##VIDEO ID:yJi_1lPClm0## and we have a guest but before we do um do we have a do we have a quum I think we do seven right really we have 12 members right MERS right you all got a copy of the minutes on the last meeting which September 25th so I need a motion to okay the minutes motion to approve okay um we have a guest uh two guests two guests right of you fields ioio the community great meeting aot me aw and her topic tonight is the as I indicated in my stigma being Franklin and how we as the HRC insist in fighting Mental Health so any personal story can be powerful and convincing so I asked the to make a presentation and they don't have time for questions and answers so the floor is yours great okay so um Donna soio who's with me tonight is um a mental health Advocate consumer volunteer extraordinaire oh thank you she started um the uh this Franklin Township stigma free Council got underway with the first meeting in February and Donna has been there from day one and she's done amazing really really working very hard Pete Clark has also um also has uh helped us and been involved so I was thinking about it and you know what I said I'm going to start from the beginning I'll try to be succinct and not go too long because um Donna's here to tell you her personal story but I just want to introduce a little bit about this um professionally I am a licensed clinical social worker which means that I am licensed to practice Psychotherapy in New Jersey currently I'm retired I still have my license but I'm not seeing anyone um about three or four years ago I started serving on the County Mental Health Board and in the process of doing that I started learning about stigma um who was at the time Meg is spitzky the County Mental Health administrator and I couldn't believe it that as a therapist all these and a social worker all these years um I hadn't understood the power of stigma to keep people from seeking the help they need so this be there's so little we have control over it's very hard to access help it's very hard to have everyone receive the same quality of help because of insurance or not having the ability to pay for private therapist and so a lot of these things are out of our control but the one thing I realized we can do something about is Raising awareness education and hopefully countering a decreasing stigma so what is stigma stigma is a label of Shame associated with a membership or characteristic um such as mental health or substance use disorders might be due to race social class income intellectual or developmental disability disability status stigma is one of the main reasons why people who need help don't receive it um now this little brochure and I have some if you think you could truly use it or you would share the info with someone um I encourage you to take them uh they are printed by our County uh Department of Human Services and Donna has made several trips over there to pull more brochures from the county so we can have what we need um but um Meg is spitzky was pretty um key in in creating this so I'll just share a few facts with you uh one in four people live with a diagnosable mental health condition or substance use disorder mental health affects all kinds of PE people regardless of age gender race religion sexuality income bracket or life experience less than half seek help due to stigma lack of knowledge cost and availability um use this guide as a starting point for your own research and reference it includes crisis hotlines Etc so uh so just a few basic facts right about um why why is this important the other piece I want to tie this into is that the mayor's health and wellness Campaign which was completed about a year ago and the results were shared one of the top areas or one of the three or four areas that were identified as problems in our community um people identified their uh Mental Health difficult difficulty accessing treatment difficulty knowing where to go for help um our aging population said uh that they were dealing with anxiety and it's very well-known fact that for teens and really for everyone um and not completely understood but anxiety disorders have really been going up um among Youth and uh I have to say we're really lucky in New Jersey we have far better Services here in New Jersey than many places across the country we have many more resources than people across the country um uh just a little side one of the women on the Mental Health Board her great nephew died of suicide uh about seven months ago in Georgia and she could they were struggling struggling to find any support for the family whereas here we have a lot of different you know agencies that would step in and try to help um and I so what I'm one I one thing I think that's also very important to realize and this really pertains to your human human relations commission is that um people of different races and cultural backgrounds do not seek help uh across the board evenly okay so and some of this is from like CDC and different sources of information but among adults who report fair or poor mental health uh White adults 50% so just think there somebody with poor mental health maybe one out of two white adults have SE sought help in the last you know year or two before that among our black community it's about 39% our Latino Community 36% and I don't have the exact kind of percentage but also our South Asian uh F uh individuals are very reluctant to seek help and the main reason because of this is because of uh um stigma taboo that if someone finds out if there's a you know it's a source of Shame and uh certain you know communities have really kind of sped put the message out there be tough you can handle this you don't need um a shoulder or anything you should be able to handle this on your own and keep it a secret let anybody know outside the family so it is a it's something it's a problem for everyone but um you know it's even more of an issue for certain communities uh than others with that said um I asked Donna if she would tell you about her life experience um because I heard this really at the Board of Education meeting last May April April when she went and spoke to our local board about um this powerful problem and asking them to uh pass a resolution to try to create a culture and art schools which is free of stigma and after they heard her I've been asking for a year I was like please can somebody do you know can we get this happening uh yeah we'll get to it yeah yeah she spoke and that night they were like we'll make this happen next month and and may they passed that resolution so um feel free to share okay um where do I begin I guess I should begin when I was a child um I remember being around six or so and um my family specifically my Elder sisters who are seven and N years older than me um noticed a difference they saw that I was very depressed um I stayed by myself um I cried a lot I there was an anger that I had when I played with my dolls I mean like I would like go and um there was something wrong and so my mother approached my father and my father said no I'm not going to get our daughter the help that she needs uh I'm not going to be embarrassed you know with this with with uh you know uh my employer I'm not going to let our neighbors know what's going on uh I'm not going to let our social uh circles know this so I didn't get the help and I got worse as I got older and at the age of 17 my mother had just had enough um and she got me some help with a pastor and unfortunately he was good to talk to but he could not prescribe medication for me because I was depressed I mean it was clinical depression uh there was no doubt and my mother begged my father uh to have me seek help you know professionally he just refused because of the stigma and I realize now that if I had gotten that help if I had gotten that medication my life could have been so much better instead of surviving I could have been living instead of wanting to end my life at the age of 14 I wouldn't have had any thought of that I mean we know there are statistics that show that a 5-year-old commits suicide because of depression a 5-year-old can you imagine that being a 5-year-old child and being so sad and feeling so hopeless that their only alternative is to die to just end the I I just couldn't imagine it but I did imagine it at 14 and subsequently as I got older we're going to fast forward to when I found out that I did have a mental health diagnosis and that was in my mid-30s and that when I found out it was as though the world came tumbling down and I didn't didn't know what hit me and I wanted to commit suicide once again because I didn't have anything I didn't have any kind of coping skill I knew my father was totally against trying to get me the help I knew my mother was for getting me the help but at this point when there's a diagnosis your family doesn't know what to do and so your family as well as your own self has to rely upon these doctors and hope that they know what's best well I can tell you once I got out of the hospital and here again I was only in the hospital for four weeks because that's what that's what insurance allowed and that was one of the better insurance companies that's a long time now so and I was a child when I got out I was physically an adult but mentally I was a child and so what did I learn learn when I was in the hospital I learned that my roommate was a cutter which means that she would go and cut her veins with either a scissor or a razor the first time that I saw that I ran out of the room and ran into a closet and they had to find me because I was so scared I suffered more trauma than what my condition resolved I did not understand why I was even there because I said I don't cut I I didn't even know what that meant and I learned so many things that were frightening to me that would have been frightening to you but I saw it firsthand I didn't understand I said I don't belong here but yet I was put here and luckily I was put there voluntarily because it would have been even worse so I was like a caged animal and I did not know how I was going to survive it because I did not have the tools and I would cry to my parents and I would cry to my sisters I would cry to my husband at the time I don't understand what's going on I said now I have a diagnosis so that we figured out yes indeed all along my father should have gotten me the help so that was validated but to be put in that situation was heart-wrenching to everybody because my family needed a support system I needed a support system and you had so much stigma around all of it that it was a disaster in the making so here I thought I was getting the help and that's what my family thought and I came out needing even additional help because I didn't understand what was going on with me and I was like I was like a 5-year-old and here I was you know in my mid-30s and I felt as though I was five like what do I do mommy I don't understand and because of my physical abuse from my ex-husband and the verbal abuse and the emotional abuse they said don't go back home so let's fast forward to going through my divorce well when I went through my divorce being that I had kids they said no we're going to have you in supervised visitation and I asked the judge do you think I would murder my children do you think I would hurt my children well we have to be careful again I wanted to commit suicide wouldn't you if somebody had you be in supervised visitation just because you have a diagnosis of mental health issues that was the only reason there was no there was nothing else that they would consider it didn't matter that I had glowing references that I loved children that I had done I mean I was the one that got my son the help that he needed for his um ADHD they didn't know I was the one that put him in the h you know I got him diagnosed at the hospital it didn't matter what I did as a human being as soon as I got diagnosed it my life changed and so I remember hearing that and I ran out of the courtroom I was wearing heels I threw them off and I ran as fast as I could and as far away from that court house as I could and my mother who was elderly at well I mean she was a lot older than the typical parent and my father they tried to run after me but they couldn't catch me and they had the police looking for me this is what stigma is like for someone like me now fast forward throughout my mid 30s to while I'm now 67 I was in a lot of denial and then my father did eventually come around and say Hey you know this is just like diabetes or this is just like you know a physical condition I laughed at him I said no it's not because I I had judges I had people just like you judge me without even knowing anything about me me just saying hey you have this you're no good so why would I want to live when I had people telling me just based on my having a mental health disorder I'm not any good it was only until I came a year ago almost to you that I realized that I had something worthwhile that I had a place that people cared about me that I found comfort that I felt that I actually did have something to live for but can you imagine being at the age of 66 and younger feeling as though you didn't deserve any type of happiness that you didn't deserve any type of equality I mean I lived it and I still can't imagine what it was like because I blocked it out it was so horrifying that that's what I used to cope I blocked everything out and I'm telling you that the stigma-free council saved me I truly truly mean that and it's not because phis is sitting here she knows how I feel and sappie knows how I feel I mean to be heard as an equal that that is so gratifying to be able to do Outreach we are doing a badge with the Girl Scouts um in regards to a stigma free we're incorporating one of their badges um we've got as Phil said we've gotten to have a public school district that is stigma free at least they've embraced it it's still work a work in progress right to uh to carry that out in this how is it handled in the school system now what's how is it handled in their school system um well I don't know that I have the answer to that question right I don't know either but um what I can say is that the school districts have and the requirements in the law are very clear that students who are certainly if there might be a possible of danger to themselves or someone else there's a very clear protocol of what has to happen um and our district is our Public Schools I don't know about the private or charter schools are very I think thorough about referring kids to the uh psychiatric emergency screening services in Somerville they now have we have paid they have therapists who are working in our schools that are actually in contract with our psychiatric emergency screening services so I think Franklin in that regard if no they have to they have to realize either a child or a teen or someone a teacher has to clue in the C coun the Student Assistance counselor or a guidance counselor that I think this child might be in danger or he said this to me or she said this and now they've even got the state put on another requirement uh which went into effect about a year ago that if there's any any any drawing writing something that might suggest a possible threat either to self or others that like there's a whole committee that has to like is this a high concern situation is it a Loc concern you know and get help for the for the young person so I think in that right but in terms of stigma like that sense of is it okay to talk to others is it okay to say I need help I don't I don't think that's really yet Incorporated in in the school of promoting that idea you know it was I mean it was to their credit that they they heard Donna's story and they were like yeah we we will Embrace this so it's a start yeah but I think that um that's still a work progress thank you for sharing um I want to just give you a little so a little extra background of like when when did uh stigma free kind of become a thing right and I think I have one of my papers here that I um if not I can do it from memory but it's actually in 2005 that new jerseys uh at first had a Governor's Council on uh mental health stigma and I think Cody was governor then and if you remember governor Cody was very passionate and committed to um talking about mental illness and making services available to people so um so the state kind of you know got started then um National Alliance for mental illness at the national level um 2014 they kind of became really active um 2017 Somerset County initiated and took did the uh pledge to be a stigma-free county and then they encouraged each municipality to be do the same thing and in Franklin um 2022 Our Town Council passed the resolution to encourage and try to you know create a stigma free Franklin and like I said the mayor's health and wellness campaign really also helped push that kind of along and safy Kalen who's our special projects manager was very um supportive about this the mayor has been extremely supportive because he has very open about he has family members with mental health issues he's as a neurologist he sees all you know every very often he would see people in need of services so um so then you know our our Council uh started meeting last February I would have liked to have started earlier but safy had to finish up that mayor's health and wellness Campaign which was such a huge project so some of the things that we've done I will I yeah I I will yeah so um so what I did was I I am going to hand I think I have enough here um I I wrote up what our Council has come up with in terms of a vision for a stigma free Franklin and our mission um one there sorry um and you can you know read that out yeah see I think have the same one here so you know our vision is very Grand right we want to see you know I pledge to work uh work toward making Township or is that the um I see your cofy just a second thanks Linda um oh yeah I didn't have the Franklin Township is a community in which all residents regardless of health or ability status experience validation and support from other residents entities within the township and the resources to Foster physical mental emotional and spiritual well-being are available to all without barriers just imagine if we could make that happen residents know how and where to access help when needed and there isn't any fear or shame in seeking help and then the mission is very similar to that uh reducing the stigmas associated with mental illness and sub substance use disorder um dedicated to creating an inclusive culture where residents feel supported knowledge about where and how to seek treatment and resources are available to all um clearly this is going isn't going to happen overnight um how can you help so um what what came across to me when I went to County Mental Health uh cont stigma Free Conference was this idea of being an ambassador whether or not you are signing a pledge it's not to me so important sign a pledge or not what it is it's about being able to know what stigma is to realize that people may be afraid to seek help because of it and that you are someone who might be able to say you know what there's no shame if you need help go for it you know don't you know too many people suffer too long without getting the help they need and so you know stop feeling like you have to be the tough guy or gal and you know do what something that'll help yourself so that's what I think right is being an educator on your own of of of making people aware um be empathic to others allow for people who need support to know you'll listen to them you don't have to listen to somebody for an hour but you know if somebody is obviously looking really upset or you know agitated you might you know say you know you look real I see you looking very upset right now do you need some help is there anything I can do can I call someone you know show you know being willing to listen a little bit refer someone if there's a crisis um 988 is the new uh hotline it's been in existence for almost a year and a half now pretty soon there will be mobile Outreach teams that will follow up with people who call tax or chat so if you have someone who is you know not a phoner but they they're like well maybe I could you know use chat um if someone is not in a crisis but they don't know where to turn we also we now have the county uh Behavioral Health Systems Navigator um Stephanie billetz and again if you if you think this would be useful to have I will you know take one pass it along they're a little crinkly because Franklin day we had so much rain and and rather than just throw out papers a little crinkled they're um I I pressed them to try to S Savage them um but Stephanie billetz will help to find people um assistance therapy you know she today I called her and asked her or emailed her and said I know a family member who's looking for additional services and she sent me several good suggestions and then Richard Hall Community Mental Health is our County um we the only there's one other County funded Mental Health Center in New Jersey it's a very small one I think it's in um near a Scotch Plains Fanwood and uh so we're very unusual to have Richard Hall mental health available for us um Franklin residents unfortunately don't access the that they should be last year I think 92 people visited Richard Hall mental health we have 70,000 residents one in five are in need you know may have a need and we are getting 90 90 some people to Richard Hall so as you can see our our community is not getting full use of Richard Hall and that's that's another little side issue of mine that you know sometime um I hope to make progress with um and then informal like you can look you can use Psychology today or good therapy those are sites that if you're on your computer um you could look up but therapists pay to advertise on those sites and some therapists don't need to pay to advertise so it doesn't mean every therapist in Franklin Township is going to be on psychology today but it can bring up a profile there are Specialties you can do a filter for which types of insurance they accept and um it is a so it's it's very useful in that regard those two um and then lastly is we're having and then we're having a big event for teens and their parents on November 20th at the community Senior Center it's being funded by the municipal Alliance for prevention of substance abuse grant that comes down from the governor our turn to talk it's going to feature a film a young adult speaker who will talk about his or her um journey in dealing with mental illness and recovery and we're going to have food uh it it's hard to get kids teens to come to the community Senior Center on a week night sometimes but um please you know if you have any youth groups or teens with whom you're in touch really I encourage you to take that and try to promote it as much as you can help us out in that regard um and we're trying to we're reaching out to the charter schools and the private schools as well would you have would be I would have Franken High School okay all right yeah education present it yeah we worked really hard valer northy I don't know if you know her but she worked very hard to get this date set up we must have changed the date three times we just found out that there is a bullying prevention program on the same night being held at the it's for middle school and high school students however everybody's not going to go especially maybe our high school students they're not going you know I don't know if they'll come to this either but um but anyway there is a conflict and V we cannot change the date on so we would normally really they would really be playing it up for us but because of they've got a program going the same night we can't do that so I'm looking at our private yesterday I announced the council oh good that was one of good I can check that off the list oh yes doing that yeah oh yeah this sappy already put this in that was an old thing um what are what have we been doing so we meet on the third Wednesday of the month anybody's welcome adults are welcome to come to this presentation also you might find it interesting and and informative or might say wow I want to bring that to my church or my house of worship um it's by really good uh group called minding your mind uh so on the third Wednesday of the month we've been having meetings uh we have committees that are doing Outreach trying to and Donna and Pete have been at tables at Health faires and back to school nights and promoting you know sharing of we have all kinds you know some swag information to go out you're on the Interfaith Council also yeah I know I know and I think Sonia thre red is going to try to send that out but I'm also I'm actually hand delivering I started hand delivering these to a couple churches today because I wonder how much the email whether the email goes we have on the table as well outside that's great great but we um we're we're trying to educate raise awareness um anything you and you've mentioned this fact that she's she's got this initiative to create a badge where the girls will come in and learn about what stigma is and how you might help somebody and get a lot parents we're going to try to do more parent education question Johnny yes I do I was listening very intently to Miss Donna here I was listening very intensely to Miss Donna and what she was saying and was critiquing what she was saying and how I felt about any type of medical correctness that could have been available to her during that particular time as she was going through the episode in which he was going to and I was wondering myself if social media nowadays what kind of effect that would have had on her back in her days that she was going through the things that her trauma that she was going through and what kind of effect has that person that went through the social media aspect and which she wasn't available that wasn't available to her and what that person would look like at her age now now one of the things that I've Liv in senior citizen building and there's a lot of people in that building that has probably not went through went through what you went through but they had social media right to to go to to try to help them get through that whole thing which wasn't available to you and what is what point is that person today and I'm telling you now there is a a normal I don't like to use the word stigma but because that everybody in my women in my building has bipolar and I was wondering what kind of effect that your illness what would it caused what is it called now after a person has gone through the whole social media aspect over the years in which you are the age of now and what kind of effect is it is it now being called bipolar I'm asking you that I'm trying to you bipolar illness and are you're willing to share that yeah it's it's still called bipolar bipolar illness okay so I was correcting my analysis yeah that's now that's one that's one type like being that that a building but it's a normal thing there yeah somebody might have schizophrenia there there there's a whole book about like this thick called the diagnostical diagnostic statistic manual and there many different types of mental illness issues which might just be my my house burned down and it has been so traumatic that I develop an adjustment disorder like I am suffering from depression now I'm suffering from and I never had those problems but because of the level of that trauma and disruption and now that that's one of the best that's very short term if you get some good support of ther counseling or now that might be something minister or Pastor could help with right but it's sort of like early intervention and you know as Donna I think what part of your point was if you if people had intervened or GI gotten her the help much earlier she wouldn't have had such a long torturous Journey getting to the point where she is today and also she doesn't give herself enough credit because she says this stigma-free Council has changed her dramatically I know it's been a big part it has but she's also doing therapy things and group and learned has learned coping skills and strategies and follows her medication plan so Miss Donna Miss Donna I think we all on the social media piece there are two things there are people out there who are saying Tik Tok and and all the Instagram is bad for our youth right and it's terrible but there's also evidence that shows it can help kids feel more connected that if you you know you want them to connected to the good stuff right but it's not so cut and dry just oh it's all bad and and we shouldn't allow kids to have that um it's a very it's a much more complicated story and the answers aren't all out there but it can help kids to get to a helpful situation hopefully they're just not getting to some of the awful dark stuff with you know 49 ways how to kill yourself that kind of thing and you know we also had talked about social media but I think because it is a Township um and getting our word out yeah yeah it's it's difficult but we've we've thought about social media but it is very difficult because you have to be you have to be so careful you know what the township like Facebook pages and things like that it's there's a lot of there we have there's a page now on the township website if you do a search for stigma Franklin um there is a page and I if there I can post something on residents of historic Franklin on Facebook um and I so if there's an event or a meeting come up I've done that um but yeah there's and it's you could EAS we don't have a nonprofit in in Franklin Township we don't have like uh know Jewish B Family and Children Services we don't have something that a lot of communities have which is that agency that kind of like said you know overarching you know looking what are the needs we have churches that are doing a lot First Baptist Church Lincoln Gardens we have um County Services kind of sort of food bank is now going to have some people kind of like this Navigator person who's going to help people at the food bank to access services but um it could easily safy could make this a full-time job and hire four people and of course we can't do that so be quiet okay thank you I'm about to go to the same thing she's going through I don't have scap no more scap move to Manville yes I'm so there there is a a great nonprofit organization called the center for Great Expectations I'm sure you probably I'm well aware of that and right now I understand they are held in 500 woman and their children and I they have actually I was in their Gala uh a couple of days ago and it was just amazing what they do really so they have it free formation reception on November 7th and they are right here around the corner 19B Delwood Lane just off the M Lane yeah and uh the program starts at 11:45 with a l with light uh lunch followed by a tour and they talk about their program so they're phenomenal I'm not saying they don't we don't have anything but they focus on pregnant women with addiction problems and that's wonder and mental health and they do top fantastic work they are top of the notch Cutting Edge really good uh I've heard the Pres them present and I'm like wow you know if I was younger I would want to go work with them because they are so well not it can't it's not a Franklin Township go there for you know for mental health services to whoever needs it or you know it's um it's limited in their Focus right well yeah thank you so much any other question thank you very much just one quick question that I before I that so are there uh groups that people can uh join if they have mental health like you know alcoholic uh what do we call well there's nomni thaty to do is we're trying to see if I'm talking about in Franklin do we have like group several groups that people belong no no but we do have and I found out that the one now um per the family Nami family meeting is at in Bridgewater back at Rich Richard call in person it was on Zoom until just recently you know years l so that there is not a group in Franklin no um but people can go to Bridgewater for that program any plan to create some groups in Franklin there's a very it's a volunteer Nami is all volunteer it's no pay right no paid professionals running it and so there's a woman named Su fanti who was the somerset Nami contact person and she's very overloaded and I think she's running that one group a month in Bridgewater so okay thank you so much you're thank you um oh I am going to pass around here this is another youth youth it says suicide warning signs for youth you but it's also really good it it applies for adults as well um oh and Mental Health First Aid we had two trainings uh they went very well well received if you ever have a chance to take a Mental Health First Aid Course is you kind of about the types of mental illness and then how do you respond to somebody who might be in a crisis or need some help um so that's really good and right well that's what I put on that page which I hope you got yours back are some ways they you can help and I to be honest if I mean it would be great at some point if HRC could partner and say let's get this expert psychiatrist who's from South Asian background to come and give a talk you know and do that let's let's have the expert on you know who might really you know speak in Spanish to some would they come you know but I think um our South Asian Community would maybe come if we said this might not be for you but maybe your neighbor or maybe maybe your son's college roommate someday might need this because that way it wouldn't be like well I don't need this but yeah if I can help my neighbor then maybe I would come to such an event you know okay we thank you obviously you've been waiting a long time for us to come right no it's all right took a while thank you so much for your time I'm going to I'm going to sit over here as a a fly on the ointment and listen to some more of your meeting member of the public you're welcome to I didn't know I was allowed to thank you okay let's continue just little B I don't know where our is I haven't heard from him so he's missing and uh indicated that she told me about a week ago that she couldn't come but I don't remember so she text me um a couple of things now we have a new HRC commissioner which the council approved last evening uh Samina m i n a s a TT a r uh she's out of town tonight however the council thanks to Alex had her o last evening Anora and I looked at our resume which is excellent Alex ner from before so I believe she'll be an excellent U addition to our to our HRC I I am concerned about one of our commissioners and I will talk to Alex about John SRA he was Ill but this is the fifth meeting that he hasn't been here so uh I'm going to have to call him and if he's not interested we're going to have to replace him Alex but we'll talk to him first before we okay um should I recommend the name now not yet okay um you get yours in um the Kmart Shopping Center was supposed to be heard by the zoning board last week but the attorney contacted us and that will will not be heard until January 16th oh Lord amazing so uh that's what going on the uh project that Edna was working on with the flags um we we did talk to Alex Alex suggested that we talk to the township the manager the township manager told us we should talk to a saffrey and and I believe Edna has contacted saffre so we'll meet with her and we'll get that going um this Sunday I talked to Alex about this today he comment of Florida that there's a Palestinian cultural U event and I I I did have some calls to make sure that that this is not a political event and and Alex and uh Samy and some other people assured me that this is not a political event and I actually want to make a couple of comments on that sure so 11 days ago as you know we had the Diwali in our Township we celebrated so a group of community members have come together and they have been working on this as I as I understand for the last couple of months to have a cultural event for Palestinian so they went through the uh the of course the park uh Commissioner of to get the permission at Colonial Park and the township also they had came Township they got the permission for special events and last night the um the counil approve to have this event and if you look at the the flyer basically let me just this is uh they have uh a lot of free workshops free kids activities free giveaways they're going to have Palestinian product vendors uh and they have some guest speakers fil fil Gran of performances this event has been sponsored by the interface Council and they also brought to Gary's attention and you know Gary Gary said that that's spond HRC also can be sponsor so it is I I I was talking to Gary and I told him that this is a a great example that shows and reaffirms that in our Township we respect one another we respect other people's culture and uh we enjoy each other even though there are conflicts and so forth but we don't bring those conflicts back home we wanted to make sure that everybody knows that Franklin is a is a a place that everybody is valued respected and if they have some cultural things that they want to show people can go and enjoy so come with your children p with there your friends it's going to be a very good event and a lot of free stuff a lot of cultural stuff so hopefully everybody will enjoy did again it is uh this Sunday and from 1 to uh 400 p.m. right and uh you know they have a lot of vendors games and all these things for the Kats so I think we be a great when the weather looks like it's pretty good very nice and the council has assured me they will not be speaking what's that Colonial Park Colonial Park yeah the the council has assured me after my telephone calls and they will not be speaking Sammy Shaban who's on the board of education and and uh also he he will be speaking and he's assured me that this will not be any political thing right this is a cultural event so that would be good right I I have also so um uh you know I had this idea that I have I'm going to be talking more with uh uh Steve do and Steven do and also the township manager about we have a great Franklin day right and we have 70 house of worship more than 70 different languages are spoken in our schools imagine that we will give the opportunity for people to have a a Showcase of their culture each one will have a tent and then show some examples of their culture and food music whatever so tent after tent so you know imagine Ukrainian Russians you know Palestinian the Jewish Israelis and you name it right all of them have their own and we go one by one and enjoy them so imagine what a beautiful a thing will be to show our unity and uh uh you know respect for what one another so hopefully uh again I'm going to follow up and see if that's something that we can perhaps form a small committee like we have a charc committee we have a committee that is for promoting or or uh helping the cultural activities in our Township events in Franklin day that's a great than thank you one of the things as I mentioned to you is that welcome Michelle Peterson always comes she's not a member of the HRC but we always like to have her come I'm sorry Michelle Peters thank you Gary and I know who she is saying something I actually do but I want to hear oh no I was just GNA say I think it's a great idea and the fact is is that our our committee is so we can't get to all those events you know everybody has an event coming up and we're just stret so thin but it's a great idea where everybody comes together one day so probably more of an emphasizing that it is uh Franklin Community day but see we get those all the that that was the whole idea because you're 100% right because all the events you know a lot of the events are on Saturday and Sunday the individual uh cultural events and we all know that you know we're just not going to be able to make it and then you don't want to slate anyone right you know by going to one and then you have to go to another and things in you feel bad so I think if you if the uh I don't know if you have a committee for I'm just talking about right do you have a committee that puts the event together Community uh yeah well there is like for the Franklin day but my thought was but then sub be a a commit in the township that we form which is the cultural committee there's an cultural art art right but this is the to bring in different cultures together and then we will have definitely HRC will play a role there and then we can have a representative from HRC maybe the interface Council and and different cultures different charge for that day and then they can work during the year to the the peak will be on during the Franklin day where people will have if there's anyone on on the on it's one other thing I'm and I have a few other things from the council that I will share just a minute so if there is anyone with the HRC that would like to be on this committee let me know to repr the HRC C interested just let me know I'm you question the HRC sponsors the is that what you said you wereing it's one of the sponsors the HRC the interface Council and HRC and that you just support it money to it there's no no money is involved yeah so correct so well let's ask the question so they they rais the money from individuals and the vendors there's like I believe there's 40 or some vendors they charge vendors and so forth so yeah go ahead no I was just told that there is a a a uh Halloween party going on for the kids down at John's Plaza park down on hman Street that's on Saturday that's on Saturday since you didn't mention that I thought I would men there we're having a stigma freeze doing it's going to be it's going to be yeah off H Hamilton and then there is onep for the kids in the John's Plaza yes that was announced last night correct so go things that the council that might be interest to you so there was an ordinance on the second reading basically adoption about limiting the number of cannibis stores dispensaries to 18 right so uh right now in our tonship we have 10 that they're open there are eight that they have the permission to build the construction permission building permission and there's going to be I believe five that they have the license and they're going to apply so all together 20 three disc however uh the council have decided or have have agreed to limit to 18 so if any of them go out of business they're not just going to be replacing them uh until that so that's one and the second thing this was on the introduction actually of the first reading is about the noise you know we get a lot of police department gets a lot of complaints about noise and what they used to do is they have this decimeter that deciel meter that it goes and they take it they measure it uh it requires uh calibration somebody got to be training using it was pretty much impossible to really to have a practical way so this new ordinance basically it uh states that if it's within 200 ft uh it's okay but if you are Beyond 200 fet and you can hear the noise the police have basically assumes it's noisy and they can you know ride the ticket whatever they talk to their people but that is going to be adopted also uh if doing the next meeting will be the second reading yes John yes uh some of the citizens in the area in which these Cannabis stores are in is there any particular reason or thoughts behind why they all in the fourth W they are not actually on the fourth War we have we have well not yes they are don't tell me what I know what they are and we don't like all them stores in talk all of them yeah right no actually John I have the the list of where they are located I think they are all together as I understand there going to be six of them in that area the rest of I'm telling you what the citizens don't like all the can of stores in the fourth wood that's all they especially their they have quite a concern about that that's fine they don't have no job we don't want everybody to be stealing and robbing each other that way they can go too we think it's planned that way that's what they saying it's planned that way I I don't think I was there last night oh yeah when it was having all that I'm sure came up has the ordinance for the 18 limit been passed yet or is it so this was the second one so it was adopted okay right but again yeah was adopted yeah it was this was the second reading and uh yeah adoption of ordinances on second reading so yeah Alex I had something I wanted to address with you counil um you're getting we're getting a lot of complaints about um the Amazon trucks the poster trucks parking on the wrong side of the street to make deliveries oh so especially up and down Winston on on a lot of the streets there in the Fifth Ward is what they're you know people are complaining about so the the Amazon I even said it to the guy the other day um do you realize you that's the wrong side of the street to be part oh well I just wanted to run no you cannot do that and then you start out now you're in oncoming traffic it's not safe people are walking across the street now they're going in the opposite direction to go the police yeah yes so so basically thank you Linda uh issues like that the best option is called the police and then uh you know they come and they give ticket they really not support the trucks they're not supposed to be parking in the shoulder on the shoulders and of course the wrong side definitely violation postal truck did the other day I was standing outside I'm like I know the postal truck is not on the wrong side of the street yes he was I said the best option is the police really to police was not here because you always that was something I you always tell the police yeah okay um we do not have a we do not have a meeting in November because of Thanksgiving our next schedule meeting is oh now is there anything oh oh I did want to announce we have a subcommittee now laa Pete and Edna working on a a new HRC brochure and and hopefully that'll be ready soon so we can have that published through the township we'll speak to Alex or or and Marie maybe and then I gave you the one we had last time maybe working with the share with everybody next meeting maybe the subcommittee can can have that finalized my next meeting anything else I just have a quick question you said there was an opening on the council how how was it advertised to the town ship how do how did the seven ,000 people in Franklin Township know about not just HRC but to be honest every board in town but I can answer that if I mayoun if you gooun the committee yeah yeah so if you go to our website on each committee or Board of advisory you look at it they tell you it shows how many vacances you have and then you can apply so that's that data is there the second one is of course the word of mouth right so for example if you know someone who's interested to a particular committee or commission or board you can just ask them all they have to do just fill out a simple citizens form citizenship form and then attach their resume and then what happens that then it comes through the council we we get a copy of it we review it and then uh different committees a commission they they do it differently like in in HRC Gary usually reviews them as well and he will say look I I recommend I'm okay with this that then we will bring it up after the council members agreed we will bring it up to the make a motion and then that will be the the end of it and then again an Marie will inform the person and then uh we go there others they don't do that they just want Council decision cation and approval so you recommended Sam you recommended him to me and then be contacted him and if he commission yes but but there are 70,000 people that live in this town and if you don't adverti there's an opening if you don't say on the township website because I bet you if you go to the HRC Council right now I bet you it's not going to show that there's an opening there is it does it the responsibility most people do yeah I'm sorry go ahead is the responsibility of the leader of each committee check the website and if it's not up to date they need to inform an Marie and they she will update it right away okay Mo most um most people who do want to volunteer to go on that that's what they do they go on can tell you from other towns that's what they do it would really be up to the citizen exactly because exactly because some you there's some prestigious ones like being on the planning board and things like that you know you know those you know those are kind of like you know more you know you know in that sense not that they're not voted on but I mean well I mean that's what that's that's up to that's up to the mayor I'm not the mayor of the counil that's up to them I'm just saying moving into a town I went on to the website I was at Cultural Arts I went to cultural art say for example and it showed what openings are they all updated I can't tell you that much but but there's there's quite a few of them there's if you go on there there's about 20 25 committees and then there's other committees subcommittees actually stigma free is not on there yet because they're not official it's not it's not an open exactly so it's really up to the individual person and you know out of 70,000 there's probably 50,000 AR inv Vol here but there might be 20,000 that are there right idea guess what if they have a passion we'll do and Michelle just to be fair every opportunity that we get even in a council meeting at least myself in the last eight nine months that I have been with the council at least three or four times I mentioned that you know it's a great opportunity we have so many commissions and so fors please look at it their availability come and join yeah not all the time bud I me and they post on their TV channels the openings you know what I mean on different committees down there too so um right Alex do we have a we have our own TV U right so that you can also I don't know if they do but that's another way of getting it out there so if you see it scroll down say hey I'm that you know that's another way well what I'm trying to say is on this a new person she contacted me and she said uh I'm interested in coming on the H have a few people that are that are leers says at the council meeting he always indicates there's an opening on this committee this commit so but I just think social media is such a great way and our Township has a great site and I know the recreation board has a great site and they put their openings on on um but we had this conversation even in the rec board that I serve on that it's all do we know anybody that wants to serve on this commit like Johnny said he he has somebody that he wants to serve and and how did how did your person get in and not his person who was saying so we all have these you know and it gets to be this Clos little group instead of instead of maybe just putting it on social media you know maybe there's a parent out there that wants if you're here I know our rec committee is not up state another suggestion from one of the public that could make an interesting um Franklin times you know like information article because I agree with you that um it's it's a closed group that really knows and gets involved you know if you're interested in your community you get involved but I it wouldn't that be interesting that that newspaper cordine newspaper you're talking about right I can I can ask sephie I'll suggest that you know talk to anarie find out the you know the openings and and list the openings yeah it's a good idea too so I will I will mention that to her I have a question yes no no go ahead I'm sorry um my question is that I had gone on the website of Franklin Township and I had done the citizen um I guess questioner or whatever and then it said attach a resum all right right and I didn't because when you're disabled for as long as I am I mean I do have some work experience but what am I going to put down well resume you don't have to put a lot of things down you can you can have a very short resume you know your address your contact information whatever your work exp you might say okay I'm just housewife as an example or I'm an employed you know people are not going to be what they are looking is to see if anybody has any experience let's say you are applying for uh uh cultural art or Environmental Protection they want to see if you have some experience that you can bring some experience to that group so if you're interested to any of them there is a reason that you're interested right so either either you have some experience or you wanted to somehow contribute in any way the key is how you can contribute key is if you have experience share with us so when you come in they know a little bit about your background we actually have a committee at for certain positions that you interview with us you know so that's zoning so it's zoning planning zing and planning the mayor you have to interview the council people interviewed with us you know so and that's the that's the you right but most of them there's really no even to be involved that's the Planning and Zoning the vacancy should show for for now how many vacancies should show for for right now one thank you for me for HRC I know now it shows one we have one right it shows zero shows none might have another one just thought I saw one today just f last night so am updated it today I know wow well that'll be Z WR to never for me when okay anything else and if if not I'll accept a motion to adjourn second and we'll meet again that time we should have a hopefully you see me tight thank you all thank you than