CRC Newsletter | October 2021

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Nondiscrimination Ordinance Protections Expanded

By Justin Lyons

In early August, Charlotte’s City Council unanimously approved the expanded legal protections to residents, specifically those who come from marginalized communities. The updates to the nondiscrimination ordinance (NDO) apply to the city code that governs public accommodations, passenger vehicles for hire and procurement.

The Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations Committee (CRC) is the human relations agency for the City of Charlotte and Mecklenburg County. Since 1968, it has been responsible for administering the City’s Public Accommodations Ordinance, which prohibits discrimination on the basis of race, sex, color, religion and national origin with respect to access to public places.

The recent updates to the NDO, which took effect on Oct. 1, include new protected classes:

• Familial status (having children in your custody who are under 18 years of age)
• Sexual orientation
• Gender identity (which gender one identifies with, if any)
• Gender expression (how one expresses their gender identity)
• Veteran status
• Pregnancy
• Natural hairstyles

Starting in January 2022, the ordinance will make it unlawful for any employer in the city of Charlotte to fail or refuse to hire a person in any employment matter because of their protected status. The amendments do not address public bathroom accommodations, which are regulated by the North Carolina legislature.

“Residents will now be able to access all public spaces in the community and not be denied because of their protected status,” said Willie Ratchford, executive director of the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations Department. “These same protections will now apply to all who seek employment in Charlotte, regardless of the number of employees the employer has. Prior to this change, employers with less than 15 employees were exempt from federal employment discrimination law.”

The changes are significant given the historical context when reflecting on the nearly sixty years since the passage of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, up to five years ago when the state of North Carolina blocked Charlotte’s effort to expand its NDO with HB2 (House Bill 2). “Adding seven new protections to any civil rights legislation or ordinance is major and historically significant,” Ratchford explained. “These additions are also a reminder of how much our nation and city are much more accepting of difference, diversity, equity and inclusion than they were decades ago, or even 10 years ago.”

Ahead of the ordinance taking effect, Ratchford and his 17-person team are preparing for the likely increase in complaints and investigative work. The CRC already addresses complaints of discrimination through enforcement of the city’s Fair Housing Ordinance and compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA). The updated ordinance will charge the CRC with receiving, investigating and resolving issues of discrimination in public accommodations and with employment in our city.

Building on existing news coverage, the CRC plans to expand outreach and engagement in the city so that more residents understand these new protections and the available services if they experience discrimination in public places or in the workplace. “Staff will interact with more diverse groups and segments of the community as it fosters the mission of CRC to empower, collaborate, engage, and promote opportunities to create positive outcomes for members of the newly protected classes,” Ratchford said.

The CRC, a board made up of 45 residents who are appointed to guide the department’s work, will play a critical role in the administration on the updated non-discrimination ordinance. “The primary role of CRC members in this capacity will be to serve on the Conciliation Division, as appointed by the Mayor,” Ratchford detailed. “Those members will serve as a hearing panel for complaints that stall after a cause finding or when staff are unable to successfully conciliate the matter.”

On Oct. 5, Mecklenburg Board of County Commissioners also passed a nondiscrimination ordinance to extend LGBTQ protections and protections for people with natural hairstyles.

If you would like to be considered for the Community Relations Committee, please apply for the board here.

Advocating for Equitable Education

By Caitlin Whalan, Council for Children’s Rights and in collaboration with Laura Leftwich, CRC Member

During the 2019–2020 school year, about seven million students nationwide received some measure of special education services. While this number is staggering, it still only accounts for those students whose needs have actually been identified. Council for Children’s Rights has worked on behalf of these students for years, in and around Mecklenburg County, in various capacities. However, the challenges presented by the COVID-19 pandemic forced them to reimagine the ways in which they serve. It intensified the pre-existing inequities in the public school system and created additional new concerns for students with disabilities.

In response to these new needs and challenges, the Education Law Program (ELP) was created. Through ELP, the Council for Children’s Rights has expanded their services and opened the door for free legal representation to even more students. The services are divided into four distinct areas of advocacy: education advocacy for individual families, education navigation for court-involved youth, systemic work, and trainings.

ELP accepts referrals from individual families in Mecklenburg and surrounding counties in need of education advocacy. They seek to help the parents/legal guardians of students who have special education, Section 504, or school discipline-related issues and may need legal representation. The nature of the representation will vary depending on the needs of the family but may include things like assisting with a school suspension appeal or attending school meetings alongside the parent/legal guardians.

Education navigation supports students involved in the Mecklenburg County juvenile court system facing educational challenges. For example, take a student with a disability that has just entered foster care. Their foster family may have no experience with special education generally, let alone that student’s specific needs. The navigator would interview the student, foster family, and any other individual with knowledge of the student’s needs, review relevant school and medical records, and develop a written report intended to help the student and their foster family understand and support the student’s education needs and rights.

Through the Council for Children’s Rights’ systemic work, they are able to strategically elevate issues that affect some of the most vulnerable students. As a small team, they cannot individually assist every family that needs support with education advocacy. Addressing these issues at a systems-level allows their work to have a greater impact in the community.

Beyond these specific advocacy efforts, they also offer free trainings to community partners, parent groups and other interested individuals. The trainings cover a range of topics related to education advocacy, such as special education evaluations and eligibility, Section 504 Plans, school discipline and bullying. A deliberate effort is made to engage with the community as it is a learning experience for us all. Nobody knows what the community needs better than the community itself. By centering their efforts on the actual people they intend to help, the Council for Children’s Rights can ensure their services remain relevant and achieve practical, meaningful outcomes.

For education advocacy for individual families, contact: GetHelp@cfcrights.org or 704.943.9609

For education navigation, contact: ELP@cfcrights.org or 704.943.9611

For training opportunities, contact: ELP@cfcrights.org or 704.372.7961

The Council for Children’s Rights recently presented information about their programs to the CRC Education & Young Leaders subcommittee. The CRC continues to seek opportunities to partner with organizations serving the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community.

2040 Comprehensive Plan: What is Means for Charlotte and You

By Sam Smith Jr., CRC Member

The Charlotte Future 2040 Comprehensive Plan is a long-range road map that will guide and prepare the city for future growth and development over the next several decades. With the growth Charlotte is facing and the fact that the city is ranked America’s 15th largest city, Charlotte needed a plan that will shape how we live, work, and play in our community. The 2040 Comprehensive Plan provides a framework to keep Charlotte unique and vibrant. The last time Charlotte had a framework like this was in 1975, so as you can see, Charlotte is not the same city it was in 1975. Upon completion, this plan will be a living guide that will bring the community’s input and ideas to life.

According to the plan’s website, the Charlotte Future 2040 Plan is beneficial in many ways. It will help:

• Serve as a shared vision for Charlotte’s growth and development that is endorsed by our entire community;
• Identify what practices and plans we should keep and what should change;
• Provide an updated blueprint that guides how land is used, what infrastructure we invest in and how new policies are developed;
• Provide steps that outline how we start to live the plan and how we measure its success.
• Develop plans to identify and address our opportunities and challenges in various areas;
• Create a path for our city’s growth that is clear and easy to understand that serves as the foundation for our community’s vision; and
• Address essential issues that affect our community’s sense of equity, such as access to public transportation, affordable housing, affordable and nutritious food, and more.

The Charlotte Future 2040 Comprehensive Plan has been in motion for several years. The plan was developed using research, data, and best practices that other major cities have used as a roadmap for their growth. The plan was driven by input from the community. The City hosted numerous focus groups and listening sessions as the plan was being developed. Those who participated shared their passion, ideas, and values for our city.

The Future Comprehensive Plan has 10 important goals:

Goal 1: 10-Minute Neighborhoods

Goal 2: Neighborhood Diversity & Inclusion

Goal 3: Housing Access for All

Goal 4: Transit- and Trail-Oriented Development (2T-OD)

Goal 5: Safe and Equitable Mobility

Goal 6: Healthy, Safe, and Active Communities

Goal 7: Integrated Natural and Built Environments

Goal 8: Diverse and Resilient Economic Opportunity

Goal 9: Retain Our Identity and Charm

Goal 10: Fiscally Responsible

What is the next phase of the process? In June 2021, Charlotte City Council passed the Charlotte Future 2040 Comprehensive Plan. Upon passing, the plan now moves into implementation. This process happens with three major initiatives. The first initiative is the 2040 Policy Map. The 2040 Policy Map translates place-based policies within the Comprehensive Plan into a map that guides types of development and intensity. Its primary focus is the place types (place types identify the overall character of a place within the community and provide policy guidance for decision-making). Place Types will provide less specific, visionary guidance, like a range of heights or a goal to meet, without mandatory requirements) and other zoning rules. The second initiative is the Charlotte Strategic Mobility Plan. The Strategic Mobility Plan is a strategy to connect people and places through public and private investment. The last initiative is the Unified Development Ordinance (UDO). The UDO lays out the land development rules for growth. It also addresses the implementation through private investments. Charlotte City Council is expected to take action on all three initiatives by July 2022.

You are encouraged to learn more and get involved with this process as it affects each of us as community members of Charlotte-Mecklenburg.

If you would like to get involved and learn more about the Charlotte Future 2040 Comprehensive Plan, visit: https://cltfuture2040.com/about/.

Community Spotlight

By Dr. Scott Gartlan, CRC Member

In the Community Spotlight, the CRC recognizes organizations and people supporting our community with missions that align with the work and mission of the CRC.

Earlier this year, the Prodigal Son Foundation was one of 17 community-based organizations that received a grant through the City of Charlotte’s SAFE Charlotte program. Visiting the website of the Prodigal Son Foundation is a great way to learn about the work of this important non-profit organization in North Carolina. The mission is stated clearly on the homepage: “We are committed to strengthening communities and developing productive leaders for the future by empowering, educating, and engaging students and families.” There is also an infographic that shows that they empower more than 150 adult families yearly, educate nearly 100 low-income students daily, and engage over 200 volunteers, tutors, and mentors in the movement to eliminate educational inequity.

Clicking through to the “About Us” page I found a seven-minute video that includes an interview with Leroy Wray, the organization’s founder and president. Leroy gives a clear summary of the ways that The Prodigal Son Foundation meets the needs of low-income students and families: “We do this in four major areas. We do this with our mentoring program, our after school and summer program, our health and fitness, and our new program; we do this in sponsoring other non-profit organizations. The structure of each program is to provide primary prevention and intervention efforts to facilitate positive growth and development for students and their families.”

In the video students are working alongside mentors to plant trees together. After they plant the tree the mentor asks them to reflect on what they learned. “If we had to go back in time to tell somebody what we did in the garden today, what would we tell them?”, the mentor asks and then calls on Bryson, who raised his hand with an answer. As he looks around at the plants, Bryson says, “We spread soil all around then we dig things.” The mentor asks other questions to get the students to identify what they planted. In the end they said, a “Blueberry bush!”

Then students are interviewed about the impact of the program on their lives. It’s powerful to have direct testimonials from children who have benefited directly from the support of The Prodigal Son Foundation. You also get to meet mentors and teachers who serve students and families in the program.

It’s a must watch if you want to get to know Leroy Wray and others who make it happen.

The website has lots of great information about programs serving students. The Leadership Academy is all about positive mentoring, the Learning Center builds confidence and self-management skills in students, and the Physical Activity Community Education (PACE) program is focused on the value of active living and being healthy.

There is also a nifty Google form called “Sign Up Reading Checkup Tool” under the Events tab. The idea is families sign up to get support for their children in grades PK-3 on specific reading skills through targeted activities parents can do at home. This is a wonderful online resource for families who would like a little help to grow their children’s academic skills. Parents will be contacted by staff from The Prodigal Son Foundation to set up a plan that is workable and doable for each family.

So, click here to watch the video to see the impact on these children. Don’t forget to share this website too. After all, I could think of no better thing than helping our children.

CRC Retreat: Leading & Learning

Greeting with fist-bumps instead of hugs, the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations Committee (CRC) came together in July for their annual retreat. Held at the Charlotte Fire Department Headquarters, it was the first face-to-face meeting in more than 18 months and arguably one of the best CRC retreats ever. From the excitement in the room to the informative and impactful sessions, the retreat was a resounding success for so many reasons.

The annual retreat focused on the CRC’s origin, purpose, teambuilding and commitment to the community. To kick off the retreat, CRC members participated in an exercise led by Blue Heel, an organization that specializes in mosaic workshops centered around unity. The goal was to work together in small groups to develop a product that would represent the diverse ideas, experiences and perspectives of the larger group. Following this teambuilding exercise, the CRC executive director presented information on the structure of the CRC, its relevance throughout the years and how the CRC can remain impactful in the future. A key function of the CRC is the work done by its seven subcommittees. During the retreat, each subcommittee was given the opportunity to share updates, events and what is needed to be successful.

The morning sessions set the stage for the powerful afternoon session entitled Diversity, Equity and Inclusion: It’s Bigger Than Black and White. The session was presented by CRC member Monifa Drayton and included exercises that would challenge members to explore their own biases, learned behaviors and how experiences shape interactions. The presentation helped members to better understand diversity, equity and inclusion, and the need for us to belong — all critically important to serving the Charlotte-Mecklenburg community and adeptly serving on the committee.

Navigating and conducting an annual retreat during a pandemic is not an easy task. Even with limitations, the retreat was able to provide an excellent opportunity for learning, collaboration and enlightening discussions. Building a strategy for the upcoming year remains a priority for the CRC. This retreat not only laid the groundwork for strategy development but also reinforced the members’ commitment to acknowledging and addressing the barriers that prevent equity and access for all.

Police-Community Relations Website Now Available

Strong relationships of mutual trust between the Charlotte-Mecklenburg Police Department (CMPD) and the communities they serve are critical to maintaining public safety and effective policing. Charlotte-Mecklenburg Community Relations works closely with CMPD to bridge the gaps and open lines of communication, trust and understanding between the officers and the community. Click here to check out the recently launched website to learn more about the partnership, programs, and ways you can stay engaged.