August Meeting Minutes

No Place for Hate meeting minutes, August 15, 2007

Co-Chair for the NPFH committee was announced. Jayne Severens, Case Manager from Our Fathers House was appointed the position by Yvette Cooks.
Yvette spoke about the Watertown incident and ADL’s stand on the issue. Yvette spoke with Myriam Zuber, Project Director for NPFH New England. Myriam gave a statement, from the ADL that was read to the committee.

Yvette also stated that a member of our group has withdrawn from the committee because of the Watertown issue. A conversation with Jennifer Smith from ADL is in process to address the topic. Ward Councilor Stephan Hay spoke about educating ourselves and the community about being partners with the ADL. Mr. Hay commented that the NPFH doesn’t need ADL to exist. Mark Gilbert stated that the NPFH is a registered trade mark of the ADL, and can’t separate. Yvette states her concern that others will withdraw because of the issue.

Yvette responded to the article in the Sentinel and Enterprise about the anti-Semitic behavior at Ryan Joubert Skate Park at Park Hill. Yvette spoke with Sgt. Fossa who states the individual was caught and has no affiliation with any groups or organizations and did the acts out of ignorance with out knowledge of the full meaning of the symbols he used, not out of hate. Stephan Hay told the committee that cameras are being installed at the park and that we need to use this incident as an opportunity to educate people on what NPFH means. Mark Gilbert makes note that we need to promote the fact that it’s not only anti-Semitic it’s anti everything. The individual should be punished according to law not by us. All attending members agreed that this needs to be brought up at another time on another agenda.

Nathan Glenny is having an out door benefit concert at the Ryan Joubert Park this weekend. Setting up a NPFH booth was discussed but was tabled. Mark Gilbert and Yvette Cooks will be at the park to hand out flyers for the NPFH. Latino and Hmong festivals, respectively, are also planned for the same weekend. NPFH hopes to attend both and also pass out flyers. Ellen DiGeronimo was called by Yvette but no call back was received. Yvette will continue to try to contact her in regards to the mural project.

Mission Statement:
Should have theme around education of tolerance, how we operate, who we are. A. Goss to facilitate how we get to a theme. How can kids visualize home with out hate. All committee members brain stormed together to build a mission statement.

Remedial or preventative? – building, connection, connect to resources that support our goal.
Hate crime solution-Visualize country without hate or that promotes harmony

Remedial
Restorative justice, a circle where all persons involved have a chance to talk about the harm the act caused.
Educating – kindness, respect, integrity, awareness
Tolerance/inclusive
Dedicated to change attitude and social behavior
Promoting civil discourse and civil engagement
Supporting

Preventative
Celebrating diversity – murals
Educating / creating awareness
Kindness, awareness
Harmony, find the similarities, respect the differences

In the end the committee decided on:
“NPFH celebrates and supports harmonious diversity among Fitchburg residents and is dedicated to promoting such harmony through education, community involvement and collaboration. “

The vision statement is:
“The NPFH committee seeks to educate all residents to cultivate diversity, let it flourish and encourage growth. We welcome others to join us in this mission.”

Gail Bloom provided the application for the Local Cultural Council Program which Co-Chair Jayne Severens will fill out. The deadline for doing such is October 15. A grant through the ADL will also be looked into.

Yvette will look into using the Fitchburg Senior Center for our next meeting. If not, she’ll check with FSC and/or GreenAcres. The next meeting will be held on September 19th from 6-7:30.
An invitation was sent to all 6 Ward Councilors and 5 Councilor-at-large. Norman Boisvert and David Clark did respond stating previous engagements. Stephan Hay was the only one to show up.

(Minutes submitted by Jane Severens.)