Safe, Healthy, Connected People Commission

11/1/2022 - Minutes I. Call to Order Members Present: Mary Hussmann, Yam Basnet, Meredith Bushey, Elise Carlson City Staff Present: Elaine Wang, Ray Coffey Guests Present: Abdi Mohamed (I&B Commission Liaison), Stuart Lindsay Call to Order by: Mary Hussmann Meeting Start Time: 6:42 PM Minutes Recorded by: Ray Coffey II. Approve Previous Meeting Minutes Decision: Approved Motion by: Yam Basnet Second: Meredith Bushey III. Public Comment None IV. Review and Recommend Awards for COVID-19 Recovery Nonprofit Grant Program Decision: Motion to recommend funding of $10K each to the top four scoring applications (Fight for Kids Foundation, Methodist Church/Winooski Food Shelf, Somali Bantu Association, Winooski Parent and Students Project) Motion by: Yam Basnet Second: Meredith Bushey – Unanimous approval Decision: Motion to recommend funding for Age Well, CVOEO, and Pathways should additional funding be made available. Motion by: Yam Basnet Second: Elise Carlson – Unanimous approval Mary reviewed the preliminary review process (Commissioners used pre-made rubric to score and send scores to Elaine in advance, and cumulative scores were used to rank applications). Elaine discloses that they used to work for Deb Sachs from Net Zero Vermont. Elaine was unable to do research to determine if leaders of organizations are from traditionally marginalized groups, but hope is that the Commission and staff can crowdsource info. Abdi Mohamed logs in at 6:42 PM. Abdi is the I&B Liaison. Elaine shared context for the I&B Commission and how it will interface with SHCP and other Commissions. I&B Liaison will help ensure the Commission is conducting its business with an eye to equity. Meredith confirmed that she wanted to consider doing $10K for 4 orgs. Based on preliminary marginalized groups, but hope is that the Commission and staff can crowdsource info. Abdi Mohamed logs in at 6:42 PM. Abdi is the I&B Liaison. Elaine shared context for the I&B Commission and how it will interface with SHCP and other Commissions. I&B Liaison will help ensure the Commission is conducting its business with an eye to equity. Meredith confirmed that she wanted to consider doing $10K for 4 orgs. Based on preliminary review, Commissioners seemed inclined to award 4 awards of $10K each. Group considered top five applications (all five which scored above 35 points) primarily, knowing that, for the moment, the group will likely be funding 4 applications. Group reviewed whether leaders of organization were from historically marginalized communities, in particular Winooski Food Shelf. Discussion of whether Food Shelf application was for food Shelf or Church (facility). Generally Food Shelf scored high, so this may be a mute point. Age Well did not have a strong BIPOC representation on their staff, but considering women and/or seniors could improve the representation from "marginalized" groups. While there is a desire to be objective, Elaine reminded the group that the written materials may not be an equitable tool for review. Mary and Ray shared information about the history of the programs that Age Well had run at the Senior Center, and there were questions about sustainability and viability of bringing this program back with only a one-time $10,000 outlay. Mary's score for Somali Bantu Org (criteria B) was updated to a 2 (error in data entry), bringing total score to 36 points. WPS Project: Elise's score for WPS criteria D went to a 2, bringing total score to 36. Fight for Kids Foundation: Yam adjusts responses to A and D to 2's, bringing total score to 40. The group discussed agencies which also got top four scores from individual Commissioners (Pathways, Vermont Dental). Ultimately the group reached consensus on the top four as scored: Fight for Kids Foundation, Methodist Church (Winooski Food Shelf), Somali Bantu Association, WPS Project. Group reviewed rank order of all 11 applications: l FKF l Methodist l Somali Bantu l WPS Project l Age Well l CVOEO l Pathways l DREAM l VT Dental Care l Turning Point l Net Zero VT Yam shares concerns about prioritizing organizations that don't have access to larger systematized sources of funding (i.e. professional grant writer, Medicaid/Dental Insurance, etc.). Elise raised concerns about Age Well's ability to execute the project as proposed based on Mary's feedback.  l Net Zero VT Yam shares concerns about prioritizing organizations that don't have access to larger systematized sources of funding (i.e. professional grant writer, Medicaid/Dental Insurance, etc.). Elise raised concerns about Age Well's ability to execute the project as proposed based on Mary's feedback. V. Recommend whether Council should increase amount allocated to COVID-19 Recovery Nonprofit Grant Program Decision: Motion to recommend additional funding for non-profit grants, taking into account feedback on the process and considering updates to the scoring process. Motion by: Mary Hussmann Second: Elise Carlson Approve: Mary Hussmann, Elise Carlson, Yam Basnet Abstain: Meredith Bushey VI. Adjourn Motion by: Yam Basnet Second: Elise Carlson Meeting End Time: 7:56 PM