Commission on Family Services

Commission on Family Services Meeting Minutes – Skokie Village Hall May 7, 2025 7:00 pm Present: Harold Primack (Chair), Commissioners Jo Hammerman, Shajan Jose (Vice Chair), Peggy Molina, Arnie Oskin, Melissa Ponce, Erin Ryan, Nancy Schwartz, Annie Shear, Phillip Shefren, London Summerville, Melissa Versch (Staff Liaison) Absent: Commissioners Sharon Cohen, Michelle Friedman, Marjorie Goran, Hilary Hunter, Linda Lara, Naadirah Muhammad (Shapley-Wells), Valerie Riley, Daniel Stalilonis, I. Call to Order: Approval of Agenda Call to order at 7:02pm. Request to add item VIIc. Housing Sub-Committee Report. Agenda approved as amended. II. Approval April 2025 Minutes Approved by consent. III. Chair’s Report: Harold Primack Chair Primack acknowledged the newly elected mayor and Village trustees. An invitation will be extended to Mayor Tennes to attend a Commission on Family Services meeting. Budget hearings are scheduled for this month. Chair Primack and Staff Liaison Versch will attend to share Commission accomplishments with the Board of Trustees and plans to utilize budget for the next year. The Medical Reserve Corps hosted a presentation by the Chicago Hearing Society. The presentation was engaging and informative. The topic is relevant to emergency preparedness within the Village. Commissioners discussed the use of Smart911, File of Life and other efforts to establish effective emergency response within the Village. IV. Health and Human Service Report: Staff Liaison, Melissa Versch The Skokie Board of Health is accepting nominations for the Public Health Partners of Excellence Award. Nominees can be any individual or organization who helps promote access to health care. One service offered through Health and Human Services, in collaboration with Advocate Health Care, is a health food pantry program. Bags of food are available in the HHS office for people who identify as food insecure. Approximately 6-8 bags are distributed each month. Commissioners discussed access to food pantries in the area, which is important as federal cuts affect food assistance programs. V. Old Business: A. Village events: 1. Festival of Cultures, May 17 & 18 - Sign Up The Commission on Family Services is partnering with the Human Relations Commission for a table at the Festival of Cultures. Items will be available to handout. Melissa Versch will send an email to commissioners to sign-up to help staff the table. 2. Skokie Pride Event – June 22, 1pm-4pm Deferred.  3. Juneteenth Celebration – June 14, 1pm-5pm Deferred. 4. 4th of July Parade Before committing to participation, volunteers would be needed. If not enough volunteers are available, the commission will not participate this year. B. Commission pamphlet A draft of the updated Commission on Family Services brochure was shared for final review and edits. Additionally, a new banner was ordered for the farmers market donation drives. C. Produce initiative and food and clothes drive – Sign-up site London Summerville created Sign-up Genius links for people to sign up for produce collection and donation drives. D. Seniors Subcommittee – Report on Live Well Age Well Skokie Jo Hammerman reported that there has been good progress in planning the senior fair, scheduled for Friday, November 7, 9am – 1pm at Oakton Community Center. There may be three presenters repeating sessions throughout the event, including a music therapist, art therapist, and a yoga instructor. Advocate will provide mobile health screening services. There is consideration to have a sign language interpreter and hearing screenings. A Save the Date has been sent to vendors. There has also been discussion about events in the week leading up to the event, including a square dance and film screening. Volunteers will be needed for the event. The next Steering Committee meeting will be May 28. E. At-Risk Youth and Families Subcommittee – Report on Mother’s Day diaper drive London Summerville reported that the Mother’s Day Diaper Drive started on May 2 and goes through May 11. Commissioners are monitoring public drop-off sites and the Amazon Wish List. As of this morning, the Wish List showed purchases of 50 boxes of diapers, six packages of wipes and one formula. F. Disabilities Subcommittee – Report Nothing to report. G. Dinner meeting in June Shajan Jose will put together order for meeting in June. Melissa Versch will get beverages. VI. Subcommittee Breakout Sessions Deferred. VII. New Business: A. Future meeting dates Due to a conflict with holidays on October 1 and October 8, it is suggested that the October meeting be switched to Tuesday, September 30. April 2026 dates conflict with Passover, and it is suggested the meeting be switched to possibly March 31. If there are additional conflicts, please contact Chair Primack. Proposed future meeting dates are Sept 3, Sept 30, Nov 5, Dec 3, January - none, Feb 4, Mar 4, Mar 31, May 6, and Jun 3.  B. Village budget meeting Refer to Chair report. C. Housing Sub-Committee report Erin Ryan is representing the Commission on Family Services for the Housing Sub-Committee, which has met twice. There are three working groups: 1) housing gaps and needs-assessment to address needs of current residents and attract new residents; 2) addressing zoning code gaps, particularly in regard to Accessory Dwelling Units; 3) housing design and home addition handbook. The next meeting is in July. VIII. Public Comments Arnie Oskin shared that he has been invited to be the guest speaker for the Skokie Memorial Day event on May 26 at 11am. IX. Adjournment. Meeting adjourned at 8:01pm. Next Meeting: June 4, 2025, 7:00 p.m. at Skokie Village Hall