Ridgewood Access Committee Meeting Minutes 20171116

Ridgewood’s Access Committee

Meeting Minutes November 16, 2017

The meeting was opened at 7:40pm.                                                                                                                                    

Present: Ines Bunza, Robin Ritter, Amy Stoller, Jack Dean, Joanne Stolfo, Paul Aronsohn (I don’t have a sign in sheet so I know I am missing some folks – please let me know who..)

Item 1: Welcome                
Ines welcomed everyone to the meeting.    

Item 2:
Tonight’s meeting was dedicated to the Skype call with Dr Erik Carter. From his bio: Erik Carter is an Associate Professor of Special Education at Vanderbilt University, he also works with the Vanderbilt Kennedy Center. Erik is doing significant research in the area of religion and disability. http://www.faithability.org/person/erik-carter In addition, he has successfully led seminars and events regarding meaningful work and disability. Tonight he spoke with us about getting some community conversations started within the community in order to better engage the community in the area of employment.

The minutes reflect some highlights from the conversation: Employment and Community Conversation in transitioning community.

The main discussion revolved around planning a community conversation set as in the World Café model. World Café identifies local solutions reflecting our own community and needs.

To implement the World Café the planning team must:

• Identify a date, time and place that will allow the best level of attendance. Consider a neutral place for all, a community building of some kind
• Identify the specific topic i.e. Meaningful Work in Ridgewood and the broader community for residents with disabilities
• Identify questions for the groups:
  • 1. Ask questions that push people to think about what they can do to elicit change
  • 2. Choose questions that will resonate with you community
  • 3. Write the questions in a way that encourage action and commitment (What can we do…? How might we…?)
• Strategically identify community issues, opportunities and assets.
  • Who would be invited to participate? Teachers, agencies, job coach, social workers, service providers, people with disabilities, family members, county reps, Chamber, Rotary, Guild, Faith community reps/clergy, United Way, transportation, restaurant/retail business owners and companies etc.
  • Who can provide solutions to the already known struggles? How to recognize and showcase those who already employ people with disabilities?
• Invite participants personally
• Host the World Café event, (an outline is available) generally:
  • Registration time and refreshments
  • Short Welcome to address the topic and how the event will flow
  • Participants are grouped by their self-identification: business owner, family member, person with disability etc. one of each in a group of 6.
  • Three discussions will be conducted based on previously determined questions.
  • Groups discuss a question for 20 minutes, an assigned facilitator records conversation.
  • Groups switch and discuss the same question with all new people, as assigned facilitator records the conversation.
  • Groups switch around once again and discuss a second question, as assigned facilitator records the conversation.
  • Groups report back their discussion highlights: what are the best ideas you heard this evening?

• Compile results and make plans for the next steps to take

In a small perspective, this was the overview to Dr Carter’s conversation and our discussion. I have attached a PowerPoint of Dr Carter that is an overview of his presentation with additional details for planning. In addition, there are some website links for more information.

http://www.tennesseeworks.org/minigrant/

http://www.theworldcafe.com/key-concepts-resources/world-cafe-method/

https://ucedd.waisman.wisc.edu/

Action items:

The January meeting will focus on planning a World Café event in the Spring of 2018. Suggestion was to host on a Monday, later in March (19^th?), though no decision was made. We will confirm this conversation and look at potential sites, invitation and guest lists as a start.

The Next Meeting is January 18th 2018, 7:30

Respectively submitted, Joanne Van Sant