The Moline Human Rights Commission is seeking input from residents in an effort to identify – and ultimately address – issues of inequality, discrimination or other challenges to inclusivity and rights that may be outstanding in the community.
The seven-member committee, appointed by Mayor Sangeetha Rayapati in the fall of 2021, has created a Moline Human Rights Community Questionnaire that asks respondents to share their experiences in areas such as equal opportunity in employment, housing, services and share instances of potential discrimination or harassment they’ve experienced. It will also collect demographic and geographic data to help the Human Rights Commission tailor future programs and educational opportunities based on areas of need.
“We want to be able to use the data we collect to be proactive, not just reactive,” said HRC Chairwoman Betsy Zmuda-Swanson. “It will allow us to hear directly from residents what concerns they have and in what areas. We are in the process of setting up our goals and in order to address the issues people care about, we need to hear from them.”