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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSPAC 2007-10-03 Minutes.pdf) District of Maple Ridge SOCIAL PLANNING ADVISORY COMMITTEE REGULAR MEETING The Minutes of the Regular Meeting of the Social Planning Advisory Committee, held in the Blaney Room at Maple Ridge Municipal Hall, 11995 Haney Place, Road, Maple Ridge, British Columbia, on Wednesday, October 3, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT Councillor Judy Dueck Councillor Linda King Vicki Kipps Lyn Taylor-Scott Connie Schmid Ross Dunning Paul Livingstone Andy Libbiter Gwen Champagne Kathy Chiu Mayor Gordon Robson Jim Wakely STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT Sue Wheeler Shawn Matthewson Tracy Camire REGRETS/ABSENTS Valerie Spurrell Caroline Wilkins Rick Butler Ian Brooks Kim Macey, Chair Candace Gordon 1. Called to Order and Introductions Council Liaison Council Liaison Ridge Meadows Child, Youth & Family Network Ridge Meadows Association for Community Living Ridge Meadows Seniors Society Community at Large Community at Large Fraser Health Community Living BC Mountain View Community Church and The Caring Place Maple Ridge Council RCMP Director, Staff Liaison, Parks & Leisure Services Committee Clerk Fraser Health Ministry of Children and Family Development School District No. 42, School Trustee Community at Large Community at Large Ridge Meadows Child, Youth & Family Network The Chair called the meeting to order at 7:01 p.m. Councillor Dueck chaired the meeting in Chair, Kim Macey's absence. 2. Adoption of the Agenda R06-64 Motion was moved and seconded That the Agenda for October 3, 2007 be adopted with the following additions 5.5 Homelessness Awareness Week 5.6 Report Card by the Vancouver Foundation on Metro Vancouver -L. King CARRIED Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Minutes Page 1 of 8 Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes October 3, 2007 3. Minutes of the Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Meeting R06-65 Motion was moved and seconded That the Minutes of the Social Planning Advisory Committee September 5, 2007 Regular Meeting adopted with the following change: 6.5 A therapist was hired by the Maple Ridge Mental Health Centre. The therapist consults to other agencies including Maple Ridge Treatment Centre. CARRIED 4. Delegations and Presentations -Nil 5. Unfinished and New Business 5.1 Community Health Promotion Grant Sue Wheeler advised the Committee that this is the second year of this grant that is available from the BC Municipalities. Last year several partners including: Fraser Health, School District 42, District of Maple Ridge Social Planning, Haney Farmer's Market, the CEED Centre, and the Cancer Society collaborative to apply for funding for the Glenwood School Garden project. The application was successful and $35,000 was received for this pilot project. For the 2008 application process, the Children, Youth and Family Network have recommended that this grant be applied for by the Substance Misuse Prevention Standing Committee to host a prevention summit for substance misuse prevention. The deadline for grant applications is Oct 19th. Mayor Gordon Robson joined the meeting at 7:07pm Councillor Dueck advised the Committee that the next Council Workshop is Oct 15th and this submission would need to go before Council for approval. R06-66 Motion was moved and seconded That Committee send forward our approval for an application for a Community Health Promotion Grant CARRIED 5.2 CSPN BC Social Issues Survey 2007 Sue Wheeler reviewed the 2007 Community Social Planning Network BC Social Issues Survey results along with the key areas of focus. The committee had a discussion about the process of municipalities requesting provincial funding. R06-67 Motion was moved and seconded That the Committee receive this document for information CARRIED Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Minutes Page 2 of B Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes October 3, 2007 5.3 GVRD Regional Affordable Housing Strategy. Sue Wheeler advised the Committee that the initial GVRD Regional Affordable Housing Strategy Discussion Paper came out a year ago for feedback and Maple Ridge Council sent a letter stating that they were supportive of working together but not in agreement of charging a surcharge and moving senior assisted funds to affordable housing. The GVRD is looking for feedback by Oct 12th . Sue Wheeler reviewed the Metro Vancouver Draft Affordable Housing Strategy with the Committee. Mayor Robson suggested that there is a need for a community discussion on Recovery Houses and requested that SPAC host this meeting. Vicki Kipps shared a letter to the committee from the Maple Ridge-Pitt Meadows-Katzie Child, Youth and Family Network whereby the Network encouraged SPAC to endorse the Draft Strategy and forward a recommendation to Council urging that they also endorse the strategy. Sue reviewed the Victoria Trust Fund model with the Committee. The Committee had a lengthy discussion in regards to homelessness in Maple Ridge along with the Draft Affordable Housing Strategy. It was noted that the lack of affordable housing, in particular the lack of rental stock, is a regional issue and that our municipality should participate in the regional solutions The Committee agreed to have a separate meeting to work on the issue of local affordable housing within Maple Ridge. R06-68 Motion was moved and seconded That the facilitation of a community discussion on the need for Recovery Houses be hosted at a separate community meeting and that this project be considered in relation to the Social Planning Advisory Committee Work Plan at the next regular meeting. CARRIED R06-69 Motion was moved and seconded That the Social Planning Advisory Committee endorse the Draft Regional Affordable Housing Strategy plan and forward the recommendation to Maple Ridge Council CARRIED The Committee Clerk was asked to add "Affordable Housing in Maple Ridge" to the next agenda. 5.4 First Call Stand Up Stand Out Celebration -October 17, 2007 Kim Macey will be attending th is event and the committee is more then welcome to attend. Dr. Cranston from the School Board was nominated by this committee and is being recognized at the First Call awards ceremony. Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Minutes Page 3 ofB Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes October 3, 2007 5.5 Homelessness Awareness Week Sue Wheeler advised the Committee that the Regional Steering Committee on Homelessness is having their Homelessness Action Week; October 14th to 19th . The focus is on the "Three Ways to Home" solutions of addressing the need for adequate: income, housing, and support services. On Sunday there will be an Open House for Volunteers at the Caring Place, on Tuesday, October 16th between 11:30 -1:30 at the bandstand is the Stone Soup event, and on Wednesday the End Poverty Lunch is at the Family Education Centre. The website to view all regional events is www.stophomelessness.ca Mayor Robson advised the Committee that he is organizing a meeting with some of the homeless people in Maple Ridge to help make them aware services that are available in the community. There will be more information coming out about this event at a later date. End poverty celebration is on Wed, Oct 17th at the Family Education Support Centre. There is a website 5.6 Report Card by the Vancouver Foundation on Metro Vancouver Councillor King advised the Committee about the recently reported "Small Vital steps for Metro Vancouver" -which is essentially a report card for Metro Vancouver grading municipalities on addressing a variety of the different issues within Metro Vancouver. The Vancouver Foundation, who conducted the research, has in the past been a funding arm; but now they are taking a different approach on how to set priorities so that the funding they provide has a significant positive effect on wellbeing. Utilizing the report card outcomes will assist them on setting funding priorities and ensure that their funding sources contribute to improving some of the most difficult issues that communities face. Vancouver Foundation is willing to talk to people to about this grading. Councillor King suggested that the committee invite the Foundation to a future meeting. R06-70 Motion was moved and seconded That the Vancouver Foundation be invited to a meeting in early 2008 to discuss the report card outcomes and inform the Foundation of the work of Social Planning Advisory Committee and the related networks. CARRIED 6. COMMITTEE REPORTS 6.1 Mayor Robson left the meeting at 7:52 Child, Youth and Family Network Updates V. Kipps Vicki Kipps, CYFN, advised the Committee that the network is going ahead to advertise for the part time CYFN Coordinator. CYFN is also looking for a coordinator for the Early Childhood sub-committee. Vicki also gave a follow up on previous discussions at this table regarding the challenges Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Minutes Page 4 ofB Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes October 3, 2007 that local service agencies had been experiencing in accessing Gaming dollars. She advised that thankfully everyone has reported back that they have received their funding for this year. Unfortunately, it was a very complicated application process to navigate and the future of funding criteria is still not clear. Vicki also reported that in the past this Committee has discussed the impact and challenges of inadequate funding for administration of services under both provincial and federal contracted services. Recently there has been some indication that the current practice of funding 10% of a contract total cost for administration coverage is being decreased. The Committee discussed the possibility of supporting a collaborative process in engaging government in a discussion regarding the impacts of these changes. Currently, CFYN representatives are working with a Regional Committee to look at the issue and develop proposed solutions. Vicki will report back when this process is complete. 6.2 School Community Connections Update 6.3 6.4 Sue Wheeler advised the Committee that the Community Connections Sub Committee are nearing the end of Phase 2 funding and have started to prepare to apply for Phase 3 funding. The current work has been to develop a local model to create a "Hub" of services as a part of a Community School. The model is based on the philosophy that "Every Door is the Right Door". The proposed model includes a Hub which is being proposed for Eric Langton Elementary School with three satellite locations proposed for; Blue Mountain, Fairview and Edith McDermott Elementary Schools. The next phase of the Community Connections funding will be to apply for construction dollars for up to $125,000; however these funds must make up only 25% of the total budget with the remaining 75% being matched by the community. The Committee is confident that with the number of agencies involved in the collaboration they will be able to demonstrate sufficient in-kind contributions to meet the 75% criteria. The 3rd Phase funding application is due December 1st and must have both Council and School Board endorsement. School Neighbourhood Garden Update C. Gordon Shawn Matthewson gave an update on the School Neighbourhood Garden pilot project and advised the Committee that on Oct 27th there will be a celebration around the addition of a pergola. The wood for the pergola was donated by the Katzie and the celebration will be focused on honouring the Katzie elders. The project will be coming to an end and a report will need to be completed by the end of December. There will be an Apple Pie making event at Glenwood at 7:00 pm next Thursday, October 11th. Building Community Solutions S. Matthewson Shawn Matthewson advised the Committee that the Building Community Solutions Committee is awaiting direction on future funding from United Way. There were a report number of 18 Seed Grants distributed to neighbourhoods to support events that were designed to promote connections and healthy neighbourhoods. The Haney Farmers Market will also be continuing until the end of October. Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Minutes Page 5 ofB Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes October 3, 2007 6.6 Committee Members Anyone that is interested in joining any of the current committees is asked to email the Committee Clerk. 6. 7 Round Table Andy Libbiter Andy advised the Committee that there is a Mental Health Strategic Plan and there is a section on public housing from Fraser Health. The link is: www.fraserhealth.ca/healthinfo/mentalhealth Andy also advised the Provincial Health has a partnership with MCFD and Fraser Health to improve prenatal screening through public health and then be able to link women to the appropriate support group. Andy explained that this will have an enormous impact on our future generations. Paul Livingstone Paul would like to see the Committee discuss the issue of recovery housing within this community. Kathie Chui Kathie advised the Committee that the Cold Weather application has gone through to the Regional Steering Committee and has now been sent to the Ministry in Ottawa. The Caring Place was successful with 2 applications to BC Housing; one to renovate to make residents more comfortable and increase the salaries of the staff to make the wages more competitive. Kathie shared a report (from The Regional Steering Committee) in regards to the First Evaluation Housing First. An updated list of shelters was distributed to the Committee. Kathie advised the Committee that she has become involved with the Anti Human Trafficking organization. Councillor King commented that we should continue to follow the HUD (US Department of Housing and Urban Development) project to understand the outcome. Councillor King also suggested that a letter from the Committee is sent to BC Housing to express what an enlightened decision it was to increase the salaries of The Caring Place's staff. Connie Schmid left at 8:34pm Ross Dunning Ross wanted to know what you can do with people who are homeless but don't want help. Kathie explained you help them out when you can; you feed them when you can, keep them warm and accept them as a part of your community and watch out for them. Jim Wakely shared that the RCMP research has shown there are people in our community that are not drug addicted and do not have mental health issues; but like the freedom of the street, don't like to work, and just like not having any responsibility. Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Minutes Page 6 of8 I Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes October 3, 2007 Vicki Kipps Vicki advised the Committee of the upcoming fundraiser for Meals on Wheels; Meals on Wheels had 39 Volunteers deliver 16, 000 meals last year. This is a phenomenal service that we provide within our community. Shawn Matthewson Shawn advised the Committee that on Sunday, October 28th there will be a Halloween event with younger children and their family at the Greg Moore Youth Centre. Shawn also advised that the Active Kids Club's are continuing to be successful and that Parks and Leisure Children's services will be developing new programs for older children next year along with a Grandparents drop in program. Lyn Taylor Scott Lyn advised the Committee that on October is Community Living month and there will be a free lunch at the bandstand on October 24th. Connie Schmidt Connie reported that this BC Games Zone was the third highest in medal winnings at the 2007 Games and that she received a silver medal the bridge competition. Gwen Champagne Gwen advised that October is Community Living Month and displayed a new poster. Ridge Meadows are hosting a discussion on Saturday, October 20th to discuss residential options for adults with developmental disabilities. Gwen also advised the Committee of a new supportive employment program called Triumph that has been given a 5 year contract from the federal government with the option to renew for another 3 years. This is for supportive employment for people with any type of disability. They will be making a presentation to Maple Ridge Council in late October. Community Living BC is hosting a speaker from Newfoundland, Shawn Wilshire, on November 15th with and three different talks; one at lunch for business people, one for services providers in Burnaby in the late afternoon, one in the evening in Coquitlam for families. Jim Wakely Jim Wakely met with Teresa Green from Cythera to develop a closer relationship between the RCMP and Cythera. Jim also advised the Committee that on July 25th there was the first seniors' community forum hosted by the RCMP with the objective to address whatever needs the seniors have and to dispel myths and to closer relationship with them. Jim advised that the senior's number one concern is the traffic and the lack of respect for senior pedestrians. The RCMP hosted a community meeting last Monday September 24th and North avenue residents. Jim will be meeting with Karen Turner from Maple Ridge Treatment Centre to consider making an application for a grant to focus on some of the street issues. Jim would like to know if there is a plan in place to identify future land for the development of affordable housing in the Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows area. Jim expressed concern that if land is not secured in the near future rising land costs may create even more barriers to developing affordable housing. Kathie advised the Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Minutes Page 7 ofB Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes October 3, 2007 Committee that Municipalities have the ability to zone for mixed-housing but you have to be creative on how you create the housing. 7. CORRESPONDENCE 7.1 Letter -Supportive Housing and Treatment Facilities. The Committee agreed to invite staff from the Planning Department to join the next SPAC meeting to discuss supportive housing and treatment facilities. 7.2 Geographic Reassignments -Fraser Health Medical Health Officers 8. Next Meeting The next regular meeting of the Social Planning Advisory Committee is scheduled to be on Wednesday, November 7, 2007 at 7:00 p.m. in the Blaney Room, Maple Ridge Municipal Hall. Upon no further discussion coming from the Committee members, the meeting was adjourned. The Regular Meeting adjourned at 9:15 p.m. /tc Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Minutes Page 8 ofB