Service Group and Faith Alliance Meeting 11/17/2020

Announcements:

• If your organization would like to ​host a blood drive​ in your parking lot, please contact Officer Ragland (kenneth.ragland@apexnc.org). In addition to collecting life-saving blood, a financial donation will be made to Shield NC.
• The Apex PD will be doing ​Christmas With A Cop​ again this year. Please contact Officer Ragland if you would like to nominate a family. (kenneth.ragland@apexnc.org)
• The Apex PD has decided to ​adopt ALL seniors at Brentwood and Spring Arbor​ this year since it was such a popular outreach last year. They need help in collecting gifts for the seniors in these communities. They will need items such as gripper socks, toiletries, 100 piece puzzles(with large pieces), art supplies, games, etc.
• Project Fight​ is putting together gifts such as gift cards. Please Elizabeth Hunter for more information ​elizabeth.hunter@uss.salvationarmy.org.
• Western Wake Crisis Center​ is looking for a site to host final interviews for their ED in which they can appropriately space. Also, if anyone is in need of an office cubicle, WWCM has one to donate.Guest SpeakerBritney Williams, founder of Est/Her International, spoke to us about her progress in opening a home for human trafficking survivors in Apex. Britney has served young people since her early days as a youth director at her church. Through many overseas missions trips she was exposed to the horrors of human trafficking and felt a calling to help eradicate it. She decided to move to San Pedro, Belize to serve as executive director at the Shine Girls program which assists girls coming out of trafficking. There she helped to create Hope Haven which consists of an artisan program, food bank, shelter, classroom and a safe place for human trafficking survivors. (For more info on Shine and Hope Haven click ​here​.)

We are now fortunate to have Britney back in her hometown of Apex, NC! Since she has returned, she founded Est/Her International. Short for “Establish Her”, Est/Her International supports abused and at-risk women and young people within local communities through empowerment and education all by the love and grace of Jesus Christ. Their next step is to open a home for human trafficking survivors in Apex. Shield NC has partnered with Britney as she visited several “stateside” survivor homes and continues to evaluate relevant research to determine best practices for operating a home and develop effective, evidence-based treatment for survivors. Britney has also spent the last couple of years building relationships with the local organizations who are already combating human trafficking. She has completed her due diligence and is now ready to act.

The vision for the Apex home is a large natural area with several buildings and multiple independent living structures​. Phase One of the survivor program will entail living with a few other survivors in the main home with the oversight of a “house mom”. In the next phase, the survivor would be offered an independent living situation with less supervision. In each phase the individual will attend various life skill classes, receive trauma care counseling with a trauma-informed therapist and work at an on-site studio in order to learn business skills and develop a good work ethic.

Britney picked Apex, NC for this project because she knows Apex is a warm, supportive community. Her instinct was confirmed by the support of our mayor and individuals on the town council. Her endeavor has also received approval and encouragement by the North Carolina Human Trafficking Commission.

Britney would love to speak with you and answer any questions you have. ​You can email her at ​britney.est-her.org​ or call 704-591-1091. ​She is passionate about restoring women and would be excited to hear from anyone who would like to serve

Racial Equity and Equality Presentation Notes, Shield NC

Bryana Clover, Owner 1619 Consulting
Videos:
1619: The First Africans in Virginia and the Making of America (Part 1) The Myth of Race, Debunked in 3 Minutes
Systemic Racism Explained
Resource I referenced (2019 report attached to email):
Equity in the Center

Professor Dafina-Lazarus Stewart, a researcher of diversity, equity, and justice in US higher education. She addresses questions every D&I initiative should ask. Quote:

• Diversity asks, “Who is in the room?”
• Equity responds, “Who is trying to get in the room but can’t? Whose presence in theroom is under constant threat of erasure?”
• Inclusion asks, “Have everyone’s ideas been heard?”
• Justice responds, “Whose ideas won’t be taken as seriously because they aren’t in themajority?”
• Diversity asks, “How many more of [pick any marginalized identity] group do we havethis year than last?”
• Equity responds, “What conditions have we created that maintain certain groups as theperpetual majority here?”
• Inclusion asks, “Is this environment safe for everyone to feel like they belong?”
• Justice challenges: “Whose safety is being sacrificed and minimized to allow others tobe comfortable maintaining dehumanizing views?”
• Questions for Faith Leaders:
  • What can we hope for in communities where the story of togetherness began with the oppression of one group by another?
  • Do we understand the role of the Church in perpetuating racism then and now?
  • How does our perspective and impact change if we understand “reconciliation” to be averb rather than a noun?• •••Jesus sought to reconcile us on the deepest level where reconciliation is a verb…a process that never ends. Not an arriving point, but rather a messy, authentic, inefficient, unprofessional, slow, loving participation in one another’s lives.

Where do I sense God calling me into more authentic cross-cultural relationships?

When is it time to slow down and tend to relational connection, and when is it time to push ahead processes of social or political reform?

What might I need to change about my pace of life to make space and time for reconciling relationships?

What can I learn from Jesus’ relationships with those different from him?

Thank you to all who were able to attend the last Service Groups and Faith Alliance Meeting on August 18 on Affordable Housing. If you were unable to attend, you can find a link to that meeting below:

Meeting Recording: https://us02web.zoom.us/rec/share/xJZ2EPbK021Je7fPxhz5Qp44MY_oaaa8hnUe__IJy U9JMD9UXJy5Pu9TeVzoUBvA
Access Passcode: =h8KC!Mk

Takeaways:

● Leaders can promote education on affordable housing and needs
○ Link to educational material and Apex Affordable Housing Plan:

https://www.apexnc.org/1422/Affordable-Housing-Plan

• ●  If you have a congregation member who has access to property that could be donated, please contact Beth Bordeaux: execdir@wwcm.org
• ●  *Please ask your congregations and supporters to complete the affordable housing survey:http://publicinput.com/affordablehousing​.Next Meetings:
  September 15 (Educational Disparities due to the pandemic, invitation coming soon) October 20 Equity
  November 17 Law Enforcement

Chief Letteney of Apex Police Department presented on the role of Apex PD in the community: here is a link to the recorded message.

a) Chief Letteney asked for prayers for the department. Also, chaplains are needed. Please contact cpo@apexnc.org if you are interested.

b) He also encouraged churches to help share events hosted by PD. You can follow them on twitter at @ApexPD or find them on facebook: https://www.facebook.com/ApexPolice/. 

c) Apex Police Department will send an officer(s) to speak to groups at the church upon request to build bridges in the community. Contact Officer Kenneth Ragland at cpo@apexnc.org to make that request

d) A SGFA member recommended the Racial Equite Institute, Raleigh Organized Against Racism, the Encouraging Place (Reggie Edwards) for more information to addressing systemic racism. 

e) For addressing food insecurity, please go to westernregionfoodsecurity.com or email joselyn.williams@wakegov.com

f) A few SGFA members expressed interest in developing a more formal partnership with local law enforcement in the event of a crisis so that the faith community could quickly respond. For more information please email nicole@shieldnc.org.

On May 26, 2020 Shield North Carolina along with the Apex Police Department hosted a panel discussion on how the Town of Apex and the citizens of Apex have been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. The panel included Apex Mayor Jacques Gilbert, Danica Coleman (Victim’s Advocate at Apex PD), Sherry Presnall (Western Wake Crisis Ministry), and Emily daCamara (Case Manager at Project Fight).

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Bottom line: Our community needs our help to deal with the impacts of COVID-19. Would your service organization or faith group like to help?

Volunteers are needed to:

1. Help the Emergency Meals Program by helping to distribute meals. (Contact Officer Kenneth Ragland 919-249-3469 or kenneth.ragland@apexnc.org)
2. Western Wake Crisis Ministries need able-bodied volunteers to help in their warehouse.
3. Western Wake Crisis Ministries also need volunteers to help with food distribution and to serve as Impact Coaches to work one-on-one with families. 

Funding needed for:

1. Western Wake Crisis Ministries’ Family Recovery Fund. (see details below)
2. Covering the basic necessities (rent, utilities, food) for the clients of Project Fight (see details below)

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During the panel discussion, Mayor Gilbert updated us on the Town of Apex’s efforts to lessen the financial impacts of the Stay At Home order. The town council has appropriated $1 million for small businesses and made donations to local service organizations. Future financial impacts of COVID 19 will be discussed today at the 2021 Budget Workshop.

He communicated the importance of a calm and confident approach to addressing the challenges the pandemic may present. Mayor Gilbert expressed gratitude for the fiscally responsible Town management of past mayors. He was also proud of the way Apex citizens have united together to help one another, mentioning the recent fundraising efforts of a group of local realtors.

Danica Coleman, Victim’s Advocate at Apex PD, spoke next about seeing an increase in sexual assaults, male-identified victims and overall requests for victims services. Specifically, Ms. Coleman spoke about a spike in service requests regarding restraining orders. Legal Aid of NC and Interact have been particularly helpful in assisting with those cases. Fortunately, Legal Aid is able to provide free attorney services both before and after the restraining orders have been instituted.

Ms. Coleman explains that under the current conditions, many domestic violence victims are trapped with their abusers without their usual self-preservation barriers in place. In other words, they are not able to escape their abusers by visiting family members or having friends come check on them as they normally would. Unfortunately, she anticipates an increase in domestic violence and lethality when the Stay At Home Order has been lifted and victims are finally able to flee their abusers, as several of her clients are planning to do. Ms. Coleman is busy now meeting the future safety needs of her clients who are currently suffering domestic abuse, assuring that they have a strong support system in place to receive them.

Sherry Presnell of Western Wake Crisis Ministries (WWCM) describes the three prong approach they are employing to overcome challenges caused by the pandemic. First, they are focused on meeting the current need for food services. Many western Wake County citizens are reaching out to them because of job loss, underemployment, abuse or trouble paying medical bills. They have been serving meals to about 120 households a week by either home delivery or curbside distribution. Secondly, Western Wake Crisis Ministries is working to assure the sustainability of their agencies by applying for a small business loan, requesting help from the Town of Apex and other fundraising measures. Finally, they have set up a Family Recovery Fund with the goal of raising $150,000 to address the current and future financial impacts of the pandemic on local citizens. According to a survey WWCM recently did covering households in western Wake County, many of our citizens were impacted by an error in the national unemployment insurance system that initially denied their claim for unemployment funds. This put many families behind in their payments for rent, utilities and other necessary services. Representatives from WWCM have been helping families negotiate with landlords, service companies or even helping them pay for hotel rooms until they can secure housing. Donations to their Family Recover Fund will allow them to continue this type of assistance.

Our final panelist was Emily deCamara who is a case manager for The Salvation Army’s Project Fight which provides hands on services to victims of human trafficking. She concurred with the other panelists who stated there has been an increase in financial need and demand for victim services. Case managers at Project Fight are working hard to help their clients find ways to pay their rent or secure shelter. Ms.deCamara described a desperate shortage of beds due to health restrictions and the necessity to social distance in shelters, requiring case managers to relocate clients to Asheville, Boone or coastal cities. She noted that a local church had donated self-care baskets for their clients which was very helpful.

Officer Kenneth Ragland announced that the Emergency Meals Program is currently providing about 10,000 meals a week for school aged children. That program is requesting volunteers to help with food distribution at their feeding sites.

Nicole Bernard of Shield NC reviewed actions that Shield has taken to counter the added risk of online child exploitation due to the pandemic. Shield collaborated with NC Department of Justice, NC Coalition Against Human Trafficking and WRAL/Capital Broadcasting to design and disseminate a resource document and webinars to parents reminding them of the dangers of leaving their children unsupervised online and informing them of red flag indicators of a potential problem. Shield also began a demand reduction campaign with assistance of WRAL/Capitol Broadcasting that directs potential sexual abusers of minors to helpful resources to address their deviant behaviors. 

Minutes from 01/28/2020

Shield NC Meeting

Guest Speakers: Nicole Singletary and Justin Garrity

Attendees:

Nicole Bernard, Director, Shield NC
Lance Olive, Vice President, Board of Directors, Shield NC
Nicole Singletary, Drug and Injury Prevention Manager, Wake County
Justin Garrity, Rapid Response Administrator, Healing Transitions
Jim Ahler
Frances Bisby
Steven Bodhaine
Rhonda Jewell
Josh Komis
John Letteney
Mike Merker
Niki Miller
Matt Mitchell
Kenneth Ragland
Terri Reed
Kristofer Shuart
Brittney Travis
Annette Williamson

Lance Olive opened the meeting. He talked about sending out emails to other individuals who might be interested in Shield NC. He introduced the first speaker, Nicole Singletary. Nicole is a Drug and Injury Prevention Manager with Wake County. She is part of the Wake County Drug Overdose Prevention and Tobacco Use Initiative/Rapid Response Program. 

Nicole shared information about the increase in unintentional opioid poisoning deaths in Wake County from 2013-2017, as well as the increase in ED visits. She touched briefly on the 894% increase in E-cigarette usage among NC high schoolers between 2011– 2017. However, it is hopeful that number will decrease with a new law coming into effect, which raises the sale and consumption of tobacco products from 18 to 21 years of age. 

Nicole is also a member of the Wake County Drug Overdose Prevention Coalition which meets quarterly. The five goals of the coalition are: education and outreach as well as access to Naloxone; Data Analytics; syringe exchange; recovery initiative and maintenance; and first responders. The goal of education and outreach is to conduct drug use and overdose prevention education and outreach with a focus on vulnerable populations. They create pocket guides and distribute the material to the community. They also improve access to Naloxone kits, to prevent deaths from drug overdoses. Naloxone is an opioid antagonist used for the complete or partial reversal of opioid overdose. 

Data analytics collects and applies data to better use interventions and measure prevention efforts. The data collected is used to obtain grant funding for the program. The coalition also supports syringe exchange programs that reduce the spread of disease by making sure syringes are available as well as Naloxone. Anyone can ask for Naloxone at a pharmacy without a prescription but s/he has to pay for it. 

The Coalition also provides recovery initiation and maintenance by providing 24 – 72 hour follow-up to those in need of specialized care and recovery resources. It was birthed in April 2013. The Coalition   identifies and supports community-based treatments that meet the needs of substance users. This includes training for fire fighters and law enforcement.

Nicole pointed out they realized they were doing good work but needed to do more so they established the Rapid Response Team and also partnered with contracted agencies to address tobacco use. They recognized that tobacco was a gateway drug to other more harmful substances. They partnered with Quitline NC, Poe Center for Health Education, NC Harm Reduction Coalition, Recovery Communities of NC and Healing Transitions. 

The Rapid Response Program receives incoming referrals from Wake County EMS, Sheriff’s Office, and Public Health Clinics. Two certified peer support specialists provide on call services to non-fatal overdose survivors in Wake County. Once an individual in need is identified, a Rapid Responder contacts him/her, provides support, and connects him/her to community resources. 

Rapid Response Team outputs from 1/1/2018 – 6/30/2019, had 1,072 Paramedic encounters for substances, had 495 clients engaged by Certified Peer Support Specialists, 321 clients referred to services by CPSS, 895 clients contacted by Injury Prevention Nurse in field-based settings, and 436 opiod overdoses received narcan (EMS).  The team had an overall show rate of 79% for those clients contacted for further services. 

Nicole introduced Justin Garrity as the next speaker. Justin, a Rapid Response Administrator, with the Rapid Response Team, works with Healing Transitions. Justin shared some of his own history and how he got involved with Healing Transitions.  He has experienced firsthand homelessness and addictions to heroin and crack cocaine. He went into Healing Transitions and became one of their success stories. 

Healing Transitions is a community that offers innovative peer-based recovery oriented services to homeless, uninsured and underserved individuals suffering from alcohol and other drug addictions. Their program’s purpose is to rekindle a person’s desire to return to a meaningful and productive life. A person that lands at Healing Transitions may stay in the program 12-14-18 months. It offers living     accommodations and provides a line of hope to those with substance abuse disorders. 

Justin shared there are three different levels of addiction; mild, moderate and severe. A person experiencing severe addiction cannot stop but is often in and out of recovery, has little to no transportation, may be homeless and have legal problems. An individual with mild addictions, such as alcoholism, may still function at a high level in society without others being aware. 

Currently, there are 700 people in Healing Transitions’ database. Seventy percent are white, 57% are male, and 61% are 25-44 years of age.  Healing Transitions is a good landing spot that offers a line of hope to those who are desperate and struggle with survival. Justin encouraged everyone to visit. 

Nicole Singletary can be reached at Nicole.Singletary@wakegov.com or 919-250-1187.. She encouraged all to visit http://www.wakegov.com/humanservices/publichealth/coalition/Pages/default.aspx.