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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2008 - Womens Commission - Annual ReportWomen's Commission 2008 Annual Report In 2008, we were able to accomplish the following: > We raised awareness among members of the Commission regarding the community wide poverty prevention initiative. Members of the Women's Commission attended the Openstage production of Nickeled and Dimed on March 9, 2008.as part of the Life on a Shoestring series of community events focused on poverty > The Commission recognized our student writer winners of the Women in Your Own History Essay Contest (grades 7-9) at a Poudre School District Board Meeting along with their teachers on March 11, 2008 (as well as at the City Council Meeting on April 1, 2008). Private schools and home school groups were invited to participate as well. Six students were recognized for their inspirational stories: 9th grade — Tawnya Miller and Sarah Jane Fenton; 8th grade — Seth Pearson and Jesse Kreger; 7the grade — Julia Cross and Ayla Hendrickson. A reception was held for the winners, their families, teachers, and the women the writers wrote about. > We showcased the winner of the Marcile N. Wood Award that recognizes the efforts of a person who works to improve the quality of life for women in Fort Collins. Our recipient for 2008 was Mary Shaw. Mary was instrumental in the development of the women's section at the Larimer County Correctional Facility and has been an advocate for adequate services for women in detention. She was recognized for her contributions at a City Council Meeting on July 1, 2008 and our commission presented her with a framed certificate, a donation to a project of her choice and a special dinner that included her family, her nominator, and some of the Commission members. > David Roy continued as the Women's Commission Council Liaison. He attended a Commission meeting and answered questions. We continue to enjoy the pleasure of retaining Suzanne Jarboe - Simpson as our city staff liaison. > The Commission sent a letter to the Poudre school board with our concerns about the continued need for a teen parenting program. This resulted in a meeting with the PSD and the temporary housing of the program at Fort Collins High School. We will continue to monitor this program and offer any assistance we can. > One newsletter was published in the summer of 2008. The topic was affordable housing and the insecurity of people living in poverty as they face their housing concerns in Larimer County. It was distributed at outreach booths at several different community events, including Pride in the Park and the Wonders of Women. > The Women's Commission was visited by five CSU students expressing concern about lighting in the older parts of town with regard to citizen safety. We made suggestions for their approach to this problem and passed a motion that the Commission supports the students in their quest to get more adequate lighting and addressing safety issues in and around neighborhoods where students live. > Senior women continue to be a focus for the Commission. We began discussions on issues pertaining specifically to senior women and two of the board members visited the Senior Advisory Board with a question and answer session. In an effort to increase the Commission members' knowledge about these issues, Susan Vance from the Fort Collins Police Department presented safety tips that are useful for women. On October 15, the Commission viewed the video, Look Us in the Eye. This video is focused on raising awareness of the contributions older women are making. We are carrying forward the project of presenting this video at a joint community function in 2009. > The Women's Commission sent a letter to the Coloradoan encouraging women to vote in the election and presented this endorsement to the City Council. > We appointed a member to the United Way Solid Foundations Victim Intervention Committee and received feedback on its progress. > The Commission celebrated the holiday season with a special dinner and a brainstorming/review meeting. The Women's Commission was not able to meet all of our goals from the 2008 Work Plan, but feel we were very close in that endeavor. We plan to carry forward the few goals that we missed and have incorporated them into the 2009 Work Plan.