steering committee meeting -
05/06/2015

Tri-County LTR Steering Committee Meeting Minutes

May 6, 2015

The Steering Committee meeting of Tri-County Long Term Recovery was called to order at 9:02 a.m. by Chairman Jim Fassino. In attendance were Darius Alemzadeh, Terry Bibo, Corey Campbell, Ben Davidson, Shelley Epstein, Fassino, Kevin Gramm, Lu Ori, Alyssa Pollock, Amber Wells, Kitty Yanko.

April minutes: Approved.

Chairman's report: Fassino said congratulations should be extended to Vice-chairman Jennifer M. Orban, who recently accepted a new job. Unfortunately, although she will continue to lead the bi-monthly public meetings, she will be unable to attend LTR Steering Committee meetings. He wondered if it might be possible to split apart the Funder's Forum/Steering Committee format onto two different days. Epstein suggested switching the Steering Committee to 7 a.m. instead of 9 a.m. Fassino will explore options.

Fassino also mentioned that the funding for case workers is drying up. He said LTR could underwrite some case managers, if necessary. He asked funders if they might like to help; Roberts noted that Washington Illinois Area Foundation said it might do so. Roberts also asked if funding soil remediation cases was driving up prices, which seem higher. Wells said it is more likely that the less-expensive landscaping contractors are booked.

Vice chairman: No report.

Spirit/emotional: Campbell offered mock-ups for a series of flyers about coping called œDon't Let One Disaster Become Another. He said the committee has collaborated closely with United Way, as they did on the recent book, and United Way is funding. The group hopes to keep going indefinitely, replacing burned out or departing members as necessary, because the service is still needed. For example, Campbell said he has a Bradley University intern helping with a study on divorce rates post-disaster.

Roberts suggested the flyers might want to be more clear than just saying œDisaster and Yanko noted that pets are often affected by the stress in a household. Campbell said work on the verbiage is still underway. He predicted United Way will want to do a big roll-out with the flyers and said the group has weather radios to give away, as well. Roberts said he hopes the rollout for the flyers will be collaborative and Bibo offered to help with communications.

Pollock noted that there will be a workshop on œCare for the Caregiver which will provide three continuing education units for professionals. The date has not been set, but it will probably take place in June.

Communications: Epstein said April was a pretty quiet month for communications, as expected, but Mark Roberts' article in InterBusiness Issues should be out any day.

He offered a summary of communications efforts, suggesting it might serve as a template for other committees as LTR winds down. If they like, Epstein said, LTR executive board members can take it when they meet with the two groups forming to address the April 9 tornadoes near DeKalb. The most important take-away is that an LTR is multi-faceted and both hands need to know what the other is doing. Communications' goal is not just to raise the profile of the group, but in so doing to help clients and funders know where to go.

Roberts and Davidson volunteered to give their wrap ups at the June 3 meeting.

Donations: Roberts said he is shooting for the June presentation. Although Julie Siebert had disengaged from the committee in recent months, she has gotten more involved again to connect with the DeKalb people. He said he has not heard any more from the McCormick Foundation and œno news is good news.

Volunteer Management:. In an odd twist, Davidson said, one of the people affected by the Fairdale tornado called to ask for his donation back from Washington. He is the father of a Tazewell County man affected by the Nov. 2013 tornadoes, and had sent shelving units to help with the clean up. Now his area is affected and they could use the units themselves. Bethany Community Church had the shelving in storage and Davidson said the church was happy to donate that back to Northern Illinois.

He said there was an adequate number of volunteers for the April 24 tree planting day. Many volunteers were from Ameren, but got called away to handle a gas leak. Epstein noted that there was television coverage of the event.

Disaster Case Management: Pollock said there are 154 open and 887 closed cases, for a total of 1,041 cases. Some are near closure, and there are roughly 40 to 50 active files. Fassino asked if the office still gets walk-ins; Pollock said yes, but not as many. Those who do come in have heard more about LTR services and often come prepared with paperwork. As case management winds down, she said, Tom Pelger has been called to other efforts for the Society of St. Vincent de Paul and Capt. Katherine may end her LTR involvement when Salvation Army funding ends in June. The Red Cross is committed to staying through to the end, she said.

Fassino complimented the staff efforts in these transitional months as œfantastic and said he has learned a lot about how much work is involved in coordinating a case. For example, in the future, there might be ways to streamline the check-cutting process, which is complicated by multiple vendors. Roberts said this could offer better control.

Pollock said the staff is working to ensure clients stay with a single case manager as much as possible.

Pets: Yanko continues to work on getting an emergency pet trailer which would be under the auspices of the Illinois Department of Agriculture. While it's a high priority for her group, particularly since some money was donated specifically for that purpose, she fears it has gone to the bottom of the pile in Springfield. Roberts asked if she would like help œpestering the ag department; she said she'd rather wait a bit longer because she thinks they are the best option and doesn't want to make them mad. He asked if LTR funds would be needed to purchase the trailer; she said possibly a couple thousand dollars. She also brought the office 20 $25 Petco gift certificates which can be given to clients.

Funder's Forum: Fassino said it is obvious the dollar amounts for cases are increasing. Funders are getting quieter. He said there may be legal resources to help clients, but some of the process with Prairie State Legal Services has been frustrating. Roberts shared thank you notes; Yanko suggested they be posted or saved.

Construction Management: Ori continues to go out and check properties for LTR. He wondered how to advise people what projects to undertake, since some must be done in order and LTR likes to do the funding all in one shot. Fassino said it doesn't have to be done in one shot, and he personally finds it harder to give to big projects with big insurance settlements than to smaller projects where the client may be disabled or have other difficulties. Ori noted that some of the legal fights may take months to resolve and LTR expects to use up funding and shut down in November.

Finance: Gramm said $284,026.33 has been granted as of April 20. The checking account has a balance of $3,180.95. When pending items are subtracted, there was a fund balance of $282,986.23. That does not include this morning's Funder's Forum.

Soil remediation: Wells said there is a public perception that money is available. People have trouble understanding they may not get the full amount they have requested. Epstein asked about the reaction when clients are told they get less than expected. She said some are OK, others are upset.

COAD/VOAD:

Pollock said work groups are being formed to write basic bylaws and get more members. There is a possibility a professional will take this on, which would be œexciting. In DeKalb, she said, there are two groups working side by side. Roberts said they're isolated by geography; Fassino said it may work for the governmental entities, but not for relief groups like the Red Cross.

Other business: Fassino asked Alemzadeh for feedback, since he hadn't spoken during the regular meeting. Alemzadeh praised Ori's assistance. Fassino reiterated that staff made a trying transition work out better than before.

Fassino, Bibo, Epstein, Gramm, Pollock, Roberts and Wells will go to DeKalb Monday for a workshop to help those affected by the April 9 tornadoes. Fassino observed that help from Joplin had given direction to local efforts; Roberts said œIt's our chance to pay it forward.

Fassino also said 60 days notice will be given that LTR plans to shut down the office in November. He said equipment and furniture will be available at that point because the donor does not want the items back.

Community meeting: Orban will chair the next public meeting at 3 p.m. Wednesday, May 13, at the LTR Center.

Funder's Forum meeting: 8 a.m. Wednesday, June 3, at the LTR Center.

Steering Committee Meeting: 9 a.m. Wednesday, June 3, at the LTR Center. (Later changed to 7 a.m., as proposed by Epstein.)

The meeting adjourned at 10:01 a.m.