Community Relations Commission

1 Minutes of a Meeting of the 2 Northbrook Cares Subcommittee of the 3 Community Relations Commission 4 Northbrook, IL 5 Tuesday, February 23, 2016, 6:00pm 6 7 Present: Chair Bruce Doughty, Subcommittee Members Safa Hamed, Sharon 8 Latek and Alice Lonoff 9 10 Absent: Member Elliot Bruckman 11 12 Others: Village Staff Liaison Erik Jensen 13 14 Welcome 15 The meeting was called to order at 6:06pm. 16 17 Discussion of Prior Activities 18 Chairman Doughty discussed the history of Northbrook Cares. He reviewed how recent events 19 have revived interest in the program. He discussed how a few suicides had occurred in 2012 20 and 2013, and how the community responded by launching “Northbrook Cares” as an alliance of 21 groups including, among others, the Village, Glenbrook North (GBN), Youth Services of 22 Glenview/Northbrook and the Community Relations Commission. 23 24 Chairman Doughty reviewed how similar ideas were discussed in the past and the community 25 meetings that were held. He stated that the connections are important, and that the idea 26 became that a clearinghouse website would be developed. He stated the original plan was to 27 roll it out in the Fall of 2013 and advertise it throughout the fall. He stated Kendal Dean had 28 previously created a website, and then students from Glenbrook North provided constructive 29 feedback. He stated the idea stalled thereafter as the group attempted to find a website 30 designer. 31 32 Chairman Doughty further stated that Liaison Jensen and he had met with Village President 33 Frum and Village Manager Nahrstadt and received support for reviving the project and 34 allocating funding. He stated that this raises the question of what the project should do and 35 become. 36 37 Discussion of Project Proposals 38 Chairman Doughty outlined some of the things that had been discussed at previous meetings: 39  The vision is that the Community Relations Commission will oversee the Northbrook 40 Cares Subcommittee (similar to the relationship between the Commission and the 41 Celebration of Cultures Subcommittee). 42  Multiple parties felt that a new luncheon should be called to discuss the project and the 43 issue surrounding youth in the community. Chairman Doughty stated the following items 44 had been decided regarding the luncheon: 45 o The luncheon would be held on a Friday in April. 46 o The luncheon would be a “guided conversation” design to identify some of the 47 issues in the community and solicit feedback. 48  The website project should be relaunched and focused. He stated that the website 49 should not be overly complicated. 50 Member Latek stated that the website was great but also asked about Facebook groups. 51 52 A brief discussion followed on the communication methods used by youth. 53 54 Chairman Doughty stated that Liaison Jensen was exploring development options. 55 56 The group held a brief discussion on the possibility of GBN students doing this work, but 57 ultimately, the group felt they would be too busy. 58 59 Chairman Doughty stated that feedback would be solicited from youth and members of the 60 social service community. 61 62 Member Lonoff asked if help could be solicited at the luncheon. 63 64 Member Hamed suggested that the Village reach out to Oakton Community College for 65 assistance. Liaison Jensen stated he would look into it. 66 67 Chairman Doughty stated that on-going maintenance would be an issue and that the 68 Subcommittee would need to plan for that. 69 70 Returning to the project proposals, Chairman Doughty discussed the following: 71  The Subcommittee would need to develop marketing to propel the project past the 72 luncheon and website launch. He suggested that publicity could be sought at football 73 games and other sports events and the possibility of ordering wristbands. 74 75 Member Latek said this was a great idea. 76 77 Member Hamed suggested placing signs at Starbucks and reaching out to GBN to place signs 78 in their restrooms. 79 80 Member Lonoff suggested that the marketing be approached as a “you might have a friend who 81 has a problem” to reduce the stigma associated with seeking help. 82 83 Chairman Doughty stated that the luncheon would likely be an annual event and could be used 84 as part of marketing. Member Lonoff suggested that the luncheon could be synchronized as to 85 update the community, press and social service group about past accomplishments and 86 upcoming activities. 87 88 Chairman Doughty stated the timing was looking like mid-spring for the luncheon. He continued 89 that a good launch date would be fall 2016. He further stated that the program will evolve. He 90 concluded by saying that the luncheon may change some of these ideas. He stated that 91 Northbrook Cares would be a hub. 92 93 Member Latek stated that having high school seniors participate would beneficial. 94 95 Chairman Doughty asked that assignments be made. Following assignments: 96  Luncheon: 97 o Liaison Jensen would review the list of previous invitees and begin planning for 98 the Luncheon. 99  Website: 100 o Liaison Jensen would explore options for the website. Member Hamed gave 101 some suggestions regarding ways the website could be laid out and written to 102 maximize effectiveness. 103 o The full Subcommittee would determine the membership of a working committee 104 for the website at future meetings. 105 106 A brief conversation followed on who should be reviewed for membership. Ultimately, the 107 Subcommittee agreed that youth participation would be important from the beginning of design. 108 109 Member Hamed stated that teachers would be a good way to reach the students. Member Latek 110 added on to that to say students will listen to each other. 111 112 Member Hamed suggested that students could also develop short videos to promote the project 113 and asked what resources were available in the interim period until the website launched. 114 115 Chairman Doughty stated the GBN counseling department is available. 116 117 Member Hamed asked if students know that. 118 119 Chairman Doughty stated they are told to and that they meet with the counselors to schedule 120 their classes. 121 122 Member Lonoff stated that the goal right now is to get buy-in in the project. She stated that 123 Nancy Vaccaro had stated at the last CRC meeting that there were others who were in trouble, 124 and that people did need help. 125 126 Set Next Meeting Date 127 The group discussed the next meeting dated and tentatively scheduled it for Tuesday, March 128 22. 129 130 Adjournment 131 Chairman Doughty called for adjournment. 132 133 The meeting closed at 7:06 p.m. 134 135 Respectfully submitted, 136 137 138 139 Erik Jensen 140 Staff Liaison 141