Tag Archives: D.A. Reed

Kent County’s Sexual Assault Prevention Action Team a ‘Success Story’, but survey shows work yet to do

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By D.A. Reed, WKTV Contributing Writer 

Recent Kent County-led but community-wide efforts to prevent sexual violence, including a recent survey directing public education and team training efforts, are garnering excitement and hope in the healthcare field.

But everybody knows work still needs to be done.

The Sexual Assault Prevention Action Team of Kent County (SAPAT) is a coalition of Kent County’s individuals and organizations dedicated to the elimination of sexual violence. The team’s goal is to stop sexual assault before it starts by providing education, training, and events to the community that will help people understand how they can prevent sexual assault from occurring.

In order to maximize SAPAT’s effectiveness, a team was formed to create a survey of 38 questions that was put before the general public in the fall of 2021. The results of that survey effort were important and enlightening.

(Pxhere)

“Sexual violence is a real issue that can impact anyone. Our goal was to see what the perceptions and experiences of people in West Michigan were in regard to sexual violence,” Aaron Toffoli, leader of the survey workgroup, said to WKTV. “We wanted to see … if they had experienced some sort of sexual violence, how law enforcement responded, how organizations meant to serve people who have experienced sexual violence worked for those people — or didn’t. What did they do good, what they could improve? We really wanted to get an idea of any gaps that were existing.”

The purpose of the survey was to allow SAPAT to gain a bigger picture of what was going on in regard to sexual violence in Kent County to drive their strategic planning and fill those existing gaps.

Survey results revealed that community members, when rating the seriousness of the problem of sexual violence in West Michigan from 1 (not at all a problem) to 10 (a serious problem), responded with a the median value of 7. Educating community members about intervention and knowing what education people would need to feel more comfortable intervening in a situation or reporting a situation, is one of SAPAT’s goals.
 

The survey also covered certain stereotypes and generalizations that people have and often make about victims and perpetrators. One such common stereotype is looking down on victims because of how they dress or how much alcohol they consume.

Toffoli said the survey data revealed 55.8 percent of respondents agreed or strongly agreed with the statement: “If a person is raped while they are drunk, they are at least somewhat responsible for what happened.”
 

That particular statistic showed Toffoli that “we have a lot of work to do to dispel these myths and instead hold the perpetrator responsible,” she said. “We believe that no matter what a victim does or does not do, the choice to perpetrate sexual violence is 100 percent up to the perpetrator.”

Information and action

“(People) don’t realize that anybody can be a victim, and it blinds them to the reality of things and makes them think that they, or people they know, can’t or won’t be a victim,” Toffoli said. “We wanted to assess how prevalent those myths were and what education might be needed to dispel those myths and to educate people on the proper ways to intervene, and empower them to be able to act appropriately and mitigate those issues before they even happen.”

Toffoli hopes the observations collected during the survey will help shape organizational policies after they have enough data to know the true impact of SAPAT’s efforts.

“We hope to do this survey on a regular basis, say every three years, in order to establish trends,” she said. “Once you get two or three (surveys) together, then you can establish trends and compare it with the work that you’re doing and see if it’s having an impact.”

Strategic plans will be determined by late spring or early summer, and SAPAT will begin working on implementing those plans over the next three years. They will then run the survey again to create a plan for the subsequent three years.

Toffoli also urges the community to get involved.

“People can help by advocating for laws that hold perpetrators accountable, and push for funding of programs that expand education and services … or those affected and those who are potential perpetrators as well, to help prevent them from becoming perpetrators,” she said.

SAPAT focuses on primary prevention — stopping sexual violence before it starts. “It really starts in the home,” Toffoli said, “and parents need to be informed and empowered to do that.”

Resources available to public

There are many resources and hotlines available to community members that allow opportunities to receive help, and information on how to help others in need.

Local Resources:

Safe Haven Ministries – 24/7 Hotline: (616) 452-6664

YWCA West Central Michigan – 24/7 Hotline: (616) 454-YWCA (9922)

Children’s Advocacy Center of Kent County – (616) 336-5160

State Resources:

Michigan Coalition to End Domestic & Sexual Violence – Hotline: (855) VOICES4

Michigan Mandated Reporter Online Reporting – (855) 444-3911

Michigan Sexual Assault Hotline – (855) VOICES4

National Resources:

National Domestic Violence Hotline – 1-800-799-7233 or 1-800-787-3224 (TTY)

Suicide Prevention Lifeline – 1-800-273-TALK (8255)

Teen Resources:

Teen Relationship Violence: A Resource Guide for Increasing Safety – Ohio Domestic Violence Network

Love is Respect

Migrant Legal Aid supports migrant agricultural workers, educates community — before, during and after pandemic

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Farm workers at a local growing location from fall 2021. (Migrant Legal Aid)

By D.A. Reed, WKTV Contributing Writer

ken@wktv.org

West Michigan has a thriving agricultural economy with miles of apples and other crops that often need to be picked by hand each fall. Thousands of migrant workers travel to Michigan each year to harvest these crops for local farmers and growers, filling approximately 100 migrant camps to capacity in Kent County.

With that influx of workers and nomad-style workforce, issues can and often do occur — not the least of which was dealing with the recent and ongoing COVID-19 pandemic.

Local non-profit Migrant Legal Aid has been an advocate for those workers, their health and their rights, for many years, and they continued to do so in 2021.

MLA defines a migrant worker as a person who lives and works at the same place and travels seasonally according to which crops are in season. Due to poverty, language barriers, and discrimination, seasonal workers often find it hard to protect their basic human rights and dignity. This is where Migrant Legal Aid say they step in.

Many migrant workers come from such severe poverty that when they are treated unfairly, most don’t speak up, Molly Spaak, attorney for MLA, said to WKTV. “Culturally, they say they can’t complain. They don’t realize they have a voice … There is also a definite fear of deportation if they come forward.”

Problems and solutions

Undocumented workers make up approximately 50 percent of the agricultural work force. Because of this, there is anxiety among the workers that deportation would occur if they come forward when treated unfairly. A way to eliminate this apprehension is found in case law.

Farm workers at a local growing location from fall 2021. (Migrant Legal Aid)

“MLA has good case law that protects undocumented folks from irrelevant immigration questions and retaliation in the workplace,” Spaak said. “This helps them feel more comfortable coming forward with their concerns.”

Young children have often been found in the fields with their parents, helping to harvest the crops so their parents meet the daily quota mandated by the growers.

“Child labor laws absolutely apply to migrant workers and their families,” said Spaak when asked if Michigan law extended to seasonal workers. “There are now migrant daycares and Head Start programs parents can utilize. These are free to the families. Because of this, there has been a drastic decrease of children in the fields.”

Migrant Legal Aid also provides help for those suffering from domestic violence.

“The Hispanic community is very patriarchal,” said Spaak. “Because of this, DV (domestic violence) cases are always popular.”

MLA offers special visas for victims who come forward. These visas help in many ways, providing social security numbers to the victims so they have the opportunity for steady work among them.

“This gives women and men more justification and incentive to come forward,” Spaak said.

Communication, community awareness

Educating the migrant workers on their rights and the services Migrant Legal Aid offers is a daunting yet necessary task. MLA produces many social media campaigns, newsletters to the community, and press releases to the media in an effort to raise awareness.

However, there are still challenges.

Farm workers at a local growing location from fall 2021. (Migrant Legal Aid)

“Social media helps build community awareness, but not our clients’ awareness because our clients don’t always have access to social media like the general population,” said Spaak.

To develop this knowledge, MLA sends migrant advocates into camps two to three times a week during the summer and fall to pass out Migrant Legal Aid information and speak with the workers personally.

Over the past year, advocates also handed out information on COVID-19.

“Migrant housing is jam-packed with people with one kitchen and one shower—it’s impossible to social distance,” said Spaak. “New COVID-19 regulations are not always followed, and the migrant camps were a hot bed for Coronavirus. Even when the vaccines rolled out, myths about the vaccine stopped a lot of people from getting it because they were worried about what it might do to them. We had to dispel those myths.”

Though MLA does have cases of mistreatment that require court appearances, Spaak said that many issues “can be resolved extremely quickly by speaking with the growers. A lot if it is communication and language issues with the workers.”

Migrant Legal Aid works hard to educate the community about migrant workers’ needs and situations but still needs help from the public. Being a self-funded organization, MLA relies on grants, private party donations, and fundraisers to subsidize their work. Two of their largest fundraisers are annual events — Cup of Justice, a golf outing in the spring, and Harvest of Justice, a luncheon in the fall.

While seeing so many cases of injustice against migrant workers is emotionally hard on the MLA attorneys and advocates, personal migrant success stories give them hope.

“Rene Rodriguez was a migrant worker from several years ago. His parents emigrated to the United States and were a farm worker family,” said Spaak.

Rodriguez went to school, worked hard, and became a professional website designer and marketing designer.

“We (MLA) bought several photographs from him that are now hanging in this office,” Spaak said of Rodriguez. “Rene also helps us with marketing, brochures, and photos.”

To find out more about Migrant Legal Aid and how you can help MLA protect migrant workers’ legal rights, visit here.

Farm workers at a local growing location from fall 2021. (Migrant Legal Aid)

West Michigan restaurant beats the odds by opening, thriving in the midst of COVID-19 pandemic

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The interior of Condado Tacos in Grand Rapids (in good weather there is also an outdoor space). (WKTV/D.A. Reed)

By D.A. Reed, WKTV Contributing Writer

ken@wktv.org

While launching a new restaurant in the middle of a worldwide pandemic may seem daunting, in West Michigan and really anywhere, Condado Tacos location on Bridge Street in Grand Rapids proved it could be done, and done in an artful way.

Like its menu, which they say is “adaptable to every diet,” Condado Tacos just had to be adaptable to Grand Rapids ever-shifting pandemic landscape — and health regulations. But Condado Tacos opening in February of 2021, during one of the pandemic’s surges, did present unique challenges for staff as they worked to get boots on the ground in West Michigan.

Tina Femeyer, general manager of the Condado Tacos Grand Rapids location, looked back on the restaurant’s first year and told WKTV that she was originally supposed to begin work the week of the Michigan statewide shut down in early 2020.

Tina Femeyer, local general manager of Condado Tacos. (WKTV/D.A. Reed)

“Everything got pushed back 6 to 8 weeks,” Femeyer said. “I ended up training in the Royal Oak location for four months, but they were only doing carry-out. I had to completely re-train for dine-in once things opened back up.”

Founded in 2014, Condado Tacos currently has 20 locations in Ohio, Indiana, Pennsylvania and Michigan. But they were committed to Grand Rapids.

“We were not certain if we were going to open at that time,” Karen Reed, Director of Off Premise Sales, said to WKTV. “There were some slight delays on parts (supply chain issues) and acquiring and confirming our liquor license were the two most challenging issues. Also, making certain we were in the position to combat and prevent COVID from spreading in the restaurant on a regular basis…It was a matter of doing whatever it would take, with a great commitment from our staff.”

And getting that staff together was high on the priority list.

Femeyer eventually moved to Grand Rapids in November of 2020 and began conducting in-person interviews.

One of the initial hires at Candado Tacos, Kentwood bartender Dan Voetberg, behind the bar. (Supplied)

“We knew we were opening at only fifty percent capacity but planned to hire full staff,” said Femeyer.

Conducting interviews while masked and socially distanced was a new experience for the general manager, but Femeyer said the process went smoothly.

Advance marketing and the use of the Indeed employment website for recruiting helped potential employees be aware of Condado Tacos and their entrance into the market.

“It appeared we had a bit of a following even prior to opening,” said Reed.

  • Condado Tacos art. (WKTV/D.A. Reed)
  • Condado Tacos art. (WKTV/D.A. Reed)
  • Condado Tacos art. (WKTV/D.A. Reed)
  • Condado Tacos art. (WKTV/D.A. Reed)
  • Condado Tacos art. (WKTV/D.A. Reed)

The art of tacos, and a taco restaurant

As Condado Tacos planned its opening, also in the plans was showcasing local artists.

When asked what prompted the decision to make art a main feature of Condado, Femeyer said that it was always a vision of original founder Joe Kahn, and other executives of the corporation, to ensure art was a key component of each Condado store.

“The art ties back to the local community, creating a unique space that speaks to what the city is about while being consistent with menu and service,” said Femeyer. “Art is the backbone of what they (corporate) wanted to make each space.”

Femeyer also revealed that the art is the most time-sensitive part of the construction process, often beginning before heat, air conditioning, or plumbing are completed.

“They (the artists) truly are a part of the construction team,” Femeyer said. “They work all hours of the day and night after drywall is in place.”

While each store features artwork distinctive to the city’s artists, diners can also look for a variation of a gnome and ghost chilies at each location, creating a link of unity between each store.

Condado Tacos on Bridge Street in Grand Rapids. (WKTV/D.A. Reed)

Condado Tacos is now at full capacity, though they do offer a patio with heaters for comfort, and also heaters stationed near the entrance to the restaurant in case people would like to enjoy a cocktail or wait for a table in a less populated space.

Condado’s success in Grand Rapids comes down to two things, Femeyer said.

“Great staff. They have all been unbelievably gracious and understanding that many things were out of our (management’s) control during opening. They were very adaptable.” Femeyer said. “I think the space really speaks to how people want to dine. They want a more light-hearted, ‘come as you are’ feel, which Condado Taco speaks to. It speaks to people of all walks of life.”

But Reed added that it doesn’t end there. “Our goal each shift and every day at our Grand Rapids Condado Tacos and all of our locations, is to be very consistent in our execution along with a focus on continual improvement daily.”

Grand Rapids will not be the last Michigan location for Condado Tacos. With three locations already open in the Detroit area at the time of the Bridge Street launch, Femeyer says Condado intends to continue expanding in Michigan, with plans already in place to open a store in Ann Arbor in early 2022.