Weekly eBulletin - July 14, 2020 (Jul 12, 2020)

VIRTUAL WEEKLY MEETING - JULY 14, 2020

The Rotary Club of Skokie Valle is holding all meetings, including membership meetings, virtually. Committee meetings may meet via teleconference or video conference. We are following the guidance/directions of Rotary International, and all in-person meetings are cancelled until further notice.

Skokie Valley Club is following COVID 19 directions and guidelines given by Illinois Governor Pritzker and the Center for Desease Control (CDC).

JOIN US THIS COMING TUESDAY JULY 14, 2020 FOR OUR WEEKLY VIRTUAL MEETING VIA ZOOM. MEETING RUNS FROM 12 NOON UNTIL 1:00 P.M.

AN INVITATION MEETING ID NUMBER & PASSWORD WILL BE SENT TO ALL CLUB MEMBERS VIA EMAIL. VISITING ROTARIANS WHO WANT TO ATTEND THE MEETING, PLEASE CONTACT JOHN JEKOT AT JOHN@GMPD.ORG TO RECEIVE YOUR ZOOM INVITATION LINK.

TO JOIN THE MEETING FOLLOW THESE STEPS:

IF DO NOT ALREADY HAVE ZOOM ON YOUR DEVICE CLICK HERE TO DOWNLOAD AND INSTALL IT.
OPEN YOUR MEETING INVITATION EMAIL.
COPY OR JOT DOWN THE PASSWORD.
CLICK ON THE “JOIN ZOOM MEETING” WEB LINK.
PASTE OR WRITE THE PASSWORD, AND CLICK ON "CONTINUE".

CLUB MEMBERS, CHECK BELOW TO VIEW WHEN ITS YOUR TURN TO PROVIDE THE SPEAKER AND FUN & FROLIC

Fun & Frolic:

Click Here to view schedule.

Program Speakers:

Click Here to view schedule

Guest Speaker Audra Wilson - July 7, 2020

Posted by Al Anile

Guest Speaker Audra Wilson, Shriver Center on Poverty Law

Audra Wilson is an attorney associated with Shriver Center on Poverty Law. She was our guest speaker at our weekly zoom meeting of July 7, 2020.

As an attorney, their founder, Sargent Shriver understood the role of the law and of lawyers in accomplishing the goal of equal justice and opportunity for low-income communities. Sarge had a vision of recruiting and supporting sufficient numbers of legal services attorneys to provide reasonable access to an attorney for all low-income people in the country. He also thought that these attorneys should be linked together so that, to the extent possible, they would function as a national law firm for the poor (as opposed to isolated attorneys in scattered storefronts in low-income neighborhoods). The glue for this national law firm was the National Clearinghouse for Legal Services, which published Clearinghouse Review, containing action research for lawyers, and maintained a brief bank with hundreds of thousands of poverty law documents that the attorneys could tap for ideas and models, mutual learning and strategizing.

In 2001, Shriver gave his name and personal authority to a new project, the Shriver Center on Poverty Law, formerly the National Clearinghouse for Legal Services. It is dedicated to the practice and perpetuation of Sarge’s values-driven methods for bringing the law to bear on community-generated issues involving equal opportunity and social justice. Today, the Shriver Center continues to support and enables the work of other advocates, and engages directly in policy and systemic advocacy on behalf of low-income people and communities across the country.

The Shriver Center on Poverty Law provides national leadership in advancing laws and policies that secure justice to improve the lives and opportunities of people living in poverty. Their vision is a nation free from poverty with justice, equality, and opportunity for all.

Audra Wilson has been a champion for racial and economic justice for more than 20 years as a public interest lawyer and teacher, policy shaper, community mobilizer, and experienced executive manager. Throughout her career, Wilson has focused on the voices and experiences of communities of color and communities most impacted by injustice.

Wilson began her legal career as a Welfare Advocacy Staff Attorney with the Shriver Center on Poverty Law, where she focused on welfare reform implementation and food security issues in Illinois. She was then tapped by then-state-Senator Barack Obama to serve as the Deputy Press and Policy Director on his U.S. Senate campaign.

After the U.S. Senate race, Wilson returned to her public interest roots, serving as Director of Diversity Education and Outreach and Adjunct Professor at Northwestern Pritzker School of Law for 7 years. At Northwestern, she co-founded the first formal consortium of law school diversity professionals in Chicago, seen as a national model. During this time, Wilson also served as a policy advisor to leading candidates for U.S. Senate, Illinois State Treasurer, and Lieutenant Governor.  

In 2013, Wilson accepted a position as Deputy Chief of Staff for United States Congresswoman Robin Kelly in the Second Congressional District of Illinois, where she oversaw all district operations and served as a surrogate for the Congresswoman while she was serving in D.C. Among Wilson’s other responsibilities, she served as lead Illinois coordinator of the Congressional Caucus on Black Women and Girls.

As Executive Director of the League of Women Voters of Illinois, Wilson led critical change to expand the mission of a 100-year old civic engagement organization with nearly 4,000 members and over 40 chapters statewide. Wilson advanced the League’s advocacy on issues of race equity and voting rights and built organizational capacity for fundraising and communications. In October 2019, Wilson was appointed chair of the Cook County Commission on Women’s Issues by Cook County Board President, Toni Preckwinkle. 

Wilson holds a Bachelor’s degree in International Relations and Spanish from Bucknell University, and a J.D. from Valparaiso University School of Law.

Guest Speaker Mary Navarro - July 7, 2020

Posted by Al Anile

Guest Speaker Mary Navarro (Picture not available) is the grant manager at The Zacharias Center for Sexual Abuse, and she is the Rotary Club of Skokie Valley's Annual Grant Recipient.

The Zacharias Center offers three programs directly targeted at sexual abuse victims, a 24 Hour Hotline (847-872-7799), counseling services, and advocacy services, which includes medical and legal assistance on behalf of the survivor and significant others.

In addition, Sexual Assault Prevention-Education classes are delivered onsite to school children, their parents, school administrators and teachers, and professional training is offered to police, emergency room staff, social workers, court personnel and other groups working with survivors of sexual abuse and assault.

In 1997, the Zacharias Center opened a new building to house operations. The building concept represents the theoretical and architectural concept of "The Emotional Content of the Physical Space".

Input from sexual abuse survivors was used in order to create an environment which would be interpreted by clients as safe. The building incorporates open spaces, multiple and large windows allowing for extra light, high ceilings, soft-tone colors, outdoor garden areas and comfortable furniture.

In early 1977, women activists from nine community-based rape crisis centers in Illinois gathered to provide mutual support. These activists named their group the Illinois Coalition of Women Against Rape (ICWAR). In 1984 the name of ICWAR was changed to the Illinois Coalition Against Sexual Assault (ICASA) to reflect the inclusion of men as victims of sexual assault.[3]

In August 1981 the Lake County Health Department formed a Rape Victim Advocacy Task Force to study the need for rape victim advocacy services in Lake County, Illinois. Their findings documented that services to rape victims in Lake County, Illinois were inadequate and fragmented. The first funding for sexual assault crisis centers, $148,889, was distributed by ICWAR to 12 centers in 1982. Later that year, four more centers were funded. Subsequent funds enabled centers to hire advocates, counselors and educators.

In 1983, the Zacharias Center was accepted as a member of ICASA and granted funding support. In 1984, 24 hour Hotline and Medical Advocacy service began, as well as Community Education and Professional Training Programs. In 1985, the Center received a grant from the Violent Crime Victims Assistance Fund and was accepted as a member of United Way of Lake County.