Human Relations Commission

Human Relations Commission Monday, April 25th, 2022 7:15pm In Person 5127 Oakton St. Skokie, IL. 60077 MINUTES Present: Alexander Chaparro, Sheila Crumrine, Krishna Goyal, Jonathan Lavin, Jim McVane, Amy Memis-Foler, Swarupa Pahan, Jeremy Segall, Karen Sherman, James Specker, Chair: Maria Monastero Bueno and Liaison Iris Barrios Not present (E) = Excused: Trustee Khem Khoeun (E), Deborah Arnold (E), Dephnee Camilien, David Donegan, Jaili Fajardo, Anwar Haq, Marcos Levy, Louis Mercer (E), Michelle Reitman (E), Pearl Rubenzik, Moe Yanes (E) Meeting Called to Order at 7:20pm Approval of the Minutes by Jonathan Lavin and second by Karen Sherman Stand Against Racism Reminder Iris provided a reminder about the Stand Against Racism event being held at the Village of Skokie on April 27th at 10:30am. Iris gave information about the pledge and signs available for the HRC members. Maria provided information on meeting before 10:30am for the Commissions to gather and prepare with the signs. Agreed to meet at 10:15am in the front entrance of Village Hall. YWCA Evanston North Shore Equity Team to provide a post conversation similar to a “Let’s Talk @ Lunch” after the Pledge. Subcommittee Updates:  Alex C. gave an update on the Block Party Forums. Forum to be pushed back to not fall on a Father’s Day weekend but still be on a Sunday. Alex to continue to work with the Skokie Police Department and provide dates that will work with the Police Department. Possible date to be June 5th from 1pm-2:30pm. New block party applications are coming in to HR Liaison. Iris and Maria explained to new and existing members expectations of the HRC to attend and reach out to block parties. For the 2021 Block Party of the Year Award: Iris to coordinate the award winners for the HRC to start voting on the upcoming winner. Winners will be presented in an upcoming Village Board Meeting. HRC members would like the information about block parties to be sent out more frequently so they can attend the block parties throughout the summer/fall season.  Amy provided an update about Coming Together and how there was a robust list of reading material provided by the Skokie Library for all ages. The committee for Coming Together was off for the last two months. Next meeting will be May 2022.  Amy will keep the HRC posted about the 2023 Coming Together’s focus and if it will be Native Americans.  Festival of Cultures coming up weekend of May 20th. Karen and Krishna updated the HRC group about volunteers. This year, volunteers will only be Skokie Park District Staff. Because of this, HRC members will not be able to volunteer. There will be less stages. This year they will only have 2 stages and more of a virtual passport vs. a booklet. In previous years, HRC would donate to the booklet. Unsure if HRC will be able to contribute to Friends of the Festival passport.  Skokie Pride will be June 26th from 1-4pm at Oakton Park. Maria provided information on what was handed out in 2019 from HRC. The group had an active conversation about providing similar rainbow-like pin-wheels for the community. Another idea was providing HRC information through a barcode or QR code vs. paper materials so it does not get lost in all the give-a-ways that day. James S. stated he might be able to work on a type of QR type of code to take residents to the HRC website on Skokie’s webpage. Iris to ask Director of HHS about purchasing items from Amazon or local stores for the rainbow give-a-ways for Skokie Pride. Follow up in May’s meeting. New Business Iris brought up information about Skokie’s Farmers Market and partnering with the Commission on Family Services. They CFS is looking for additional volunteers on Sundays to assist with the food at the end of the day from the farmers to bring over the St. Paul’s Church across the street. Many of the members are interested. Chair Maria stated she has helped before and let the group know it is rewarding and the farmers do provide a lot of food to give to the pantry. Iris let the group know that last year, the CFS did get new food carts to transport the food so taking the food over to St. Paul is easier now to transport. Many are interested in volunteering. Iris will let Melissa know as she is the liaison to Commission on Family Services in HHS. Jonathan let the group know that Neil King from the Armond King family was leaving the area and moving to Santa Fe. He would still like to provide information to the group. Maria let the group know HRC does not meet July or August for a summer break. Possible zoom or in person with Neil King in June or before he moves to Santa Fe. Maria let the group know that she would be presenting that evening for Village of Skokie’s Budget meeting which is also why Trustee Khem was not at the meeting. Maria let the group know Alex had presented for the group last year and did a great job. This year Maria will be presenting. Adjournment at 8:20pm by Alex, second by Swarupa.