Memorandum 13-003 Green Dot Update

Memorandum ID: 
13-003
Memorandum Status: 
No Status

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CITY OF HOMER
CITY HALL   

MEMORANDUM 13-003

To:  Mayor Wythe and Council
From:  Katie Koester, Community and Economic Development Coordinator
Through: Walt Wrede, City Manager 
Date:  December 24, 2012
Subject: Green Dot Update

The purpose of this memo is to update the Mayor and Council on meetings that have been occurring to consider making Homer a Green Dot pilot community.  Green Dot is a strategy that is being implemented in communities across the globe that recognizes bystanders can be important agents in preventing violent acts.  Green Dot identifies violence as a red dot on a map. The solution is a green dot, a single moment where someone uses their words and voice to make the red dot less likely.

The State of Alaska has offered to establish 5 communities as Green Dot pilot communities, including Homer. This will cover travel for one Green Dot trainer to come to Alaska and some materials over a two and a half year period. The community match is $7,500, however there is no immediate need to come up with the match. The program will be rolled out in Homer this January.  Green Dot founder, Dorothy Edwards will travel here then and give the first training.

By the end of November 2013, Homer will have completed five 2-day trainings. The dates for these are listed in the attached document. Following completion of the trainings (Nov. 2013), until June 30,  2015, Homer would have  access to Green Dot (national) for technical assistance, in the form of webinars, teleconferences, and some additional visits. Additionally, during this time, the lead trainers  could potentially participate in traveling to other communities to help launch new Green Dot projects.

Right now the group of organizations working to implement Green Dot are looking for:

a) Funding sources for the $7,500 local match to implement Green Dot

b) Recommendations on who would be good trainers to go through the training process (at this point the group does not have funds to pay the trainers identified. The group would either have to find funding sources for this, depend on volunteer labor, or organizations contributing trainers with staff time.

I will continue to attend the Green Dot meetings on behalf of Mayor Wythe and update the Mayor and Council on Greed Dot’s progress in Homer.