Title
Draft Minutes of the Special Meeting, October 29, 2015
Body
DRAFT UNTIL APPROVED
Social Service Human Relations Board
Minutes of the Meeting of the Social Service Human Relations Board, October 29, 2015
1. CALL TO ORDER AND ROLL CALL
President Biggs called the meeting to order at 7:04 p.m. Present were members Williams, Hyman, Radding, and Davenport. Absent were members Blake and Sorensen.
2. APPROVAL OF MINUTES - NONE
3. AGENDA ITEMS
3.- A REPORT BY PRESIDENT BIGGS ON THE HOMELESS COUNT CONDUCTED ON THURSDAY, JULY 23, 2015, AND DISCUSSION REGARDING DATA COLLECTED AND NEXT STEPS TO COMPLETE THE PROJECT
President Biggs shared an Excel spreadsheet with the data collected during the September 24,
2015 Homeless Count (Attachment A). He shared that this year’s number of persons identified in
the count is almost identical to that of last year, 18 this year as compared to 17 last year. This
year, however, the teams interacted with many more individuals than last year. There are still a
number of chronic homeless people living in Alameda, and the APD officers are acquainted with
most of them. Some shared that they had recently become homeless because of the rising cost of
housing in Alameda.
Member Hyman shared that she encountered a couple on Bay Farm who had become homeless
and were willing to talk about it, as opposed to last year, when people were reluctant to share their
stories.
President Biggs noted that some said that their lack of an ID prevented them from being able to
access services.
Staff shared that, when the Red Cross office was open (before 2010), there were
funds available through the Ministerial Association to purchase an ID.
Member Williams said that, if we had the names of individuals needing IDs, she may be able to
identify a program to assist.
Member Radding suggested that, since there are so few chronic homeless in Alameda, maybe the
Housing Authority could set aside units to accommodate them. He added that, with HUD’s new
Housing First approach, there might be funds to support it.
Member Williams shared information regarding the encampment in place in San Francisco that is
managed by the Navigation Center, and added that Navigation Center staff might be willing to
present at a SSHRB meeting.
President Biggs suggested that SSHRB should also hear from the new AFD Community
Paramedics Program, and that we should consider holding a forum like the one that resulted in
SSHRB undertaking its first homeless count. The first forum was to understand and begin to
address the needs of those living on the streets in Alameda. Now that we have an idea of the
relatively small number of chronic homeless in Alameda, this forum would focus on a solution for
housing them.
A motion was made to invite providers, stakeholders, agencies, and governmental partners, to a
forum in early 2016, with the purpose of identifying solutions to meeting the housing and social
service needs of Alameda’s chronically homeless population.
M/S Hyman/Williams Unanimous.
4. BOARD/STAFF COMMUNICATIONS, NON-AGENDA
President Biggs applauded the CSA Committee and all Board members for their work in putting on the Community Service Awards event that he described as “a legitimate community event”, which has become part of the fabric of our community.
Member Williams agreed and thanked staff for his support, and all for their work on the event. She noted that that, in one year, the award ceremony has gone from presentations in the park, to a top-notch event, and that she received amazing feed-back. She added that she would write a Letter to the Editor regarding the event, and share it with committee members before sending it.
Member Hyman shared that it was a pleasure to be on the committee, and what a great event it was. All agreed that the planning process should start earlier, if we plan to do it again next year.
Member Hyman asked about the status of the data collected in our Quality of Life survey.
President Biggs said that EHS teacher Diana Kenney is having her students input the data collected at the Webster Jam, and that he would call her to see when it might be completed.
President Biggs said that it is time for the Board to consider conducting another Community Needs Survey, but that we should first look at the results of the one currently being conducted by the AHA.
5. ORAL COMMUNICATIONS
None
6. ADJOURNMENT
The meeting was adjourned at 7:38 PM. M\S Radding\ Williams Unanimous
Respectfully submitted by:
Jim Franz
Secretary