CommUNITY Alliance

STERLING HEIGHTS CommUNITY Alliance Minutes of Wednesday, August 17 , 2022 Meeting Location: City Hall Members Present: Stacy Bahri, Cindy Bjornson, Ricardo Harris, Nakia Powell- Thomas Members Absent: Tim Doppel, Tatrika Graphenreed, Rich Rubba Representing the City: Melanie Davis Meeting called to order at 6 :09 p.m. APPROVAL OF MINUTES : Motion to approve the meeting minutes of the June 15, 2022 CommUNITY Alliance made by R. Harris; Seconded by N. Powell-Thomas and voted all in favor. AGENDA ITEMS: A. Group Bonding Exercise – N. Powell-Thomas conducted a “three defining moments” group bonding exercise. B. Officer Elections – The only officer position that has served a full term and must be replaced is the office of Secretary. Nominations were made for T. Doppel and C. Bjornson. M. Davis will email the group to see if there are any other nominations. We will take a vote among all nominations at the September meeting. The offices of Chair (S. Bhari) and Vice Chair (R. Harris) have not been held for a full term yet, so we will keep them in position until next year. C. Recent Activiti es/Feedback - M. Davis shared information with the group regarding the upcoming Diversity Distinction Awards Dinner on Sept. 14 and the Breakfast of Nations event on Sept. 16. D. Strategic Plan Updates a. S. Bahri will check with MISD/MCC to see if they are planning a youth workshop this year as we may want to try again to collaborate. b. Resolution and Social Media Calendars – T. Doppel has created the resolution calendar. M. Davis will submit agenda statements for Welcoming Week and National Hispanic Heritage month, and T. Doppel has provided bullets for social media posts for same. M.  Davis will follow up with him to see if we are ready to go with the “meet the Alliance members” post. c. C. Bjornson will join M. Davis and representatives from the Sterling Heights Public Library and the Human Library on a zoom call on Aug. 31 to discuss our ability to get a license for hosting a program at the Community Center on Thursday, April 13. N. Powell-Thomas and R. Harris said they would be happy to assist in pulling this together. N. Powell-Thomas has an idea for the other live panel discussion that would include networking and appetizers and a more social atmosphere that would help people get to know each other. She will share more details at the September meeting. d. We have already held four of six “celebrations” from the annual calendar including Pride flag raising, Juneteenth, Black History Month and Pride Month. Others TBD. e. Disability Awareness Workshops - C. Bjornson reported that we are still waiting on confirmation regarding our request to host these workshops on Feb. 23 – March 8 (in conjunction with the Cultural Exchange event) and stand-alone workshop from July 24 – Aug. 4 (in conjunction with July 26 national Disability Independence Day). She noted we will need two mini vans to transport the kits which would need to be locked and secured. M. Davis noted that we could ask Facilities Maintenance to assist with pickup and delivery with enough lead time, and the units could be kept secure in the Community Center. M. Davis will also schedule a meeting to go over accessibility gaps with Facilities and Parks and Recreation after Aug. 14. OLD BUSINESS: There was no old business at this time. NEW BUSINESS : A. S. Bahri noted she will be out of town and unable to attend the September meeting. B. C. Bjornson asked if anyone knew someone who would be willing to teach an ASL class at the Community Center. A couple people in the group had suggestions and agreed to email her contact information so she could reach out to them with details. ADJOURNMENT : The meeting was adjourned at 7:43 p.m. on a motion from R. Harris, seconded by N. Powell-Thomas and voted all in favor.