Commission on Family Services

Commission on Family Services Meeting Minutes – Skokie Village Hall June 1, 2022 7:00 pm Present: Commissioners Harold Primack (Chair), Yolanda Bender, Wendy Katznelson, Heather O’Donnell, Arnie Oskin, Nancy Schwartz, Annie Shear, Phillip Shefren, Daniel Stalilonis, Michael Stiehl, Melissa Versch (Liaison), Daniel Mann Absent: Commissioners Jaime Garcia, Marjorie Goran, Jo Hammerman, Laila Iqbal, Shajan Jose, Nichole Perry, Valerie Riley, Edie Sue Sutker I. Call to Order at 7:00pm II. Approval of May 4, 2022 Minutes: Approved by consent III. Presentation: Steve Vick, Holly Jin & Joanna Varda, Early Childhood Alliance See Copy of ECA Presentation IV. Chair’s Report: Chair Harold Primack A. Two commissioners have resigned: Josh Orlan and Bonnie Eckstein. Commissioners can contact Harold or Melissa about feedback regarding the commission. V. Health and Human Service Report: Staff Liaison, Melissa Versch A. In response to a question asked at the last meeting regarding how COVID funds are being spent by the Village, a memo outlines that funding has been used to rehire frozen positions, grants, Park District/library funding, business support, emergency financial assistance, and workforce development. VI. Old Business: A. Produce Initiative - Heather developed a SignUp Genius for volunteers to sign up. Link to be sent to commissioners, food pantry, St. Paul Lutheran Church and others. 2-3 volunteers are needed each week. There are 2 links – one for picking up produce and the other for the monthly clothing drive. Produce pickup takes about 45 minutes. The clothing drive is split into 2 shifts. The first date is June 26. Harold to send out links. A demonstration of the SignUp Genius was projected. Commissioners will get to sign up first, then the links will be extended to other groups. Holly Jin shared that the Community Engagement Department at the library runs a volunteer program. Melissa will share the link with Holly. B. Farmer’s Market Food and Clothing Drive – The weekly produce initiative is the collection of donations from farmers at the end of the farmers market. Once per month will be the donation drive where the public is asked to bring food, clothing and toiletries. We will try to staff from 9am to the end of the farmers market. C. Festival of Cultures – Thank you to Arnie, Jo and Laila who volunteered. Arnie shared that he arrived around 10:30 for setup with the Village. Ms. Tennes brought Commission brochures. By 10:45, kids and families started coming to the table. About 75 children D. 4th of July Parade – The commission will be riding on a float with the Beautification  Commission. Commissioners should let Harold know if they would like to join. E. Commission brochure and signage – A sign is being made to promote the donation drives at the farmers market. The brochure is completed and will be passed out at the parade with Skittles. F. Environmental Sustainability Plan Team – The first meeting was held. Nancy and Mike did not get the invitation. Melissa will follow up to make sure it gets sent to them. Phil attended the meeting and shared that the consulting company has looked at best practices throughout the country and the efforts should be interesting. There is a survey for residents to provide input about what citizens feel is important regarding environmental sustainability in the Village. G. Subcommittee discussion – Skipped. VII. New Business: A. Findhelp.org – Mike Stiehl shared that a problem that many organizations have is connecting people with resources. Find Help is a company that provides free services. On the website, you can enter a zip code to locate services. The company scans websites and verifies information with their team. Organizations can maintain information themselves. Search results can be filtered and shared easily. The company does free demos. Mike can help setup a presentation. Agencies can get data from the company. For example, a hospital used the information in increase use of a car seat program. VIII. Citizen Comments: None. IX. Adjournment at 8:30pm. Next Meeting: Sept. 7, 2022, 7:00 p.m.