Talking Wellness
Meeting
Wednesday,
September 1, 2004
5:30-7:00 p.m.
Present: Sharon McDaniel, Co-Chair Tammy
Moore
Herman Brown Israel
Gethsemane
Valena Hall Adolphe
Prince
Regina Higgins Merilene
M. Murphy
Sequioa Olivia Mercier Albert
Mathews
Ted Booker Ed
Corbett
Mildred Hayes Ife.
Onawughalu
Fonda Whitfield Keisha
Paxton
Linda Morse Bowen
Chung
Armond Anderson-Bell Rochelle
Monteiro
Linda Hightower Grant
Broadway
Martha Tucker Andrea
Jones, minutes
Visitors: Dee Suiter Marc
Bowen
Montie Thomas Tammy
P. Jackson
Larry Green Tempie
Williams-Todd
Gregory Todd
- Welcome &
Introductions: This meeting
carries over from the Talking Wellness Subcommittee Meeting. Since
everyone does not attend the subcommittee meeting, introductions were made
again. There were seven
visitors. Visitors and guests are
welcome, but they do not receive a stipend.
- Follow-up from last
Support Council Meeting: The
website will be up in one month.
The website will have a calendar of upcoming events and meetings,
profiles of the 3 Working Groups (Talking, Building, Supporting),
information on the Photovoice project and Spoken Word event, and the
history of the Witness for Wellness (W4W) Project. You will be able to go to the website
and learn about the people involved (who they are, how and why they got
involved, etc.). There will be
information about the research and evaluation side of this project,
too. The address for the website is
www.witness4wellness.org. Each group will be able to use it to
communicate with each other and the world.
It is up to each group to put what they want on the site—for
example, Talking Wellness can have poems that “open up” and even tell if
and when they are opened up. The
website will be user-friendly.
- Follow-up from
Sub-Committee: Photovoice—The Photovoice is a project where people from
the community take pictures of things in their community that
are depressing or make them feel bad (or even just makes them feel)
such as: dirty alleys, abandoned buildings, and things that make urban
noise like helicopters and sirens.
Should this be a joint venture or done in conjunction with another
group(s)? The consensus was that
it’s just labeling—it’s going to get done anyway, so think about it and
vote next month. Action item for
next meeting: Discuss what we
want to put on the website.
- Ken Wells Update: Ken Wells gave a presentation of the way
the photos were used in another UCLA Project. Photos were taken of various things and
then put into a collage on a particular subject. For example, one poster depicted a
scale: fruits, vegetables and other “good for you” foods on one side, and
soda, chips, and other “junk foods” on the other, heavier, side. The caption read: “Which side are you on? More people are overweight than
ever.” The other posters were about
stress and family. These posters
were a perfect example of empowering the community and getting people
involved—which is what we are trying to do. This UCLA Photovoice project was featured
in the Los Angeles Times.
- Bowen Chung Update: Bowen Chung has been working on funding
for the Photovoice project. (Bowen
is a member of the Supporting Wellness Working Group.) Magic Johnson was invited to the
feedback at the Magic Johnson theatre.
He sent a representative, who called Kavita Patel (a Supporting
Wellness member). Magic has an
interest in children, but also this neighborhood. These are two ideas: trailers between movies at his theatres,
and putting books and pamphlets in the lobby. Bowen is also trying to do something
with the Creative Artists Agency (CAA).
He knows someone at CAA who is willing to put forth some of our
ideas to that agency and possibly obtain their assistance in some
form. Bowen has also submitted a
letter of intent to apply for funding.
A letter of intent is when someone has some money to give out and
they want to see if anyone wants it. The person who wants the money sends
a letter of intent stating what they want the money for and how much they
want. (It is not guaranteed that
you will get the money.) Bowen sent
a letter of intent for an exhibition of photos and poetry for a larger
venue than the World Stage. Part of
the budget was for theater rental space, art supplies, food and
refreshments. (It was stated that
poets pay rent, too, and an honorarium for the poets should be added to
the next budget. This was
noted.) The letter of intent was
submitted to Johnson & Johnson, the baby powder people.
- Other: Last-minute fundraising opportunities
may come up in such a way that there will not always be time to run it
past the group first. In order to
achieve to overall goal of the workplan, we may have to go here, there,
and everywhere to get what we need.
In November, the Robert Wood Johnson Clinical Scholars (RWJ) will
be sending someone to California.
They are the largest funders of projects like ours, and they are
very interested in what we are doing.
They will want to see a presentation. We also need to have something to
present to the National Institute of Mental Health (NIMH) in Washington
D.C. in November. We have
opportunities to have some impact this fall. We need to plan what we are going to
present. If you hear someone mention something that is in your “area”,
speak up! It was stated that Ben
Powell has been making videos and films for years in this community, near
Degnan and Leimert. Bowen said he contacted him. Another name mentioned was Babu. They are both well respected in the
community. Another thing mentioned
was the Pan American Film Festival.
Action Items: 1)
Decide whether the Pan-African Film Festival is a priority and set up a
small committee to look into it. 2)
Follow-up on Ben Powell and Babu.
- Keisha Paxton Update on
Women & Depression Speaker:
Keisha Paxton went to a conference where Bravada Garrett-Akinsaya
Ph.d., was a speaker. Her specialty
is depression in African-American women, which is our target group. Keisha spoke with Dr. Garrett-Akinsaya,
and she will be here in January, but she has a fee schedule. Maybe we can do a teleconference?
- Other Suggestions: Sharon went to a counseling presentation
at West Angeles, which she says was excellent.
- Open
discussion/Comments: Referrals
should be culture-competent and related to community. /
70% of African American males in are special education classes in
our schools. / Someone mentioned the effectiveness of
the anti-drug commercial on television.
/ The prison system is on
the stock market. / Our group can be instrumental in
educating the community. / Each one, teach one. /
No one knows our community like we do. What’s your interest?
- Next Meeting: Wednesday, October 6, 2004 at the HAAF
office: 3856 W. Martin Luther King
Blvd Suite 209, Los Angeles, CA