Beloit Together Action Team Meeting
Tuesday December 6 at 6pm Bushel and Peck’s
If you have questions feel free to contact me or any of our team chairs. My email is meganamiller42@gmail.com.
General Discussion Notes:
- Short Term Goal: mobilize a well organized, visible group of people to act responsively and proactively on issues that matter most to our most vulnerable groups in our community .
- Long Term Goal: Maintain a long term task force that can act and respond to issues threatening the safety or rights of our community members as needed.
- We are going to accomplish our goals step by step, one small project at a time. No burning out! Delegate and plan well 😉
- We need our whole community to step up and contribute in small (and large) ways
- Taking turns making calls to our representatives
- Submitting letters to the editor
- Being a resource for a student or family
- Create a central location for all resources and actions connected through facebook and advertised online and via radio – John McMahon will create a WordPress page for us that will act as a visually accessible way to organize and centralize resources and event planning.
People with Disabilities Notes:
Chair: Sherry Blakely shblakeley@gmail.com
- Sherry and Megan will create a list of Rock County disability services contacts.
- We will call and gather information: (a) What are current concerns exist for services for people with disabilities, particularly in the specter of losing parts of the Affordable Care Act? (b) What advocacy or fundraising would best benefit these services?
- We will reconvene and plan based on our research
Interfaith Notes:
Chair: Bill Conover conoverw@beloit.edu
- Create a list of faith based groups in the Beloit – Rockford – Janesville area
- First ask the Muslim community (a) what are their biggest concerns and (b) how can an organized interfaith community best serve and support them?
- What core message can an interfaith community send? Via publicity, media, events, etc?
- After research from Muslim community, gather Christian, Jewish, non-denominational/spiritual groups together to discuss the feedback and determine best course of action.
- Bill and Megan will reach out to Muslim community in Rockford and Janesville on Wednesday 12/7 and report back to group.
LGBTQ Notes:
Chair: (temp) John McMahon mcmahonja@beloit.edu
Immediate next steps:
- Get in touch with Kelly Wells-Hernandez to hear about what GSA at the high school is doing (Jessica)
- Connect with SAGA and possibly SIC at the college (John)
- Do some research on state, county, and city laws/ordinances to see if there are any protections for LGBTQ folks (John)
Short-/medium-term goal:
- Connect queer students at the high school with queer students at the college in a kind of mentoring program (although perhaps a cooler/less corny term!) with one another
Longer-term possible goals:
- Visibility: Beloit is a diverse place, but sexuality is a less obvious/visible form of diversity. Are there events that could change that…marches, rallies, candlelight vigils, etc.? Should we have a Beloit/Rock County Pride next summer?
- Police training: Is it possible to build on the work that Paul and Ron are doing with the Beloit PD to also work on police training when it comes to issues of gender and sexuality, especially since queer and trans of color are especially likely to be targeted/oppressed?
- Beloit Health System: what kind of training do physicians, nurses, staff receive? Are they able to support LGBTQ (especially T) people in the community? Can talk to college Health and Wellness Clinic as a starting point
- Beloit Public Library: visible display of LGBT books/authors/etc? Possibly rotating – LGBT history one month, LGBT novels the next, LGBT graphic novels, etc.
- Bullying issues and mental health resources specific for LGBTQ folks
Latino Community Notes:
Chair: Maria Dominguez mdom1977@gmail.com
We agreed to gather information from leaders of Latino groups, churches, schools, and promote the petition for driver’s cards. We also want to hold a meeting with Latino partners and a group of organizations. We agreed that we should have a translator for English and Spanish.
Beloit Together 