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HomeMy WebLinkAbout201307_DDAB Minutes Developmental Disability Advisory Board - Minutes 07/23/2013 Page 1 of 4 JEFFERSON COUNTY PUBLIC HEALTH 615 Sheridan Street  Port Townsend  Washington  98368 www.jeffersoncountypublichealth.org Developmental Disabilities Advisory Board (DDAB) M I N U T E S July 23, 2013 Board Attendees: Carl Hanson (Co-Chair), John Austin, Catharine Robinson, Leesa Monroe Board Absentees: Lesly Sheinbaum (Co-chair), Claudia Edmondson, Kim Rafferty Guests: Candy Kerr, Sarah Fairbank, Lisa Falcone, Kathy Goldenberg Staff: Anna McEnery, Donna Marvin (recorder) Call to Order Co-Chair Carl Hanson called the meeting to order at 3:25 pm. Approval of Agenda No revisions or corrections to the draft agenda. Member Austin moved to approve agenda as written, Member Robinson second, motion passed. Approval of Minutes from May 28, 2013 No revisions or corrections to the draft minutes. Member Austin moved to approve minutes as written, Member Robinson second, motion passed. Public Comments No comments at this time. New Business and Presentations “Community Summit” Conference & Pre-Conference Candy Kerr shared some of her experiences and impressions from the Community Summit, held at the end of June. She was “super impressed with everything that went on and what she came back with”. She especially appreciated the opportunity to make connections with others who work in the same field as she does as well as with people with disabilities. There were so many interesting sessions to select from that it made it difficult to choose. She discussed aspects of what was covered in one of the sessions: “Assisted Technology”. She also attended “Social Coaching in the Workplace” and heard inspiring techniques for how to integrate people within the community. Anna McEnery talked about a workshop she attended on housing, which covered information on subsidized government programs, and innovative ideas that could possibly be used here. There were many great resources there. She would like to invite a speaker from the King County Housing Authority to come and share some of these ideas with the Board. Another innovative idea being used in Issaquah involves parents who could possibly come and share Developmental Disability Advisory Board - Minutes 07/23/2013 Page 2 of 4 their experiences and processes with local parents. Another method used in King County involves a Profile Questionnaire and a matching pool as part of the Partners for Housing. Camphill Project Presentation Sarah Fairbank shared information on the Camphill Project (Al Latham unable to attend). Sarah shared personal background information about her own 40-year-old son with Down Syndrome, Adam. Adam went to public school until he was 18 and then on the Oregon State University Campus for the last 3 years. They had him in independent living, job coaches, financial coaches, group home, with no success, so she eventually brought him home. Then she heard about the Camphill Project which is an organization started in the late 30’s or early 40’s, based on Rudolf Steiner’s philosophy which is call Anthroposophy. Part of Anthroposophy is looking at the intellectual, the artistic, the spiritual and the physical in each individual. Camphill has started communities around the world. Sarah and her husband placed Adam in one of these communities almost 15 years ago. The community provides structure and a rhythm for every day - things are predictable. Residents live in a 600-acre valley with a stream running through it. They do farming, candle making, bread baking and grow their food. The incredible strength of this program is that everything is so consistent, and they have seen incredible results in Adam’s maturity and it has given them great peace of mind. About 7 years ago, the Fairbanks got together with 8-10 parents and started talking about bringing this concept to the Port Townsend area. She and Al Latham have established a 501- C3; they have 4.7 acres contiguous to Sunfield Farm School. They are calling it Ravenswold. Their dream is to have some kind of intentional community housing there where people will live in community and be able to interface with activities at Sunfield Farm School. They could feasibly do things like cleaning, farm work, garden work, cooking or any number of other things. Sunfield Farms likes them being there but cannot offer any help. Sarah has started to work with the Camphill Foundation in New York State to try to get the help that is needed. They have asked for a needs assessment. The people at Camphill Foundation say that it takes either a philanthropist or a parent that is so motivated that they will not give up. Sarah has found support in the community but people want it to be up and running first. Ravenswold needs money and more people. Community Forum Update As background, Kathy Goldenberger distributed handouts showing the top 7 topics for further discussion that were identified in the survey conducted in 2012. After reviewing the 7 topics at that time, the group determined that the over-riding factor in each of the 7 had to do with making connections. Then they broke out into groups for brainstorming ideas and she compiled them. She prioritized them according to the vote that was taken. She tried to make an action plan, but realized that this needed to be done by the group. She presented her beginning attempt at putting together the plan. Her hope for today is to identify who will do what and develop a timeline. There was discussion about clarifying what the message should be specifically, and make sure that it stays consistent. Anna will develop a write-up about the message (with input from the group). It’s important to not go in asking for jobs, but go in pitching capacities. Developmental Disability Advisory Board - Minutes 07/23/2013 Page 3 of 4 There was discussion about the objectives and ideas: Presentation Teams:  Each Board member takes responsibility for the various entities to be reached. Bring in the appropriate representative to speak or show one of our videos.  Discussion about previous non-receptivity from Rotary president. Catharine suggestion: One way “in” might be through the caterer, Beth at Jordini’s, who is also a Rotary member. There is a new President, Le Hornbeck.  Claudia was designated to present to Kiwanis.  John will present to Olympic Workforce Development Council.  Work With Me is in October (instead of a Chamber presentation)  Rotary – may try one of the other ones – person yet to be determined.  Start in January – complete by June 30th. Newspaper articles:  Identify contact – Alison will be contacted by Leesa before the next meeting.  Determine schedule of articles to include quarterly dates and topics – Anna will talk to them after Leesa makes the initial contact. John suggests the PDN feature story/Anna – perhaps submit regular article about an employer (perhaps employer helps with cost)/market the logo/Kris Nelson – great publicity for her/highlight a job candidate.  Identify “authors” – to be determined, hopefully the reporter will do it. Radio:  Contact local radio – Carl and Anna have been talking about this with the Work With Me Breakfast committee. This would dovetail with that – the same connections. There will definitely be an interview with Carl about the breakfast. We need to evaluate if we have the time to do a monthly radio show. Sheila Ramsey seems willing to help. Forum – “Housing for People with Developmental Disabilities”:  Use King County model – “Partners for Housing” – September. Anna, Janie, Lesly (Sheinbaum) & possibly Claudia Event such as City or State Park clean up:  People First may be interested – Lesly (Sheinbaum) and/or Janie  Possibly do in conjunction with another group such as the Boy Scouts or the Weed Board. Transition Academy already regularly pulls weeds on the Larry Scott trail. Kathy will type up notes on the discussion and send to Anna. Old Business & Informational Items – Anna McEnery Anna gave updates on the following:  WA State Arc Grant – completed Power Point presentations, now on U-Tube. Anna will make copies for CDs for distribution for use with notes for presenters. Sue Elliot the Director of the Arc of Washington was very happy with it. Thanks to Grier Jewell for her technical assistance and editing.  Work With Me Employer Breakfast – Community Connectors are continuing to meet. This year’s poster will soon be ready to print. Special thanks to Carl for all of his dedication. Developmental Disability Advisory Board - Minutes 07/23/2013 Page 4 of 4 Upcoming Workshops/Meetings:  Emergency Planning Meeting for People with Disabilities with Bob Hamlin, EOC Director: will be July 30th, 1:30 – 3:00 pm at Public Health. They are looking to get representation from all populations of people who have access or functional needs. The EOC needs to do more specific planning for inclusion. Bob has named the group EPIC – Emergency Planning Integration Committee. This dovetails into a grant opportunity from the Governor’s committee on disability issues and employment. This could meet the first criteria, which is to establish an accessible community advisory committee. So we want to establish this committee and apply for this funding. Also, Anna would like to put some of DASH’s maps onto our website, jcchoices.org. Another idea – 8th graders to be mentored by sophomores in high school, introducing them to high school life (Anna has named it “Project Connect”). Anna has discussed this idea with Kim Hammers from the “Y” – she loves the idea, so they are planning to meet with Middle School and High School Counselors about how to implement the program. Carl announced a housing program meeting, which is bringing many people to the table to talk about the broad spectrum of homelessness and housing needs in the community – July 24th, 4 – 5:30 at the Tri Area Community Center. Public Comment No comments. Adjournment Meeting adjourned at 4:59 pm. Next Meeting: Tuesday, November 19, 2013, 3:15 – 5:00 pm