Mary Shepherd Home Citizens' Advisory Committee

Shepherd Home Advisory Committee MINUTES January 12, 2022 5:00 Those in Attendance: Col. Phil Cacciola, Chair; Deputy Mayor Vinnie Loffredo, Vice-Chair; Atty. Ralph Wilson, Atty. Seb Giuliano Veteran, Christine Garriga, DeMarco; Carl Rodenhizer, Columbus House Phil opened the meeting at 5:00. Minutes of December 8 were modified to reflect that Gilead staff has not been present at the residence since a November pizza meeting. Occupancy Christine reports there is still one vacancy currently being processed. Covid Christine reported there are no issues with Covid. Larry and Phil were able to secure from the VA 30 home test kits for tenants and staff and dropped them off at Shepherd. Christine announced to all tenants the kit availability. Christine reported the health department provided N95 masks and tenants were encouraged to use them. Tenant issues None to note. All reports are that the community is quiet. Holiday Christine reported the holiday gatherings were well attended and appreciated the gifts that were donated. Food was prepared and provided by the American Legion Women’s Advisory Group. Healthcare Middlesex Health has expanded its efforts to perform outreach to tenants who have not made it to the scheduled clinic offerings. We continue to have occasional alcohol use which presents cleanliness issues in apartments. Christine is able to provide cleaning supplies if necessary and some tenants arrange for cleaning staff to assist. Ralph encouraged that aggressive steps need to be maintained to make sure Covid is under control. Bike repairs/Space Christine reported that Mayce has expressed some interest in a bike repair program. Repaired bikes would be contributed back to the community. Mayce is working with St. Vincent DePaul. Vinnie suggested we get the Parks and Recreation Department. Phil suggested that Petal Power gets involved. The issue is the space. We will look into alternatives. Phil suggested looking into a shed from Home Depot. Carl will check into the shed to our north on CVH as a resource for space. He’ll also check with Lakisha Hyatt, the Executive Director at CVH. Christine noted there have been requests to use the facilities room (we are currently using for storage) to be used. Roof Repairs Still waiting for specifications from the architect. Grant from VA Bill Curland looking to write a substantial grant to the National Elks that might help with making the porch handicapped accessible. Phil looking for a ballpark figure. Plan for 2022 Phil looking for a game plan for 2022. Would those be the handicapped ramp off the porch, increased storage, maintaining building – develop a capital needs report, increased waitlist, exercise room or other amenities, and the use of the buildings to our north, we might include demolition and create additional space and other use to increase services for the elevator. Once we have a plan and we need to reach out to the City for their support. Ralph moved and Vinnie seconded to acquire the property to our north. Seb and Vinnie noted that housing can be the highest priority. Vinnie agreed to be a liaison with the City to pursue our efforts to expand. It was confirmed that the second Wednesday of the month is the meeting throughout 2022. Meeting adjourned. Next meeting: February 9, 2022 Submitted by, Carl Rodenhizer