Attendance:  Naimah, Lynn, Diane, Claretta, Ann.  New attendees:  Natosha, Krystal

 Special invitations to CABC:  Lynn has asked Audra Post and Angela Daniel to attend the January 11 meeting.

 Reception/Networking event:  Naimah will convene the planning team after her graduation in December (Congrats!).  See October 26 minutes for more information on who is on the planning team.

 Webinar on Coalitions becoming non-profits:  Diane reported that it included detailed steps on how to becoming a non-profit, and how to register with the state and federal agencies.  The examples were for Indiana, so there may be some differences in Michigan. Discussion re: whether CABC should take this step.  The easiest and most economical process would work for us if we limit our income to $5,000 or less.  This would allow us to establish a bank account and to accept donations and sell items on a limited basis. Formalizing in this way would require bylaws and officers, and people willing to put their names and addresses on the forms, as well as annual reporting, which doesn’t sound too difficult.

Coalition structure:  The Coalition has been operating without a board, officers, structure or funding. Lacking these has not kept the Coalition from moving forward with numerous projects, and providing a means for communication and coordination with community organizations and individuals. A future meeting should include  goal- setting to decide the direction we want to go with the Coalition, as well as the events planned for this year. The Coalition should be structured in the best way to accomplish the goals that are set.

Coalition Meeting Schedule: Suggestions for a regular day each month for meetings so people know in advance.  Lynn will send a doodle poll or survey monkey to ask which day of the month will work best for meetings.

Resource guide and website: Discussion of the various resource guides currently maintained by the Coalition, and the challenge to keep all versions consistent and up to date. Discussed the amount of paper used to print so many resource guides– some are not kept and end up being thrown out.  Moms are using phones, etc., to go to links, not using paper. End of discussion was to suggest keeping the website version with all the info on it, and then using a business card size printed with the CABC website and one or two phone numbers. Krystal will check to see if the 211 line can be used to ask for breastfeeding support. Ann will work on card layout when we have decided what to put on the card. The card could be glued to a magnet.

Updates: 

Startup of Cristo Rey breastfeeding support group every Friday except holidays, 10 – 11 a.m. Located in the house across the street from Cristo Rey. Claretta, Naimah and Natosha are co-facilitators. Claretta will email Diane when it is time to update the website with this information.

Update after the meeting:  Shannon from the Michigan Breastfeeding Network has asked to attend our February 8 meeting to talk about the workplace breastfeeding project– should be great to hear about it.

 Next meetings:         Wednesday, January 11, 5:30 – 7:30

                                    Wednesday, February 8, 5:30 – 7:30