Commission on Family Services

Commission on Family Services Meeting Minutes – Skokie Village Hall Sept. 6, 2023 7:00 pm Present: Commissioners Harold Primack (Chair), Marjorie Goran, Daniel Mann, Peggy Molina, Arnie Oskin, Melissa Ponce, Nancy Schwartz, Naadirah Shapley-Wells, Phillip Shefren, Daniel Stalilonis, London Summerville, Melissa Versch (Staff Liaison) Absent: Commissioners Michelle Friedman, Jo Hammerman, Laila Iqbal, Shajan Jose, Linda Lara, Valerie Riley, Annie Shear, Trustee Edie Sue Sutker I. Call to Order: Approval of Agenda Approved by consent. II. Approval of June 7, 2023 Minutes Approved with corrections. III. Chair’s Report: Harold Primack Welcome back everybody. It’s been a few months since we met. Most updates will be under Old Business. IV. Health and Human Service Report: Staff Liaison, Melissa Versch Health and Human Services opened flu shot clinic appointments for October 4 and October 12. Call to make an appointment. There are still appointments available. We are gearing up for the annual Assist-A-Family campaign. AAF is funded by community members and local businesses. Through those donations, we are able to give gift cards to families in need around the holidays. We are also able to use funds for emergency rent and utility assistance throughout the year. The Medical Reserve Corps is interested in recruiting mental health professionals. The Health Department’s Medical Reserve Corps is a group of volunteer professionals who are willing to respond to a need when it arises. For example, helping during flu shot clinics or during the response to COVID. In the event there is a crisis in the community, MRC members may be called upon. If interested in volunteering, the commitment is to attend regular meetings and trainings. Jennifer Davis and Rachel Blut are the contact people for more information. In order to provide specialized services, a volunteer does have to maintain their professional license. Any medical or mental health professionals are welcome. The commission received a thank you note from the Niles Township Clothing closet, which will be passed around. Nancy asked about the Lyft transportation program. Due to the amount of time the program requires of staff, it was determined the Lyft program would not be continued. North Shore Senior Center has resumed an Escorted Transportation Program for limited areas. V. Old Business: A. Boomers and Beyond 2023 The planning committee has been busy. We met July 12 and August 23. The next meeting is next week. The planning committee divided into three sub-committees. Daniel reported that the Programs and Presenters sub-committee has five speakers, including a social worker from CJE Senior Life presenting on how to prevent the winter blues, an attorney coming to share information about working documents, a representative from the fire department and a representative from the police department. The keynote speaker is Dr. David Saper is an orthopedic surgeon who will share information about dealing with arthritis. We do have a flier that is almost ready to be distributed. The library is going to be providing tech staff to answer general questions. Advocate may be providing a mobile health van. It’s been a little slow bringing in vendors and service providers. We have about 15, plus a number of organizations on the planning committee, including North Shore Senior Center and Center for Jewish Elderly. For publicity, it’s been mentioned in paper bulletins from the Village and Park District. It will also be included in email bulletins. We hope to have the vendors distribute to mailing lists or put on websites. We will be having printed fliers, both 8x11 and 11x17. We will need help distributing to locations in the community. Hopefully by next meeting we’ll have flyers. We’ll also have announcements on digital sign boards. Tell your friend and neighbors. We’ll need volunteers to help get the word out to businesses, putting flyers up. A sign-up sheet will be passed around. We could also use help from commissioners on the day of the event to provide directions to attendees. If you are available, it would be appreciated. Howard Meyer (from the Chamber of Commerce) was looking into having the Lions Club mobile van, but they don’t schedule after September or October due to weather. The large meeting room at the Park District could be used for hearing or vision screening, so Howard is going to check back with the Lion’s Club. The tech assistance can probably be moved into the large hall. B. Farmers Market Produce Collection and donation drive Melissa reported that since the first produce collection at the farmers market on June 25, we’ve collected over 1800 lbs. of produce from vendors, despite a couple days of no collections due to weather and the Backlot Bash. With the monthly donation drives, we’ve collected over 600 lbs. of non-perishable food and toiletries, and 100 bags of clothing that have been taken over to the clothing closet. The numbers are comparable to previous years. Much credit goes to St. Paul Lutheran Church that provides volunteers to help. London reported that the volunteer sign-up has been full, though occasionally there are cancellations. C. Skokie July 4th Parade We had a low turnout of commissioners, but everybody has stuff to do, which is understandable. We partnered with the Beautification Commission, which allowed us to put a banner on the side of their float. We passed out candy and fliers. Next year we’ll have to consider if we want to continue to participate. It’s a nice way to get the word out. Arnie commented that it was a very successful parade. There were 73 units that participated. Wayne Messmer did a wonderful job. The Army National Guard band from Springfield came. We had wonderful bands and community support. Since last year was canceled, it was hard getting everything back underway. Arnie shared the list of participants. D. Skokie Night Out Harold attended Skokie Night Out and passed out a few fliers from the Health Department table. If we participate next year, we should have candy to hand out. Arnie added that the Festival of Cultures was a very good experience for sharing information. The event was well attended and well-received.  E. Welcome Packet Melissa put together information that was suggested would be helpful for new commissioners, including the mission statement and info about the commission from the Village website, the commissioner contact list, Robert’s Rules Cheat Sheet and the Open Meetings Act. If this is something that would be helpful, a copy could be made for everyone. Harold suggested adding a cover letter. Nancy suggested adding the dates of the meetings. VI. New Business: A. Subcommittee breakout session & reports 1. The At Risk Children and Families subcommittee reported that they will do a diaper drive, possibly lined up with Boomers and Beyond as a kick-off. Over a period of 1-2 weeks, a couple locations around the Village will be set up to receive donations. Proceeds will help other organizations who are already doing the work. Commissioners commented that there is a need for diapers, which are expensive. Daniel shared that the pantry often asks for diapers and his church has held donation drives to help. The subcommittee is considering storage space, as diapers are a bulky item. Another commissioner shared that a member of her church would ask guests to bring diapers to parties instead of a gift. The diapers would then be donated to a pantry. 2. The Seniors subcommittee already reported on Boomers and Beyond. Commissioners are encouraged to share information with service providers they may know. Information is available on skokie.org. Commissioners are also encouraged to volunteer. 3. The People with Disabilities subcommittee is meeting on September 27 at the library. The committee is working with Keshet and JCFS to talk about a town hall meeting, which will hopefully happen late spring. This is the first meeting with all the representatives. Michelle has done a lot of work with getting it organized. The hope is to get an idea of what the population in Skokie needs. Next steps would be executing what we can. VII. Citizen Comments: Hilary Hunter reported that she retired a few years ago and she is looking for a commission to serve on. Due to her background, this commission would be a good fit. She also has a good community network and may be able to bring volunteers. VIII. Adjournment at 8:09pm. Next Meeting: Oct. 4, 2023, 7:00 p.m. at Skokie Village Hall