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Letter from the Vice-Chair
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While our Chair has been on vacation, I've had the honor of conducting the Board meetings. I will be stepping down from the Board next year after serving for the second time in the eighteen years I've been a member. If every member served two years every decade... well, we'd need more seats! As it is, we often rely on the same few men. We have hundreds of members and we serve thousands of men. We need some new men to step up to the Board, younger men as well as those who have been around a while.
It doesn't require money, education, family connections, or spotless background. All you need is a desire to improve things around here and a willingness to put that into action. Board terms are one or two years and require attendance at monthly meetings. Most of our Board members also take on activities that are of specific interest, such as developing new programs, producing our outreach materials, etc. Come to the annual meeting to throw your hat in the ring. Welcome aboard!
Recently we've had several members travel to Moose Lake correctional facility and do outreach to the men there. We received rare praise from both sides of the system; inmates as well as administration. Our new Men in Transition groups are providing a necessary safe and blame-free space for men leaving prison. Since we are not affiliated with the Dept. of Corrections, we offer a genuinely confidential place were men can get real support. Also, our new Healthy Sexual Boundaries group truly helps men heal their sexual behaviors without shaming or stigma. On behalf of the Board, I'd like to thank the men who have made these groups a reality.
Onward,
Bill Dobbs,
Board Vice-Chair
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–– Randy Genrich, Librarian
Using the library is a membership privilege. To check out a book, all you have to do is write your name. phone number, and the date on a checkout card and leave it in the box. Or just come in and browse – you will be surprised at how stimulating it can be to expose yourself to the books in our collection. So come on in and take a look.
Recent donations include a new book and cassette "The Case for Father's Custody", by Daniel Amneus. We also have many periodicals and newsletters for your use, such as:
- Men's Health
- Voice Male
- Lavender
- Men's Journal
- Transitions – Sep/Oct Feature article: Survival Strategies for Today's Man
- Rainbow Families
- Bi All Means
- Wellness Journal
- The Edge
- Everyman – The Times for Father's & Families.
- D.A.D.S.#1
Please be sure you use the library check-out system. And if you have overdue books, please return them so others can benefit from them.
Enjoy your library!
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Dear Men's Center,
I have been coming to your center for about 12 years off and on. As a whole this has been a safe, secure place to go and get support regardless of the group. In fact in recent times I have been going to the psychological/emotional abuse support group Thursday night with Dudley as the co-facilitator and Tracey as the facilitator. One recent evening evening the topic focused a lot on abusive support experiences. A couple of other members and myself shared in a general way negative experiences that have happened to us at other groups. I could see that I am not the only one who has had something offensive done to me in a support group setting. Both of these members needed to leave a little bit early for various reasons. With then just the facilitator, co facilitator and myself talking and without mentioning any names or blaming a particular group I got a little more specific about an offensive moment that happened to me a long time ago by a very capable leader who should have known better. In fact aside from his inappropriate grab this leader is probably the best facilitator around. I had known him a while before the incident. I have no desire to pursue that issue having already reported it anonymously years ago in the suggestion box. Obviously if this leader continued this behavior he could not have continued as a facilitator no matter how respected he was.
The emphasis of this e-mail is not this old wound or continually holding a grudge. It is appreciation for the fact that the facilitator and co facilitator of the psychological/emotional abuse support group put a lot of effort forth in helping me to find peaceful resolution of this memory. In this effort things were kept on a high note on how I could achieve this possibility rather than focusing on what occurred beforehand. As the co-facilitator pointed out he holds onto things, other people hold onto things and I hold onto things. And as I then pointed out, judging by my counselor's perception when people are reasonable, I do not hold a grudge. Well, the dialogue was such that I can start to feel that the positive efforts and interactions achieved at this time are more important than any previous negative moment at your center. So, I am just trying to point out, no matter how trying the subject material the facilitator and co-facilitator of the psychological/emotional abuse support group are there because they want to support others.
Thank you.
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