Spokane Corps Meeting Minute Archives

Spokane Corps Meeting Minutes

July 11, 2001

August 10, 2001

September 14, 2001

SpokaneCorps Member Meeting July 11, 2001 12:30 - 2:30, ARC of Spokane

Attending:

Keirsten Snover, AmeriCorps*State, Washington Reading Corps
Don Hornbeck, AmeriCorps*VISTA Leader, Northeast Community Center Association
Angela Friedrich, AmeriCorps*State, RSVP
Pat Carroll, AmeriCorps*National, ARC
Jenni Hazel Ethington, AmeriCorps*State, Washington Reading Corps
Eric Steele, AmeriCorps*National, ARC
Rachel Gollhofer, AmeriCorps*State, Second Harvest Food Bank
Johanna Talbott, AmeriCorps*State, Second Harvest Food Bank
Shannon Bedard, AmeriCorps Promise Fellow, Health Improvement Partnership
Paula Reynolds-Eblacas, AmeriCorps*VISTA Leader, Washington Reading Corps

Minutes: Several members from the ARC participated in the AmeriCorps Weekend Challenge in Cowlitz County. Pat and two teammates spent the service day building a 24-foot long wheelchair ramp. Because they were not finished by quitting time, they continued until the project was done, getting back to camp too late to make the showers. Beyond missing the showers, Pat's summation was the project was worthwhile and a good time. She also said it was nice to meet and work with members from other parts of the state.

Meeting consensus seemed to be that we're impressed with the amount of work it must have taken to organize the Challenge and what a great thing for a first-year AmeriCorps program to accomplish. (Thanks Cowlitz AmeriCorps, especially Karen!)

A question arose about next year's challenge. Rumor has it that it is supposed to be in Snohomish County. A question arose about how Spokane could host a challenge.

Suggestion was made to let the SW and NW ICCs know we are interesting in getting in line to host a challenge. Paula gave a report on her attendance at the national conference. She picked up useful information about creating family volunteering opportunities and about creating inclusive environments for volunteer participation by gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgendered persons. Unfortunately, many of the workshops were slightly mistitled and Paula was not able to pick up much useful information about overcoming obstacles to involvement in our programs by low income individuals. She did attend one workshop that addressed that better than the others and has notes from it. E-mail Paula if you want notes on any of these workshops.

Paula said she met a few members at the conference who were not part of the Leader and Promise Fellow group sent by CNS, including one member who did the leg work to get scholarships from the conference and the Points of Light Foundation and a little bit of money from her state office to cover her attendance, travel, lodging, and meals. Suggest that we try to get as many members from Spokane as possible at next year's conference in Salt Lake City. Suggestion was made that we not rely on the availability of scholarships, but possibly fundraise to establish our own scholarship fund for conference attendance. Question arose concerning sending people to the conference without accountability. Suggestions were to have scholarship recipients sign contracts requiring their attendance at the conference and that they be required to submit a written report and/or presentation.

Discussion moved to Inter Corps Council and whether we should add ICC to our SpokaneCorps name. Disadvantages to doing so include creating a long, cumbersome and redundant name when said in full. Advantages include distinguishing the member meetings from the supervisor meetings also using the SpokaneCorps name and encouraging our involvement in member organization beyond the local level.

Pieces from an ICC briefing written by Rhean, our AmeriCorps Leader in Olympia (thanks!), in response to several questions Paula sent her about ICC. Briefly, ICCs are member-driven groups that exist in 19 states, are organized at state, regional, and city levels, and usually include members and alum from all streams of CNS service. The Washington ICC was formed in 1997, fell apart the next year, and was restarted again in the 1999-2000 program year. The west side has two ICC groups, SW and NW, which meet regularly. One group had a more formal structure, but dropped that this winter, and both have various subcommittees.

In general, ICC groups do the same thing our SpokaneCorps groups does (monthly member meetings, collaboration on projects, member trainings, celebrations, etc.), and we are already essentially an ICC group.

Some ICC groups have bylaws. Copies of bylaws from Maryland which have been modified and adopted by other ICC groups around the country were passed around. The Maryland bylaws are for a formal structure in which each program selects three members to attend and members can lose voting privileges if they miss meetings, but we may find parts of it useful to our more informally structured group.

Addresses for the WAICC listserve, the WAICC website, and the national ICC listserve were given:

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/waicc

http://www.scn.org/waicc

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/ICCnet

and it was suggested some of us signup, read, and post as appropriate.

Because only 10 members were present, a decision on the name was left for another meeting with higher turnout.

Two subcommittees were formed at this meeting, one to deal with the issue of fundraising (Angela, Keirsten, and Nicole -- though Nicole Pollock was not present, she was volunteered for this committee) and training (Pat, Don, Angela, Paula, Keirsten, and Jenni).

Questions and answers from open discussion:

1. How do we find out about training opportunities, conferences, job openings, and meetings?

--- read the WAICC listserve site, VISTAnet, and/or create our own site where we begin to post such things; put together a listing of sites where such information can be found

2. How do we find out how much money our program has for travel and training?

-- ask your supervisor, but don't be surprised if your question is not answered (budgets are tight and knowledge is power)

3. Would members in North Idaho have any interest in working with us on service projects, trainings, etc.?

-- most likely, we had members from North Idaho come over for MLK Day two years ago to help with the volunteer fair and service projects, probably just need to contact them and ask.

Finally, the last 20 minutes were devoted to a conflict resolution training, with the disclaimer that this would be a very brief introduction and more of a teaser for more conflict resolution training to come in the fall (perhaps the entire 30-hour AmeriCorps conflict resolution course) along with a number of other trainings.

Our next meeting was set for August 10, 1:30 to 3:30 at 2nd Harvest Food Bank of the Inland Northwest (a.k.a. Spokane Food Bank), 1234 E. Front Ave.

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SpokaneCorps ICC meeting minutes

August 10, 2001

1:30 - 3:30, Second Harvest Food Bank of the Inland Northwest

Attending:

Candy Redmond, AmeriCorps*VISTA, Washington Reading Corps
Johanna Talbott, AmeriCorps*State, Second Harvest
Rachel Gollhofer, AmeriCorps*State, Second Harvest
Diane Bundy, AmeriCorps*VISTA, Northeast Community Center Association
Patrick Link, AmeriCorps*VISTA, Northeast Community Center Association
Lynne Foresman, AmeriCorps*VISTA, Washington Reading Corps
Doug Reynolds, AmeriCorps Promise Fellow, Health Improvement Partnership/City of Spokane
Shannon Bedard, AmeriCorps Promise Fellow, Health Improvement Partnership
Jerry Reeser, AmeriCorps*National, Arc of Spokane
Peter Holman, AmeriCorps*VISTA, Second Harvest
Deloris Sokolis, AmeriCorps*VISTA, Spokane Neighborhood Action Programs/Second Harvest
Paula Reynolds-Eblacas, AmeriCorps*VISTA Leader, Washington Reading Corps
Miguel Saldin, AmeriCorps*State, Second Harvest
Cindy Davis, AmeriCorps*National, Arc of Spokane
Eric Steele, AmeriCorps*National, Arc of Spokane
Rosa Morris, AmeriCorps*VISTA, Second Harvest
Pat Carroll, AmeriCorps*National, Arc of Spokane

Introductions. Each person gave a brief description of his or her project or program. Projects included elementary school literacy, volunteer coordination, service learning, economic development, youth services, developmentally disabled community involvement and leadership building, Work First training, and food distribution.

Announcements:

Jerry and Eric reported members at the Arc found out this morning that their project with developmentally disabled has not been refunded and will end in December.

Reports from subcommittees. Paula reported the training committee met, came up with a list of trainings, and meets again on August 15, giving people time to follow up on research into potential collaborative partners and other resources in the community. A list will be ready soon and committee would like members and supervisors to make any additional suggestions. Candy reported the funds committee did not meet.

Old Business:

Brief revisit of discussion from July meeting regarding adding ICC to the SpokaneCorps member meeting name. ICC added to our name by consensus. As of last month's meeting, SpokaneCorps minutes are being posted to the WAICC listserve (groups.yahoo.com/group/waicc).

New Business.

None.

Presentation and Discussion.

Diane led us through a discussion on the meth amphetamine problem that has received much coverage in the local press. Diane's presentation was based upon research she conducted over the past few months, including interviews with past users. Diane presented pieces on meth history, chemistry, and pharmacology; is the meth problem a special drug problem; and solutions. Personal experiences and knowledge of attendees complemented Diane's research. Highlights from the presentation/discussion:

made from ephedra, found naturally in many plants and first used medicinally 4000 years ago-- amphetamine first synthesized in 1887, first marketed in 1932-- amphetamine and meth amphetamine sold legally by prescription in U.S. for 30 years until banned in 1970-- given to soldiers by militaries in WWII, Vietnam and elsewhere, caused addiction problems when soldiers returned home-- can be beneficial if used properly in small, controlled, clinical doses
chemical process for making meth quite simple
instructions on the Internet
cheap and easy to make from household products, can put all necessary equipment in a backpack or even cook it in your car
production methods dangerous, explosions and resulting fires if not done properly
strong, affects last longer than cocaine
users suffer from no sleep, no eating, teeth fall out, tweaking (picking at illusionary bugs on their skin and other very strange, odd nervous behavior)
affects the neurotransmitter to the pleasure/reward center of the brain, people using initially feel good about themselves, others, the world, life and everything is good and happy, until they come down
repeated use causes dulling of the reward center, the higher the dose and use, the more damage, damage is not necessarily permanent, but it can take a year or longer to feel pleasure again after stopping addiction
traditional strategies include prevention (education, scare tactics), interdiction (law enforcement, arrest and punishment, treatment, stopping the supply)
one idea to stop production is to make it hard for people to get ephedra, but this can cause problem, local stores have taken cold medicines off shelves and make people go to the pharmacy to get it, Diane described an incident in which she was harassed first by one grocery store employee when she stood in the cold medicine aisle admiring the near empty shelves (they had five packages of their store's name brand product on the shelf) and then by four other employees as she was leaving the store, similar treatment may have happened to others legitimately looking for cold medicine
history of drug use shows traditional strategies not affective at level they need to be, third strategy is harm reduction
harm reduction recognizes substance abuse as a human behavior that has existed in cultures throughout time and one which no strategy has been able to stop; harm reduction tries to reduce the harm caused from behaviors that people are going to do no matter what, examples would include needle exchange programs and designated driver programs; applied to meth, harm reduction might include something like teaching meth users/cookers how to cook meth safely so they don't burn their house down; harm reduction remains a controversial strategy

Questions:

does meth represent a special problem given the ease of availability?
is "harm reduction" a better solution than putting users in jail or prison?
are first time users really addicted at a rate of 95 percent? where's the research to back up quotes from police and health department officials?
what is the level of use in Spokane?

Our next meeting was set for September 14, 1:30 to 3:30, at the Northeast Community Center, 4001 S. Cook.

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SpokaneCorps ICC meeting minutes

September 14, 2001

1:30 - 3:30, Northeast Community Center

Attending:

Johanna Talbott, AmeriCorps*State, Second Harvest Foodbank of the Inland Northwest
Rachel Gollhofer, AmeriCorps*State, Second Harvest Foodbank of the Inland Northwest
Acina Brandom, AmeriCorps*State, Washington Reading Corps, Stevens Elementary
Don Hornbeck, AmeriCorps*VISTA Leader, Northeast Community Center Association
Pat Link, AmeriCorps*VISTA, Northeast Community Center Association
Catherine Booth, AmeriCorps Leader, Washington Service Corps
Lynne Foresman, AmeriCorps*VISTA, Washington Reading Corps, Liberty Elementary
Lisa Cox, AmeriCorps*VISTA Leader, Washington Reading Corps, Educational Service District 101
Candy Redmond, AmeriCorps*VISTA, Washington Reading Corps, Stevens Elementary
Melinda Windishar, AmeriCorps*State, Washington Reading Corps, Stevens Elementary
Rich Ting, AmeriCorps*VISTA, Northeast Community Center Association
Paula Reynolds-Eblacas, AmeriCorps*VISTA Leader, Washington Reading Corps, Educational Service District 101
Bob Chambers, AmeriCorps*VISTA, Northeast Community Center Association
Shannon Bedard, AmeriCorps Promise Fellow, Health Improvement Partnership

Agenda:

ICC Logos
Announcements, Etc.
The city's comprehensive plan
Next meetings

Special guest Catherine Booth, AmeriCorps Leader with the Washington Service Corps, joined us from Olympia for the first ICC meeting during her term. Catherine explained her focus as Leader this year to be on using technology to increase our national service effectiveness. Catherine will join us in again for our November SCICC meeting, leading a larger discussion on creating on-line communities and other ways of using computer technology more effectively in our programs.

ICC Logos

Group examined and provided feedback on the proposed Washington ICC logos, printed out from the WAICC web page. Feedback has been forwarded to Charles Silva, as directed on the web page. Overall, the group liked the one with the mountain in the background and the one with the arrows the best, but would like to see some changes made to them before considering them again.

Announcements, Etc.

Rachel is setting up a service project for national service members at the food bank for Make A Difference Day, October 27, 2001.

Other upcoming events:

disAbility Fest, Spokane Community College, October 6 (call Roland at 484-3842 or Karla at 325-6052 for information about registering to be an exhibitor, registration accepted until Sept. 28)
SCICC meeting, ESD 101 , noon-2, October 12
AmeriCorps State Launch, Tacoma Landmark Temple Theater, October 19
Washington Service Corps SERVES (formerly MDI), Ellensburg, October 23-25
SCICC meeting, Northeast Community Center, noon-2, November 2; National Family Volunteering Day, November 17.

City's Comprehensive Plan.

Don led the group through a discussion on the city's comprehensive plan and how our work as national service members might fit into that plan.

1990 state law says every town/city must have a comprehensive plan addressing growth management. The law says a city can grow however it wants to, but it must provide the infrastructure (roads, sewers, etc.) to do so.

Spokane's plan, recently adopted, is more than a guide, it is law. The plan is directed toward "new urbanism," vertical, pedestrian-oriented growth. (More about new urbanism can be found at www.cnu.org.) The plan addresses land use, housing, transportation, environment, social health, leadership, and a host of other topics.

Being able to talk knowledgeably about the plan is not necessary beneficial when approaching the business community for support of our programs; many in the business community are not 100 percent happy with the plan for various reasons.

However, when approaching city government, being able to talk knowledgeably about the plan could be quite beneficial in gaining support for our programs (for example, in seeking a letter from a city official endorsing a grant application).

How the plan relates to national service depends upon the particular project. For example, a number of Reading Corps members were present at the meeting. The work WRC does relates to social health and economic development in that WRC helps to -- ultimately -- prepare a literate workforce, improve the high school graduation rate, send more low-income kids to college, decrease the rates of various social ills and thus decrease demand for social services.

Copies of the plan can be acquired from the city planning department.

Next Meetings

Our next SCICC meeting is scheduled for October 12, noon-2, at ESD 101, 1025 W. Indiana. In addition to the usual announcements and questions and answers, the main event at the meeting will be "collaboration stations," that is, seating arranged by service project area so that we may learn about each other's projects and how we can combine efforts to better meet the goals of our projects. We will also discuss Catherine's suggestion of making the A in WAICC stand for Association. Catherine hopes to join us for that meeting as well.

Our November meeting will be November 2, noon-2, at Northeast Community Center, 4001 N. Cook. Catherine will join us again and will lead the discussion on on-line communities and other technology issues related to our service assignments

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