LGBTQ Community Meeting!

Come share your ideas for the City's Diversity and Equity Strategic Plan!

DATE: Wednesday, May 28, 2008
TIME: 6:00 – 7:30 PM, come at 5:45 for food.
PLACE: Bascom-Tykeson Room, Eugene Public Library, West 10th Ave. & Olive St.
Everyone is welcome, including children.
Please RSVP to eugenediversityproject@gmail.com

The City of Eugene is collaborating with the communities it serves to develop a Diversity and Equity Strategic Plan that will help the City make decisions, adopt policies, design and deliver services, and work together in ways that meet the needs and demands of all members of the community. We want to hear what you have to say!

The meeting location is wheelchair accessible. For individuals who are deaf or hard of hearing, an interpreter or assistive listening system can be provided with 48 hours notice. Spanish-language interpretation will also be provided with 48 hours notice. To arrange for these services or for more information about the City of Eugene's Diversity and Equity Outreach Project, please contact project staff at (541)346-3615 or eugenediversityproject@gmail.com

If you cannot make it or are not interested in attending this meeting, but are still interested in being involved in the project, feel free to contact us.

Diversity & Equity Strategic Plan Survey

The City of Eugene needs your input and ideas to help shape a five-year strategic plan to improve the quality of life for all people here in Eugene.

As a concerned member of our diverse community, I hope you will take a few minutes to fill-out and answer this brief online survey. Your responses will help the City identify actions it can take to make its services, recruiting and hiring practices, marketing, and outreach efforts more accessible, inclusive and equitable for all people. As an added incentive to take the survey, the City of Eugene will randomly select one participant to be awarded a $25 gift certificate to Market of Choice grocery store.

So again, I hope you will take a few minutes to share you experience and opinion with the City of Eugene. Thank you very much in advance for your time.

Please Fill out the Diversity Survey!

City of Eugene Diversity and Equity Strategic Plan Outreach Project – Update

04/25/2008

City of Eugene Diversity and Equity Strategic Plan Outreach Project – Update

By Tim Brass, UO CPW Graduate Student

I am part of the Community Planning Workshop (U of O) team that is gathering community ideas, opinions and beliefs on how the City can better serve the needs of all residents. To begin gathering information from the community, I went to the Food for Lane County Dining Room and talked with the diners about the steps the city could take to better serve their needs. I also asked a number of more specific questions which related to the draft goals of the Diversity and Equity Strategic Plan (DESP).

I found these conversations to be quite informative. Most people were more than willing to share their opinions and ideas, and for the most part, Eugene was described as a friendly place where people are generally taken care of (especially at the Food for Lane County Dining Room). At the same time, it is clear that people feel there is room for improvement. Some of the broad issues which seemed to be of interest were; medical care, aid for the elderly, affordable housing, shelter options and the City’s camping/ lay-down laws. Over the next couple months, I will continue to conduct interviews, surveys and focus groups with community members who are interested in sharing their ideas. It is my hope that this information will be integrated into specific actions that the city can take to improve services to all.

Tim Brass

tbrass@uoregon.edu

Feel free to contact me with any suggestions, comments, questions, etc. in regards to these efforts.

04/11/2008

City of Eugene Diversity and Equity Strategic Plan Outreach Project – Update

By Katie MacKendrick, UO CPW Graduate Student

The City of Eugene and the UO Community Planning Workshop (CPW) are moving forward efforts to create a culturally competent public engagement outreach guide for City staff and the community. So far CPW has interviewed formal and informal community leaders, researched outreach best practices, conducted intercept surveys, and held meetings with City staff.

This week and next CPW and the City of Eugene will hold meetings with community members to further define considerations for effective outreach, and to outline a process for gathering input from the broader community for the Diversity and Equity Strategic Plan. Meetings are planned as follows:

• Monday, April 14th – LGBTQ, 6:30 - 7:45 PM, Eugene Public Library - Tykeson Room
• Friday, April 18 – Race/Ethnicity, 12:00 – 1:30 PM, Eugene Public Library – Singer Room
• Monday, April 21 - Women's/Gender, 12:00-1:00 PM, Eugene Public Library – Singer Room
• Tuesday, April 22nd, Religion/Faith, Noon-1:15pm, Eugene Public Library – Tykeson Room

Many more meetings and opportunities for input will occur in the coming weeks and months. Please check out the City of Eugene’s Office of Diversity & Equity’s website for further project details: http://www.eugene-or.gov/diversity/

Poverty Simulation by the City of Savannah

Check out what the City of Savannah is doing to both help and educate people around poverty. Pretty cool stuff:
http://www.npr.org/templates/story/story.php?storyId=5232545

and

http://stepupsavannah.org/wp-content/uploads/2007/09/25%20families%20Final%20Evaluation.pdf

Oregon Grants Honorary Degrees to Japanese American Internees

From: Suzuki Carol
Sent: Tuesday, May 29, 2007 5:23 PMSubject: Invitation to a bill signing ceremony for HB 2823 - Thursday, May 31, 9:00 AM - please RSVPImportance: High

Dear Friends:
I want to invite you to a very special event. A bill signing ceremony for House Bill 2823 will be held this Thursday, May 31 at 9:00 AM. Please arrive by 8:45 AM.

Governor Ted Kulongoski will sign House Bill 2823 which will enable Japanese Americans who were interned during World War II to receive an honorary degree from an Oregon state college or university if they were unable to complete their education due to their incarceration during World War II. Family members may also request honorary degrees on behalf of deceased relatives.

The bill signing ceremony will be held in the Governor's Ceremonial Office in the Oregon State Capitol (900 Court St. NE, Salem, OR 97301).

House Bill 2823 was introduced by chief co-sponsors Representative Tina Kotek (D-Portland) and Representative Brian Clem (D-Salem). The bill passed unanimously in both the House and the Senate. The signing ceremony is the final step before the bill becomes law.

This is truly a historic moment. I hope you can attend!

Carol Suzuki
Commissioner
Oregon Commission on Asian Affairs
503-986-1076
carol.suzuki[at]state.or.us

Two Latino men attacked at Oregon park

Two Latino men attacked at Oregon park
Published: May 29, 2007

The Associated Press

MULINO — A score of white teenagers attacked two Salem men at a park south of Portland, chanting "Go back to Mexico" as they delivered the beating, police said.

The violence erupted Thursday night at Wagon Wheel Park in Mulino, a town about 25 miles south of Portland. Edwin Gonzales, 27, and Alex Guzman, 26, were drinking beer and talking with two girls who were at the park with a large group of male teens.

At one point, Guzman, Gonzales and the girls went for more beer. When they returned, more than 20 male teens jumped Gonzales and Guzman, police said.

"These poor souls were terrified," said Detective Jim Strovink, spokesman for the Clackamas County Sheriff's Office. "They were minding their own business, and they were attacked with absolutely no provocation."

Read the rest at:
http://www.newsregister.com/news/story.cfm?story_no=222291

Diversity Outreach Resources

Thought all you folks who are looking to do outreach nationally to many diverse groups would be interested in this resource:

MULTICULTURAL PUBLIC RELATIONS PLANNING TOOLKIT
http://www.prsa.org/diversity/documents/PRPLANNINGTOOLKIT_FINAL.pdf