Meeting Minutes for 5/20

Hello everyone,

Firstly let me apologize for failing to send out a meeting reminder for the recent meeting. Somehow it totally escaped me and resulted in this meeting’s lower attendance. Feel free to remind me if you think my brain is on autopilot.

Per our meeting from last summer, we decided to meet every other month with a month skipped in the summer. This makes the next meeting in August.

We will need a volunteer to host the August 19th meeting. If you are interested please let me know and I will let you handle the meeting as I may be on vacation at that time.

As always, my apologies for any typos or inaccuracies. Please contact me if you see any mistakes.

Thanks,

Gregory

In attendance:
Nelson Lopez-Puget Sound Neighborhood Health Centers lopezn@psnhc.org
Tsegaye Gebru-Neighborhood House tsegayeg@nhw.org
Naomi Chang- SHA nchang@sesattlehousing.org
Matt Nguyen-Apple Corps/Solid Ground matt@solid-ground.org
Colin Sexton-Neighborhood House colins@nhwa.org
Tien Duong-Le- International District Housing Alliance tiend@apialliance.org
Kate Farmer-Neighborhood House katef@nhwa.org
Gregory Schaffer

Discussion:
Gregory suggests significantly reducing the time given to agency updates in order to improve the collaborative outcome of meeting. Others in attendance agreed that for limiting per-person updates to a few minutes would allow for more individualized discussion later. Gregory had participants engage in a small ice-breaker activity to personalize the meeting.

Childcare at Rainier Vista for kids under 10 has been a growing issue. There was discussion about forming a parent committee for childcare, not unlike what has occurred at New Holly. The Department of Neighborhood may be able to provide some kind of stipend. Southwest Youth and Family Services could also be involved.

Participants would like to know more about the fall opening of the Boys and Girls Club to adjust their programming accordingly.


Notes:
Nelson
• Working on a Balancing Act class for Diabetics as well as their family and friends. This class will be 10 weeks long and be hosted at the Rainier Beach Community Center. English language interpreters can be made available if necessary.
• This summer Nelson will host baseball practice/games for ages 7-16 all summer from 5:30-6:30 at the Genesee playfield. All equipment will be provided.
• Please contact Nelson
Tsegaye
• This summer Tsegaye will host a weekly Photoshop class for ages 11-19 at R.V.
• There will be a summer ESL class at NH-RV hosted in collaboration with South Seattle Community College on Mondays, Tuesdays, and Wednesdays
• On Tuesdays at Thursdays there will be a job readiness class at NH-RV
• There will be a monthly library class facilitated by SPL for kids to learn about accessing information
• YWCA and Horn of Africa are collaborating for a technology class for ages 13+ this summer
• Please contact Tsegaye for more details about the above activities
Naomi
• There was a traffic safety class held on May 12th with about 50 people in attendance with “mixed results”
• Multicultural committee is meeting on 6-7:30 on Wednesdays and will facilitate the next community clean-up on June 7th from 10AM-12PM as hosted by Gary Ireland
• SHA is interested in finding a CBO partners for six youth who will be placed at various positions in community building throughout the city
• Phase 2 of Rainier Vista housing will be partially complete in 2010 with the first available residences ready for move-in at that time.
Kate
• Looking to recruit summer volunteers for the Neighborhood House open-lunch site at RV
• Fitness opportunities are looking to expand
• Would like to facilitate a discussion with RV area CBOs to discuss NH focus group summary. See attachment. Look for a future meeting for this
Tien
• Outreach in looking for a part-time employee for their Yesler office. May also do home ownership assistance/planning to be combined as a full-time position.
• Joy Phi (sp.) will be leaving
Colin
• Lunches for the summer open-site NH-RV will need supervision/volunteers
Matt
• Held a farmer’s market night at John Muir Elementary last week. PCC donated produce and students “bought” produce with “money.” CBOs distributed information about events in flyers put in shopping bags.
• Interested in working with other CBOs to get kids to learn about healthy eating and the importance of regular exercise.
• Discussed the possibility of working with Colin and Gregory as part of their summer programs
Gregory
• ReWA is hosting a yoga class facilitated by Ruth Egger on every Friday from 3-4 at the main ReWA office. Please bring a mat or towel. All are welcome as the class is gentle. Currently the class is mostly Vietnamese seniors.
• ReWA is hosting a bi-weekly medical clinic at the main office run by UW medical students. The clinic is on Sundays from 12-4 with upcoming clinics to be held on 6/6, 6/22
• ReWA will run two summer programs at Rainier Vista for students in grades 3-9 during July and August. Please contact Gregory to enroll.