Planning Committee

Meeting Notes
November 8, 2001

Attending: Fred Blackwell (AECF), Ruben Briones (Supervisor Alice Lai-Bitker), Eric Cone (SACDC), Pat Constantine (VOABA), Don Davenport (SACDC), Kate Fitzimmons (Parental Stress Server), Madge Gates (Parental Stress Server), Francell Haskins (Alameda County Public Health Department), Kara Huynh (Computer Street Academy), Mariano Jauco (EBALDC), Brendan Leung (Alameda County Social Service Agency), Jenniee Mollica (Lao Family Community, Inc.) Slobodan Don Paich (ARTSHIP Foundation), Samon Ros (East Bay Cambodian Council), Elena Serrano (ESAA), Karen Stevenson (Core Communications), Susanne Takehara (ESAA), Diana Lee (Sickle Cell Community Health), Jacqueline Vu (West Oakland Youth Opportunity Project), Parrish Knox (Devine & Gary), Thearthur Wright (Artship Foundation), Jessica Pitt (Urban Strategies Council), Matt Beyers (Urban Strategies Council), Carmen Rojas (Urban Strategies Council)

Announcements

• Two job announcements Harbor House
• Director for the Home Buyers Assistance Center
• East Side Arts Alliance: Amiri Baraka program
• Oakland Traffic Safety Grant Program
• Violence in the Lower San Antonio
• Description of the Sickle Cell Network
• New Making Connections Article

Video Screening

• Elena: Introduction to video and asks for feedback.
• Jessica: This is part of the documentation of Making ConnectionsResponses
• Jennie: Captures a lot
• Don: Really liked the cuts, shows a lot of diversity, might consider having images of for-profit organizations and partners.
• Isabel: There weren’t enough images of the immigrant communities.
• Mariano: Should add images of the East Lake Merchants Association.
• Kara: Should add more images of families.
• Elena: Would like to create a resource center where this and other community videos and resources will be made available to all of the other organizations.
• Mariano: You might want to use the map that the Urban Strategies Council has on their web site as an introductory map of the area.
• Don: More intergenerational footage, should do a comparison with a more affluent area in Oakland.
• Mariano: Might want to interview people in their native language.
• Fred: Should add some demographic information.
• Jennie: Likes the street scenes.
• Fred: How will the next piece look?
• Elena: We’re hoping that the next piece will be at the OCO action and then at the Lower San Antonio
• Isabel: Should allow us to show our staff so that we could get their input.

Review of Collaborative Governance Structure

• Jessica: Introduction to the Governance Structure
• Jennie: Presented Governance Structure (Yellow Hand Out). Major themes included need for community involvement and is apparent in the new structure. Reviewed the map. The key to this structure is that the work revolves around resident initiated projects.
• Mariano: The logo is very important, "Strengthening Families…Enhancing the Community"
• Jessica: The role of the collaborative is to create a forum for community members to participate.

OCO Action

Isabel introduced the 3 major issues community members are working on

• Affordable Housing
• More space for Lower San Antonio Schools
• Safety in our neighborhoods
  • After School Initiative
  • Measure B
  • Community Policing
• Elena: Is this an Oakland wide effort? Will they be able to ask question about specific neighborhoods?
• Isabel: No…Focus is on Mayor Brown…people should come and bring out folks from through out Oakland…need follow-up as well.
• Jessica: These issues concern this community even if the organizing has been city wide
• Isabel: We’re getting good recognition.
• Mariano: Have you been lobbying with city officials? How can we be involved in this?
• Isabel: Haven’t thought about how to incorporate community organizations since this is a community member led process.
• Elena: We could write letters of support.
• Mariano: Or the collaborative could have a resolution.
• Isabel: That would be very helpful and would also put pressure on city official to have an open door to community members.

Health & Human Services- Glen Rosselli

• Jessica gave an introduction to Glen and the department.
• Glen: Introduced himself. Has an interest in getting involved in the community and believe that State officials should introduce themselves and become engaged with community based efforts. Realizes the importance of increasing peoples access to services. In the Department there are 15 areas of work with a total of 43,000 employees so it is hard to change the bureaucracy from that level but believes that community wide efforts can have an impact. Is here to give information and make opportunities available for community folks.
• Ruben: Lai-Bitker on the community of health and human services. Is trying to focus efforts on the high number of uninsured people in East Oakland… She is trying to organize an event like an insurance drive
• Mariano: Are there other counties that are doing better to provide insurance? Why?
• Glen: Yes, Alameda has the lowest insurance rate. The programs are flawed. It is so difficult to access procedures, county welfare department difficult to work with. Most of the information is only available in single or bilingual language. Experience with Medi-Cal isn’t always great so people forego preventative care and tend to go towards informal networks.
• Susan: Another problem is access to nutritious food locally-Where can we go?
• Glen: Nothing on hand… The different programs are WIC, Food Stamps, Alameda County Food Bank. To organize for access to willing providers to healthy food. Should contact Leslie Nickelson at the Prevention Institute.
• Gus: We could put together a campaign to help enroll people, but we should put together a taskforce to fill in gaps.
• Jennie: Thank you for being here. Our biggest concern is the ability of community members to access our services. How can we deal with building this link.
• Glen: Don’t dilute core consensus mission… Should ask me or someone like me back as an information resource <$50.00 for filling out application>.
• Diana: Discussion about sickle cell.
• Glen: The local legislatures could help in this area.
• Kara: Plug for Computer Street Academy to making information multilingual and more tangible information
• Glen: Introduction to issues facing the elderly and the making information accessible to community based organizations…
• Jessica: Should move on having and ad-hoc committee on insuring community members.
• Kara: Could we get data regarding the number of uninsured?
• Ruben: Yes.

December 13^th Town Hall Meeting:

Placed in subcommittee

Next Steps/Follow-up