Present:

Sandy Ward, Kathleen McDonough, Judy Atkins, Chris Lapan, Sandra Lawson, Dorothy Pink, Maria Pagan, Laura Allen, and Jody Spitz (guest).

I.

The meeting was called to order at 1:37 PM. Introductions were made. The order of the business was adjusted so that item 4. "health literacy" was moved up the agenda to become item 3.

II.

Review of Accomplishments, 2002-2003.

Reading over the minutes of the 2002 Annual Meeting make it clear the distance that the HCHL has traveled over the past twelve months. The Library now has a web site, books on the shelves, regular hours of operation, business cards, and publicity through a newspaper article. Looking forward to the coming year, it is apparent that the Library should concentrate on developing its connection to the community and promoting awareness of its services.

III.

Health Literacy.

Sandy Ward introduced Jody Spitz from the Holyoke Family Literacy Coalition. They met at the CHNA Information Referral Forum - Connecting the Dots. Literacy issues overlap with those of patient education and therefore are of concern to the HCHL. Jody provided an overview of the work of her family literacy program. Their four-prong approach is 1.) adult education, 2.) early child and youth education 3.) parenting education and support, and 4.) PACT (Parent And Child Together) which creates activities for whole-family participation.

The Holyoke Family Literacy Coalition identifies the constellation of those agencies and services that need to come together to promote literacy. Their programming is very comprehensive. Their goal is to identify gaps in services with the ultimate goal of creating models of collaboration to best promote literacy in Holyoke. Examples of these models are the co-location/co-enrollment GED classes and the public school paraprofessional associates degree program.

There is definite overlap between the missions of the HCHL and the Holyoke Family Literacy Coalition. Sandra Lawson’s previous offer of running a workshop on how to evaluate the literacy levels of published material (both print and on-line) was gratefully accepted. She will be guiding participants through the FRY method at a workshop session scheduled for Monday, November 17, 2003 at the Holyoke Public Library. Participants will be encouraged to bring their agencies' publications with them for use during the workshop.

Members of the HCHL thanked Jody for her excellent presentation.

IV.

HCHL Brochure

Thanks were extended to Laura Allen for all the great work she did to quickly and efficiently to bring the HCHL brochure into existence for review. She created a draft brochure from information found on the web site and discussions she had with Sandy. As the group reviewed the brochure, it became clear that it s audience was towards agencies, as opposed to the public. Many suggestions came from the discussion such as using fewer words, larger print, graphics, including the business card, determining who the audience is, using a bilingual component, etc. Brochure design will also be discussed at the meeting on November 17.

V.

Business of the corporation

A.

Officers for the 2003-2004 year were elected: Sandy Ward, President; Maria Pagan, Vice-President; Kathleen McDonough, Clerk; and Judy Atkins, Treasurer.

B.

Judy Atkins gave the treasurer's report. Expenses for the year included purchase of books at Barnes and Noble, printing of business cards, stamps, and filing fees for the annual Commonwealth of Massachusetts reports. The balance in the account as of 10/27 was $340.68.

VI.

Announcements.

A.

Western Mass Center for Healthy Communities is having an open house in celebration of its new facility and location on 10/28 from 4:00 - 7:00.

B.

CHNA forums will be held every other month, alternating with CHNA business meetings. "Connecting the Dots: Next Step" is the next forum.

C.

HCHL Wednesday schedules for November and December were discussed.

D.

Laura Allen updated the mailing list for the most recent mailing.

E.

Organizational consultant Craig Dreezen will be meeting with Sandy Ward on November 4 at 11:30 at the Nuestra Raices. Anyone interested in the development of a business and marketing plan is welcome to join in.

VII.

What should we do in the coming year?

A.

Fundraising.

B.

Recruitment and development of volunteers.

C.

Support and promote resources that are already in place, such as using the community technology centers for workshops.

D.

Utilize audiences that are already in place for our outreach, such as the classes that Jody Spitz spoke of earlier.

E.

Follow-up on the suggestions that Craig Dreezen will offer.

VIII.

Meeting adjourned at 3:15 PM.

Respectfully submitted,

Kathleen McDonough

Clerk