Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Advisory Board

City of Petersburg, Virginia Community Development Block Grant (CDBG) Advisory Board SPECIAL Meeting Agenda February 12, 2025 Noon Microsoft Teams Email jmjames@petersburg-va.org to request the teams meeting link 1. Call to Order and Roll call of participants in attendance: The meeting was called to order at 12:05 PM. In attendance were: William D’Aiuto-DSS Director, Kristy Horne-DSS, Jeannell Jones-DSS, Naomi Siodmok-PCD Director, Jared Crews-PCD Planning Manager, Jennifer Murphy-James-PCD CDBG Admin; Kofi Adih- CDBG AB Chair, Sonja Holt-CDBG AB Secretary1, Shabaka Moore-CDBG AB Secrtary2 2. Determination of the Presence of a Quorum: There were three board members in attendance. A quorum was not determined. No vote could be taken at this meeting. A working group will be coordinated sometime after the public hearing of needs on 2/19. 3. Discussion on homelessness prevention and remediation: We reviewed background information on how we arrived at this juncture. We also went over a draft PowerPoint presentation and sample intake forms used by DSS for family support services. CDBG had a left over balance of COVID CARES Act funds averaging $264K. Approximately $132K was awarded to projectHomes to provide critical home repairs in the City. At a City Council meeting, the issue of the city serving the needs of unsheltered persons arose. Additionally, the HUD field office pointed out that to be in accordance with its current five year consolidated plan, the city must address the homeless issue. A meeting was held with Pat Hines, who hosts an adult temporary shelter in the city called the HUB with about 15 or so beds. The CDBG Admin also conducted some research and spoke with members of the Crater Area Coalition on Homelessness to gain a perspective on the matter of homelessness prevention and remediation. The Healthy Start Loving Steps (HSLS) home visiting program has expressed interest in being a vehicle for coordinating care services. The HSLS program is a current CDBG sub-recipient and also receives funds from DSS for its  Fatherhood Initiative. It is noted that the HSLS program is housed in the city of Hopewell Virginia’s department of Healthy Families. The suggestion being presented today is that the CDBG AB recommend the City of Petersburg VA DSS to be the subrecipient of the remaining $132K. As the project lead, DSS will participate in the CACH and coordinate activities regarding homelessness prevention and remediation to include a continuum of care, coordinating referrals and facilitating collaboration in and for the city of Petersburg VA. 4. Questions asked:  Sonja asked for a clearer explanation of what a continuum f care would look like under this proposed project. Mr. D’Aiuto shared how DSS operates within the city of Petersburg. Petersburg VA DSS receives Federal funding for child abuse prevention services and administers several entitlements such as SNAP and Medicaid. As one of one-hundred-twenty local Social Service Departments in the State of Virginia, Petersburg DSS serves 60% of the city’s residents (an avg of 20K persons). The department host 116 positions and facilitates the distribution of $26 million dollars in benefits. With this capacity, DSS is equipped to facilitate the coordination of intake, referrals and services.  William asked if contacts for the CACH may be shared with him. Jennifer agreed to forward contact information for CACH representatives from Commonwealth Catholic Charities and St. Joseph Villa. 5. Announcements:  Healthy Start Loving Steps is hosting a virtual meeting on the CoC process for collaboration around homelessness prevention and remediation. This meeting is scheduled for 2/18 at 3pm.  CDBG is hosting a Public Hearing on Community needs on 2/19 at 6:00 pm at the Petersburg Public Library Multipurpose Room. 6. Meeting Adjourned: 12:50 PM