2023-04-12-LHRC-min - Laserfiche WebLink

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TOWN OF LEXINGTON HUMAN RIGHTS COMMITTEE MEETING MINUTES Wednesday, April 12, 2023 Conducted by Remote Participation LHRC MEMBERS PRESENT Tanya Gisolfi, Chairperson (TG), Mona D. Roy, Vice-Chair (MDR), Christina Lin, Clerk (CL), Stephanie Hsu (SH), Amber Iqbal (AI), Salvador Jaramillo (SJ), Lexington Public School District - Larry Freeman (LF), Town of Lexington, Police - Collen Dunbar (CD), Town of Lexington, Human Services - Melissa Interess (MI) Guests: Eileen Jay, Liaison School Committee The minutes were taken by Christina Lin, LHRC Clerk • Meeting Called to order at, Quorum was present at 8:45 • Meeting Minutes - None • Autism Acceptance and Awareness Month and purpose of proclamations- MR shared a personal story as a parent of a child with autism who found the process of opening up about their life frightening. As a result of living in an ableist society, their son is unable to receive adequate day services because there is insufficient funding for training and limited pay for employees who do this type of supportive work. Additionally, she emphasized the importance behind the act of passing proclamations by the LHRC. "The point is at a minimum; the majority of this committee is committed to uplifting that marginalized group and seeing them as real human beings. Not pretend human beings - not a check box. This is not performative...It is to raise awareness to the rest of Lexington that this is a population that's hurting, strugglin g, and that needs our support because they are marginalized." MR explains there are no day programs to provide programming for her son, so he is relegated to sitting alone in a room all day. There isn't adequate staffing to provide more support so occasionally, a staff member might provide a puzzle or worksheets for some kind of activity. The people working in the system are not to blame. They are often oppressed by systemic racism since many of the staff are Black and not provided adequate pay nor training. The system is the problem, and the system is made up of all of us in the communities. MR posted on Facebook about a question regarding the 'do not resuscitate' option on the form. Given that her son is only 22, it was a terrible feeling that society questioned whether or not his life was worth saving at such a young age. MR encouraged committee members and those attending the meeting to bring back this information to their own communities to help raise awareness and continue factoring the needs of persons with disabilities into policy making. TG added that the pandemic has been used as a scapegoat for the ills of society for too long and that it is time to move beyond the pandemic as the source of the ongoing and/or continuing problems we need to work towards solutions for people and families who are struggling. LF appreciated MR for being willing to be vulnerable in sharing her story and educating the community on these issues. • The Chair noted that it is National Fair Housing Month, National Arab American Heritage month and National Public Health Week was April 3-9.