Brief Recap of Today's Event at Orlando Health

Dear Reader,

I...am...

showered and cooled down. It was hot out there today! Thank you goes out many people who helped me get through the day, make sure I didn't cross over into the permitted area (so I didn't get arrested as I was told would happen) and did their part to make this next step towards a more culturally competent Orlando Health a success. (I will formally thank these contributors after I receive their permission to do so.)

A success not because there is some magic number of petitions signatures it will produce.

A success not because all of the sudden tomorrow Orlando Health is going to finally make the changes outlined in the petition (though that would be awesome).

But a success because every step bringing attention to this movement is a step closer to the the vision outlined in the petition.

The image above shows me 'wearing' all the names of the petition that were signed by earlier this week. Imagine - with your help how I will look when we get to 500 signatures - or a thousand.

Keep encouraging people to sign the petition to encourage Orlando Health to be more culturally competent. Your voice matters. Every step towards this end matters.

Thanks for reading.

Alan L. Bounville

PS I will be editing the video footage from today and posting that very soon so you can see more of the impact the 115 people I was wearing had on today's activity.

A Few Quotes to Keep Me Motivated on a Sleepless Night

Dear Reader,

I've been finishing the final details in preparation for tomorrow's activity I will be doing to encourage Orlando Health to be more culturally competent. I have all my ducks in a row so to speak - support materials printed in case any one wants to ask in depth questions about the difference between what Orlando Health currently promotes as its cultural competence and what really defines cultural competence. I have all my other printed materials in order as well to collect paper petitions and promote the online petition. And of course, I have finished my very visual display that will show all who see me all of the other voices that have come forward thus far in this movement.

But, the focus here this early morning is to share with you a few powerful quotes that have kept me fueled this evening. The quotes come from a fantastic book, Voices of a People's History of the United States by Howard Zinn and Anthony Arnove. Enjoy...

"If there is no struggle there is no progress...This struggle may be a moral one, or it may be a physical one, and it may be both moral and physical, but it must be a struggle. Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will. Find out just what any people will quietly submit to and you have found out the exact measure of injustice and wrong which will be imposed upon them, and these will continue till they are resisted with either words or blows, or with both." - Frederick Douglass (inside front cover past table of contents)

"(T)he plantation owner came, and said, 'Frannie Lou...If you don't go down and withdraw your registration, you will have to leave...because we are not ready for that in Mississippi' And I addressed him and told him and said, 'I didn't try to register you. I tried to register for myself." - Fannie Lou Hamer (p. 24) This was given as part of her testimony in 1964 in regard to her right to register to vote and the apparent oppressive nature of the plantation owner for whom she was a share cropper.

"Whenever injustices have been remedied, wars halted, women and blacks and Native Americans given their due, it has been because "unimportant" people spoke up, organized, protested, and brought democracy to life." (p. 24)

I hope tomorrow (that being Saturday) I am an unimportant person.

Thanks for reading.

Alan L. Bounville

Preparing for this Saturday's Encouragement Activity at Orlando Health

Dear Reader,

Tonight I am printing petitions, slips of paper to promote the link to the online petition, the Human Rights Campaign's Health Care Equality Index, legal documents to have on hand showing anyone who asks that I am well within my first amendment rights, other support materials - all the while ordering my signage and visual display materials in support of Orlando Health becoming more culturally competent. I do this in preparation for a Saturday in my hometown. A Saturday that will matter more to me than many Saturdays have in the past. This Sunday I can say to myself, "I did something yesterday. I don't quite know what, but something."

Like all activities to inspire people to dream for something better, I won't know the outcome of Saturday's activity until it is complete. And then, I still might not know how it fits into this big puzzle. But what it does do is add another piece to the puzzle so eventually the picture will become crystal clear to Orlando Health and all of Central Florida how much needed are the changes promoted in the petition to encourage Orlando Health to become more culturally competent.

I will say this - I have modified (for the better I feel) what I will be doing outside Miracle Miles (an event I managed for 2 1/2 years by the way - helping it grow by 800 runners just last year - I say this not so show how effective I can be but to show how much I love this organization and want them to do the right thing in the areas outlined in the petition - I was dedicated to the Orlando Health mission then - and I stay dedicated to it to this day. Wow, that was a long parenthetical statement) and the Community Block Party this Saturday.

I feel one of three things will take place while I'm out there in front of the thousands of people who will be out at these combined events.

1. No one will care. I will be looked at as some wacko disgruntled ex employee (which I am not as my above parenthetical statement attests).

2. People will not be happy with me and make that known somehow.

3. People will be intrigued by what I am doing, ask questions, realize the present reality of Orlando Health's current policies, see all the other people who have supported this effort so far and jump on board and sign the petition on the spot.

In reality, I would imagine what I will experience will be a combination of the three. But, like the petition itself, what I will be doing on Saturday is an experiment. When one engages in trying to impact change, it can never be known exactly what the right mix is for the desired outcome. Thus, Sunday I will know I did something that mattered, but I may not know how it builds the history of this movement- yet.

But no matter what happens on Saturday - it's all good. It's another piece because...

I assure you, after over a year working towards the vision of a more inclusive Orlando Health - know that Saturday is just as I propose - one more step. I have no intention of giving up after this if this doesn't work. I have no clue how much will need to be done for the vision of the future to become the present reality. I only know that I will persist.

And, I say 'I' because in this moment I am only talking about my experiences in this movement. I am not the defining factor that will cause Orlando Health to finally make the changes it needs to make to be more culturally competent. I am just a person who sees a better way and has worked with a group of people who still work at the organization and are not able to be as bold as I to encourage change.

You though - you are also a person. You may decide you will get behind the existing efforts. You may (or may have already) sign the petition. You may end up out at the events this Saturday with your friends and family and all wear stickers to support the movement that is encouraging Orlando Health to be more culturally competent. You may do something completely different to help reach Orlando Health so they start publicly making change for the better in the area of diversity/multiculturalism.

And as should always be the case, no matter what Orlando Health promotes they are doing in this area now or in the future, I assure you I will - and you should as well - be keeping my eye keenly trained on their activities. The organization should have changed years ago when other business leaders in Central Florida started the journey to become more culturally competent. It is very important that when Orlando Health start this vital work they do so for the right reasons and in the right way. This is not a smoke and mirrors marketing strategy like making sure all advertising has multiple ethnic faces represented. This is about a deeper understanding about what it means to be culturally competent. About how to better recruit and retain a diverse team member base. About how to reduce disparities between ethnic group's health outcomes. About providing equal benefits to all team members.

And it's about a never ending commitment to diversity/multiculturalism to better achieve the mission of Orlando Health which is, "To improve the health and quality of life of the individuals and communities we serve." Which individuals and which communities does Orlando Health serve best at present? This is the question a culturally competent organization should always be asking itself, especially when lives are on the line in its work every hour of every day.

Thanks for reading.

Alan L. Bounville

Video of Speech Submitted for Equality Idol Competition

Dear Reader,

I wanted to share with you first the following video I submitted for the Equality Idol competition. If the internal panel of judges for the National Equality March choose my video as one of the top five submissions it will be loaded onto their Facebook page and Youtube for public voting. If then my video received the most public votes I would be invited to speak at the October National Equality March. Your comments about this speech's content and delivery are greatly appreciated.

Thanks for reading - and watching.

Alan L. Bounville

First Day of School

Dear Reader,

On the arch in Washington Square Park in New York City it reads, “Let us raise a standard to which the wise and the honest can repair. The event is in the hand of God.”

– Washington

I sat there in the park by the fountain the other day to ‘have a moment’ before I attended my first class as a Master’s student moving closer to my dreams.

I sat there and thought of Les Caulfield. Les was my high school drama teacher and as I recently learned, a graduate of the New York University Master’s in Educational Theatre program – my program. I remember right before I finished high school he advised me to find a comfortable place on campus to go to and reflect upon my past high school experiences and think about where I wanted to go with my future.

‘To reflect and dream’ is what he was suggesting. Where have I been and where do I want to go?

I didn’t complete that activity until last year. I went back to my high school campus on a stormy Florida summer afternoon, mid July and sat on a green bench and just thought. I thought about why I didn’t do as he suggested fourteen years before. I thought about what I wanted to do with myself, ‘when I grew up.’ And I reflected on the ten years since graduating college and what I had and had not set out to do and what I had and had not accomplished.

The green bench I sat upon was the bench I had lunch at every day during school. My girlfriends and I would have the best times there – just being. No thoughts of the future or the past – just there eating, having fun.

In the monsoon that fell upon me last summer, I decided I would not leave that bench until I decided that upon standing I was going to commit to finally take my life in its intended direction. Over the years innocence beget experience, but the experience didn’t always bring with it fun I had experienced so many years ago.

As I sat in the pouring rain, in the lightning and intense wind – drenching myself – cleansing myself in a sort of way – as I sat – I decided I didn’t want to be a fundraising event manager any more. I did that for five of the ten years since completing my BA in Theatre from The Florida State University. I didn’t want to live in Orlando any more. I wanted to move to New York City like I had told myself time and time again I would do some day. I wanted to affect social change in a creative way – especially towards LGBTQ equality. I wanted to immerse myself in a new way of being and have not the end result, but the journey be what I lived for, reveled in.

As I sat – in the park the other day I realized all it took to get me there staring up at the arch was the ability to listen just to myself for a change. And, in my first class on the first day of this new journey, which appropriately is a research methods class I felt relieved. And I appreciated the introduction given in the class in regard to the vast resources that are now at my fingertips here at NYU. I really did appreciate this. I can begin to see how literate leads to articulate which leads to changing the world. Seeing the utopia in my mind while studying and feeling my way through the reality of the new journey – and using these new seemingly endless resources to get a bit closer to the ideal – that’s why I am here. And that journey, thought it may be hard at times is a new kind of fun for me.

Thanks for reading.

Alan L. Bounville

Next Phase Encouraging Orlando Health to Become More Culturally Competent

Dear Reader,

I am happy to announce the petition to encourage Orlando Health to become more culturally competent has surpassed 100 signatures! The comments that are coming in as people sign the petition show that Orlando Health needs to do better for its team members, physicians, patients and the whole community in regard to diversity/multicultural activity within the organization.

The petitioners so far include current team members, past team members, patients, community members, medical professionals and people from other communities who all agree - Orlando Health needs to become more culturally competent.

But, since Orlando Health has been unresponsive to the petition effort thus far, it is time to announce the next course of action to let the organization know that the over 100 people (and growing) who have signed the petition are very serious.

On Saturday, September 26 Orlando Health is celebrating the “Community Block Party” on the campus of Arnold Palmer Medical Center (APMC)* to commemorate the 20^th anniversary of Arnold Palmer Hospital for Children. Prior to the Community Block Party, also on the APMC campus is the 11^th Annual Miracle Miles 15K, 5K and Kids’ Fun Run benefiting the Neonatal Intensive Care Unit at Winnie Palmer Hospital for Women & Babies. Both of these events signify great accomplishments for Orlando Health and benefit all of Central Florida.

And, these two events will be among the largest events in Orlando Health’s history with many thousands of people present. The petition organizer (Alan L. Bounville) and a team of this effort’s supporters will be presenting the below picketing display, offline petition gathering and online petition promotion on the public sidewalks right by the events on September 26th in accordance with the First Amendment of the United States Constitution and all applicable state and local laws between the hours of 6 AM – 3 PM unless…

Orlando Health presents a viable plan to the petition organizer and the public to adhere to the call to action in the petition (see link below) by Saturday, September 19, 2009 - a week prior to the joined events.

Below are links to the two events mentioned above and the petition. I hope you will come out to the events with your family showing how diverse Central Florida is and also support the building momentum of encouragement the community is now providing for Orlando Health to become more culturally competent.

Picketing Display (click on image to enlarge):

Community Block Party:

http://www.arnoldpalmerhospitalbirthday.com/BlockParty/default.aspx

Miracle Miles 15K, 5K and Kids’ Fun Run:

http://www.orlandohealth.com/orlandohealth/GetInvolved/MiracleMiles.aspx?pid=3523

Petition for Orlando Health to become more culturally competent:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/orlando-health-diversity-initiative

Sincerely,

Alan L. Bounville

Former Orlando Health team member and current donor in good standing with the organization

alanbounville@gmail.com

407-484-6671

Thank You! A Great Start.

Dear Reader,

Re: Orlando Health Diversity Initiative

Thanks goes out to:

Equality Florida
OneOrlando.org
Metropolitan Business Association (Central Florida's LGBT Chamber of Commerce)

for spreading the word through their networks of the importance of this petition.

And of course, to the growing number of individuals who have worked on the front lines and behind the scenes to this point and of course the signers of the petition.

See Equality Florida's blog post:

http://eqfl.blogspot.com/2009/09/urge-orlando-health-to-become-more.html

Orlando Health can better serve the entire Central Florida community by becoming more culturally competent.

See the petition and the support this petition is gaining:

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/orlando-health-diversity-initiative

It's amazing to see how fast leaders in Florida are stepping up to the plate to endorse/support this effort.

Thanks for reading.

Alan Bounville
alanbounville@gmail.com
407-484-6671

Sign This Petition to Encourage Orlando Health to Become More Culturally Competent

Dear Reader,

Several months ago a group of Orlando Health team members presented a proposal to key executive leaders of the organization calling for the development of a diversity initiative to benefit the organization, its team members, physicians and patients and the community at large. After several meetings with key leaders within the organization nothing has happened.

There are several inconsistencies within Orlando Health's team member and patient policies in regard to diversity/multicultural awareness.

Some examples include:

-Orlando Health does not allow team members to form groups to discuss diversity/multicultural awareness.

-Orlando Health does not educate its team members about the culturally competent way to treat its patients and team members in regard to important racial and ethnic differences.

-Orlando Health protects a team member's sexual orientation in its team member nondiscrimination policy, but does not do so in its patient's bill of rights.

-Orlando Health does not protect the gender identity of its team members or patients.

-Orlando Health does not provide domestic partner health benefits for its team members, regardless of sexual orientation.

-Orlando Health's mission is "to improve the health and quality of life of the individuals and communities we serve." Due to the above and the unknown number of opportunities for recruitment and advancement the organization has not yet explored, Orlando Health is behind other business leaders.

As the fifth largest employer in Central Florida, it is time Orlando Health lead like Walt Disney World, Universal Orlando, SeaWorld Orlando and several other top employers in the market and develop a diversity/multicultural awareness initiative that will ultimately lead to the organization establishing a diversity/multicultural office to better achieve its mission.

Please join me in signing this petition to tell Orlando Health it is time to embrace positive change.

http://www.thepetitionsite.com/1/orlando-health-diversity-initiative

Thanks for reading.

Alan L. Bounville
Former Orlando Health team member and donor in good standing with the organization