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Home My WebLink About012726 HRC Agenda 4CHUMAN RELA110NS COMMISSION Cultivating Community Through Social Justice AGENDA Tuesday, January 27, 2026 6:00 pm — 7:30 pm In-Person Mtg at Office of Civil Rights & Civic Life 306 Revere Road, Hillsborough NC 27278 I. Call to Order/Quorum—Rhian Carreker-Ford, Chair (6:00-6:02) II. Minutes Approval — December 23, 2025 (6:02-6:05) III. County Update - Paul Slack& Courtney McLaughlin, OCRCL Staff(6:05-6:15) A. Upcoming Events and Opportunities IV. Blackwood Farms Marker— Paul Slack, OCRCL Staff(6:15-6:30) A. Commemorative Marker Update V. Executive Committee Report— Rhian Carreker-Ford, Chair (6:30-6:45) A. Secretary/Membership Vacancies VI. Sub-Committee Reports (6:45-7:05) A. Outreach & Engagement: Chair Shane B. Community Events: Co-Chairs Tonya & Cory VII. New Business/Announcement (7:05-7:30) A. Social Justice Vision B. February-April Events C. Emerging Issues Vill. Adjourn NEXT MEETING: February 24, 2026, In-Person 306 Revere Road, Hillsborough NC, 27278 t 40 HUMAN RELATIONS COMMISSION Cultivating Community Through Social Justice Meeting Minutes Tuesday, December 23, 2025 6:00pm— 7:30 pm via Microsoft Teams Member lRole #ttendance Commissioners Rhian Carreker-Ford (RCF) Commissioner, Chair Present Tonya Jones, (TJ) Commissioner, Vice Chair Present Vacant Commissioner, Secretary en Sykes (JS) Commissioner Present Josh Ravitch (JR) Commissioner Present Cory Hogans(CH) Commissioner Present Shane Lukas (SL) Commissioner Present Wendy Calvin (WC) Commissioner Present Krista Caraway(KC) Commissioner Present Vacant Seat Commissioner acant Seat Commissioner Vacant Seat Commissioner Orange County Staff Paul Slack(PS) Chief Civil Rights Officer Present Courtney McLaughlin (CM) Community Engagement & Outreach Coordinator Absent Shanelle Harvey(SH) Fair Housing Investigator Present Heather Bolduc(HB) Intake Specialist Present I. Call to Order — Commissioner Carreker-Ford called the meeting to order at 6:02 p.m. II. Agenda Approval—Motion to approve Minutes from November 12, 2025, meeting by Commissioner Sykes, and Second by Commissioner ?, Unanimous Approval. Minutes approved. III. County Updates -OCCRCL Staff Paul Slack: No updates- We will have new updates at the January meeting. IV. Commissioner Sykes to begin drafting Proclamation for Human Rights Month, draft will be needed by second week of January 2026. Commissioners Sykes, Caraway, and Ravitch will assist in drafting and give to BOCC. V. Commissioner Caraway discussed possibilities of how the HRC can assist victims and survivors of Domestic Violence. And, how best to support people without a voice (such as disabled non-speaking individuals) when they have been failed or harmed by County agencies. Commissioners agreed to work on language in upcoming Proclamations for Disability Advocacy and Resilience. The HRC programming will focus on these, as a planned community conversation of Resiliency is in the works. VIII. Other Business/Announcements - Rhian Carreker-Ford A. Executive Committee Report Out- Rhian Carreker-Ford i. We are in the process of looking for someone to take the role of Secretary for the leadership team. Anyone interested, please reach out to Commissioner Jones. ii. Paul- I will check for pending applications. Heather will be taking the minutes for all HRC meetings in the future. All other secretarial tasks will need to be completed by someone on the Commission. iii. Currently, there are four vacancies on the Human Relations Commission. B. Disability Awareness Month in July 2026, and Domestic Violence Awareness Month in October 2026, and having programming and a Proclamation in support of that. C. Retreat #2, we came up with core themes for 2026, Visibility, Advocacy, and Resilience. Which is the guiding principle for the HRC this upcoming year. We are in the process of planning a community event based on Resiliency. D. Sub-Committee Report: Commissioners Carreker-Ford, Calvin, and Lukas have met and discussed a youth engagement project that they hope to conduct in the next year. For youth to come to the table to engage them in a way they can help improve the community as a community action event. To identify a need, a path, and partners in the community that would help fulfill the pathway to community transformation. It is intended to be a project that is being displayed at the Pauli Murray Awards, and/or other events. This will be our test year on youth engagement and see what other relationships are fostered with local organizations. This year's concept is immigration and recognizing our neighbors and people in our community. First meeting for the youth engagement is expected to be February 2026. E. Commissioner Lukas, Calvin, and Caraway to engage with local organizations, and speak with them at potential meetings. Our goal is to table 4 events this year. We would like to engage organizations that we have not previously engaged with. F. Commissioners Hogan and Jones; Community Conversations schedule is on February 21, 2026, at 10:00 a.m., location is Southern Human Services if location still available. We will have state and local officials in attendance. Fliers are in production now. The Pauli Murray Awards are on May 17, 2026, at the Whitted Building. Due date for submissions for consideration for the awards is April 1, 2026. G. New Business: January to March; MLK day in January, and Black History Month in February, and Women's History Month in March. If we want to make any Proclamations for the future, we need to be forward-thinking and get it submitted on time. Paul- OCRCL is working on a proclamation for Black History Month. Needed- Welcome Binder to bring binders to upcoming meetings. Social Justice Vision Binder, to use to update our vision. H. Meeting Date for planning the Fiscal Year 2027, the HRC All Day Retreat is tentatively set for June 27, 2026, Commissioner Hogan puts the motion for a vote, Commissioner Calvin Seconds the motion. Motion carries unanimously. Paul to check for any conflicts with OCRCL and confirm at January meeting. I. Emerging Issues: we want everyone to voice what you are hearing in the community and what actions we can take to address those issues. i. Commissioner Hogans has learned that community members are feeling economic and political pressure, hopelessness, and sadness for the erasure of black history, and immigration enforcement. ii. Commissioner Carreker-Ford wants to address affordability in the county and how to deal with escalating home prices. Commissioner Sykes said that there is a new tax working group for the County. And, that we should stay abreast of happenings with UNC, the administration is making choices that certain groups of students are disagreeing with. Even though they are their own entity, they are in our County and we should stay alert. IX. Adjourn: Commissioner Ravitch moved to adjourn the meeting, Commissioner Calvin seconds, unanimous approval to adjourn at 7:32 p.m. Next Meeting: January 27, 2026, at 6:00 p.m. at 306 Revere Rd. Suite B, Hillsborough, NC 27278 Attachment 1 Excerpt from the Human Relations Commission Policies and Procedures Document (Approved 11/8/2012, Amended 12/5/2022) C. Charge 1. The charge of the Human Relations Commission is as follows: a. study and make recommendations concerning problems in the field of human relationships. b. anticipate and discover practices and customs most likely to create animosity and unrest and to seek solutions to problems as they arise. c. make recommendations designed to promote goodwill and harmony among groups in the County irrespective of their race, color, creed, religion, ancestry, national origin, sex, affectional preference, disability, age, marital status, or status with regard to public assistance. d. monitor complaints involving discrimination. e. address and attempt to remedy the violence, tensions, polarization, and other harm created through the practices of discrimination, bias, hatred, and civil inequality; and f. promote harmonious relations within the county through hearings and due process of law. SECTION II: GOALS AND OBJECTIVES A. Goals 1. The Human Relations Commission shall seek to prevent and eliminate bias and discrimination because of race, color, creed, religion, ancestry, national origin, sex, affectional preference, disability, age, marital status, or status with regard to public assistance. 2. Advise the Orange County Board of Commissioners with respect to matters relating to human relations and/or social justice issues. 3. Cooperate with and seek to advise and coordinate the activities of persons or groups interested in human relations and/or social justice issues. 4. Conduct inquiries and hear appeals as may reasonably appear necessary to find the facts with respect to allegations of discrimination. B. Objectives 1. The Human Relations Commission shall by means of education, persuasion, conciliation, and enforcement and utilize all of the powers at its disposal to achieve its goals. 2. Keep abreast of national, state, and local human rights and social justice issues and advise, make recommendations and/or provide information to the Board of County Commissioners regarding human relations and/or social justice issues. 3. Develop and maintain collaborative relationships/partnerships within the various communities (faith, business, residents, government, for-profit and non-profit sectors, etc.). 4. Received allegations of discriminatory housing and public accommodation practices 5. Host public meetings/events regarding human rights and/or social justice issues. [Source: Orange County Human Relation Commission Policies and Procedures.] •tt 11/pp��Y t! - � - K i pr _ rs 4 Y g"• :_ - .yam .. •�` � •,� is � � *o. �I \ � fi�ee.. r"n^a•P �� ►+� �,3�� _- 1