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Early-bird Registration Opens Today
It’s time! Get the best deal available for our 2022 Annual Conference and Exposition in San Antonio, being held this coming June 1–4. The Early-bird rate is only available from November 15 through December 15, so don’t wait or you’ll miss out on the best price! The November/December issue of Instigate will include an eight-page brochure to expound on the “Bridges” theme we’ve chosen, but don’t wait for that: You can pull up a PDF of the brochure right now to see the full program we’ve put together. And to get that special rate, you can navigate from the program pages on the website or go directly to our registration page. By the way, the eight-page brochure in Instigate can be used to register all the way up until the event.
The Stay is Upheld
This past Thursday, Citygate Network sent member CEOs a lengthy email, giving an overview of the Biden administration’s vaccination mandate for businesses (and ministries) that employ 100 or more people. We sent this in response to many members asking for insight on how to prepare should the “stay” handed down from the 5th Circuit Court of Appeals be lifted. We mentioned that several of our sources in DC didn’t expect that to happen—and on Friday that was confirmed: The appeals court rejected the administration’s argument, stating that the injunction is “firmly in the public interest.” Many are expecting the next move to be the Supreme Court’s.
Calling All Voting Members
If you hold a classic member seat (as opposed to a digital member seat), you should have received an email on November 9, 2021, asking you to participate in this year’s Citygate Network elections. Everyone is voting in the At-Large Board Member election for the 2022–2024 term, and the Northern Lights, Rawhide, and Sierra Districts are selecting new board representatives and district officers. If you don’t see the email, please check your spam/junk folders, and click on the ballot link provided; it will only take a couple of minutes to vote.
This year, the ballots also include a proposed bylaws change. Approval of this motion, put forth by the Citygate Network board and administration, will simplify organizational management, allowing the board to make future modifications to the bylaws (e.g., location of office of registered agent, number of standing committees, length of board member terms, etc.). The proposed change, however, keeps the Statement of Faith in the hands of the membership. Any changes in this area will still require a vote of the entire membership with an even higher percentage required for passage.
The motion, as shown on the ballots, referenced bylaw articles and sections but did not link to the current bylaws. We’re sorry if that hindered some of you from voting initially. This link to our current bylaws will allow you to find the sections referenced in the motion so you can get a complete picture of what the board and administration is asking the membership to pass. The sections listed in the motion are 3.4, 3.5, 3.6, 3.7, 8.1, 8.2, and 8.3. The portions in Section 3, included in the motion, prevents the board from having a “back door” to change the Statement of Faith and religious purpose. Voting ends at midnight on Friday, November 19, providing we receive votes from at least 20 percent of all eligible voters. Your vote is needed. And if you have any questions, you can call the office of the president: 719-266-8300, ext. 101.
We Need More Input for the Compensation Survey
The 2022 Citygate Network Compensation Report is in process. This every-two-years resource from Citygate Network will feature more than 30 pages of salary and benefits data, tabulated by position, district, and ministry size. Because the report’s veracity is improved by greater participation, we’ll keep the survey open five additional days and close it this Friday. Member ministries that contribute a significant amount of data toward the report will receive the report for free in early 2022.
How-to Videos Help Members Navigate Benefits
Citygate Network offers many resources to enrich your ministry, connect you to people who do what you do, and promote best practices. There’s so much available, in fact, that members often don’t know where to start. Now members can view a series of how-to videos to help you navigate some of the membership benefits. And, as always, feel free to reach out to Member Engagement Manager Aly Zadurowicz for personalized assistance.
DOL Increases Fines for Non-Compliance
The maximum penalty for failing to display the appropriate federal and state labor law posters at U.S. facilities will increase substantially, according to a recent announcement by the Department of Labor (DOL). Employers must have the most current version of the following posters properly displayed for their employees, or face the indicated fine:
- Family and Medical Leave Act (FMLA): $178
- Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC): $576
- Job Safety and Health: It’s the Law (OSHA): $13,653
- Employee Polygraph Protection Act (EPPA): $21,663
Looking Down the Street
- On November 12, the board and staff of the Rescue Mission of the Mahoning Valley (Youngstown, Ohio) hosted a ribbon-cutting ceremony for their new building and provided the community with an open house and tours of the 50,000-square-foot facility.
- Members of the Social Services Department at the Mercy Medical Center recently toured the new respite care facility on the Merced County Rescue Mission’s (Merced, California) Village of Hope campus. Men and women experiencing homelessness who have been discharged from the hospital will be able to move in beginning in January.
- The Sierra District held its first-ever district-wide CEO call last week. District President Jeff Gilman and District Vice-President Lisa Chastain initiated this effort to build connection and collaboration between the leaders of member missions and ministries in Arizona, California, Hawaii, Nevada, and Utah. Inspired by the success of a similar initiative in the Liberty District, Sierra got off to a great start with 18 participants.
- The Phoenix Rescue Mission (Phoenix, Arizona) is partnering with Mesquite Fresh Street Mex, a family-owned chain of eight restaurants, to sponsor a Toys for Tacos fundraiser. They aim to collect 1,000 new, unwrapped toys (plus nonperishable foods and toiletries) by December 15 and donate them to the mission for distribution to families in need.
TELL US: Do you have news to share with other network members? Send a blurb to Alice Gifford. Include as many details as possible. We'll handle the editing
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Don’t Miss Out on Hiring Veterans
On the job front, many veterans transitioning from military life to civilian life get discouraged because the applicant tracking systems used in most HR departments don’t pick up on terminology used in military resumes. Tools that comb through applications searching for key terms describing the qualities and experience needed for open positions don’t recognize how military roles and responsibilities translate into civilian positions. That means that the men and women who served in uniform don’t always get the callbacks and interviews. Some employers also harbor conscious and subconscious biases about the military that can affect whether they believe military experience can fit into corporate culture. HR Executive recommends that hiring managers and HR leaders review the language they use and skills they search for before posting a job listing. Employers should recognize that vets develop determination and discipline, and display agility and adaptability, which bring a lot to the civilian work environment.
Consider: How could your HR department make sure they understand the skills and roles used on military resumes?
New Food Challenges
U.S. food banks have already had to deal with an increase in demand for their services because of the pandemic, but now the surge in food prices and availability have also negatively impacted their serving sizes and resulted in unpopular substitutions. For example, the cost of peanut butter has nearly doubled over the last two years. Food banks can’t continue to absorb these increases forever. Supply chain disruptions, lower inventory, and labor and transportation shortages have all have affected numerous charities and nonprofits who serve the less-fortunate. According to the USDA, which administers the SNAP program, there are no immediate plans for an emergency boost in SNAP benefits to make up for the higher cost of food, but they point to the Biden administration’s push for a permanent increase in SNAP and the free lunches and breakfasts offered at schools as some of the potential solutions available.
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How Do You Choose What You Believe?
New Kaiser Family Foundation research reports that nearly 80 percent of the Americans they surveyed had heard at least one of eight misleading statements about COVID-19. According to the authors, people’s trusted news sources correlate with what they believe about COVID-19 information. About 34 percent of those who trust information from traditional television news do not believe any of the eight controversial statements, while between 11 and 16 percent believe or are unsure about at least half of the statements. Early in the pandemic, the World Health Organization (WHO) cautioned about the potential for an “infodemic,” which they said could intensify or lengthen the outbreak because people feel unsure about how to protect their health due to conflicting information. The Kaiser research revealed that unvaccinated adults were more likely to question the eight misleading statements than vaccinated adults. The Surgeon General’s Community Toolkit for Addressing Health Misinformation was released last week, providing 22 pages of guidance and resources geared toward health care providers, educators, librarians, faith leaders, and trusted community members to help them address the spread of health misinformation in their communities.
Women Returning to Work
According to the Bureau of Labor Statistics (BLS), in the wake of a number of slow months, October showed promising job growth, adding 531,000 jobs. Women filled nearly 57 percent of the new positions, which had greater significance because of the more than 300,000 women who left the work force in September. This latest BLS report coincides with the fact that many children resumed in-person schooling this fall, and that children between ages five and 11 have also been approved to receive the Pfizer Coronavirus vaccine. Both of those factors may have played a significant role in allowing mothers to re-enter the labor force.
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New Higher Education Comparison Tool
In 2019, the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation formed the Postsecondary Value Commission made up of 30 diverse leaders representing colleges, universities, policymakers, advocates, researchers, the business community, and students. Together, they have created the Equitable Value Explorer, a new interactive website tool released to the public on November 4 that will enable students to compare more than 4,000 colleges and universities on factors such as racial composition of the student body, net cumulative price of attendance, completion rates, the percentage of students who receive Pell Grants, and median earnings 10 years later. One of the key initiatives is to help higher education leaders “know their numbers” in order to put into practice evidence-based policies that promote economic mobility and social equity, with specific attention to racial and ethnic minorities and students from low-income households.
Beyond Housing
Nonprofit Quarterly just published an article by Calvin Gladney (Beyond Housing: Why Equity Demands a Complete Overhaul of Land Use Policy) which addresses the fact that although safe and affordable housing can help reduce intergenerational poverty and homelessness, it is not enough. Housing itself cannot advance economic justice or mobility for black or brown individuals. Gladney claims that where housing gets built (based on land use policies and location efficiency) should matter just as much as what housing gets built. New or rehabilitated housing in the wrong places can even negatively impact the communities where people of color live. According to a Smart Growth America and Brookings joint report titled The Great Real Estate Reset, the U.S. has gotten more segregated by race and income in urban and suburban neighborhoods. Statistics show that roughly 80 percent of low-income blacks and 75 percent of low-income Latinos live in “low income” communities, compared to less than 50 percent of low-income whites who live in a low-income community. Plenty of research has shown that mixed-income neighborhoods provide social and economic value, but those neighborhoods are more the exception than the rule.
Consider: As you expand your facilities and obtain additional properties to multiply your ministries, be sure to take into account how the location could advance economic justice and mobility in your community.
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