The Human Rights Commission is charged with increasing public awareness of Vermont's civil rights laws. It fulfills this mandate by conducting workshops about civil rights laws and the Commission's role in enforcing those laws, by speaking with groups about their rights and responsibilities under those laws, and by responding to inquiries from members of the public.  Many workshops are conducted in conjunction with other public agencies and private organizations.  In addition, HRC staff participate regularly in a number of networks, coalitions, and committees with other public and private entities.  During FY08, the Commission staff participated in over 50 different education and outreach efforts.  These events are summarized below:

Staff attended the following regular network/coalition/committee meetings:

• ADA Coalition
• Vermont Fair Housing Committee
• Vermont Affordable Housing Coalition
• Commission on Native American Affairs
• Interpreter Task Force
• Uncommon Alliance
• Vermont Refugee and Immigrant Service Providers Network
• Islamic Society of Vermont
• Addison County Migrant Workers Coalition
• Network of State Investigators

In addition, staff conducted education and outreach activities with the following groups:

• Rutland Central Supervisory Union
• Windham South Supervisory Union
• Vermont Realtors Association
• Winooski Housing Authority
• Home Share
• Burlington Cooperative Housing
• Champlain Valley Union High School
• University of Vermont Medical School

 If you are interested in having a member of the Human Rights Commission conduct a training in your workplace/venue, please contact us at 800-416-2010.   The topics we can cover in workshops include:

• fair housing issues (service animals, reasonable modifications, reasonable accommodations, harassment, etc.)
• school harassment and bullying issues (the law and legal obligations for schools, investigating harassment complaints, cyberbullying/harassment, etc.)
• working with interpreters