HomeMy WebLinkAbout~Master - ASSET Admin Meeting September 4, 2024Minutes
ASSET Administrative Team
September 4, 2024 @ 12:15 pm
United Way of Story County @ 315 Clark Ave, Ames, IA 50010
In Attendance: Becky Harker (Chair), Linda Hagedorn, Ashley Thompson, Joel Hochstein (virtually),
Jenny Schill (Admin Assistant), Pa Goldbeck, Sandra King, Anneke Mundel
Harker called the meeting to order at 12:18 pm
Approval of July 31, 2024 Minutes Harker pointed out corrections: Old Business first page, Funder
priorities should be fall instead of all. Adjournment, Thompson and King instead of Kind. Hearing
Schedule Schill will…, finish sentence.
Hill moved approval of the July 31st minutes with corrections, Hagedorn seconded. Motion carried
unanimously.
Treasurer’s Report
Smith was not present, so a balance update was not provided. Thompson reminded Funders that
payment of the $1000 invoice is due to United Way by next week.
Old Business
Virtual Meeting Option
Harker asked if this means that agencies could present virtually at the hearings. King responded that
the virtual option is just for board members. Goldbeck asked about having board members let us know
if they will be attending virtually or in person. Schill will include the link from Jeramy with the agenda
packet to the board.
The Community Academy Funding Update
Hill reported that they received a report from the accounting department and after their audit, a letter
is being submitted to request the funds back into their account to be reissued. ISU will move to an
online submission for claims and these will go to full-time staff as well as ISU Student Government. Hill
reported that The Community Academy (TCA) will not be getting the funding they requested that was
not approved for allocation by ISU Student Government. King asked if TCA was aware of that; Hill
noted they will notify TCA.
New Business
Agency Training - Mandatory
King pointed out that it is stated in the Policies and Procedures Manual, that the Agency Training is
mandatory, but there are no consequences to the agencies if they don’t attend. King offered three
options to explore.
Leave it mandatory
Add consequences
Make it mandatory for new agencies only
Harker asked if it would be worth surveying the agencies on this. Hagedorn stated that she thinks it
should remain mandatory but add that if agencies don’t attend, funding could be in jeopardy. Goldbeck
added that this meeting is only once a year and we could possibly adjust the length of the training,
since it hasn’t gone the full length during the last few years. She also added that we could offer two
training sessions. King stated that she supported Goldbeck’s suggestion of adjusting the training length
Hagedorn moved that agency training remain mandatory, and that nonattendance may jeopardize
future funding, Hochstein seconded. Discussion – Harker stated that enforcing this may be difficult, but
King noted that stating it this way gives Funders the flexibility to handle each situation individually.
Motion approved unanimously.
Community Conversations on Homelessness
Goldbeck reported that she took the request to take $12,000 to the Ames City Council to fund a
consultant to facilitate conversations around the homeless issue. The City Council approved this
request, and Goldbeck has started to work on ideas and plans for how to move forward with these
conversations. City Council wants to ensure that these conversations include those directly affected by
homelessness. Goldbeck hopes that these conversations lead to an action plan to take to the
community.
King also took a request to the Story County Board of Supervisors for funding. They approved a request
for $12,000 to hire a consultant to look at the issue Countywide. This would also support the
community conversations and plan. Thompson asked if the County and City would be working together
on this, as it sounds like they are working on the same thing. King stated that she wants to make sure
the problem across the County is evaluated and not just within the City of Ames. Mundel said she has
data from multiple sources that she has collected on this issue that she can provide too. King stated
that she would appreciate that data and she has also requested data from the Iowa Finance Authority
(IFA). Hochstein asked what the plan is when the report comes back and states the problem is from
something that we already know is an issue. King stated that she shares the same concern and hopes
we can find some best practices out there that we can learn from. Thompson asked what the study
would provide? King stated:
Size of the homeless population in the County
Resources available
Funding available
Best practices
Harker mentioned that she’d like to see an outcome include more measurable priorities from the
Funders. Hochstein said that over the next few months United Way will do some strategic planning
that will hopefully help focus in on the areas that need the most funding, instead of funding a little
amount over a lot of services. Goldbeck explained that she hopes the community conversations bring
out what each agency does and who they serve so we can see gaps and avoid assumptions of what
agencies do. Thompson mentioned that her concern is there are multiple groups working on and
talking about this and working individually in the community. She also asked who is holding agencies
accountable to provide the services that they state they provide, if they aren’t being provided?
Hochstein stated that he would like the consultant to have experience in public health.
ISU Allocations
Hill stated that funding priorities go to GSB tonight. He stated that it looks like the priorities will be
staying the same for this fiscal year. He also reported that they have communicated with agencies
regarding funding that was approved outside of the allocations process.
Sept 12th ASSET Board Agenda
Updates were discussed, and Schill will update the agenda.
ASSET Volunteer Orientation Agenda and PowerPoint
Schill will update the PowerPoint and include it in the email to volunteers with the agenda packet.
Budget Review Checklist
No updates.
Hearing Schedule
Schill stated that the only update is Prairie Flower replaced MGMC ARCH in the schedule. This
document will be a draft until budget requests are submitted.
Hill stated that GSB is in discussions with YWCA on how they should be handled since YWCA is a
student organization.
Clear Impact Scorecard (Mundel)
Mundel reported that HIRTA’s data is still outstanding. They did not request an extension and Mundel
communicated with Brooke and she responded that there is a discrepancy in their data and they were
checking with their vendor on it. Mundel advised that ASSET send communication to them that they
are not in compliance with ASSET requirements to submit data in Scorecard. The Salvation Army and
Heartland also requested extensions, which were granted. The Summer programs have until
September 25 to report their data.
Thompson stated that ASSET and United Way spend staff time and resources on tracking down data
from these agencies and at some point, funding needs to be affected when agencies are not in
compliance. King said she plans to have a conversation with the Chair of the Board of Supervisors r,
who is on HIRTA’s board. In the past she has made contact with HIRTA and gotten a timely response.
Mundel met with The Bridge Home and there is still a lot of outstanding data, despite Mundel reaching
out and offering time to support them. Hagedorn stated that when applying for other grants there are
specific requirements and times that data is due. If those deadlines aren’t met, there is no funding.
Mundel will send an email to Funder staff with this update so they can follow-up with these agencies
individually. Schill will draft an email to send to Funder staff for approval before communicating with
the agencies that have outstanding data, data that was due July 31st. Extensions have expired without
data being submitted.
Additional Items/Concerns
None
Adjournment at 1:58 pm