Cultural Connections Committee

Minutes from Cultural Connections Committee Tuesday May 19th 2015 Members Present: Thomas Lopez ( Chair ), Jared Barbosa ( vice Chair), Janeth Orozco Sanchez, Maria Bola- Ferrifro, Lavonne Colon, Jenny Maxwell , Karen Emis-Williams, Bernadette Melton- Plante (secretary ) Jenn Hosking, Fouad Mahfuz, Bruno Soares, Mary Ann Melizzi-Golija and Carlos Camacho. Guests: Rafael Caldbron, Mark Hastbacka, Jenny Maxwell and Maria Bola- Ferrifro. Absent: Paul Bergeron and Dendrea Smith. Thomas Lopez opened the meeting at 3-40PM; The Mission statement was read explaining the mission of the Cultural Connections Committee is to encourage understanding and appreciation of Ethnic Diversity in the City of Nashua and to facilitate communication between the ethnic community and city government (NRO 2-94). 1. April 2015 minutes were approved unanimously after making a correction to Karen Emis- Williams’s correct spelling of her name. Fouad Mahfuz made a motion to accept the minutes and it was seconded by Karen Emis – Williams. 2. Thomas Lopez gave a chair report to the committee introducing Jenny Maxwell who is the new intern for the Nashua Soup Kitchen. Part of Jenny’s responsibilities will be supporting committee visibility. Thomas reported on the new festivals that are planned for this summer the first date scheduled is June 28th for the French Festival which will include information on non-profits charities, entertainment and cultural performances. Information is been provided to our local community about these events through Facebook and other forms of publicity. Thomas reported the final work is been put on the historical mural and volunteers are needed to assist on Saturday May 23rd 2015 between 10-00AM and 2-00PM.Quite a few local business’s will be featured on the mural. The festival is scheduled to run from 10-00AM to 4- 00PM. Set up will begin at 9-00AM and Thomas requested that members of this committee assist if they can. Janeth is going to contact previous Youth Ambassadors participants to see if they will assist on June 28th as well. Members from the Richelieu Club who have been very involved with this festival will also be present assisting on June 28th. 3. Thomas discussed the Welcoming Ceremony targeted for July 4th 2015. This committee would like to see an Oath Ceremony be incorporated into the City’s Fourth of July celebrations at Hollman stadium. The Mayor is in full support of this. A 30 minute time slot has been put aside for this possibility. USCIS (US Citizen and Immigration Services) has informed us this has to be a gift offer. Thomas stated he would contact people in Portsmouth who have the Ceremony every July 4th at Strawberry Bank to see if they can assist us in any way and provide some guidance. Thomas is going to continue in discussions with Anthony Villanti. 4. Karen Emis- Williams reported on the Gate City Initiative to put on a Symposium in the fall. Karen just refreshed the group about the purpose of the symposium to focus on various groups and to address immigrant issues and concerns. To have open discussions about refugee and immigrant issues/concerns. The goal is to provide education around the process of resettlement. The Gate City Initiative meets the fourth Wednesday of the month from 9- 00AM to 10-30AM. The first meeting in the new location of City Hall will be held in the Auditorium on June 24th 2015, and then from July onwards the group will be meeting in room 208 at City Hall. 5. Karen also shared with the committee member’s that the group is working on developing a resource guide to services in Nashua. The Navigators will assist One Greater Nashua with working on a toolkit and that members from the Navigators will attend the Gate City Initiative meetings. 6. Carlos Camacho provided an update on Nashua Racial and Ethnic Disparity Committee and discussed the event that is going to be held on May 21st that will have discussions on Race and Justice (NCCRJ).The purpose of the work shop is to address misconceptions about the Police Department and to become more aware of Honoring Diversity and equity. 7. Jared Barbosa reported on One Greater Nashua and stated he is pleased that Bruno Soares is involved with this group. One Greater Nashua Coalition has a group that is dedicated to encouraging business and civic leadership. They have 3 groups which are Cultural Navigators Mentoring Program, Economic Vitality and the Youth Leadership Program. The LEAD program stands for L= Leadership, E= Engagement , A=Assisting with the culture Action, D= decision making .Jared also reported on the Summer Fun 2015 in particular the Soccer City event with a dual –themed event of celebrating the 2015 FIFA Copa America and women’s World cup through music , soccer and fun. This event will be held on June 6th 2015 from 10-00AM to 1- 00PM at Greeley Park Youth Soccer Fields. Jared also stated he was pleased with the support they have received from Dick’s Sporting Goods Apparel. 8. Discussions were held on the Summer fun 2015 schedule and future events were discussed June 3rd Taste of Downtown, June 12th Concert at Greeley Park, June 13th REYES Family field day activities at the boys and girls club, June 19th, 20th and June 21st Nashua Rotary Ribfest to mention just a few as well as the Downtown Farmers Market and the Nashua Artwalk on September 26th and 27th. 9. The next meeting will be Tuesday June 16th at 3-30PM at City Hall, meeting was adjourned at 4.56 with a motion to close the meeting made by Carlos Camacho and seconded by Jenn Hosking. Respectfully Submitted Bernadette Melton- Plante