Housing and Homeless Coalition of Beaver County

Housing and Homeless Coalition of Beaver County November 13, 2014 Meeting Agenda Welcome and Introductions Norah Miller Meeting Attendees: Jaime Kin...
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Housing and Homeless Coalition of Beaver County November 13, 2014 Meeting Agenda Welcome and Introductions

Norah Miller

Meeting Attendees: Jaime Kinkead, Janice Matteo, Brandi Sabol, Brenda Shultz, Frank Wilson, Rebecca Salopek, Janet Elder, Ada Milliner, Herta Madder, Heidi Gumbert, Christy Miles, Tom Kaminsky, Judy Stonfer, Carmen Wilkerson, Josh Stiger, Lisa Smith, Kaitlin Rhodes, Ashley Mancine, Lisa Marchionda, Philip Little, Amy Frank, Linda Swaney, Lisa Signore, Ruth Shiers, Ray Gutowski, Jim Sherwood, Darcy Casey and Norah Miller. Review of October Meeting Minutes

Norah Miller

OPEN DISCUSSION Norah has received multiple requests looking for resources for Thanksgiving and Christmas dinners. Norah emailed Kevin Boozel at PA 211. He sent the following link where you can sort to locate holiday meals and resources. http://pa211sw.org/content/holiday-programs If you have any additional resources to add, please share by requesting they be posted on www.BCCAN.org and www.pa211sw.org websites. Rebecca Salopek: Housing Authority and CARES Ministries 1. Thanksgiving dinner celebrations: • Beaver Falls was relocated to Central United Methodist Church from 11:301pm on Thanksgiving Day. The church is located at the corner of 6th and 13th at the site of the Beaver Falls Soup Kitchen. • Salvation Army is providing a Thanksgiving dinner Sunday before Thanksgiving in Beaver Falls at 414 16th Street at 4:00. • The Franklin Center in Aliquippa is hosting a Thanksgiving Dinner Monday 11/24 from 11:30am - 2:00pm at the Broadcast Cafe on Franklin Avenue. • St. James in Sewickley will be hosting a free Thanksgiving Dinner on Thanksgiving Day at 1:00. For reservations, please call 412.741.6650. • St. Cecilia Church in Rochester located at 623 Virginia Avenue will be serving a free dinner on Thanksgiving Day from 1:00-3:00pm. Limited transportation is available by calling 724-775-0801. For reservations before November 17, 2014, call 412-775-8875.

The$mission$of$the$Housing$and$Homeless$Coalition$of$Beaver$County$is$to$provide$support,$direction,$and$ collaboration$in$effectively$addressing$the$issues$of$homelessness$and$affordable,$sustainable$housing$in$ $Beaver$County$by$identifying$and$utilizing$all$available$resources.$

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Housing and Homeless Coalition of Beaver County 2. See attachment regarding the 21st Annual Christmas Day Dinner at Beaver Falls High School. Please widely distribute the flyer and share with clients. Rebecca reported they are expecting about 1500 or more this year. Darcy & Tim Casey are in charge of the resource table. Please bring brochures about your agency that can be shared at the Christmas Dinner to the December Coalition meeting or the dinner. Call the number at the Church to arrange a time to drop-off items and any gifts being donated. Brenda Schultz : Glade Run Lutheran Services • Brenda is working with an individual who is being released from jail who will be in need of housing soon. Resources include TRAILS ministries - Katie Rhodes.724-493-4023 and Darcy Casey at The Cornerstone. 724.846.6400 Brenda also shared that she tried to coordinate her client going to Mahoning Valley Homeless Shelter but it was full. Lisa Marchionda: TRAILS Ministries • Lisa asked for assistance from the Coalition regarding food assistance for a client who is waiting to have his EBT card reissued by the County Assistance Office. Jim Sherwood, Crossroads Shelter Manager, offered food. Members suggested the Salvation Army Food Bank in Beaver Falls and daily community meals. The Beaver County Resource Card and SNAP brochure are available in PDF on the bccan.org website. Philip Little: Office of the Attorney General • Phil is providing a Social Media 101 Presentation tonight at the Phoenix Center in Rochester on the 2nd Floor at 6:00pm. Topics include teaching parents how children are bullied through social media and how child predators are using them. For more information, go to www.AttorneyGeneral.gov and click the Education tab. Janet Elder: SWPA Food Partnership • Janet thanked those who attended the poverty simulation on October 30 at the Church in the Round in Aliquippa. It was a great turn-out. If you wish to continue conversation about how poverty affects people, please contact Janet at [email protected]. • Online training for child abuse reporting. www.reportabusepa.pitt.edu website opens tomorrow. At the completion of the training, you can print out the certification. Notification of successful completion is automatically forwarded to the state. • See attached for the 2015 Produce to People calendar of distribution sites. • Butler Severe Weather Shelter opened on November 1 and already had 98 individuals stay. The$mission$of$the$Housing$and$Homeless$Coalition$of$Beaver$County$is$to$provide$support,$direction,$and$ collaboration$in$effectively$addressing$the$issues$of$homelessness$and$affordable,$sustainable$housing$in$ $Beaver$County$by$identifying$and$utilizing$all$available$resources.$

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Housing and Homeless Coalition of Beaver County •

Janet is available to train staff on how to navigate the COMPASS system. [email protected]

Jamie Kinkead: Salvation Army • The last 2 dates for Christmas Assistance sign-ups are 11/17 and 11/18 from 9:30am to 2:00pm. See attached. • The Salvation Army has exhausted emergency funding for the motel voucher program. One of the difficulties with the motel voucher program was the lack of space available at local motels. Norah Miller reported that according to two local motel operators, there are long-term residents staying at Baruni’s and the James Motel. Jim Sherwood: Crossroads Men's Shelter • The shelter currently has availability, housing an average of 13 men a night. Lisa Smith: Duquesne Light CAP • LIHEAP and Crisis assistance is open for applications. Ronni Seery reported by email that the County Assistance Office is processing many applications, as quickly as possible. • All CAP offices complete Dollar Energy applications. Applicants must apply for LIHEAP and Crisis first at the County Assistance Office (CAO), before applying for Dollar Energy. • Likewise, if you have a shut off notice but your service is still on, you must apply for LIHEAP and Crisis first at CAO or on COMPASS website. No appointment is necessary at CAO. • Many individuals have difficulty finessing the system. You can refer to Lisa for assistance. [email protected] • For shut-ins, seniors, etc. who are physically unable to get to the Duquesne Light CAP office, the company will send someone as part of the Cares Program. • Darcy Casey announced the Pittsburgh Urban League will soon have an individual available at The Cornerstone to assist people in navigating COMPASS. The Cornerstone has paper LIHEAP applications available. Cornerstone staff can assist in completing the forms and will deliver the applications to the County Assistance Office. • Housing Authority tenants can contact Janice Lemon who can provide assistance with Columbia Gas. 724-775-1220 Ext. 18. Katie Rhodes: TRAILS Ministries • Angel Tree Season: If you are working with a child whose parent is incarcerated, TRAILS will buy a gift for the child on behalf of the parent. Call TRAILS at 724-891-7541 and ask for Abby. On average TRAILS assists about The$mission$of$the$Housing$and$Homeless$Coalition$of$Beaver$County$is$to$provide$support,$direction,$and$ collaboration$in$effectively$addressing$the$issues$of$homelessness$and$affordable,$sustainable$housing$in$ $Beaver$County$by$identifying$and$utilizing$all$available$resources.$

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Housing and Homeless Coalition of Beaver County 300 children through the Angel Tree Program. They also try to provide a gift for the child's caregiver. Norah Miller: Housing and Homeless Coalition • Ashley Mancine provided a Beaver County Housing Facts sheet, distributed by the Housing Alliance of PA. See attached. The document provides very important information about the lack of adequate, affordable rental property in Beaver County. Additional information about home ownership is included. • Brenda Shultz asked Norah to distribute information on the Beaver Valley Choral Society schedule of appearances from November 29th through December 14th. A free will offering is collected at the concerts. See attached. • The Tower Of Hope, A Pregnancy and Family Support Center, is located at 315 8th Street in New Brighton. See attached. The Executive Director, Roe Collins, will present an overview of her program at the December 11 Coalition Meeting. The faith-based non-profit accepts donations of new or gently-used infant & toddler clothing, diapers & wipes, baby furniture (but not cribs) and toys which are distributed to needy families. The organization is always in need of supplies. One of their on-going fundraisers is a baby bottle for collecting change so bring your extra change to the December Coalition meeting. For more information call Roe at 724-544-4894 or email [email protected] • The HUD mandated Annual Point-In-Time Homeless Survey will take place on January 28th. Josh Stiger will be coordinating volunteers for the outreach part of the survey. More information to follow at the December Coalition Meeting.

MEETING AGENDA November Housing Availability Update • •



Norah Miller

See attached spreadsheet for current November inventory availability. Judy Stonfer from the Housing Authority asked Coalition Members to encourage individuals to apply for the waiting list for the 7th Ave Hotel in Beaver Falls for the 1-bedroom apartments. Interested applicants must have a mental health diagnosis and must request and complete the Tax Credit application, which is different from the regular public housing application. A PDF of that application was sent in an earlier Coalition email. Applicants are required to undergo all Housing Authority screenings for the income-based housing. Applicants may simultaneously be on both the public housing list and the tax credit list.

The$mission$of$the$Housing$and$Homeless$Coalition$of$Beaver$County$is$to$provide$support,$direction,$and$ collaboration$in$effectively$addressing$the$issues$of$homelessness$and$affordable,$sustainable$housing$in$ $Beaver$County$by$identifying$and$utilizing$all$available$resources.$

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Housing and Homeless Coalition of Beaver County •

HACB will begin converting some Morado and Harmony 4 bedroom units to 2 bedroom units based on under-utilization of the larger apartments.

Community Assisted Residential Living Program Overview

Joshua Stiger

The CARL Program is currently accepting referrals. It is a permanent supportive housing program for homeless and chronically homeless households, per HUD’s definition of homelessness. Individuals or families who are doubled up or staying with friends and family do not meet the HUD definition. Eligible applicants must have an adult in the household with a documented mental health diagnosis. The program can accept referrals from emergency shelters. Program participants are required to have case management services. The Housing Authority is the primary tenant on the lease and will be paying the rent. Landlords can still pre-screen and deny tenancy based on their standard tenant screening process. For more information or to make a referral, contact Josh at 724-846-6400 x 33 at The Cornerstone. 2014 Continuum of Care Application for Funding Submission

Norah Miller

The 2014 application to re-fund 8 supportive housing programs, the Homeless Management Information System program and a Planning Grant was submitted on 10/30/2014 by Lisa Troiani at the Community Development Program. See attached for project listing. The 6 week application process required an extremely short turnaround and a tremendous amount of hard work on the part of the program administrators who wrote their renewals as well as Community Development, who coordinated the application process. The Continuum of Care appreciates the support and leverage assistance received from project partners. The total request for funding was $1,588,852. Awards may be announced before Christmas. Legal Services Landlord/Tenant Training Re-Scheduled 1.29.15

Norah Miller

Due to scheduling conflicts, the Legal Services December training has been rescheduled for January. Details will follow at the December Coalition Meeting. Norah adjourned the meeting at 2:40.

Happy Thanksgiving!

The$mission$of$the$Housing$and$Homeless$Coalition$of$Beaver$County$is$to$provide$support,$direction,$and$ collaboration$in$effectively$addressing$the$issues$of$homelessness$and$affordable,$sustainable$housing$in$ $Beaver$County$by$identifying$and$utilizing$all$available$resources.$

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Housing and Homeless Coalition of Beaver County NEXT MEETING DECEMBER 11, 2014

SAVE THE DATES! November 13

Bullying and Cyber Bullying Philip Little 6:00 – 8:00 PM Mental Health Association, Rochester

November 14

Franklin Center’ s “Sip ‘n Say” 10:00 - Noon Senior Center – Beaver Valley Mall

November 18

NAMI Southwest PA Conference on Suicide 8:00 – 5:00 Sheraton Inn Station Square, Pittsburgh

November 20

Human Services Forum Meeting 11:45 MHA/Phoenix Center Luncheon Reservations: [email protected]

December 25

21st Annual Free Christmas Day Dinner Beaver Falls High School 11:30 – 3:00

January 28

Annual Point in Time Homeless Survey

January 29

Neighborhood Legal Services Landlord/Tenant Training BCCYS Conference Room 9:30 - Noon

The$mission$of$the$Housing$and$Homeless$Coalition$of$Beaver$County$is$to$provide$support,$direction,$and$ collaboration$in$effectively$addressing$the$issues$of$homelessness$and$affordable,$sustainable$housing$in$ $Beaver$County$by$identifying$and$utilizing$all$available$resources.$

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