RV Service Provider Meeting Minutes 12.14.10

Rainier Vista Service Provider Meeting
At RV Boys and Girls Club
Holiday Potluck
Tuesday, December 14, 2010

Attendance: Kate Farmer, Beverly Johnson, Larry Hill, Emily Johnson, Scott Behmer, Jason Rolfe, Denise Lewis, Heidi Viets, Naomi Chang, Colin Sexton, Mike Graham-Squire.

Kate met with Heidi Henderson-Lewis in November. Heidi runs the SE Service Provider group which has been meeting for a couple of years. The group meet every month (3rd Tuesday) at the Boys and Girls Club. They are a group of local youth providers who share program/agency information and referrals. A community police officer attends their meetings. Heidi reports that the group is interested in strengthening networking abilities and is also interested in training opportunities. Heidi would the RV Service Providers to learn more about SE Service Provider group and she is interested in getting their help with networking and possibly working together on future events, trainings, etc. Kate will invite Heidi to attend the next SP meeting in February.

Seattle University – Nursing students will be in RV community from January – March 2. They are looking to connect with service providers on health projects. They are available to do health education, health assessments, etc. They will be at Neighborhood House weekly. Please contact Beverly Johnson for more information. She can be reached at: JohnsoB@seattleu.edu.

Rainier Vista Boys and Girls Club – Washington Oral (dental) at the Club is taking new clients. The Club has several holiday activities including a holiday dinner and also a field trip to Toys r’ Us with the youth who will each be given $40 gift cards to spend. Club will be open during the holiday break. A holiday celebration will be held next week and players from the Seahawks are expected to attend.

Rainier Vista Health Fair – Mike Graham-Squire from Neighborhood House is coordinating a Spring Health fair for the community. The fair will be held at the B&GC on March 2nd from 6-8pm. Mike has contacted a number of agencies about participating and if any of the providers would like to help coordinate and plan or be a part of the fair, you can contact Mike at mikegs@nhwa.org. A similar health fair was held at High Point last summer with over 300 in attendance.

Catholic Community Services Youth Tutoring Program – They are located at the Boys and Girls Club and have drop in tutoring for teens Monday – Thursday. Students can also receive help in filling out job applications, applying for college, financial aid, etc. Jason is working on a flyer and hopes to increase outreach and recruiting in January. Please refer any teens. Jason can be reached at rainier@ccsww.org.

Urban Farm – Scott reports that construction is done, there was some damage from the heavy rains. Work party is being planned for February and March, and hope to have a grand opening in April, no set date yet.

Neighborhood House Project Handle – Mike talked about youth drug and alcohol program. They are distributed “I Draw The Line” bracelets for teens and adults who want to send the message against drug/alcohol abuse. Mike is working on Spring Health fair.

Neighborcare Health – Emily Johnson is assisting Mike with the Health fair plans. Rainier Beach Medical Clinic/Neighborcare Health will also be planning a grand opening for the spring and they may also host a health fair late Spring. Rainier Beach Medical will offer Dental and Medical services for adults and children. SE Dental is also taking new clients.

Seattle Housing Authority – Naomi Chang reports that Tamarack has residents moving in and 83 units are filled. Residents are adults and children and of various backgrounds including Vietnamese, Somali, etc. There will be 75 or more youth living in the building. This will be a non-smoking building. Resident meetings will be held but have not been scheduled at this time. The SHA property management office will be housed at Tamarack and a new senior property manager will be hired. SHA has hired Thai Nguyen as Communication Specialist to explore non-smoking policies for low income housing.

Neighborhood House – Colin talked about college readiness programs if any in area. SHA offers a scholarship for youth in Seattle Housing Authority units.

Rainier Vista Service Provider Meeting Minutes 10/19/10

Rainier Vista Service Provider Meeting
Tuesday, October 19, 2010
At REWA
Meeting Minutes


Attendance: Kate Farmer, Neighborhood House, Mari Becker, Seattle Parks and Rec; Scott Behmer, Lettuce Link; Jason Rolfe, Youth Tutoring Program; Emily Barbee, REWA; Abbie Zahler, ICHS; Emily Johnson, NeighborCare; Naomi Chang, SHA; Heidi Viets, Neighborhood House, Mike Graham-Square, Project Handle (Neighborhood House).

Service Updates:
Lettuce Link – Scott gave an update on progress of RV urban farm. There will be a couple of work parties in November, and the project hopes expects to be completed in Spring 2011.

Youth Tutoring Program – Jason discussed tutoring programs. Teen Tutoring Program – any teen can work with tutor on Monday – Thursday from 5:30-7:40pm, kids in grades 7th grade and above. Must be a member of Boys and Girls Club (cost of membership is $30 or $10 if live in public housing). YTP also has tutoring two days a week for 1st -12th grade students.

REWA – After school programs at RV and youth program in Tukwila. Kids must enroll for these programs, they at capacity right now. Program is for 3rd – 12th grade students. Monday – Thursday from 4:00pm - 6:30pm. They also host after school field trips on Fridays. REWA also offers two girls groups for 4th -6th grade girls. There is a Leadership and Service group for 7th grade girls. University of Washington Women in Business Club is connected with this group. Girls are learning public speaking, leadership, etc. REWA also hosts a Boys Group for elementary boys, they learn martial arts.

SHA – September 25th Multicultural event was a success. A lot of service providers and residents attended. Multicultural Committee hosted event. The committee works on integrating residents and homeowners with a goal of cultural diversity. Group meets at Neighborhood House on the 3rd Wednesday of each month at 6pm. Traffic & Safety Committee meets every other month on the first Monday of the month at Neighborhood House. This is a community group and they work with SDOT on traffic and safety issues. Cambodian group meets every week-end at McBride Court. Navy Kheav from Neighborhood House facilitates this group. Somali group meets at McBride Court Friday – Sunday from 4-7pm for youth. Tamarack Place will open in November 17 with 86 units and retail on the first floor. Phase 3 is under way and 118 rental units expect to be completed in 2012.

ICHS – ICHS offers community education, such as Diabetes, smoking cessations, insurance info, etc. ICHS will visit organizations and discuss these topics and more. ICHS offers a Vietnamese women support group, and Chinese Group that meets monthly, also a weekly dance class. They also have in-clinic health educators at Franklin High School to address family planning.

NeighborCare Health – Emily is a new AmeriCorps member working with NeighborCare who provides dental and medical care to low income and uninsured. Emily is working on the coordination between the medial and dental clinics, both will move to the same building in January. The Rainier Beach Medial & Dental Clinic will open in early 2011. Emily discussed the emergency walk in dental clinic.

Project Handle (Neighborhood House) – Mike is part of the Drugs Free Community Coalition. He is working at High Point and also Rainier Vista. Recently held a Drug Take Back Day. At this event a large amount of prescription drugs were turned in. He is working with SHA, the Tamarack Place building will be smoke free building, Mike will do education. New smoking call in QuitLines will be available in Mandarin and Vietnamese languages.

Seattle Parks and Rec – Mary coordinates Sound Steps, walking group for people over the age of 50. They do training for 5K, 10K, and marathon for adults. Enhanced Fitness is fitness program for seniors. Tim Pretare is currently working at Van Asselt.

SHA – Job Connection – Larry is working with clients who live in SHA communities to find employment.

Business:

HARVC – members talked about merge of HARVC with RV Service Providers and discussed changing name to Rainier Valley Service Providers. There is a group of service providers who meet at New Holly, Kate will contact the leader of this group. Discussion on whether we could open this meeting up to them or attend their meetings. Discussion that New Holly may work with a different population and may be some pros/cons about including this group. Kate will meet with the facilitator and report back at the next service provider meeting. Mari will also check on the name “Rainier Valley Service Providers” to see if there are any other groups using that name, she will contact Chamber.

New members – discussion on how to increase size of this group or get more people to attend meetings. Some of the suggestions were to tell providers to invite 2 guests to the meeting. Group talked about trainings. Kate talked to Neighborhood House staff and also talked to a couple of other leads about training, but was unable to find free trainings. Emily suggested some webinars which would be free, Kate will look into this. Some of the suggestions from the last meeting were discussed, such as inviting residents. The group thought inviting resident leads may be a good way to get program info out in community, such as connecting with the leads of the Somali group and Oromo Cultural Group and inviting them to the next meeting, may be a way for programs to better connect with community and get to know some of the leaders. Kate will talk to both groups. She will also talk to Guray from NH to see if he can attend next meeting and help translate if Somali group leader attends. Naomi suggested inviting Linh Thai from Vovinam Martial Arts group, as he would like to be more connected with the community and needs help recruiting local kids for his program. Naomi suggested holding a potluck once or twice a year, which is what Service Provider group used to do. The group liked this idea and will host a potluck on Tuesday, December 14th at 12noon – 1:30pm, this will be the last service provider meeting for the year.

Next Meeting: Tuesday, December 14th at 12 Noon – 1:30pm at Boys and Girls Club, Jason will host. Please bring a dish to share. Please note this will be the 2nd Tuesday of the month (not the 3rd Tuesday).

Meeting adjourned: Minutes by Kate Farmer.

Rainier Vista Service Provider Meeting Minutes
August 17, 2010
Held at Neighborhood House

Attendance: Tien Duong-Le, Neighborhood House, Randy Nolan, Wellspring Family Services, Alma Villegas, Stand For Children; Larry Hill, Seattle Housing Authority; Naomi Chang, Seattle Housing Authority, Colin Sexton, Neighborhood House; Kate Farmer, Neighborhood House
Nelson Lopez, Neighborcare Health

Guest:
Stand For Children: Grassroots education and advocacy. National organization, local offices in Seattle, Kent, etc. Work with parents and educators to advocate for policy change on district and state level. Parents learn structure of decision making process from State to local school level. Parents learn basics of how local school district is funded and how spending is allocated. Parents participate in discussion around local concern and how they can impact systematic change through strategic actions and advocacy. Stand For Children offers workshops and training for parents.

Service updates:
IDHA – Health Fair at Neighborhood House’s High Point facility on Friday, 8/20 from 8-5pm. Bike helmets, backpacks, Health information and tests.

Project Handle – HIV Testing on 2nd Friday of the month at Neighborhood House Rainier Vista Center from 10-12noon, please refer any clients. Tien reports Vietnamese Tea Time continues every 2nd Friday of the month at Neighborhood House Rainier Vista Center, the Tea Time has combined with the monthly Community Kitchen event.

Neighborhood House – Colin reports successful youth litter event was held in July. Several kids attended the event. The event was coordinated by the youth providers including REWA and Boys and Girls Club. ESL classes are starting again in the Fall in the Tech Center. Job focused ESL class starts in September. Digital Connectors class starts in the Fall at the Tech Center, this is a youth technology program.

Wellspring Family Services – They are taking provider referrals for Eviction assistance. SHA also makes referrals. Must be behind in rent to qualify or received 3 day vacate. Assistance with rent and utility bills. Call 206-902-4271 to refer or call 211. For Seattle residents only. Wellspring Family Services also offers child and family therapy services for families with young children age 0-5.

SHA – Monthly community clean ups continue, coordinated by the Homeowners of RV. Though still low attendance. Traffic and Safety Committee Meeting is held every other month. Emergency preparedness/safety training last month. Working on phone tree with 2-3 representatives from different language groups on emergency phone tree.
Multicultural Committee continues to meet every month. They received $800 from Small Sparks Grant to hold event on September 25th from 3-7pm at Rainier Vista Center for community.

Neighborcare Health – New clinic in south opening in February at 51st and Rainier, dental and medical clinic, it will replace Rainier Beach. SE Dental is closing. Community Center at Rainier Beach is closing, no pool in SE, due to lack of funding. Rainier Valley Heritage parade and festival this Saturday from 11-3pm, parade and street party.

Job Connections/SHA – Larry reports that he is working with several clients to find employment.

Discussions:
Service Providers talked about low attendance at this meeting. Suggestions include, adding trainings into the meeting, such as How to do Outreach, How to Use Internet to Find Resources, How to Engage Families Into Counseling, Fundraising, Community Building, Leadership, Cultural Experience, etc. Recommended that we ask Providers what training they would like and would be most beneficial. Providers also talked about inviting residents to the meetings, but this should only be done if we have a strong purpose as to why we are inviting and what their role is.
Another suggestion was to invite local organizations to the meeting, who may potential want to donate funding, and create a relationship for potential partnership. Also, collaboration with local neighborhood groups may be helpful. Kate will see about getting a trainer in for October meeting.

Next meeting: October 19th, 2010 at 10AM, tentatively scheduled to be held at REWA at 4008 Martin Luther King Jr. Way S.

Rainier Vista Service Provider Meeting Minutes 6/15/2010

Rainier Vista Service Provider Meeting Minutes
Tuesday, June 15, 2010 at 10AM
At Neighborcare Health

In Attendance: Kate Farmer, Neighborhood House, Colin Sexton, Neighborhood House, Nelson Lopez, Neighborcare Health, Gary Ireland, RV Homeowners Craig Quinn, RV Homeowner, Shefali Ranganathan, Transportation Choices.

RV Homeowners – talked about trash issue at Central Park in the RV neighborhood. This has been a longstanding issue. Gary and Craig talked about programs at Neighborhood House, particularly on week-ends, who leave trash in the park. Discussion about issue followed. Other providers in RV community also are using park, and how to involve them in this issue was discussed. Littering education was discussed and idea on getting kids involved in monthly community clean ups that happen on First Saturday of month. Discussion that this is a family issue also, adults and kids should be involved. Discussion that SHA owns park and should be involved in talk with providers who use park. Kate and Colin talked after meeting and will follow up with other providers who use park and will talk to SHA. They will also set up a meeting to meet with Gary and Craig next week to follow up on concerns and how to proceed.

Transportation Choices – Shefali talked about new initiative to get people to take public transportation, there are a lot of incentives (Orca cards, discounts at businesses and more!) Sign up through http://www.transportationchoices.org or call 206-329-2336.

HARVC/Service Provider Merge – since only a few service providers at the meeting today, we will put this on the agenda for next meeting in August.

Best Summer Ever Fair debrief – will put this on agenda for August also.

Low attendance at Service Provider meeting – we will discuss this in August. Suggestion that we need proactive agenda with initiatives that group is working on together, to keep people interested and involved in coming to meetings instead of just service updates.

Next Meeting: Tuesday, August 17th at 10AM at Neighborhood House

Meeting adjourned.

Minutes by: Kate Farmer

Rainier Vista Service Provider Meeting 4/20/10

Rainier Vista Service Provider Meeting
April 20, 2010
At Wellspring Family Services

Attendance: Kate Farmer, Neighborhood House; Tim Pretare, Seattle Parks and Rec; Nelson Lopez, Neighborcare; Samuel Pierce, SHA; Naomi Chang, SHA; Leslie Heimer, Solid Ground, Lettuce Link; Gregory Schaffer, REWA; Randy Nolan, Wellspring Family Services; Denise Lewis, Rainier Vista Boys and Girls Club; Diana Vergis Vinh, Healthy Active Rainier Valley Coalition (HARVC).

Randy Nolan/Wellspring Family Services – Randy talked about Wellspring services. Domestic Violence clinic, infant and child services, early learning, services for children with behavioral issues, counseling, housing services. For housing services, call 211 (Crisis Clinic helpline) for eviction prevention or call Wellspring directly. Intervention Program – referred by shelter for families. Baby boutique for clients.

Service Provider Open House – Group discussed whether or not to hold an Open House. General consensus was that it was a good idea. Boys and Girls Club is holding an Open House on Saturday, June 5th. Group decided it would be a good idea to combine this event with the B&GC open house, in order to attract more people. Group discussed logistics, flyer, translation, time, clean up and set up. A meeting will be held on Tuesday, May 11 at the B&GC to finalize plans. All Service providers are encouraged to attend the Open House, this will be a good way to get your agency service information and program information out to the community. Denise Lewis will confirm with B&GC that this can happen. Kate will send out email to SP group to invite them to May 11 meeting. This is the same day as the Beacon Hill Festival which is a large and very popular community event. Suggestion to note this on the flyer, that people can come to Open House and then walk up to the Beacon Hill or take the light rail. There is also the Cheasty Greenbelt trail which people can also access to walk to the festival. Tim Pretare will talk to Mari Becker of Sound Steps, she may want to promote her walking group, by organizing a walking group up to the Beacon Hill Festival. Tim will talk to person organizing Beacon Hill Festival (Seattle Park and Recreation event), to event), to see if this is ok to also promote their event on our flyer.

HARVC – Healthy and Active Rainier Valley Coalition – Diana Vinh talked about the mission of this group, which meets every other month. Diana is the chairperson of HARVC. Currently, it’s a small group of people that meet and share service and program information. The group has been successful in addressing health issues in the community in the past, but no longer has funding. HARVC would like to merge with the RV Service Provider group. The HARVC mission is focused on improving health in the community. HARVC participants are enthusiastic about joining with the service provider group (many service providers also belong to HARVC). The Service Providers discussed benefits of joining forces—many service providers said their agencies also have a health mission. General consensus of providers was that it would be a good idea. Group talked about changing name of Service Provider group which really serves more than just Rainier Vista residents, and really serves SE Seattle (including New Holly). Kate will send an email out to the Service Provider Group for feedback and input and a final decision will be made at the next SP meeting in June on combining HARVC with SP group.

Next SP meeting – June 15 at Neighborcare Health at 10AM (Nelson Lopez will confirm).

SHA – Section 3 – Samuel Pierce discussed The Job connection is currently conducting outreach activities to identify job seekers interested in opportunities in the construction industry. Seeking Section 3 candidates who live in various zip codes. Contact Samuel Pierce for additional info at 206-722-4010 ext. 3

Boys and Girls Club – Denise Lewis discussed Teen Summit – Saturday April 24th (Teen Sexual Health and Protect Your Rights). May 7 – Jump and Jive on Friday May 7th from 6pm – 8pm (Free Swing Dance)
Drill Team fashion show – Saturday, May 22 (dinner, performance and fashion show)
Summer programs – Day Camp for grades 3 -6 (all day) and Daycare for grades 1-4th (all day).

Urban Farm – Leslie gave update on Urban Farm. Final design meeting on April 26. Final time for people to give input on design. Community meeting at Neighborhood House from 6:30-8pm on Monday, 4/26.

Tim Pretare – Seattle Parks and Recreation – Jefferson Community Center – Tai chi class will be held at Jefferson Community Center, and Swedish Medical Center is offering breast exam, mammography and pap smears free or low cost for those who are uninsured, or underinsured on Saturday May 15. Also Healthy Aging Fair on May 26.

REWA – Gregory Schaffer, new title is Youth Coordinator at REWA. He is working with SBOC, Secondary Bilingual Orientation Center. Newly arrived youth from other countries. Gregory said group can help with outreach and translation.

Rainier Vista Service Provider Meeting Minutes 2/22/10

Rainier Vista Service Provider Meeting Minutes
February 23, 2010 at 10amProvidence Gamelin House

Sharon Lerman – Seattle Tilth – talked about upcoming workshops that will be held at various locations in Seattle (Rainier Community Center) with a variety of topics—City chickens, fruit tree pruning, container gardening, etc.). Sharon talked about what providers needs would be around youth or adult programming.
Kim Lokan – Kim discussed upcoming RV community meeting on March 3rd at B&GC at 6pm. The meeting is to get feedback from residents on how RV is working as a community, also Urban Farm will be there to get feedback from residents about the new RV urban farm that will launch this summer. Information from this meeting will be followed up with article in the Voice and posting on newrainiervista.com website. Kim suggested this is a good meeting to bring flyers to share with residents.
REWA – International Women’s Day on March 9th. This is a large annual event at REWA from 11am-2pm, at the main office. Please refer your clients to this important event. Fight the Fear campaign – Free self defense training will be held at REWA on Tuesday from 5-6pm.
Boys and Girls Club- flyer for summer program is coming out the end of February. Spring Break is March 29th – April 2nd and the club will be open with activities for kids. Free dental exam and cleaning is available for kids at the Club. Talent show on March 6th. Soccer for 4-6 years olds. $20 membership (can be waived). Free meal for kids is served daily.
SHA – Naomi Chang talked about upcoming Cultural Celebration on February 25th at Neighborhood House Rainier Vista Center for the community to celebrate Lunar New Year and Black History month.
Neighborhood House – Mike Graham-Squire is new to NH and will be working with teens on alcohol, tobacco and drug prevention for drug and alcohol free communities.
Providence Gamelin House – monthly calendar is distributed, ESL Classes, Bingo, computer classes, free dance classes.
Neighborcare Health – Nelson talked about Healthy and Active Coalition at Rainier Valley. If anyone is interested, they can participate. The group should be a large amount of grant money this year. Sound Steps – walking program through Seattle Parks and Rec is very active, and seniors are gearing up for a marathon this Spring. Rainier Beach pool will be closed. Neighborcare offers medical and dental care for low income and people without insurance.
Catholic Community Services Youth Tutoring Program – Youth tutoring program is recruiting volunteers, Jason passed out a flyer to be posted at various sites.
Wellspring Family Services- Randy talked about services for homeless families, info and phone #’s are posted on their website found at: wellspringfs.org. Eviction prevention and child counseling for preschool age kids. Baby boutique is also open.
Neighborhood House – Tien talked about IDHA fundraising event on March 18th at Joy’s Place, Vietnamese food and dance. Also, Vietnamese TeaGroup happens 2nd Tuesday of month at McBride Court building at RV. Project Handle is doing HIV testing on the 2nd Friday of the month at RV from 10-12noon.
Service Provider Open House for Spring – at next meeting group will set a date for open house and people can sign up to participate and will determine location also.
Service Provider Goals 2010 – Kate talked about Service Provider group and at next meeting she would like to discuss how this meeting is working for people, is the day/time good, would the group like to accomplish anything during 2010, purpose of group, should we invite residents to this meeting, is it helpful. We will discuss this at next meeting and can review summary from the RV community meeting to be held on March 3rd which may be helpful in setting goals.
Next meeting will be held on Tuesday, April 20th at Wellspring Family Services hosted by Randy (there is parking available).
Meeting minutes will be posted on the RV SP blogspot at: http://rvserviceproviders.blogspot.com/