Seniors petition park district on prayer

May 13—CHAMPAIGN — Some community members are concerned about changes to the Champaign Park District's senior programming, especially the removal of prayer from monthly meetings.

Members of the Douglass Senior Citizens presented a petition to the park district board and voiced their concerns about the issue and other recent changes.

Sarah Sandquist, executive director of the park district, said that there have been some missteps in communication regarding recent changes to the 50 Plus program. She added that the district would like to meet with seniors and community members at the Douglass Annex at 1:30 p.m. May 20 to discuss this matter.

In the past, monthly meetings at the Douglas Annex had always opened with prayer, said local senior Clara Bright. However, in December, she noticed that this hadn't happened at a couple of meetings, so she asked about it.

Bright said she was told that there were three people who "said they didn't want us to pray."

"Now, they said we could pray silently or do the pledge but not openly," she said. "We can't pray openly. And I asked the question, 'Why?' And I never got an answer."

"Prayer has been the substance of African Americans' lives," said Mary Brooks during the time for public comment at the park board meeting. "When I was in the cotton field, if I hadn't been able to pray, I wouldn't be here."

Sandquist said that, in the past, the structure of monthly meetings for seniors included a time where a chaplain was called on to open the session with a prayer.

She said that they had heard some complaints from the community that the prayer was from one religion in particular and not necessarily "welcoming and inclusive."

"The park district seeks to accommodate the interests of our patrons, and that includes any group who uses our facilities," Sandquist said. "And if they wish to start a meeting with an invocation, we're supportive of that. We don't want to inhibit that in any way. ... However, the park district is not going to be the one to facilitate that."

She said that, in a sense, the time for prayer seemed to be directed by the park district. However, as a government entity, they are not the facilitators of prayer, she said.

However, she added that they have had discussions with the Douglass Senior Citizens on this matter and have a potential solution in mind.

She explained that this group existed before the district implemented senior programming and was later brought into the program. Its officer structure remained in place and would lead monthly meetings at the Douglass Annex.

Sandquist said that the parks staff want to present an opportunity for the Douglass Senior Citizens to reform as an outside club, which would allow them to hold the monthly meeting and open it with prayer. These meetings would remain on the calendar but wouldn't be a park district-facilitated program.

The group's petition also outlined other concerns, such as a lack of transparency and senior involvement in recent programming changes.

There were also fears that the creation of a new advisory committee would replace their officer structure, along with monthly meetings.

According to a recent newsletter for the park district's 50 Plus program, members of a new, four-person advisory committee will be chosen directly by program participants. Votes will be collected at both the Douglass Center and the Hays Recreation Center up until May 31.

"This is your chance to have a direct say in shaping the future of our programs," said senior counselor Jean Cousett. "The advisory committee will comprise four passionate individuals from our 50+ community who will convene monthly to brainstorm and curate exciting trips and activities tailored specifically for you."

The note also said that the initiative would replace traditional monthly senior meetings and planning sessions.

Sandquist said that there had typically been a meeting on the first Monday of the month at the Douglass Annex, with this being led by the Douglass Senior Citizens, and another meeting that occurred at Hays.

Parks officials recently made the decision to have one monthly meeting, with this being held at Douglass one month and Hays the next.

"That meeting is not on the calendar for May, June and July, and we'd like to apologize for that omission," she said. "There was a miscommunication within staff of what's the intent moving forward. We would like to get that meeting back on the calendar, reinstated starting June 3."

Additionally, she said that the parks district can provide transportation for Douglass seniors who find it difficult to travel to Hays.

Bright said it's her understanding that the people who raised the complaint about prayer were from the Hays center.

As for the senior advisory committee, Sandquist said this is a new, separate initiative that the park district launched because they want to hear feedback on what seniors would like to see in terms of programming and how they can better partner with other community organizations.

In discussing the origin of recent changes to senior programming, she explained that, in October, there were districtwide staffing changes.

"We reorganized and we took a look at how we deliver programming to the community in an effort, districtwide, to operate more as one district," she said. "We shuffled some staff around, and that included some changes in the senior programming structure."

Their intent was to add more staffing in order to offer more programming, as well as provide consistency about when programming occurs, she said.

However, she said that the park district's communication to the public, regarding the shift, has been "inadequate."

"We would like to apologize to the community for that, because I don't think that we've done a great job of really sharing all the details of our plans," she said. "We'd like to enhance the 50 Plus program with more programming opportunities."

They have also eliminated the program's membership fee in the hope of reducing barriers to participation, she added.