Synopsis of Meeting of Monday, March 10, 2014
The meeting was called to order by Karen Halley at 4:20 pm.
In attendance: Jim Robinson, Brian Bullock, Faye Ellis, Marty Holman, Karen Halley
1. Minutes were approved from the meeting of February 3, 2014. Faye Ellis will be sent meeting minutes and agenda by regular mail.
2. Holden Woman’s Club made a donation to H@H which Faye Ellis graciously accepted. The donation receipt process was briefly examined. More time will be spent on this issue well before November 2014. Potential alternatives to making donations were not re-addressed this meeting.
3. CoA: Faye Ellis provided information from Louise Charbonneau regarding the Council on Aging activity concerning Welcome Aldrich/Help at H.O.M.E.
From 2/3/2014 to 3/10/2014:
- Applications received: 5
- Applications returned: 2
- Pending: 2
- Applications mailed: 1
- Received assistance: 5
- Amount Approved/Disbursed: NA
- Money distributed to HMLD bills – 2 families; Heat – 2 families; Heat and HMLD – 1 family
Discussion centered on “getting the word out” to increase awareness and to therefore increase the number of applications for assistance. Other questions raised are: what is the standard (2x poverty level)? How is it decided? Teachers/schools tend to know about needs their students might have. It was suggested that the horizons for eligibility be broadened. In order to increase awareness and help more families, the following points were made:
- Loosen constraints
- Clergy outreach
- The Landmark and T&G – a personalized approach like a case paragraph, perhaps?
- Town Manager’s blog; Channel 11; electronic message board;
- Change (modify) the application. Brian will scan the application provided by Faye and send it to all the Committee members for perusal.
- Standardization of criteria/guidelines
The questions are still: How much? and For what?
It was suggested again that money other than to HMLD needs to be disbursed.
Corporate donations were mentioned and this was tabled until another meeting.
4. Food/WFP update Karen Halley gave a report on the Wachusett Food Pantry and other organizations with which she has been in contact. There were 95 families helped at the WFP in February. One of the snow storms in February meant that the WFP was closed on Friday of February distribution which reduced the number of families helped. There is enough food for the five towns, as well as homeless in Worcester and Friendly House in Worcester. Joseph’s Project is running its 2nd Annual Shamrock Shuffle in March.
5. Treasurer's report: Jim is still in the process of researching the level of financial connectivity between Help at H.O.M.E. and Welcome Aldrich Relief Fund.
6. Emergency reference booklet: It was decided to wait for a CoA outreach coordinator to attend a meeting to find out how/when the “new” facts are being captured and where they are being stored. Faye Ellis will bring this up at the Senior Center. It used to be that they were sent to the Town Manager’s Office and then put on the website.
7. Clergy outreach: Marty Holman will gladly help spread the word that assistance is available for Holden residents via the Welcome Aldrich Relief Fund and Help at H.O.M.E. Karen will send him all archived documents written by Rev. Rich Simpson.
8. The date for the next meeting: tbd in late May/early June. It was suggested that a CoA Outreach coordinator and Louise Charbonneau be invited to attend.
9. Adjournment: The meeting ended at 5:00 pm.
The minutes were taken and written by Karen Halley.
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