The meeting. . .

Where to begin. . .
We are both grateful that two busy zoo staff members (Carmen Hannold and Jim Gilbert) were able to sit down with us for an hour and discuss this issue. We both found that Jim seemed much more sympathetic to the cause and may actually prove to be our greatest ally at the zoo.

There were many, many "shoot-downs" to our ideas and, as I said, many "foot-in-mouth" incidences. We were both shocked (from a PR perspective) that when the discrimination case was brought up, it was noted, "Well, the unfortunate thing about that is that there is nothing we can do about it now." After the meeting, we discussed the fact that there is actually a LOT that can be done, even now. I had the woman's card with me in case they asked for it, but they never did. Maybe we were hoping that they would request to contact her directly to try and get more information (where did this occur? when? does she know the staff member's name?) and offer a personal apology. Didn't happen. Maybe they don't realize the lawsuit that could have been slapped on the zoo for something like this, or possibly the bad press. I mentioned the fact that they don't realize how fortunate they are that the woman was so nonchalant about it. I provided the facts that when Delta asked a woman to cover-up while nursing, and then proceeded to kick her of a plane (it was grounded!) they had the worst press possible. There were protests and nurse-ins at hundreds of Ticket counters across the country, they had to make a public apology, and they settled with a monetary sum for the nursing mom.

Ultimately, when we left after the meeting, we were promised that the zoo will look into potential areas where a nursing room could fit. (It was mentioned that there is an unused janitor's closet at one location that could possibly work. . . ) We were told that their first step NOW will be to educate staff. We did not get more clarity on that, and this could be anything from a sentence at the end of an employee newsletter, to a requirement for all new employees and volunteers to be briefed on the laws and where nursing moms can have access to if they request privacy. Staff meeting info? Staff training? Not sure.

We also were given a commitment that the zoo would take a look at the First Aid rooms and try to figure out how to make them more accommodating for nursing moms. If a new nursing room was to be built, the earliest timeline for that would be Fall 2010. In the meantime, the possibility of an outdoor, "off the beaten path," space may be created for this summer for nursing moms to step off the path and nurse away from the 8,000 people walking by.

The meeting took a sour turn towards the end when this blog, chronicling the process, was mentioned. It was pointed out that one of the two staff members felt that we were "targeting the zoo" and nowhere else in Portland. To which we replied that: No other place in Portland hosts over 1.5 million guests a year, requires admission cost, receives public funding, whose primary demographic includes moms with children, does not have a nursing room facility, and who has discriminated against nursing moms. Who else would we "target?"

We hope that our thoughts and requests are taken seriously and commend the zoo for taking the next steps to look into this. We have many other insights from the meeting and would be happy to discuss further if anyone needs more info. Let us know! We'll keep you all (all two of you) posted!

A grade for our meeting

A few quick updates in case your checking in (all two of you):
1. I will post a meeting summary tonight. Apologies that it is taking so long - that's life with two kids and my computer was turned off all day yesterday for some electrical work (what to do?!). It was actually a nice break. I stoked the fire and sat in the rocker reading Bronte and Austin. The horse had a lame shoe as well, so there was no going to the library.

2. I don't know what grade Sara would give the meeting, even though we have had many conversations since then, but I am going to give it a C. Could have gone a lot better, could have been a lot worse. There were many, many foot in mouth incidences (not on our part) that we found jaw-dropping.

3. Please, keep signing the petition. It is running for at least 6 more months and we are enormously grateful for all of your opinions, input and time you are taking to support the cause and keep our heads above water. Thank you!
okay, we're off to have soup . . . If the horse can pull the carriage.

A Meeting Is Scheduled!!

Yahoo! The zoo just called this morning and Carmen is willing to meet with us! We are scheduled for Wednesday, March 25th. Sara and I are meeting this morning to go over our plan and put everything we need on paper. Is there anything you think we should mention regarding the nursing room? Let us know - now is your chance!

Good news comes with Bad News

If you are checking in to see where we are at, I called the Deputy Director of Operations at the zoo on Monday to follow-up on our letter requesting a meeting. Voicemail, urg, left a message, and still have not heard back. Sara and I will be contacting Bill (see the Omamas article) to continue the conversation. We’ll definitely keep you posted!

The bad news is that I was at a small mom’s gathering in Hillsboro on Saturday night. I (of course) mentioned the blog and mission. One of the moms commented, “Oh, I was nursing my baby there last year when a zoo employee came out and told me I had to move!”

I gasped. “Are you serious?”

“Yes. Maybe it was because I was on a bench outside of the farm where there were classes going on, I don’t know . . .”

Oh, that is soooo not good for so many reasons. I don’t need to list all of them here – we all know them. But the most important one to mention is that the law is on our side. We have the right to nurse in public – and this zoo employee was way out of line. It sealed the deal for us that the zoo most desperately NEEDS at least one nursing room on zoo grounds. NOT a first aid room that doubles as a nursing room, but an official space dedicated to nursing moms with their children.

Stay tuned. . . . .

Mamas on a Mission is in the news!

On Monday, I spoke with Noelle Crombie, a journalist for the Oregonian and one of the authors of Omamas, the Oregonians parenting blog located on their Oregonlive.com website. It is a wonderful site, written by mamas, for mamas. You can find the article she wrote about our mission to get the Oregon Zoo to add a nursing room here!

Although we have not yet heard from the zoo in regards to our letter requesting a meeting, from Noelle's article, it sounds like they expressed interest in meeting with us about creating a nursing room! Amy is planning on following up with the zoo today regarding our meeting request, since it has been two weeks since we sent the letter. I hope she will be able to share some good news!