July 2018 – FAB Meeting #3

July 12, 2018 from 6-8pm

UB backbone staff present:
Kassa Belay
David Harrington
Nysheva-Starr
Dionne Grayman

Number of FAB members present: 20/25

Accomodations: Dinner and childcare provided

Agenda/Minutes:

Main Takeaways:

• FAB is interested in reviewing data specific to our goals and talking to others (e.g. CCCNY) who might be able to present to us about data.
• FAB is interested in working with the PAT.
• FAB is eager to start pursuing the Discover Together Proposal in earnest and would like to talk to organizations that have done similar projects before and find out what proposals like this might cost so they can put together a business plan.

• Meeting Objectives
  • Follow up on previous meetings and interactions with FAB members
  • Community-building and clarification of goals and methods
    • Discuss adding a new member
    • Discuss working together as the FAB
  • Work on collective decision-making by continuing to review the Scholastic proposal, working together, and adding a new member
• Housekeeping
  • Review Data from last Reality Check
    • Very strong results overall, both in terms of ratings and written responses.
    • Some folks thought the Retreat was too emotional, but not all styles work for all participants, and it was rated high overall. We will try to accommodate a diversity of styles/approaches.
    • We are lowest in assigning next steps, providing opportunities to ask questions, and providing opportunities to share views and will try to keep improving in those areas on today’s agenda and future agendas.
  • Google Groups started as a listserv/discussion forum for the FAB
  • Agenda items requested from FAB members in advance
    • Mindfulness
      • There was a request to incorporate mindfulness techniques into FAB meetings as a good way to eliminate stress before we deal with difficult subjects. There was broad support from the group for this.
    • How will the PAT work with us?
      • This will be the subject of the next meeting
    • Review the goals of the FAB and UB
      • FAB members were asked to discuss the goals of the FAB and UB as they saw them and to ask any questions they might have. FAB members themselves brought up improving language and social-emotional development of 0-3 year-olds in the community; empowering the community; providing the community with tools to actively improve conditions for children and parents; empowering parents to be a voice for children; giving family members a seat at the table with other key decision-makers in children’s lives.
    • Data: This topic arose out out of the discussion above.
      • How do we know what the needs are in the community?
      • What data points are we looking for to track over time?
      • Data is lacking insofar as officially reported from city agencies in ways that allow us to track language development and social-emotional development of 0-3 year-olds in Brownsville specifically. We discussed ways we are involved in advocating for that data and that we are specifically going to work with PAT members to try to compile assessment data from providers in Brownsville.
      • We hope to use the Leadership Council and help us access provider-specific and City Agency data.

• • Welcome to a new FAB member
  • Procedure for introducing a new member
    • There was broad support for welcoming more men. It was decided that in the follow up email survey, we vote on procedures for welcoming new members.
• Mindfulness
  • 2 minutes of guided meditation were given in the spirit of mindfulness brought up before.
• Proposal Review in groups.
  • Instructions:
    • Work with the topic you began working on at the Retreat. If you did not attend the Retreat, choose what you are most interested in.
    • 40 min group work. Fill out your individual rubrics for the Family Co-Op, Expanded Reach Out and Read, or Language Kits.
    • Discuss: What are 1-3 next steps you would recommend for this proposal right now? These can happen between meetings or at the next meeting. They can be assigned to UB backbone staff, FAB members, or even PAT members.
    • 5 min prep for a FAB-wide presentation giving your recommendations for this portion of the proposal.
    • 15 min (5 min per group) to present your recommendations for each portion of the proposal.

LANGUAGE KITS

• Multiple languages
• Bus stops
• Sanitation spray, either a manual spray or an automated system to regulate the cleaning
• Culturally relevant – a story/images/statutes about Gregory Jackson, for example; represent cultures in Brownsville and key figures
• Worried about vandalism – The kits should be free to use but maybe there should be a barrier to access like a library card or a MetroCard that most would have in their possession already
• Next steps:
  • Create a business plan
    • Reach out to contractors, designers – How much would it cost?
    • What should it look like? What features should it have?
  • Create a pilot program, Pitkin/Rockaway to see how it works
  • Reach out to city agencies and get their OKs to

FAMILY CO-OP

• Capable of transforming the community
• Suggestions for improvement
  • What curriculums would be?
    • What do co-op opportunities look like? Cooking classes, fairs …
    • It’s a gathering or assembling of people, sharing ideas to improve themselves … We’re doing that now …
  • Community events?
• Next steps:
  • Curriculum
  • Identify resources
  • Deciding or working on a promotion schedule, marketing plan

BOOKS FOR BROWNSVILLE

• Identify 3 different community centers and a community garden
  • Marcus Garvey Community Center
  • NY Parks and Recreation
  • Greg Jackson Center
• Identify fundraising opportunities/needs

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