Commission on Family Services

Commission on Family Services Meeting Minutes October6th2021 7:00 pm Present: Harold Primark (Chair), Yolanda Bender, Jo Hammerman, Shajan Jose, Melissa Versch, Yolando Bender, Bonnie, Arnie Oskin, Laila Iqbal, Heather O’Donnell, Matthew MacKeller, Michael Stiehl Brian McHugh (Staff) I. Call to Order @ 7:00 PM II. Approval of Minutes: Arnie Oskin III Approved of Agenda: Agenda was approved IV. Welcome and Opening Remarks (Chair Harold Primack): Primack welcomed the commissions to the meeting. Harold Primark welcomed Mayor George Van Dusen. Mayor Van Dusen welcomed the commissioners and thanked them for their time, commitment to servicing the residence of the Village of Skokie. The mayor discussed that the village’s health department has distributed over twenty-eight thousand vaccine to the residence of Skokie. The mayor encouraged commissioners to take a tour Lincoln junior high to see the new building. The mayor invited the commissioners to tour the police station at the next meeting at the station. V. Reports: HHS report given by Brian. Hiring 3 more contact tracers. Decreased need in the community for COVID financial resources. HHS staff welcomed UIC SW Intern Madeline. Continuing SPD/SFD well-being checks. VII. Old Business: Harold reported the Produce Initiative has collected 3,700 pounds of fresh produce for the Niles Food Pantry. VIII. New Business: Harold re-iterated the work of the commission is to revise the mission statement. He suggested that a task force be formed and asked that any interested persons contact him. Discussion around what the commission's previous initiatives have been: Boomers and Beyond held every other year and partnering with agencies working with older adults, (on hold due to pandemic, many organizers not around to offer continuity and start up again, takes a lot of planning); program with and for people with disabilities and coordinated with D219, (this initiative didn't happen); liaison with various community agencies and report back to the CFS (this was ok). Harold brought up AARP Livable Communities as a possible initiative and there was discussion. Understood that it is bigger than what CFS can realistically do but we could be the liaison to this program. There may be small pieces of the program that we could do. AARP Livable Communities was presented to the board in the past, but it was not approved, due to a less than optimal presentation to the board, and that it would take too much staff time. The job of the commission may be to review the AARP materials and then make a realistic cost-effective proposal. - Action: Brian will provide contact info for Jim Szczepaniak, The Skokie Community Foundation, and contact info for the Niles Township Youth Coalition and the LAN41. IX. Adjournment @ 8:15 PM Next Meeting: December 1, 2021, 7:00 p.m. Commission on Family Services