Community Development Advisory Committee

CDAC – FAITH BASED FIVE YEAR PLAN HEARING March 24, 2010 City Hall, 100 Broadway, Norwich, CT Room 335 Committee Members in Attendance: Demo Angelopoulos Les King Edward Derr Lynn Norris Red McKeon Others in Attendance: A.C.M. Jennifer Gottlieb Mary Pimeault – St Joseph Church Reverend Jean Chery – Family Church of God Reverend Gregory Perry – Greeneville Congregational Church Alice Harding – Christ Episcopal Church Cynthia Adams – Christ Episcopal Church Reverend Olivio Aubin – First Haitian Baptist Church of Norwich Sister Cynthia Jean-Mary - First Haitian Baptist Church of Norwich Reverend Willie Wilder – Refuge House of Prayer Mrs. Willie Wilder – Refuge House of Prayer Les King called the public hearing to order at 3:00 p.m. Jen Gottlieb made the opening remarks and the following people made comments: Mary Pineault (St. Joseph Church): -Norwich needs more and improved senior housing. Seniors need to get out of their houses more. -AHEPA senior housing is located on Hamilton Avenue and has inadequate transportation to needed services for seniors such as grocery stores, etc. -there is a need for more good low-income housing. Blighted buildings should be demolished and decent affordable housing built. -the Senior Center should have weekend hours. -the medical van that visits the homeless shelter should also visit the Senior Center or other Senior gathering places. -Grocery shopping assistance for Seniors is needed. RSVP provides this service. -There is no room in Senior Housing and security is needed at Hamilton Avenue senior center. Reverend Jean Chery (Family Church of God): -Working with pro-bono Attorney Smith out of Hartford on immigration, housing, child support and a civics course every Saturday. -Most of his congregation is 1st or 2nd generation Haitian. Edward Derr asked if they were in touch with other immigrants. Reverend Chery replied that they did have a food pantry that served all. -Jennifer Gottlieb asked if there was a trend in food pantry use. -Reverend Chery said it was consistent. The food pantry is open 1x per week from 10:30- 11:30a.m. -Lynn Norris asked what questions they ask food pantry users. -Identification is asked for. -Edward Derr asked how they planned to use the academic tutor. -Reverend Chery replied that the after school children are alone and have no place to be and new immigrant children do not speak English. -Ed Derr asked if they had been in touch with the school system about the tutoring program. -No contact has been made yet. -Ed Derr asked if they had been seeing people making wrong decisions. -Rev. Jean Chery replied that he is the president of the Youth Organization and he sees people preoccupied with making money and not getting an education. -Lynn Norris asked if adults also have language barriers. Rev. Chery replied that they do and they use Adult Education. -Demo A. asked about the housing product re-use store and mentioned that Habitat for Humanity also runs such a store in Salem on Route 85. Reverend Perry(Greeneville Congregational Church): -The current economic environment hurts all segments of society and increases the demand for services at a time of fewer resources. Their greatest resource is a good work ethic, faith and hope. -Knowing where help and resources are is essential to community and church leaders. -There is a need for a categorized resource listing that is useful for all service providers that they can use. For example, where are tutoring, English classes, used clothing, mental health, health services, etc. There should be a guide so there is no duplication and systems are efficient. -The Norwich Judo club had 3 Olympians, but can no longer use public school facilities. This hurt the club. They should be able to use Norwich Public Schools and/or public buildings. There is a need for judo, wrestling, toddler programs, etc. for youth and there needs to be public space available for these programs. If private space has to be rented an affordable service can’t be provided. -Jennifer Gottlieb suggested that the summary may be that public space for youth rec. services may be an important need and the YMCA project may relate to this. Reverend Perry agreed. -Professional clergy also needs the service guide book as mentioned before. -Edward Derr mentioned the 60-70% free/reduced lunch population and such a guide should be available beyond the internet. Jen Gottlieb suggested the City should print it and hand it out to the clergy, at library, day care, senior center, etc. Alice Harding/Cynthia Adams(Christ Episcopal Church of Norwich): -Requires money for food, toiletries. They can help only one in 6 who ask. -Angel ministries program can buy $30 weekly food basket and 150 boxes were sold last month. They distribute these one time monthly. They are starting a food pantry, but need increased funding. This is a big need in this town. -Interfaith community meals take place two Thursdays a month, but the biggest and most important ministry and program is the Angel Food Pantry. Angel Food Ministries is a large national program that they participate in. People knock on the door and ask for food during the week. Food is a huge need. -Jen Gottlieb mentioned that the library is a good place to leave information. Ed Derr agreed and also the school central offices. -There is lead paint in the church. Reverend Olivia Aubin/Sister Cynthia Jean Mary (First Haitian Baptist Church of Norwich): -ESL classes are needed. They had to cut one class. They have the use of one literacy volunteer person on Saturdays. -Homeownership counselor/credit restoration services are needed. Also funds to assist homeowners to pay utilities to avoid shut offs. -They would like to sponsor speakers to speak at the health run food bank Fridays at the church. -Immigration assistance is needed and assistance to retrieve essential documents from Haiti for administrative needs. -There is a need for access to job training. - They have had a budget of $7000 to accomplish all of these things, but they anticipate the need will be much greater because the earthquake increased immigration. -Demo Angelopoulos asked if they have seen an influx of immigrants yet. There has been preparation for this influx, but the approval process for a Visa is long (3 or more months) -Les King asked if the money for services come from the congregation. -Ed Derr asked if they directed people to Adult Ed. Sister Jean Marie says they have used this, but that there is a large need for ESL and job training beyond what funding is available for. Job training participants need other support while studying such as childcare. Poverty is an endless circle if whole support is not provided. -Les King suggested ESL be a pre-requisite if it is an issue. Rev. Aubin stressed that ESL is so important because communication is a basis for people doing anything constructive. Without ESL they can’t achieve anything. Les King asked the % of the congregation in need of ESL services. Rev. Aubin replied 100%. The congregation consists of about 150 members. -Lynn Norris stated that the same issues are repeated over and over, childcare and language. She asked if the members could join forces to help themselves more. -Sister Jean Marie stated that it is a good idea. Care 4 Kids cut their budget and will no longer approve childcare applications for people that are not currently receiving state assistance. Jen Gottlieb stated that they also wouldn't pay if you are attending college. Reverend & Mrs. Willie Wilder (Refuge House of Prayer): -Rev. Wilder is concerned about the YMCA and recreation. Young people don’t have anywhere to go. The youth are aimless without the YMCA and the type of programs it supports and they become destructive if they have no guidance. -Jen Gottlieb mentioned that Luis DePina is heading up the effort to do something with the YMCA. There is a committee he heads up. Ed Derr questioned at what age do the problems start and what types of programs are needed i.e. tutoring, homework assistance, swimming, etc. Rev. Wilder believes 7 or 8 years old and those programs in addition to cooking, life skills. -Lynn Norris states that she does an after school program which gives a snack and tutoring and believes that the need for this type of program far exceeds the 20 youths she is able to serve. She also asked if Rev. Wilder’s congregation need ESL services. They do not. Demo Angelopoulos made a motion to adjourn at 4:45 p.m., second Lynn Norris, motion passed unanimously.