JANUARY 2019 BACC NEWSLETTER
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BACC is the leading organization in engaging community leaders in
understanding and shaping the future of the greater Green Bay area.
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President's Letter, Fr. Paul Demuth
Silos — one of our favorite sights in Wisconsin! When Bishop Robert Banks first came to the Catholic Diocese of Green Bay from Boston in 1990, he often remarked about all the barns we had and all the silos!!!!! Silos are also seen as symbols of isolation when people or ideas are kept separately from others, thus eliminating the possibility of communication and interplay.
As our population ages, assisted living homes and housing for older citizens provide opportunities for older citizens to rub shoulders with their peers and can be an antidote for isolation which sometimes results from living alone especially after a spouse dies. At the same time these facilities can also isolate our senior population from usual relationships with younger generations.
But there is another phenomenon that is also occurring. One third of grandparents are
caregivers for their coresident grandchildren. Occasioned by the divorce of parents, long
periods of absence because of work or travel, parents afflicted with drug/opioid abuse or
parents who are incarcerated, grandparents find themselves suddenly not living the “life of the
retired” but once again thrust into parenting. Some love this opportunity; others find it
burdensome. In any analysis, there are fewer silos in this evolving situation.
Perhaps what is happening is a 21st century rendition of earlier multigenerational living. We
can perhaps see this phenomenon as a example of an antidote to isolation and living in silos.
Our society features other local and national silos. We have an increasingly diverse population
in Green Bay. While the number of Latinos and African-Americans has doubled, we are still
predominantly a white population. Isolation from our more diverse population occurs for many
reasons: people of one or another population tend to live in one section of town. Language
barriers, especially of a first generation immigrant, prevent easy interpersonal communication.
We sometimes fear those who are “not like us” and therefore avoid them. Economic and
cultural differences can also isolate.
At the same time there is also a phenomenon within the younger population in our community
that thrives in an atmosphere of intercultural interaction. Many young people grow up, especially
when educated in our public school system, taking for granted the cross pollination that diversity
affords them. Kids see one another primarily as “other kids,” not as different. Many young
parents choose to live and move in circles that provide for their family multiple opportunities to
“mix and match” with our diverse population. One family recently shared with me that, while
their adopted daughter is Chinese in ethnicity, they have raised their daughter as American
through and through.
As our diverse population grows in age, culture and ethnicity in greater Green Bay, we have a
choice: to live in silos or be enriched by regular exposure to differences that our more diverse
population afford us. My hope is for the latter! What is your preference?
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Know your BACC Director: Heidi Selberg
Tell us a little bit about yourself—where you were raised, past and current professions and careers, how long you have lived in Brown County, and some of your favorite pass times
While I was born in Green Bay, I consider Marshfield my home town as we moved there when I was two years old. My parents were both from Green Bay, so when I came back for college, I had two special aunts who looked after me and filled up my refrigerator.
My first job post-graduate school was at United Way, where I stayed for 10 years. I left there in 1989 to work at St. Mary’s Hospital. Over the years, I held a variety of roles, all revolving around some core competencies—market research, strategic planning, governance, marketing and communications, government relations, and community benefit. When the regional office covering eastern Wisconsin was formed, I was named Vice President, Strategy and Advocacy, overseeing governance, strategic planning, government relations, and marketing/communications. When I retired from HSHS in January 2017, I was Vice President of Advocacy and Community Benefit, handling HSHS’s government relations for the state of Wisconsin and community benefit for eastern Wisconsin.
Romeo (his real name) and I have been together for over 25 years. He has three adult children, all of whom live in Green Bay. Together, we like to travel and plan to do as much as we can for as long as we can—he owns his own business, The Long-Term Care Guy, and so has flexibility to work remotely if necessary. Thus, we can now take trips fairly often. We’ve been to many European countries, the Caribbean, the US, Canada and Mexico, as well as Thailand and Cambodia. We also enjoy golfing and going to estate sales, and spending time at our little place in Door County.
I love my not-for-profits, so enjoy volunteering in the community. From this perspective, life is not that different from when I was overseeing Community Benefit for the hospitals-- with the possible exception of not having to set an alarm clock every day (one of the greatest benefits of “retirement,” imho.) In addition to BACC, I’m president of the Oral Health Partnership, Vice President of NEW Community Clinic, and on the board of the Girl Scouts of the Northwestern Great Lakes. I’m doing a little consulting for Connections for Mental Wellness. I’m always on the lookout for another way to make a contribution.
Describe your relationship to the BACC—when did you start on the BACC, what are your hopes for the BACC, what personal gifts do you bring to the BACC mission?
I joined the Board in 2016, though I had followed the BACC’s work for many years and have worked with many of the current and past board members in other settings. I was attracted to the BACC because of my interest in public policy, and the BACC is really the only independent organization equipped to evaluate it for our community and to speak out without being stereotyped. I’m not sure others agree, but when asked, I describe the BACC as a “think tank." I think I can support the BACC in a variety of ways, depending on our needs. This is a critical juncture for the BACC, as we may need to transform ourselves into something with more infrastructure if we want to continue down the path we’re on.
What do you like most about life in Brown County?
There are many things, as Brown County is home for me. I love the commitment residents have for improving their community—all the volunteerism though not for profits, churches, and so on, and how they get behind things they are passionate about, be it a cause or the Packers. I appreciate that it is a safe place to live, and that cost of living is affordable especially compared to other parts of the state and nation. I love the variety of activities available and our proximity to beautiful parts of Wisconsin, such as Door County. I like the ease of travel via the highway and interstate system. I appreciate how civil people are, generally speaking, and that we can still be outraged when our public officials act inappropriately. I love that we have several options for a quality higher education—public and private, university and technical. And, for the most part, I like the change of seasons, if we could only find a way for leaves to rake themselves and for snow to not fall on roads, driveways and sidewalks.
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JANUARY 10 BACC Board meeting
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President Demuth opened the meeting and expressed the belief of the BACC growing into its new role as the leading experts in forecast analysis in Brown County.
Committee chairs shared that the Futuring Committee is preparing a game plan of recommendations for 2019 futuring activities. The Communication Committee cited several foci for the coming months: sharpening our brand, updating our Website, and increasing our regular social media presence.
The Board benefitted from member Jamie Lynch's, Associate Professor of Sociology and Executive Director of the Strategic Research Institute, St. Norbert College, presentation on Brown County demographics. According to Lynch, framing questions are how will the changing demographics affect the local workforce AND how will the changing fertility rate affect life in Brown County. The country is definitely graying and the Green By community is graying less dramatically than US communities. When asked leading factors for the BACC to stress to our local community, Lynch cited later age of first marriage and co-residing (three generation) households. Dave Wegge asked directors what the BACC’s role was in disseminating these local demographic factors to the community.
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Favorite resources and news you can use
Recent news stories, articles, books, videos, Websites or venues of interest to the BACC supporters and newsletter readers, recommend by the BACC staff and directors. Also community events of interest to the BACC supporters
The Alzheimer's Association and the Alzheimer's Impact Movement (AIM) are celebrating the passage of the Building Our Largest Dementia (BOLD) Infrastructure for Alzheimer's Act (S. 2076/H.R. 4256). Signed into law earlier this month, the bill will enhance and improve our nation's public health response to the Alzheimer's crisis, and further demonstrates that Congress remains fully committed to the fight to end Alzheimer's.
Produced in conjunction with the Atlantic Monthly Group, CityLab is committed to telling the story of the world’s cities: how they work, the challenges they face, and the solutions they need.
Ellis, Joseph J. American Dialogue: The Founding Fathers and Us. 2018.
History, by definition, is “the branch of knowledge that records and analyzes past events.” Historians can expand the definition by showing how what happened then has a bearing on what is happening now. Joseph J. Ellis does that in
American Dialogue: The Founders and Us. He shows how the views and actions of Thomas Jefferson, John Adams, James Madison and George Washington continue to play out today. He deals with slavery then and racism now, the “pursuit of happiness” and economic inequality, creation of the Constitution then and its interpretation now, and development of western lands and the ensuing “slow-motion” genocide aimed at Native Americans.
Mark your calendar!
YWCA Greater Green Bay. "Diversity, Inclusion, Retention: Making Green Bay Home for Diverse Professionals," February 28, 2019.
Four past and present BACC directors will present. Click
here for more information about this morning conference.
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