Vice Chair Bryan Seck Opened the Meeting

Lincoln Homeless Coalition Meeting Minutes

May 27, 2016

Attendance: Beatty Brasch, Center for People in Need; Jeff Chambers, UNL-CCFL; Lindsay Drake, The Hub; Leah Droge, Friendship Home; Kathy Foster, NE Dept of Corrections; Nancy Green, Clinic with a Heart; Teresa Harms, Clinic with a Heart; Lee Heflebower, Community Action; Dennis Hoffman, CenterPointe; Alison Kortefay, St. Monica’s; Christina Lloyd, Cedars; Michelle Martinez, Community Action; Rhonda Mattingly, Bridges to Hope; Cathy Mohnike, NE Dept. of Education; Denise Packard, CenterPointe; Jaime Rauner, Voices of Hope; Bryan Seck, Prosper Lincoln; Claudia Severin, DHHS- Medicaid; Nikki Siegel, The Bay; Sarah Sunderman, Matt Talbot Kitchen and Outreach; Lester Wagner, Released and Restored; Amy Wagner, LHA; Andrea Wever, Adult Parole; Abby White, People’s City Mission; Kris Whisenhut, NE Children and Families Foundation; Monica Zinke, Fresh Start; Shay Piel, Dept of Corrections; Brian Travis, Dept. of Corrections; Chris Spangrud, Salvation Army/ NE Human Trafficking Task Force; Jonathan Pennington, House of Hope, LFS, Tasc; Mark Guenzel, UNMC College of Nursing; Raegan Brown, DHHS- CFS; Jamie Corder, Stepping Stones; Nikki Swope, DHHS- NHAP; Elizabeth Rutledge, DHHS- Bridges to Independence; Philip Onyeforo, People’s City Mission; Julie Aksamit, SSVF/ Central NE Community Action; Melissa Ripley, LPD; Roy Rivera, El Centro de las Americas; Jorrae Zierenberg, People’s City Mission; Robert Matson, Cedars, Sandi Pavelka, Blue Valley Behavioral Health; Scout Richters, Legal Aid of Nebraska.

Vice Chair Bryan Seck opened the meeting.

Minutes from the April 2016 meeting were approved.

Treasurer’s Report was distributed. Current balance is $10,634.83 with $4,402.45 designated for PHCL. Recent revenue included a donation from 6th graders at Scott Middle School’s Make Difference Fair.

Presentation: Prosper Lincoln: Employment Speaker: Bryan Seck Bryan provided an overview of how Prosper Lincoln came to be and the current three initiatives. They are early childhood development, innovation & entrepreneurship, and employment. One of the goals of the employment initiative is to help people move from a part time to a full time career. It will be about training people and getting certified skills for people in our community, and helping them access job opportunities. Bryan requested feedback from the group, in response to several questions. The main one, for which membership was broken in to small groups to discuss, was “What is the biggest barrier to employment?” Responses included: legal issues, criminal background, health care (or lack thereof), childcare, transportation, disabilities, lack of skills needed in workforce, work history, housing/homelessness, difficulty planning ahead, lack of education/ no GED (difficulty passing)/HS diploma/higher education, mental health, lack of trust from employers.

Other questions asked were: Current resources for these barriers: Clinic with a Heart, DHHS screening, Voc Rehab, LHA- Family SSF program, all of the housing programs, CFPIN trade program, Hanu House, Bridges to Hope, Released and Restored, NCFF, RAN, legislative committee, untapped work incentives, employer trauma training (and need more of this). What soft skills curriculum could be used?: American Job Center 7 As, MRT

What do you use to find jobs for your clients? Staffing agencies, website lists, online job postings, hot jobs, DOL NE Works site, Voc Rehab, indeed.com, Indian Center’s employment center

Other ideas: job fair for social services staff (to learn more about employers, their requirements, etc), training for refuges/immigrants

Committee Reports Executive, Denise Packard Executive Committee approved paying for conference registration for the National Alliance to End Homelessness summer conference for Denise Packard.

Planning and Data, Jeff Chambers Data from the 2016 PIT Count was released recently. HUD CoC awards were recently announced. Agencies need to do the VISPDAT, an email will be sent to Service Point admins. HUD has increased emphasis on system measurements.

Consumer Engagement, No report.

Youth, No report.

Street Outreach and Coordinated Entry/ Most Vulnerable Review Team (MVRT), Denise Packard Continue to meet weekly and work on collaborative list of names of those with highest need. Also are working on referrals outside of the meetings.

Public Awareness, Lee Heflebower Committee continues to work to increase awareness and currently are exploring the idea of a Landlord Summit. Contact Lea if you are interested in helping with this.

Discharge Planning/ ReEntry No report.

Project Homeless Connect Lincoln, Monica Zinke Date is set! PHCL 2016 will be on 10/20/16, with set up on 10/19/16. The committee will begin meeting on June to discuss the event. Event will be held in conjunction with the VA Stand Down again.

SOAR, Denise Packard No report.

Rent and Utility Network, Michelle Martinez No report.

Agency Updates were given. Next meeting will be June 24, 2016. Respectfully submitted by Monica Zinke, Homeless Coalition Secretary