring up at the next meeting. 12. Commissioner McCormick said just because things have been done for 20 or 15 years doesn’t mean that its right. That's just an ordinance but if we want to change the ordinance then we should go to city council.There is a loophole. If the mayor wants an appointee he can choose another avenue. I just feel rules are in place for a reason. 13. Ta-tanesha George the original ordinance said bonafide residents of LaPorte County. So that was the original ordinance which also allowed 24 members. I  just helped Mrs. Ganschow, who was one of the original members. I know there have been some changes made since the original ordinance came out in December of 1998 but I just thought I'd help Joan out because I think she was one of the first members of the commission. But that is how she became a member. 14. Commissioner Ganschow said when that happened I did live in Michigan City. But I think that there are several of us that live in towns that are considered to be in the Michigan City area. Would propose we table this for another month and take a look at being a little more inclusive instead of exclusive. 15. Commissioner Cox asked what towns are you speaking of when you say could be considered Michigan City. 16. Commissioner Ganschow Responded I think Mr Cox certainly Long Beach, Trail Creek, Potawatomi Park So I being inclusive off those Michigan City Area 17. Chairman Corley stated we will table this until we have another meeting about this. I will reach out to a couple of people about this. Thank you 18. Councilwoman Tillman called point of order 19. Chairman Corley apologized. Acknowledging Ganschows motion. Motion was seconded by Councilwoman Seconded the motion to table. 20. Roll Call Vote Corley Yea Ganschow yea Troutman yea Williams yea Tillman yea Milap yea Carroll yea Cox yea Allen yea Fly yea McCormick Nay Hogan yea Ayes have it Approval of past votes. Chairman Corley said I still have to go through those votes because any votes that were made on Zoom we have to reapprove in person. I will try to get to those by the next meeting. I will try to reach out to the secretary to help get through those and bring those to the August meeting. D. Sub-Committee Reports E. Education 1. Chairman Corley recognized the absence of.Commissioner McCullum.But did state that the check was cut for the scholarship winner Jibrel.And he has been in contact with him to give his check to him. F. Health 1. Commissioner Alice said, I guess that's me, Marty. We just finished our third ClinicAnd that was over on Wall Bash at the Pentecostal.Temple of God in Christ. We serviced 532 people this time. It was not as large as the first round of vaccines we gave out.The first round.We have500 peopleThe first day. I think.A lot of people got the Pfizer and we had a few who did not return because they got the Johnson and Johnson. We’ve been to the Pentecostal.Temple of God in Christ, the Michigan City Area Schools and the Michigan City Housing Authority. We are going to keep pushing to see if we can get more people vaccinated. I will be working closely with Mr. Garrett to see what we can do for the Barbershop initiative, But, that’s all I have for the health report today. 2. Commissioner Ganschow told Commissioner Allen this is Joan. So are you basically saying that if there are a group of unvaccinated people then we can contact you for the possibility of setting up a clinic for those folks and opening up for others. 3. Commissioner Allen responded That's true. We’ve worked closely with Healthlink and they will come out for 10 or more people. It's not feasible for them to come  out for 1 or 2 people. We had 3 sessions at the Michigan City Housing Authority. We serviced 85% of the residents of seniors that live in the complex there.If I gather 10 people or 12 people they will come out and do the vaccination. In fact. That's our agreement with Health Link. G. Commissioner Ganschow said I think that's a wonderful service to our community. I think for all of us to be aware of that is a great service. Thank Albertine for your work and I think Nila you have been involved in that too. Thank You! H. Commissioner Williams said your welcome. I. Chairman Corley asked, is there anything else on health? J. Commissioner McCormmick said keep up the good work Mrs. Allen. K. Thanks you Rodney after correction L. Employment 1. Commissioner Milsap asked if everyone received a flyer that I passed around and I will leave some extra with our secretary. The flyer is an announcement for a workshop to be co hosted by the LaPorte County commissioners and the LaPorte County building trades.To discuss good paying job opportunities in construction?And building and building industries in LaPorte County.The meeting will be held Monday, July 19th at 2:00 PM.At.At the IBEW Office is located.At 301 E 8th St in Michigan City, and if you're not familiar with that location, it is the old Central School during that workshop.You will be able to get valuable information on good paying jobs right here in Michigan City and LaPorte County. This workshop is open to any and everyone, so I would advise if possible With your work schedule to attend.Any questions? 2. Commissioner McCormick asks, does this have something to do with the Indiana plan? 3. Commissioner Millsap responded. I think that will be a discussion point.But this is with the LaPorte County building trades.OK, the Commission and the Commissioners Office, of course.Yeah. 4. Once again, that date is Monday, July 19th at 2:00 PM.Along with that.Mr. Hogan did mention earlier about putting together an interview preps session for applicants, Give any further thought to that? 5. Commissioner Hogan responded I did. I started the PowerPoint and handout and it should be complete by And it should be complete by next meeting at least complete enough for the. Rest of the council members to review.And we will make a final draft And we can set up a date.Appropriate when it's appropriate to do that.But by next meeting for sure we will at least have the slide deck.And the outline of What?I'm expecting them to learn.And, uh.Will email it to you or present it while we're here.Just have to review it and make the changes that you guys think are applicable. 6. Commissioner Millsaps said, OK, we had.Because we have a location.To hold the session, The Michigan City police department. Also, since the Indiana plan was mentioned and we had some concerns about it in the past.With that in mind.I would like with the other Commissioners agreement when I say we we are referring to the Commission.We put together A3 member.Committee consisting of our Chair Commissioner Corley, myself So we can be utilized as a monitoring mechanism to ensure that.The effectiveness of the program is successful to minorities. What will be your thoughts and feelings on that as Commission??so as 7. Sure.Chairman Corley stated that so if there isA committee As chair I can.Approve and appoint a committee if that's what you need, and then also if you  have a subcommittee.So if you wanted to.Incorporate your subcommittee into that.You can't actually do that yourself too if you want.. 8. And the reason for that is.Historically, we've all been You're with programs that have.Good idea, mindset or thought, but they are not too successful Something of this nature is.Very important to the black community, so we should have some type of.Mechanism.Or device.To ensure that the objectives are being met in reference to employment.Of minorities in our community.So we can work.Closely, when I say we we.Being the committee.We can work closely.Commissioners with the Commissioners and the LaPorte County Building trades as a resource and a mechanism.To build the objective. 9. Chairman Corley said.So you can just select who you would want to be in the sub committee. 10. Commissioner Milsap asked if there was anyone who would want to be in the subcommittee? 11. Interested commissioners included McCormick and Allen and Mr Cox. We have a 5 person committee 12. Corley said that will be run out of your subcommittee. 13. Commissioner Millsap said So we have the Members now. I'll get with you guys and we'll do OrA meeting via phone or whatever and we wanna Develop so we could be utilized as a resource.With the Commissioners office and the LaPorte County Building trades to meet that objective of getting minorities hired In our community, and hopefully we'll have our workshop for the employment prep so we can have some good candidates groaned and ready to go because.The interview is a part of the hiring process. 14. Commissioner fly.Said excuse me, but I would like to be on that subcommittee also. I know you said five, but. 15. Commissioner Millsap said, well, it can happen to you at any time so.OK.Please consider yourself, remember. 16. Commissioner Hogan said one of the concerns I have been putting the presentation together is the audience.When I propose it.The intended audience was for peoples first time into the actual.Placement, but when I was The research for and putting the statistics together.I wanted to include people who are returning to the workplace.People Who have been out of the economy for some years?And are looking for an opportunity to get back in and so.I guess what I'm asking is that.What did the rest of the Commissioners think?Should this be something that will be focused on teens entering the workforce For the first time or young men entering the workforce for the first time, or.Or is it something that we can spread to include the people who are Returning to the workplace.As well. 17. Commissioner Allen stated, I think it should include people who are returning to work. A lot of people who are in their 40s and 50s and.Are trying to return to work and I think we should include everybody.This is Albertine. 18. Commissioner Cox Made statements that could not be picked up by microphone. 19. Fishing or Hogan said.Even if you're looking into going into management The prospect of having to go into entire interview process and.And writing a resume.Being able to talk about your skills and.Professional.General workplace decorumSome of those things can be challenging when you're trying to plant your feet in the business round, so. 20. Commissioner Cox said the good thing about apprenticeship programs as you come in.In a capacity that what they want to see is an eagerness to work.And, uh.The ability app, obviously.With eagerness to work and a commitment to work, and if we can incorporate that with the skills they need, then they can step into a better life.I think it would do everybody a good sense.. 21. Commissioner Millsap said.Against Commissioner HoganWe're all on the same page as to.Making that information available for anyone who want to utilize it in reference to jobs employment.However, our Concern is.For the people who are directly applying for the.Trade tradeWhich is what this workshop is for, but.Withhold any valuable information for anyone who would want to utilize the skill sets that we're going to try to offer and what we're trying to promote.Employment for the trades in our communities with minorities, and with that being said, for the record.The five member Committee committee is only being utilized as a resource for assistant.And to come into the objective of hiring minorities in our communities. Not a.Legislative or legal but just a resource that we would like to partner with.Commissioners office and in LaPorte County trades and to make that objective met. 22. Commissioner Hogan said this presentation that I have put together is not designed.For specifically that purposeFor trades It was more just designed for employment in general, but I'll talk to you offline about that and we'll have a discussion about.What can be added to support that as well?'cause there's a lot of information in there that doesn't necessarily pertain to the trades, but it's incredibly valuable for people who are returning to the workforce Or for the first time but top.  23. Commissioner Millsap said, OK, thank you. Is there any other question? 24. Commissioner McCormick says, yes. I have a question. I hope that you are willing to work with .Myself and Commissioner Fly. We had been talking about this. I hope that you can get more in tune with keeping bringing up the Commissioners. We do have some power and we need to put pressure on Those Commissioners to at least past the hiring ordinance.Because, let's be honest, the hiring practice in the county.For hiring blacks, it's absolutely terrible, and I know it's election time.That's why we're hearing some of this information.But I want to move past it.Election after election days are over. People make their promises. We want to hold them too.Or before.Because there are some problems in the county And I want to work with you and I hope you will work with me.And try to put pressure through ordinance and work that way.Thank you. 25. Millsap said thank you Rodney. I hear you loud and clear.Thank you. M. Criminal Justice 1. Commissioner Ganschow said in lue of time, basically the important thing is to reiterate that the Indiana Criminal Justice Association Annual Conference will be in South Bend held at the Century Center September 29- October 1st. All are welcome. There will be a reduced rate if you are an ICJA member but you are welcome to attend the local conference itself. And it's only 30 minutes away. So Anyone who is interested go to the Indiana Criminal Justice Association and you can be pre registered. Thank you. N. Social Factors 1. Nothing to report XVII. Commissioner Round Table A. Councilwoman Tillman- Actually this might be under new and old business in regard to attendance. I just want to bring it to your attention and the secretary aboutCommissioner Jacarra Williams and his attendance. Originally out of that 8 appointments we have that listed as the Ministerial Association. To my understanding they are not meeting right now. If I am not mistaken he is appointed by or representing them. Instead of the NW Ministers Conference these are 2 different entities so we need to get confirmation as to are we going to have someone from the Ministers Association or did they dismember themselves and if so we need to find that out to determine if we need to make a change in the ordinance to reflect if we are going to have someone from the NW Ministers Conference. B. Chairman Corley ok thank you. C. The Secretary stated `` Thank you so much for that Commissioner Tillman I will clarify but I do believe that is dissolved, not 100% sure but I will reach out to find out. But also I passed out a flyer for Solar Training and Certifications The NAACP has partnered with IDWD and its WorkOne Centers the Sustainability Commission and as a member of Commission I look to you all as partners already. The Hoosier Career and Talent Network to make this work. If you haven't heard me say this already I'll keep this brief. NIPSCO is retiring its Coal Plant Facility on the West Side. I just attended their IRP Integrated Resource Planning meeting yesterday. They are looking to start work promptly. The problem as Mr. McCormmick spoke about the hiring ordinance. The problem is we can put 17 orders in place for hiring if we do not have a ready workforce once these people come in, whether we are talking about the solar installation in which NIPSCO has a major solar plan as part of its retirement process, or whether we are talking about the Indiana plan in construction… If we do not have a ready work of individuals from our community the ordinances are  null and void. We can go to the city council but if we do not have that workforce in place to say hey look hire these people. So I am asking, begging, and pleading with you all to please find individuals who are interested in making 30 to 40 thousand dollars a year. These jobs are looking to start later this year on top of next year and continuing on until MC retires; the timeline says 2028 but that can happen at any time NIPSCO decides. I am asking us to be proactive and not wait until the jobs are here and say hey none of these people are from MC. We can getMC residents and train them right here right now. D. Commissioner Fly I want to echo Commissioner Tillman about attendance. I know Jacarra from his Ministerial Alliance. We need to make sure people on this commission can fulfill their obligation to this commission as far as attendance. We need to get more strict on availability and accountability so we need to double down to see if this is the spot for him or his organization because there are other organizations that would be more involved with social status and what we are doing and what we are trying to accomplish. I just noticed that the absenteeism is a factor and it's starting to make me wonder if his heart or his mission, if his time, if it's available for him or for anyone. If I get dressed and get on this scooter to come down here I think everybody should be able to do the same thing. Got to keep it real. If you cant make it, maybe we have other places that we can get in here. Maybe we need to reach out and see if this is where he wants to be. E. The Secretary stated I do think that is a strong point to be added into our bylaws because I know former Chairman Payne was adamant about attendance. I know there is a clause in our bylaws that mentions attendance but there is no mention of consequences. Last year when people missed 8 or more meetings I did send out a letter so I don't know what the commission is looking to see or want to have happen but I do  know that that is a problem as far as Commissioner Williams and others attendance. XVIII. Public Comment XIX. Adjournment Meeting Adjournment at 1:00p.m. XX. Next meeting Wednesday, August 11th, 2021 at 12:00 pm