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Western Roundup

What’s Happening in USWD Areas?

Alaska: The smallest Area by Leader numbers and the largest Area by geographical borders, has been experimenting with some alternative ways to reach out and support Leaders.

Financial support has been offered to Alaska Leaders in the form of scholarships to attend the LLLI Conference and/or Global Strategic Planning Summit in Chicago this July, as well as the Alaska Breastfeeding Coalition Conference.

To reach out to Area Leaders, the Area Council purchased several 120-minute long-distance calling cards and sent them to all active and reserve Leaders and Leader Applicants. Recipients are encouraged to use these cards to call whomever they feel would be helpful to them. Alaska Leaders are not all connected by a road system and for some, the nearest LLL Leader is an expensive plane ride away.

In addition, the Area Council scheduled quarterly audio-conferences using www.FreeConference.com. As the name implies, there aren’t any costs associated with the service, but to call in requires a long-distance call and everyone now has an LLL calling card to cover this cost. The calls are publicized with a mailed flyer and followed up with a couple of email notices. Each of the conference calls is held at a different time, on a different day of the week, to increase the likelihood that everyone would be able to “attend” at least once, although Leaders and Applicants are encouraged to attend them all.

Participation has been low, but the people who have questions or who want to participate in the camaraderie of talking together can get their needs met. There isn’t a set agenda. Discussion topics are determined by those who participate and there is always at least one Area Council member present to facilitate if needed. It is like an informal LLL Group meeting for Leaders and Applicants over the phone.

Wanda Fulton, AFC, wrote: “It is working for us here in Alaska and I’d be happy to answer any questions from others considering this for their Area Council, District, Area or other workgroup.  Send an email to me at 'LLLofAK at yahoo.com'.”

Arizona: Sharon Olson describes their recent Leader Education Workshop as "A great day for generating Leader enthusiasm and camaraderie!"

She says, "I was able to share the information from FutureTEAM in person with Arizona Leaders, and I think it made a significant difference in how positively they now perceive the direction our organization is going.  One of the things I stated is that LLL is US: every Leader in the room makes a difference to the mothers and babies she assists on behalf of LLL."

Karen Sims, ACL, had asked Jane Tuttle, LLLI Board Chair, to provide a statement to be shared at this event. It warrants a page of its own; read it here.

Several new Area Council Team appointments have been made in the last month.  Karen Sims has retired as ACL after serving in that position for over 5 years.  The Area welcomes Wendy Arendt as ACL, who began her term March 1.  After serving as ACC/ALLE for two years, Ina McGinley has been appointed CLA, and she will begin orientation to this job as soon as she publishes the up-coming issue of Sunshine, the Area Leaders' Letter.  Karen Sims, wanting to ensure that she doesn’t get bored, has just accepted the position of ACC/ALLE for this Area.

Arkansas/Oklahoma: La Leche League of Arkansas/Oklahoma will host a series of Leader Workshops in April. At these workshops, ADCs will hand out and discuss the new AR/OK Area Handbook in detail with Leaders.  Also planned are break-out discussions meant to provide Leaders with an opportunity to keep up-to-date.

The AR/OK Area Handbook is meant to fill in information gaps for Leaders. As Leaders need additional information or resources, the Area Handbook will also serve as a directory of available departments, Area specific resources, and forms. The handbook will also serve as a means to provide transparency of AR/OK Area operations, and will explain in detail how the AR/OK Area meets the USWD Agreements for implementing LLLI Policies provisions.

LLL of AR/OK is once again using Search Teams to fill open ADC positions.

Illinois: LLL of Illinois had a fantastic Centralia Workshop with a turnout of almost 50 attendees on March 24th!  A reporter from the local Centralia newspaper came and interviewed us for a story.  We also were fortunate to hear from Heidi Sloss (former LLLI Board member), Dee Kassing, and Laurie Shornick.  We are offering "$50 for the 50th" to all Leaders in Illinois.  In return for filling out our Area Leader Survey (to learn more about how Illinois Leaders would like to be supported by the Area), Illinois is giving each Active or Reserve Leader $50 to attend the 2007 LLLI Conference in Chicago.  We have heard from 78 Illinois Leaders out of 236 who plan to attend.  If any Leaders coming to the conference need help finding lodging, many Chicagoland Leaders are willing to open up their homes to help keep others' traveling costs down.  Also, Leaders might consider staying at a youth hostel in downtown Chicago, run by Hosteling International.  It is within walking distance to the conference.  And at $29 for one person, it is a great deal. It is relatively new and pretty nice.  They can accommodate families.  Leaders can check it out at  http://www.iyhf.org/dba/list.php?lang=E

Minnesota/Dakotas: This comes from Susan Sailors, ACL: “LLL of Minnesota and the Dakotas (MN/DAs) next Leader Day and Continuing Education event is scheduled for Nov. 4th and 5th, 2007.  Both events will be in St. Paul with Leader Day at the Minnesota Department of Health, Snelling Office Park, and Continuing Education Day at the University of Minnesota's Continuing Education Center. Our CE Day speakers will be Kathleen Kendall-Tackett, PhD, who will present on postpartum depression, and Dr. Madeline Gartner, who will present on breast health issues during lactation.  For Leader Day, Kathleen Kendall-Tackett will present "The Hidden Feelings of Motherhood" and the "Well-Ordered Home."  If you would like more information about the events, you can contact Linda Dech at 'ldech at charter.net'. We would love to have sister Leaders from nearby states participate in these events!”

Montana: Montana Area Leaders are busy fundraising to attend the LLLI Conference in Chicago.  At the moment, more than one quarter of Area Leaders are planning on attending!  (Easy to do when Leader numbers are small!)  ACL LeeAnn Swain shares. “We'll be holding our LLL of Montana Spring Workshop in Billings.  It is always fun to get together!”

Nebraska: Effective April 1, 2007, Nebraska is an affiliate of Eastern United States (EUS).

New Mexico: Gina Peterson reports: LLL of New Mexico is currently going through many changes. We are exploring new ways to work together as an Area, so that all Leaders feel supported and have an opportunity to influence what happens. Instead of an Area Council, we built an Administrative Team. Because taking an Area position can be intimidating, we thought it may be helpful to break up the ACL position into mother-sized pieces. The ACL position could become the Leader Support Team. I would personally like to concentrate on corresponding with Leaders through surface mail and email. Another Leader on the Leader Support Team could collect and process the monthly and bi-annual statistics. We could schedule conference calls often and also work closely through email so that all interested New Mexico Leaders could participate regardless of geographic location. As we discern more of the needs of the Area, we will add more members and responsibilities to the Leader Support Team.  

Oregon: ACL Esther Schiedel writes: “We have formed what we are calling our Area Decision Circle--seven Leaders, mostly current Area Department Coordinators--that we hope to make into our final decision-making body. We've got a CN discussion group and have met once in person (most of us) in Feb. We’re hoping to confer by conference calls or online chats as well.

“We were disappointed that our Area Conference in Nov. 2006 lost money, but we are gathering together a group of Leaders interested in planning for future events--whether conferences or CE days or something different.

“We had a Leader-organized workshop March 1, which was educational and a good time to connect. We have scheduled a Meeting of the Minds for April 21 to talk about Area structure. We are hoping to have other workshops and meetings throughout the state this year.”

Texas: LLL of Texas is excited to have their Area Coordinator of Events (ACE) team in place for their next Area Conference, which will be held in the Dallas-Ft. Worth area in the summer of 2008.  Rachel Hillman and Shannon Blakely will be co-ACEs for this event.  This worked well for their last co-ACE team, Tina Castellanos and Nancy Graves.

LLL of Texas has already given out eight (of their ten) $50 LLLI Conference stipends to Area Leaders.  LLL of Texas feels strongly about helping support the LLLI Conferences and helping Texas Leaders attend.

The Leader department has been working hard to update the Area Directory and encourage Leaders and Groups to stay current with dues to LLLI and LLL of Texas. A new Area Leader Handbook is also planned. The Area hopes to distribute it electronically to most Leaders to save on printing and mailing costs.

Wisconsin: The ADCs met in February and started writing the Wisconsin Agreements. They also decided to extend full scholarships to some Leaders to attend the LLLI Conference this summer, as a thank you for doing Area work. So far there are three confirmed "yes" Leaders. The ADCs are happy to be able to offer this option this year!