Commission on Family Services

Commission on Family Services Meeting Minutes – Skokie Village Hall Oct. 4, 2023 7:00 pm Present: Commissioners Harold Primack (Chair), Marjorie Goran, Jo Hammerman, Shajan Jose, Linda Lara, Daniel Mann, Peggy Molina, Arnie Oskin, Nancy Schwartz, Annie Shear, Phillip Shefren, London Summerville Absent: Commissioners Michelle Friedman, Hilary Hunter, Laila Iqbal, Melissa Ponce, Valerie Riley, Naadirah Shapley-Wells, Daniel Stalilonis, Melissa Versch (Staff Liaison), Trustee Edie Sue Sutker I. Call to Order: Approval of Agenda Approved by consent. II. Approval of Sept. 6, 2023 Minutes Approved with corrections. III. Chair’s Report: Harold Primack Updates will be provided under Old Business. IV. Health and Human Service Report: Staff Liaison, Melissa Versch None. V. Old Business: A. Boomers and Beyond 2023 1. Volunteers needed for flyer distribution and day of event. Commissioners were asked to sign up for flyer distribution and volunteering for the Boomers and Beyond Event on November 3. Jo reported no changes to the presentations. Presenters are a social worker talking about preventing the winter blues, police department talking about scams, fire department talking about falls and safety at home, an elder care attorney talking about advance care planning documents. We’ll have representatives from Skokie Public Library providing tech help. We’re hoping that we will have a mobile clinic from Advocate for health screenings. We haven’t gotten confirmation, but it’s looking positive. There will be SHIP counselors for consultations. Harold will follow up with Howard about the Lion’s Club doing a vision and hearing screening. We are in the process of putting together a feedback survey for attendees to be entered in a raffle. The Park District will be offering a free membership or free classes as a prize. Commissioners were invited to take printed flyers to advertise for Boomers and Beyond. Posters should be ready by Monday. It is recommended that advertisements be passed out to businesses along Oakton. Melissa Versch will have posters available for pickup at the Health and Human Services office. Printed materials will also be at the next Boomers and Beyond Planning Meeting on October 18. We have 36 registered vendors for full or half tables. We have to give instructions to the vendors about how to drop off materials, where to park, etcetera. Ideally, we would like to continue the event every other year. The last event was in 2019.  B. Farmers Market Produce Collection and donation drive The Commission has one more food and clothing drive at the end of the month. The volunteer sign-ups for the produce collection have been filled up. An update on the amount of produce collected is postponed until the next meeting. C. Welcome Packet A Welcome Packet was passed out for review. The packet would be provided to new commissioners. Arnie recommended adding the Commission brochure to the packet. A letter about completing the Open Meetings Act is included in the packet. A recommendation was made to complete training as a group. Further discussion on the Welcome Packet is postponed until the next meeting. VI. New Business: A. Subcommittee reports 1. Disabilities Phil reported on behalf of Michelle for the subcommittee: The planning committee for the Town Hall Meeting met last week to assess the needs of individuals with disabilities in Skokie. Partner agencies include Keshet, Jewish Children and Family Services, Skokie Public Library, D219 and hopes of additional agencies being included. The first Town Hall Meeting is scheduled for May 19 at 1pm, most likely at the Skokie Library. We decided on May for easier access. We’re looking to have small focus groups run by a facilitator, but we are still in the planning stages. The next planning meeting will be in November. 2. At-risk Youth and Families London reported that the subcommittee has met twice and is working on planning a diaper drive. To make it more manageable, we will collect for one week. From November 4 - 10, Arnie has worked with Police and Fire to have drop off locations. Daniel Stalilonis, Arnie and Marjorie will help with pick up that week. We are still waiting to hear back from the library, hopefully we’ll be outside the library on November 4 to collect donations. We know that bigger sizes are in demand. We’re working on a flyer with information. We might want to highlight how the cost of diapers has changed over the past year so people understand how expensive they are. Melissa Ponce is working on an Amazon Wishlist so we can request certain quantities and sizes, and also send it to our friends. We will donate to the food pantry, and we can have items shipped directly to them. We considered collecting all in one place to provide a good photo opportunity for future drives; however, we thought that having items sent directly to the pantry will help. We will still need to take items to the pantry. We will send out the flyer when it is ready. We would like to include publicity in the Skokie news. Arnie is working with Melissa Versch, staff liaison, on publicity. A QR code could be provided to the Amazon Wishlist. A poster could be available at the farmers market. Consideration has been given to working with the Chamber of Commerce or local businesses. A question was asked about collecting adult diapers. The response is that this drive is starting small, and we are asking the food pantry where there is the most need. There is potential to do more diaper drives in the future. 3. Seniors Boomers and Beyond is the only initiative at this time. VII. Citizen Comments: Alyssa from JCFS thanked the commission for allowing her to attend. Alyssa will be presenting at November’s meeting about the JCFS Response for Teens program. VIII. Adjournment. Next Meeting: Nov. 1, 2023, 7:00 p.m. at Skokie Village Hall