Mobile United Committee Highlights 2014

The Mobile United general membership holds monthly meeting focusing on issues relevant to the Mobile area community. All members and guests are welcome.

On June 5^th, we graduated our 41^st class of Leadership Mobile with the induction of 47 new students into the Mobile United family. The projects, presented at Bernheim Hall inside the Ben May Library, covered six key areas that affect our quality of life: economic development, the environment, public health, community development, public education and downtown redevelopment & tourism. While some projects are still in the process of implementation, some* have already taken shape in the improvement of these areas:

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  CashMob Mobile from the Economic Development team {see FB page}
  
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  One Recycle Mobile from the Environmental team {see FB page}
  
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  Work with the school board to implement age-appropriate sex education to curb teenage pregnancy from the Public Health team
  
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  Project blueprints for the upcoming One Mobile website from the Community Development team
  
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  A mentor database and opportunities from our Education team 
  
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  A kid-friendly zone to help spur Downtown Redevelopment during LoDa ArtWalks between August and October.  
  

We recently completed interviews for the Class of 2015 – looking forward to selecting the next class of community leaders.

This is an exciting time for YLM. Forty-four students have been selected to participate in the YLM Class of 2015. Seventeen schools will be represented in this year’s class. Students will participate in an opening retreat (June 14) and the Summer Intensive (June 16-18). The following seminars will be included in the Summer Intensive: Health and Human Services, Government, Law, and Politics, Leadership Soft Skills, Arts and Recreation, Food and Hunger, Environment, and Project Development. Thank you to all of our sponsors and community leaders who invest time and resources in our youth.

Upcoming Dates:
June 14 – Opening Retreat YLM Class 2015

June 16-18 – Summer Intensive for Class 2015

Mission: To create a united Mobile from the affluent areas to the poverty stricken areas and everywhere in between by breaking-down racial barriers and the apathetic nature of the city in order to make Mobile a lovable city.

The sub-committee will take on two projects to help achieve these goals. The first project will be a community service day between MAMGA Junior Court and the MCA Juvenile Court. The two groups will perform community service together and be tasked to interact with each other promoting unity and inclusion. Also, the sub-committee will create a middle-school aged program that will bring together a true cross-section of Mobile to begin open dialogue on race and inclusion. Youth Leadership Mobile completed a focus group meeting for research on this project. As a result, they will participate in a pilot school swap where one student visits another different school for a day to learn about the differences and similarities of their day to day activities.

Next meeting: July 22, noon at All Saints Episcopal Church

1. 
   Live Better Mobile was asked to make a presentation to the quarterly gathering of the Alabama Department of Public Health’s Obesity Task Force in Clanton, about the initiative and about the rollout of the ReThink Your Drink campaign in Mobile County. LBM hosted and transported a half dozen evidence based obesity prevention partners to the meeting so that Mobile is well represented at the gathering.
   
2. 
   Live Better Mobile continued to meet and plan with evidence-based partners in Mobile County for an Obesity conference in November. Partners include Infirmary Health, Junior League of Mobile, Page & Palette Bookstore, Mobile Area Education Foundation and others.
   
3. 
   Continued with its Year of Wellness demonstration project with partner Infirmary Health, involving 30 leaders from Mobile United. The group worked on a fitness challenge and met for its second Lunch & Learn with a registered dietician from Morrison’s about portion control. The second set of data will be gathered from participants in June and program results will be publicized on the Live Better Mobile website.
   
4. 
   Brought on a pro-bono grant writer to work on funding for programs for 2015.
   

The MU Education Committee's overall goal is to create a comprehensive service learning/community volunteer requirement within the Mobile Co. Public School System. The research indicates there are numerous benefits to youth being involved and serving their community.  During the April 24^th meeting, we decided to approach MCPSS about supporting the community service initiative by making it an incentive for students instead of a requirement.  On June 26 the committee met with Allison Miller of Mary G. Montgomery school to discuss partnering with her successful annual leadership conference. We will use the participants at the upcoming winter event to pilot our proposed program.  The participating students will create an account with the existing HandsOn volunteer database in order to learn about and document their volunteer hours.  

In 2013, the Committee chose to work on the longtime community goal of increasing bike and pedestrian paths from downtown Mobile to Dauphin Island. In light of Airbus and the plans for the Brookley Aeroplex, we chose to raise public awareness about the benefit of establishing a pedestrian and biking path along Bayfront Road in the Brookley Aeroplex, specifically connecting Arlington Park to Bayfront Drive at Perimeter Road. We have worked to educate the landowners, tenants and the public to support development of the path.

In order to raise public awareness, to educate citizens about our natural resources, to promote the health benefits of biking and walking, and to experience the beauty of coastal Alabama’s ecological resources, the Committee has partnered with Mobilians on Bikes to hold a Shoreline Bike Ride along this path in spring 2014. Throughout the ride, attendees will be able to learn from experts about the different ecosystems that exist along the trail, the issues that are facing this region and what citizens can do to help. Planning is underway, and we would welcome involvement from Mobile United members.
 The first annual “Crepe Myrtle Ride” happened on June 21, the first day of summer with nearly 150 riders and 14 partners. We hope to make this a biannual event until we can figure out how to make this a permanent trail.
The Committee meets the second Tuesday of each month at 8am at Baykeeper offices. We also discuss other major environmental issues facing our community with the goals of engaging additional partners for lasting solutions. Next meeting July 8 and September 9 (We are not meeting in August).

PUBLIC SAFETY – Lori Myles

This committee includes educators, business leaders, law enforcement, judges, as well as Leadership Mobile graduates and personnel from the Drug Education Council. The focus is on drug testing in the MCPSS (Mobile County Public School System) for high school students. The committee had a community meeting on January 15^th and included educators and business leaders to discuss ways to bring more students into the testing pool. Currently the pool includes those students who are in extracurricular activities, play sports, park on campus or whose parents complete an “opt in” form. There will be a “Say Yes to the Test” billboard campaign to help boost those “opt in” numbers.

This committee meets on the 3^rd Wednesday at noon at the Drug Education Council. Next meeting July 16 and August 20