Health and Wellness Commission

Chair: Alexandria Svolos Vice Chair: Jennie Smith-Peers Secretary: Sabina Nduaguba Treasurer: Susan Klingensmith Health and Wellness Meeting Agenda https://us02web.zoom.us/j/85325599576?pwd=bnBiUU1kSngrS3EwRWl6UHpRU mtlUT09 Attendees: Alexandria Slovos, Sabina Nduaguba, Susan Klingensmith, Kimberly Kelly, Ixya Vega, Ronalie Abeyratne Meeting ID: 853 2559 9576 Passcode: 547609 April 20 7:00 pm Mission Statement: The Health and Wellness Commission strives to advance a culture of wellbeing and vibrant quality of life in Morgantown, West Virginia. 1. CALL TO ORDER: 7:18 pm by Alexandria 2. APPROVE MINUTES: Moved by Ixya and seconded by Susan 3. REPORTS a. CITY COUNCIL Ixya reported that city council is in the middle of an election that will take place on April 25th. Early voting is Saturday. Ixya will be stepping down her position as City Council Representative in May. She suggested the Commission inform City Council of requests requiring funding and also consider fundraising to support its activities and projects since the Commission is permitted to receive money. Funds raised would be forwarded to the City for use by the Commission. b. BOPARC Susan reported that there was a successful presentation for urban deer hunt which would include stands in the local park. This was a previous program that stopped  and is now coming back. There has been a lot of work done before this. There has also been bow hunting in remote places so they are not new to this kind of program. Hunters are also able to donate meat to shelters, pantry plus more. Commission members expressed excitement about this aspect of the program in particular. 4. FOLLOW-UP ITEMS a. Resource Directory Alexandria shared screen and discussed preliminary mock-up of a resource directory including different categories of resources with information including location, contact methods, transportation, fees, online presence, and hours of operation. Susan stated that the parking and fees categories were good ones to have. Sabina said to add Health Right. Kim typed in the chat - her audio was not working - to add the resources from the old website. Ixya said get community input and crowdsource content. She also said to add it to our section of the Morgantown Commission page and keep it as a living document to stay relevant with changing and new resources. b. Funding On the AARP and Capito grants submitted by Kim and Sabina, the Capito grant was not funded but the AARP is still pending decision. c. Bylaws and Mission/Vision Statements Alexandria relayed information from City Clerks that bylaws can be changed with a unanimous vote. Bylaws for revision include meeting time and election dates. The Commission discussed forming a committee but agreed that Alexandria would make these edits which would be reviewed in May. Once bylaws have been revised, Mission and Vision Statements will be priority. d. In-person Meetings Alexandria relayed information from City Clerks that Council Chambers Training Room or Conference Room were to be used for in-person meetings. If they were booked, the Commission can use any city owned building, like the library. It was  suggested that in-person meeting frequency could be once a quarter. The plan is finalize our first in-person meeting due to busy summer schedules. e. Social Media Ronalie suggested that we keep the old Facebook page but change the name from “Live Well” if possible so they are the same across platforms and more align with our commission. All agreed. Alexandria talked about getting full permission and updating so past members weren’t administrators. 5. NEW BUSINESS a. Caregiver Support Celebration Due to time, Alexandria skipped so Jennie could discuss in better detail next month. b. Strategic Plan The current Strategic Plan does not align with the direction the Commission is heading. The Commission is considering restructuring the Strategic Plan. Given that this is a major undertaking, it will take a few meetings to go over. Alexandria will send and people will review for next meeting. c. Manchin $ for Mental Health on Campus Alexandria reviewed the funding Senator Manchin provided to WVU for mental health training and his expressed concerns for the mental health of young people, students, and West Virginians. Stated that this could be a good point to mention on future fundraising or grant opportunities. d. Farmer’s Market Health Event in summer Sabina mentioned the Farmer’s Markets and Art’s Walks for health promotion. She stated we still have health informational materials from the previous Art’s Walk event and that we had a lot of engagement. It was discussed that the Farmer’s Market continues at Mylan even in the winter months so this could be a potential before it is back downtown. Ixya noted that the Farmer’s Market may require merchandise for tabling. Sabina suggested that the Art’s Walk might be a better option to the Farmer’s Market. 6. PUBLIC COMMENTS No public present ADJOURMENT: Our meeting was cut off due to Zoom time limit/technical difficulties. Since no public was present, Alexandria sent an email, Sabina moved to adjourn, Ixya seconded, and Alexandria adjourned at 8:08 pm. **A new Zoom account has been established for future meetings. Next meeting: May 11, 2023