DEPARTMENT: Human Services
DEPARTMENT HEAD: Melody Woosley
COUNCIL DISTRICTS IMPACTED: Citywide
SUBJECT:
A Resolution of the City of San Antonio Affirming the Charter for Compassion
SUMMARY:
A resolution affirming the Charter for Compassion and authorizing the City of San Antonio to register with the International Campaign for Compassionate Cities through Compassion Action Network International.
BACKGROUND INFORMATION:
In 2013, the interfaith community in partnership with the International Campaign for Compassionate Cities established Compassionate San Antonio. The International Campaign for Compassionate Cities is a global movement inspired by the Golden Rule and calls on every person to treat others as they wish to be treated.
The Charter’s Compassionate Communities and Cities program is an acknowledgment of the need for greater compassion and a commitment as a community to identify issues on which to work.
Research demonstrates that practicing compassion produces positive benefits in all sectors of civic and community life, including safety, public health, and physical, mental, and spiritual well-being. The Charter for Compassion has been affirmed by almost 50 countries and over 80 cities globally including Austin, Dallas, Ft. Worth, Houston and San Antonio sister city Monterrey, México. Each community has developed their own unique way of defining and expressing and using compassion as a strategic lens to examine community and municipal issues.
Residents of San Antonio demonstrate compassion daily in their homes, schools, places of faith, businesses, community organizations, and on the streets. The City of San Antonio continues to strive to advance the quality of life for all residents and in all their communities. Our history of compassionate actions is exemplified by the City’s welcoming and support of 35,000 evacuees who sought refuge after Hurricane Katrina; hosting of the largest Martin Luther King, Jr. March in the country; and most recently, establishment of the Community Faith Based Initiative in the Department of Human Services (DHS) to facilitate collaboration across faith and civic lines to promote the greater good.
If City Council approves a resolution to affirm the Charter for Compassion, the City Council will commit to:
1) Recognize and acknowledge that our constituents are engaged in compassionate actions and attitudes that reflect the Golden Rule as expressed in the International Campaign for Compassionate Cities’ “Charter for Compassion”.
2) Encourage San Antonio’s institutions of learning to have all ages explore and teach compassion, based on research that validates the benefits of compassion, from being good for the bottom line of business to being a part of the human DNA.
3) Support groups and initiatives that will make San Antonio a more compassionate City, and through its Faith Based Initiative the City will work with the community and neighborhoods to foster compassion in a reasoned and coordinated manner.
4) Accept the support of other public, private, community and faith-based organizations that wish to improve the quality of life for all residents of San Antonio and Bexar County and to generate compassionate action through local initiatives, policies and programs.
5) Recognize, record, and celebrate acts of compassion among members of the San Antonio Community.
6) Affirm the Charter for Compassion and authorize the City to register with the International Campaign for Compassionate Cities.
ISSUE:
A resolution affirming the Charter for Compassion and authorizing the City of San Antonio to register with the International Campaign for Compassionate Cities through Compassion Action Network International.
ALTERNATIVES:
City council could choose not to support this resolution.
FISCAL IMPACT:
There is no fiscal impact.
RECOMMENDATION:
Approval of a Resolution affirming the Charter for Compassion and authorize the city’s registration with the International Campaign for Compassionate Cities through Compassion Action Network International.