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HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - ASSET Meetings Minutes 08/10/23www.storycountyasset.org Minutes ASSET & Joint Funders Meeting Human Services Center 126 S. Kellogg August 10, 2023, at 5 p.m. In attendance: Scott Dryer, Ed Gillott, Linda Hagedorn, Becky Harker, Joel Hochstein, Sandra King, Jean Kresse, Mike Lazere, Quinn Margaret, Neha Mehrotra, Anneke Mundel, Kathy Guillen, Stephanie Spence, Ashley Thompson, Sophia Sarver, Sharon Perry Fantini, Gloria Betcher, Katie Shively, Katelyn Proctor, Anita Rollins, Hannah Navarro, Jehan Faisal, Steve Schainker, Latifah Faisal, Mayor John Haila, Linda Murken, Lisa Heddens (by phone), and Jenny Schill, ASSET Administrative Assistant Guests: Jodi Stumbo (TBH), Linda Munden (TBH), Diane McCauley (TBH), John Dalhoff (TBH); Deb Schildroth – City of Ames Liaison CALL TO ORDER at 5:03 pm Hochstein asked for a motion to move New Business agenda item, Recommendation for Emergency Shelter Services RFP, to the top of the agenda. Mayor John Haila moved, seconded by Linda Hagedorn. Motion carried. Hochstein reminded the Funders that they each have one vote for their respective governing body. Hochstein stated if the Funders wish to review and discuss this information through their normal meeting processes and procedures, they should make a motion to that effect. Otherwise, the intent of today’s meeting is for Funders to determine the direction of the Request For Proposal (RFP). As noted in the packet, the Evaluation Committee received one proposal and it was from The Bridge Home. The Committee evaluated the proposal and is recommending to not award the Emergency Shelter Services RFP and to direct Funder staff to explore potential partnerships with other organizations to provide Emergency Shelter Services. Hochstein also noted that a decision not to award the RFP does not impact The Bridge Home’s status as part of the ASSET allocation process. The organization would still be eligible for funding and is under contract with the City of Ames and Story County to provide emergency shelter services this fiscal year Betcher thanked TBH for submitting a proposal but questioned why no other proposals were submitted? Do we know if widening the scope of the RFP will help get more applications? Kresse responded that is why the recommendation is to reach out to other organizations. That had not been done as part of the initial process so as to not advantage or disadvantage any other organization. Heddens thought that permanent housing listed in the RFP might be a barrier. Funder staff will refer to the RFP to see where permanent housing is mentioned. Lazere asked if ASSET received any other inquiries and if staff could reach out to them to find out why they didn’t submit a proposal. Staff responded that that could be done. Mayor Haila mentioned that Funders have placed a lot of trust in the Evaluation Committee and did not think that the Funders should start micromanaging the Evaluation Committee process now. If the Committee is recommending working with other organizations, then Funders should support that and put confidence in their recommendation. Kresse responded to Heddens on where Permanent Support Housing was mentioned in the RFP. It was under section D asking www.storycountyasset.org the agency to provide annual numbers of individuals who experience homelessness who gained access to positive housing options. Permanent Housing was listed as one option for positive housing. Lazere wanted confirmation the TBH would continue to provide these services this year. Hochstein responded that contracts are in place, and the recommendation does not impact their ability to go through the allocations process. Faisal reiterated that a tremendous amount of work went into evaluating and answering questions to present this recommendation and the County also has a lot of faith in the group doing the review work. It benefits all of us to make sure we have looked everywhere and take more time if needed. She also thanked TBH for all their work that went into their application. Mayor Haila moved to accept the recommendation of the evaluation committee, Murken seconded. Motion carried. Hochstein reviewed that staff will work to explore potential partnerships with other organizations to provide emergency shelter services. He also thanked everyone for their work in the process. Mayor Haila asked volunteers if there was any clarification or recommendations from the Funders needed before moving forward. Schildroth mentioned the $100,000 that the Story County Housing Trust also has available for this service and that ASSET needs to communicate the Funder’s recommendation to them. Kresse thinks the process and next steps are clear and if there is clarification needed staff will reach out to the Funders. King said staff can provide a preliminary timeline for the next steps in this process. WELCOME/ INTRODUCTIONS Hochstein asked everyone to do introductions as there are new Volunteers and board members present. PUBLIC FORUM No one spoke. APPROVAL OF: Approval of April 13, 2023, Minutes (ASSET Board & Funder’s Approval) Betcher moved approval of the minutes, Faisal second. Motion carried. Approval of May 11, 2023, Minutes (ASSET Board Approval) Thompson moved approval of the minutes Harker seconded. Motion carried. TREASURER’S REPORT King reported on behalf of Ron Smith that the current balance is $2374.25. REPORTS Joint Funders Faisal, on behalf of the County, thanked volunteers for their work and pointed out that it is getting harder for Funders to fund the needs across the county as the available funds are shrinking. Mayor Haila, on behalf of the City, also thanked the volunteers for their work. Mayor Haila pointed out the changes that the Legislature made to the property taxes and future changes that will be coming related to the Local Option Sales Tax will impact the City’s ability to support programs. He pointed out that ASSET funding comes from Local Option Sales Tax. He www.storycountyasset.org also pointed out that the funds available to ASSET are not growing and will probably shrink, at the same time needs are increasing. He encouraged everyone to reach out to their legislators and let them know how important this money is to our community. Deardorff reported that United Way’s campaign kickoff and Annual Day of Caring is September 15. The kickoff breakfast will be at Cornbread. She also announced that Kresse has put in for her retirement and that the United Way Board has started the search for her replacement. They hope to have this person onboard by January. Quinn stated that ISU Student Government had no updates. He also mentioned that volunteers from ISU are not solidified. He shared that he will not be able to serve on ASSET anymore because of his new position in Student Government. Administrative Team King shared that on Monday August 14th the ASSET Admin Team will host the Annual Agency Training in Council Chambers. Schildroth updated the board that the City is using a search firm to recruit her replacement and in the meantime she is volunteering as a City liaison to bridge that time. Volunteers Thompson mentioned that she was able to tour the new Mary Greeley Mental Health unit and said it was a wonderful place, very welcoming and a beautiful space. OLD BUSINESS None NEW BUSINESS Funders’ Priorities (Representatives) Kresse pointed out that copies are available and will be provided at the September meeting. She reviewed the changes for United Way, includes a statement taken from their Diversity Equity and Inclusion policy. In the second paragraph, second line, that within the categories below agencies that intentionally engage and track underserved populations within their programs will be given priority. Under Health for the first result the wording was changed to be mentally healthy and socially connected. Under Education number one, increase capacity of high-quality early childhood education in Story County, was added. Under Financial Stability they broadened the goal so Story County residents can meet their basic needs. Story County residents have meaningful opportunities to increase their household income. Under number two, it was added to facilitate access to tax refunds. Also, under number three, Story County residents have increased financial capability. King went through the County changes stating the main focus is on addressing basic needs. The County did add Emergency Shelter Services. Additionally, notes at the bottom was also an update for volunteers to know that the categories and services are in priority order as listed. Schildroth said that the changes were under Basic Needs for the City. The priorities under www.storycountyasset.org this category were reshuffled and Sheltering is now the number one priority for basic needs. Margaret stated that ISU Student Government reordered some of their priorities putting the most emphasis on Basic Needs. They put less focus on food security as the University has The Shop on campus and they are funding that outside of the ASSET process. Margaret also noted that the subcategories are in order of priority. ASSET Board Meetings – Discussion of moving the start time of the meeting to 5:30 p.m. Dryer said that he had brought that topic up since he works in Des Moines and it is hard to get to the meeting by 5:00. Spence also works in Des Moines but also pointed out that people who are involved with ASSET as part of their paid work probably don’t want to start later. Kresse responded that staff are thankful for the work that the volunteers do and would be willing to start later to support them. King relayed Smith’s thoughts that he was not in favor of the time change. King for herself stated that she would support whatever the volunteers decide. Hochstein said that if there isn’t a motion to change the time then we will keep it at 5:00. This can be revisited at any time. Reference Manual Updates (ASSET Board Approval) Kresse walked the volunteers through the recent changes from last year. Gillott moved to accept these changes, Spence seconded. Motion carried. Conflict-of-Interest & Confidentiality Agreements Schill handed out and collected the signed documents from the volunteers and will make sure those not present will get them signed. Draft Liaison Assignments/Agency Visits Kresse pointed out that ASSET volunteers are assigned to a specific work team. However, the liaison assignments are made without regard to that work team assignment. ISU volunteers will be plugged in when they are identified. The County is also looking for a volunteer and asked current volunteers to help recruit if possible. Any volunteer that was moved has been notified but if someone was missing, please reach out to Kresse. New/Expanded Services Update King went over the agencies that submitted new or expanded services, 4 services from 3 agencies submitted requests. YSS – Youth Employment Assistance Program (expansion), this was denied. They currently serve 14–24-year-olds and they wanted to expand to serve 11–24-year-olds. Questions around this new service were what is this service currently doing, what are the current outcomes, and can you show there is a need to expand this service? MGMC – ARCH (new) Collaboration between Mary Greeley, ISU Police Department, Ames Police Department and some other agencies. This service deals with sending a medical response personnel and a social workers out on emergency calls primarily dealing with mental health. As part of their pilot program, they determined their total annual budget is $308,000. This service was approved. They have funding for FY 24. Faisal asked if ARCH would apply for www.storycountyasset.org funding from CICS. Deardorff said they currently fund mobile crisis. The Salvation Army – Vehicle Repair Fund will be under Service Code 2.01. The program will provide funds to those with low income for vehicle repairs up to $300. They found that they were getting these requests and did not have a program for it. These vehicle repairs were keeping people from being able to get to work and having a big impact on these families. The request was a little unclear on the amount they would be asking for. King also said that we have County lawyers looking into liability issues and will update volunteers when she hears back from them. The Salvation Army (TSA) submitted a request for Emergency Shelter Services. When The Bridge Home is full with clients, TSA provides assistance with the cost of hotel rooms. They were not sure what the request will be for this service, but ASSET does know that this need is present when other housing options are full. This service was approved. ADDITIONAL ITEMS Hagedorn asked about CCJ being listed on two work teams? Kresse pointed out that work team only applies to the volunteer and not the agency. Hochstein stated the next Board meeting is September 14 and that Liaison visits start in September. If volunteers have questions about this, they should reach out to their respective Funder staff person. Schildroth also pointed out that the September meeting was originally a Joint Funders meeting, but it will now just be a regular ASSET Board meeting only. www.storycountyasset.org 1.INFORMATION/ ANNOUNCEMENTS: a.Agency Training/Orientation – August 14, 2023 @ 1pm @ Ames City Council Chambers, 515 Clark Ave, Ames b.ASSET Administrative Team Meeting – September 6, 2023 @ 12:15pm @ UWSC, 315 Clark Ave, Ames c.ASSET Board Meeting – September 14, 2023 @ 5:00pm Story County Human Services Center, 126 S. Kellogg Ave, Ames d.Liaison Visits Begin – September 14, 2023 e.Deadline – Agency budget requests for FY 2024/25 via email – September 27, 2023 f.Admin Team budget review – October 2, 2023 g.Deadline – Revised budget requests due via email – October 13, 2023 2.ADJOURNMENT – Joel Hochstein ended the meeting at 6:07 p.m.