Oak Park Area Lesbian and Gay Association
Since its inception in 1989, OPALGA has become one of the largest community based, multipurpose lesbian and gay membership organizations in Illinois.
2009 Potluck Hosts Needed
Have you always dreamed of hosting an OPALGA potluck, presiding over an evening’s get-together of scintillating women and men engaged in highbrow conversation and delicious gossip? (Okay, so maybe “highbrow” is an exaggeration and “scintillating” is a stretch, but the potlucks are really fun!) NOW’S YOUR CHANCE!!
The monthly potluck is OPALGA’s longest-running and most successful social activity. Held on the second Friday of each month, the potlucks are a great opportunity to share a meal with friends and to meet new people who are interested in the organization. Many of our members were first introduced to OPALGA through attending a potluck.
Planning is well under way for 2009, and we are still looking for volunteers to host potlucks. If your abode can accommodate upwards of 50 people and you would like to join the legendary ranks of potluck hosts, please contact Jim Kelly and Bruce Broerman at jamesbkelly@comcast.net or at 708-524-2542.
OPALGA Center Seeks Bookshelves, File Cabinets
The OPALGA Center Library Rejuvenation Project has been a phenomenal success so far! To date, over 100 books have been donated by OPALGA members and friends to The OPALGA Center library—thank you all for your generosity!
The Center is now in need of additional bookshelves to store these books. We hope to organize all of these books in order to create a usable, all-member-lending library. If anyone has any bookshelves that they would like to donate, please call Susan at 708-386-3463 to make arrangements.
We are also looking for file cabinets to store all of our important organizational records. Again, if any of you have file cabinets that you would like to donate, please call Susan at 708-386-3463.
Thanks again to all of you who have supported this project with such enthusiasm, and we encourage you to keep up the book donations!
News From BUNGALO
To our BUNGALO friends and members,
The BUNGALO Board of Directors had a busy spring and summer. May saw the inclusion of sexual orientation in Berwyn’s human rights ordinance. We hosted two Out After Work gatherings: drinks at Olive or Twist and an ice cream social at Over the Rainbow.
We screened the Academy-Award-winning film Freeheld at the 16th Street Theater as part of the Pride Week celebrations. The celebration for BUNGALO’s anniversary and Berwyn’s centennial held at Salerno’s was a big success.
The BUNGALO Board helped to staff a booth at North Halsted Market Days with the Berwyn Development Corporation (BDC). There, we met many festivalgoers from Berwyn, Oak Park, and Forest Park who were very impressed by the BUNGALO-BDC presence.
BUNGALO is in the process of going digital. We’re working to make sure that our e-mail lists are accurate. Look for the redesign of our Web site and logo coming soon. Membership renewal letters will soon be in your mailboxes. Please renew your memberships and support BUNGALO while we create our new look.
Annual Meeting Set for Unity Temple
One of the traditions of the fall, along with Chicago’s plunging temperatures, is OPALGA’s Annual Meeting. This year’s meeting, set for Tuesday, November 18, will take place at Oak Park’s historic Unity Temple. In addition to greeting friends and discussing the national election results, this year’s Annual Meeting will allow OPALGA members a chance to view both the Sanctuary and the Unity House of this wonderful building.
“Unity is a great location for our members,” said OPALGA Co-Chair Mike Cochran. It is conveniently located, and it showcases what is great and unique about our Village.”
In addition, OPALGA election results will be announced that evening. Members are urged to mark their ballots and return them as soon as possible when they receive them in the mail. The members of the Nominating Committee will be counting the actual ballots and announcing the results on the evening of the 18th, which should add to the excitement of the event.
Refreshments and beverages will be served, and OPALGA members should watch for further details about the Annual Meeting in the coming weeks.
September Coffeehouse a Great Success
Thanks to everyone who attended the fabulous spoken-word night at our September coffeehouse. With about 20 people in attendance, the group was captivated by our local artists’ talent. The October coffeehouse will be held on Friday, October 17, at 7:00 p.m. We will again be meeting in the basement of the New Spirit Community Church, 542 S. Scoville Ave., Oak Park. For an update on our October performers, please visit our Web site at http://www.opalga.org.
For more information about performing at or attending our coffeehouses, please contact The OPALGA Center at 708-848-0273. The coffeehouses are supported by the Oak Park Area Arts Council.
Oak Park Area Lesbian and Gay Association Strategic Plan 2008-2010
A1. Membership: Grow the total number of members through increased recruitment and more active commitment to current members.
A. Increase membership to 400 in 2008 and an additional 20% in each additional year.
B. Retain 85% of members.
C. Increase diversity of membership—age, geographic, familial status, ethnic background, non-gay, etc.
D. Increase percentage of members who are active (attendance/leadership).
E. Develop membership recruitment plan, including revision of membership application and other materials.
F. Expand outreach to businesses and organizations.
G. Improve connections with neighboring communities.
H. Improve Web site.
B1. Social: Provide opportunities for all LGBT persons in the Oak Park area to socialize in various venues and types of events.
A. Review effectiveness and purpose of current events—are they fun, fundraising, or both.
B. Increase attendance at events.
C. Increase diversity of attendees at events.
D. Evaluate events—is each event meeting its objective.
E. Develop programs focused on specific populations, especially families, African-Americans, singles, etc.
F. Add at least one new event per year if enough volunteers to plan/spearhead/support these event(s).
B2. Cultural Arts: Promote/showcase the talents of OPALGA members and the wider LGBT population and provide opportunities for exposure and participation in the general cultural arts.
A. Increase public performances, such as OUTspoken, gallery walks, etc.
B. Evaluate and possibly continue current activities, such as coffeehouses, book club, and theater outings.
C. Revive Peripheral Visions and/or 708.
D. Add or change one event each year.
B3. Public Policy: Continue to advance the LGBT agenda throughout the western suburbs, the state, and the nation.
A. Establish leadership in public policy for LGBT issues.
B. Identify areas of focus for the coming year, such as civil unions/gay marriage, domestic partner benefits in additional local communities, etc.
C. Identify geographic foci.
D. Involvement with Oak Park non-LGBT civic issues, such as political caucuses, get-out-the-vote campaigns, and organizations.
B4. Education (Members and Community): Provide education for the community-at-large about LGBT issues, and support the LGBT community through educational programs to support healthy and successful living in our community.
A. Reactivate speakers bureau.
B. Reactivate workshops and panels on topics such as parenting, blended families, financial, legal and health issues, etc.
C. Add “Health Tips” column in Empower.
D. Publicize social services resources.
B5. Program Services: Provide services to special populations—youth, young adults, and seniors.
A. Continue youth and young-adult service programs.
B. Evaluate need for special programming for seniors.
C Evaluate need for special programming for singles.
C1. Executive Director: Create position and hire individual.
A. Develop job description and performance expectations.
B. Identify funding sources and salary goals.
C. Complete strategic plan.
D. Develop recruitment plan.
C2. Organizational Structure: Develop systems to increase capacity of OPALGA.
A. Redevelop committee structures outside of yet directly connected to Board.
B. Establish Board committees.
C. Develop management procedures.
C3. Marketing and Public Relations: Increase community awareness of OPALGA and promote its activities.
A. Increase communications to members.
B. Develop print materials and distribution system within communities.
C. Promote all OPALGA events in newspapers and flyers.
D. Increase contact with general community organizations in western suburbs—churches, human services agencies, social clubs (Rotary, Elks, VFW, etc.).
E. Increase links to other LGBT organizations.
F. Develop promotional materials.
D1. Finance: Assure financial viability and growth of OPALGA.
A. Diversify sources of income.
B. Increase membership rates and create special categories and privileges.
C. Increase net revenue by $20,000 each year.
D. Develop major donor campaign, challenge grants, and focused appeals.
E. Identify and seek additional grants.
F. Evaluate charges and costs for best net return on all fundraising activities.
G. Continue to grow OPALGA.
Message from the Co-Chairs
Miscellaneous items of interest to the LGBT community and OPALGA members:
• It was with great sadness that we noted the recent death in California of Del Martin, longtime lesbian rights activist and a co-founder of the pioneering lesbian rights group the Daughters of Bilitis. Martin, 87, had been in the news when she married her partner of 55 years in California’s first legal gay union earlier this year. In an extremely sudden development, Martin died from complications from a broken arm. Such a sad twist to an otherwise wonderful story.
• At the Beijing Olympics, the Chinese divers had totally dominated and won seven gold medals in the seven completed events and seemed on their way to the eighth and final gold. However, one of those amazing moments in sports then occurred—openly gay diver Matthew Mitcham of Australia absolutely nailed his final two dives to beat the Chinese (and everyone else) in the men’s 10-meter platform diving competition. Mitcham, who won the gold by earning four perfect 10s on his final dive (due to its highest degree of difficulty, it became the highest-scoring dive in Olympic history), had earlier made news by bringing both his partner and his mother with him to Beijing. Reflecting upon his calmness in front of the wildly pro-Chinese crowd and his ultimate win, Matthew credited his struggles in coming to terms with being gay and publicly coming out as preparing him for his high drama at the Olympics. His triumph represented an outstanding accomplishment for LGBT athletes everywhere and, hopefully, sent a message to the entire athletic community.
• Shortly after Beijing, the Democratic National Party held its historic convention in Denver. Nearly lost among all of the Obama and Clinton hoopla was the fact that 374 delegates were identified as LGBT individuals. This stunning number not only represented the largest LGBT caucus in U.S. political history by far, but also caused even the most liberal Democratic officials to take notice of the growing political power of this group.
• Elsewhere in this issue of Empower, readers will notice a flyer for an upcoming production of “The Laramie Project.” As many of you know, this groundbreaking play is based on the events of October 7, 1998, surrounding the brutal torture and subsequent death of Matthew Shepard who was tortured solely because he was gay. The Center on Halsted’s Anti-Violence Project recently called Chicago’s attention to hate crimes. Among their conclusions was that such crimes are decreasing in number, both totally and in those directed solely at LGBT individuals. Further, the Center pointed out that such crimes range from physical attacks to verbal ones, as each carries with it different kinds of damages. OPALGA joins the Center and others in urging its members to report hate crimes of any nature. We must remember Matthew Shepard and be vigilant that such a scenario never repeats itself. Only by our voices, individually and collectively, can we raise everyone’s awareness and let it be known that we will not tolerate hate and ignorance of any nature directed at the LGBT community and/or any of its members.
• Finally, during this LGBT History Month, October 11 is National Coming Out Day. If you know of anyone struggling with this decision, offer any help you can, and keep OPALGA in mind. Call us if we can assist in any way.
For over a year now, readers of Empower have been reading about the efforts of the Board of Directors as they worked in conjunction with Dr. Carol Goldbaum, Ph.D., on a long-range planning project. The final work product, a three-year strategic plan, will guide the Board as it makes plans to position OPALGA to be able to hire its first executive director. On behalf of the entire Board of Directors, and with our thanks to Dr. Goldbaum, we are pleased to publish an outline version of that strategic plan for your perusal. We hope you will find it to be interesting reading, and we welcome your comments and suggestions. We would also like to thank those of you who took the time to respond to our OPALGA Friends and Members Survey earlier this year. We had a very healthy number of respondents, and we will be considering your responses in our future planning.
Around The OPALGA Center
HIV Testing
Don’t forget, you can get a free, anonymous rapid or conventional HIV test through OPALGA. If you are in need of a test or know of an event at which you would like testing to be available, please call The OPALGA Center at 708-848-0273. We are able to provide testing that fits your schedule.
Prism
Prism, our weekly drop-in group for LGBT youth, took a break during September so that we could reach out to youth in their schools. Prism will resume on Thursday, October 2, at 7:00 p.m. at The OPALGA Center.
Educational Outreach
Did you know that OPALGA’s trained professional staff is available to provide technical assistance at your school or workplace on issues affecting the LGBT community? If you or anyone you know is looking for a speaker for your next workshop or staff in-service day, please call The OPALGA Center at 708-848-0273.
Happy LGBT History Month and National Coming Out Day!
A Note from PFLAG
Thank you OPALGA!
Once again, you have helped to make our Farmers’ Market bake sales wildly successful. Not only did you help with the baking, but you also helped by buying delicious, homemade goodies. We also thank you for just stopping by and visiting with us. It’s good to make money but even better to know that our efforts are appreciated.
On a sadder note, one of our beloved members, Rosalie Lambis, passed away on September 12. You may remember her for her outrageous jewelry and hats and her love of talking to anyone and everyone. She will be missed by everyone who knew her.
2009 Potluck Hosts Needed
Have you always dreamed of hosting an OPALGA potluck, presiding over an evening’s get-together of scintillating women and men engaged in highbrow conversation and delicious gossip? (Okay, so maybe “highbrow” is an exaggeration and “scintillating” is a stretch, but the potlucks are really fun!) NOW’S YOUR CHANCE!!
The monthly potluck is OPALGA’s longest-running and most successful social activity. Held on the second Friday of each month, the potlucks are a great opportunity to share a meal with friends and to meet new people who are interested in the organization. Many of our members were first introduced to OPALGA through attending a potluck.
Planning is well under way for 2009, and we are still looking for volunteers to host potlucks. If your abode can accommodate upwards of 30 people and you would like to join the legendary ranks of potluck hosts, please contact Jim Kelly and Bruce Broerman at jamesbkelly@comcast.net or at 708-524-2542.
