The North Tabor Neighborhood Association held an emergency meeting on 1/31/16 to consider an open letter of concern to Southeast Uplift (SEUL) posted on change.org. Several board members signed on to the letter as individuals.
The letter is in response to the contents of the minutes from a meeting of the SEUL workgroup on homelessness along the Springwater Trail. The minutes included the following paragraph:
SE Uplift board members emphasize that houseless individuals and homeless advocacy organizations should not be explicitly invited to the BDNA meeting. The sentiment is that the SE Uplift constituency is middle class people and that this meeting is meant to serve that constituency. Also, inviting houseless/homeless people might take attention to their needs rather than the neighborhood association.
Several board members were troubled by both the decision to avoid inclusion of the individuals who were to be the subject of the meeting, and by the attitude that SEUL exists solely to serve middle class residents.
The open letter is available here.
The full board met to discuss the letter and the background events. A motion to endorse the letter was passed unanimously. The board also resolved to develop additional statements on the matter at the next regular meeting, to be held on February 16th.
Draft minutes from the meeting are below: