HomeMy WebLinkAbout2000-04-26-HSC-min.pdf Minutes
Human Services Committee
( Wednesday, April 26, 2000
Present
Barbara Ciampa, Helen Cravis, Co-Chairs; Roz Gittleman; Christine Yedica; Barbara
Hills, Joyce Fearnside; Brenda Prusak, Meg Soens, First Parish Church Welcoming
Committee; Cathy Abbott, Selectman Liaison; Steve Baran, Human Services Coordinator
and Recorder; Steve Kelly, visitor and candidate, Human Services Committee
Absent
Eva Glick
Minutes of 3/22/00
The minutes of 3/22/00 were accepted.
Domestic Violence Response Team Table.
Helen Cravis announced that the Human Services Committee will jointly sponsor a
"safety"table with the Domestic Violence Response Team at the LexFest!/Discovery
( Day event on May 20.
Presentation by the Welcoming Committee,First Parish Church
Barbara Ciampa introduced the Welcoming Committee of the First Parish Church. Their
members reviewed the high incidence of suicide among gay and lesbian adolescents.
They noted that it was still considered acceptable among young people to make jokes and
indulge in verbal and physical abuse toward members of this group. Hence, it was
necessary to provide them with safe havens,particularly because some gay and lesbian
young people were shunned by their own parents.
In Lexington, to date, there had been some training in the high school sponsored by the
Gay Lesbian and Straight Alliance and PATHS (Parents and Teachers for Harmony in
the Schools), and there would be training of Estabrook School faculty on May 4 New
regulations were just coming out from the Mass. Dept. of Education including the
requirement that there be training throughout the state. At this point, there was a
reluctance to intervene among teachers and responsible officials who tend to slough off
gay and lesbian, but not racial, epithets.
A video prepared by the New York City Gay, Lesbian and Straight Educational Network
was shown featuring the tennis champion, Martina Navratilova, dealing with the verbal,
emotional and physical harassment experienced by young people. "I am a poet, athlete,
photographer; I also happen to be gay" She commented that after first grade, the
2
phenomenon"balloons."A parent gave testimony about her son who had become suicidal
after experiencing harassment while a high school history teacher noted that name-calling
affected everyone.
The First Parish and Follen Churches will be sponsoring workshops and a photo exhibit
in the fall, and the sponsorship of the Human Services Committee was requested. It was
agreed that the Human Services Committee would give this consideration after receiving
more information. The Welcoming Committee was urged to also approach the School
Committee.
Cathy Abbott mentioned that in March the Board of Selectmen had endorsed the 'No
Place for Hate" campaign, a town-wide program.
Drop-In Center
Helen Cravis reviewed the history of efforts to establish a drop in center. Eliot
Community Human Services, when they held the youth services contract, had established
such a drop in center. It encountered opposition from the business community, and was
suspended after the youth services contract was given to Wayside RePlace. The Human
Services Committee reviewed Wayside RePlace findings concerning the feasibility of a
drop in center. It was noted that Wayside RePlace had not shown interest in
reestablishing such a center. The committee agreed to table the matter since it was not
considered likely to have high priority in the community in view of other space needs and
t budget stringencies.
Attendance
There was some discussion about attendance at Human Services Committee meetings.
Was this a function of lack of clarity about the purpose of the Committee, need for more
recruiting, or need)for an agreement that members failing to attend three consecutive
meetings should be asked to resign? It was agreed that the Co-Chairs would correspond
with Eva Glick about her attendance and that the committee would continue recruitment
efforts by seeking members from the First Parish Church Welcoming Committee and
from LexFest! Steve Baran was asked to furnish names of LexFest! Participants whom
the co-chairs would call.
Steve Kelly, candidate for Human Services Committee
Steve Kelly said he was interested in the whole idea of volunteerism and wanted to learn
more about the Town, its recreational and ecological interests. Developmental disabilities
are his area of expertise. It was agreed that Steve should be a Committee member, and
Cathy Abbott said she would recommend him to the Board of Selectmen.
Next Meeting
The next meeting of the Human Services Committee will take place on May 24