Minutes for 10/20/09 meeting
In Attendance: Father Stan Aksamit, Jane Banks, Andrew Baker, Martin Chaisson, Steve Como, Sylvia de Haas-Phillips, John Klenakis, Gerry McCafferty, Andrew Morehouse, Pamela Schwartz, Lynne Wallace
Regrets: Paul Bailey, Bob Fleischner, David Gadaire, Betty Medina Lichtenstein, Jane Sanders
Decisions made:
- We will meet monthly. Stay tuned for a separate email regarding scheduling a meeting for the week of 11/17.
- John Klenakis will draft up a “conversation starting” mission statement for our committee and circulate it via email for our feedback.
- I (with Gerry’s help) will provide the committee with data demonstrating why and how we know the Housing First approach works (laying the groundwork for our outreach and communication efforts).
- We agreed we need to work very closely with our consumer advisory group as it develops (currently in its earliest recruitment stages) since effective community engagement must include the people will ultimately aim to serve.
- We agreed to set our sights on an event or series of events (format to be decided) in March, 2010, that will bring our target audience together (tentatively brainstormed to include state legislators, business owners, faith communities, education departments) to demonstrate the effectiveness of Housing First and create buy-in across these constituencies.
- We agreed that holding our Network accountable to its goals is critical to the success of this committee’s efforts, i.e., we can only market what we’re doing if what we are doing works.
- We agreed that producing a video capturing the Network’s work was crucial for the March event(s). Steve Como offered to connect with video producers he knows as we get closer.
It was a good start to important work that lies ahead.
–Pamela Schwartz, Regional Coordinator
