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HomeMy WebLinkAboutSPAC 2008-04-02 Minutes.pdfDistrict 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, April 2, 2008 at 7:00 p.m. COMMITTEE MEMBERS PRESENT Councillor Judy Dueck Councillor Linda King Cheryl Ashlie Ian Brooks Paul Livingstone Gwen Champagne Kim Macey, Chair Andy Libbiter STAFF MEMBERS PRESENT Sue Wheeler Christine DiGiamberardine Tracy Camire REGRETS/ABSENTS Caroline Wilkins Inspector Wakely Lyn Taylor-Scott Kathy Chiu Betty Levens Ross Dunning Vicki Kipps Connie Schmid GUEST Craig Mitchell George Klassen Sheila Klassen Tom Mier Gordon Hall 1. Called to Order and Introductions Council Liaison Council Liaison School District No. 42, School Trustee Community at Large Community at Large Community Living BC Community at Large Fraser Health Director, Community Services Recreation Coordinator Neighbourhood Development Committee Clerk Ministry of Children and Family Development RCMP Ridge Meadows Association for Community Living Mountain View Community Church and The Caring Place Ridge Meadows Seniors Society Community at Large Ridge Meadows Child, Youth & Family Network Ridge Meadows Seniors Society Acting Vice-Principle, Kanaka Creek Elementary School Amazon Evangelism Society Amazon Evangelism Society Business Improvement Association Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows Youth Council The Chair called the meeting to order at 7:02 p.m. 2. Adoption of the Agenda R08-12 Motion was moved and seconded That the Agenda for April 2, 2008 be adopted with the following addition; Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Minutes Page 1 of6 Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes April 2, 2008 Draft Minutes -Subject to approval 4.1 Humanoes For Hope Presentation by Craig Mitchell, School District #42 5.5 Nightingale Housing proposal 3. Minutes of the Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Meeting ROS-13 Motion was moved and seconded CARRIED That the Minutes of the Social Planning Advisory Comm ittee March 5, 2008 Regular Meeting be adopted with the following change Under Roundtable, Ross Dunning 1st Paragraph should read " ... that he has organized over 270 Basketball games ... " 4. Delegations and Presentations 4.1 Humanoes for Hope Presentation -Craig Mitchell, School District No. 42 CARRIED Councillor Dueck introduced Craig Mitchell, Acting Vice-Principal, Kanaka Creek Elementary School. Craig Mitchell gave a presentation on the "Humanoes for Hope" project along with Project Wellness (which is run by George and Sheila Klassen) and advised the Committee that they would like to have the support and participation of all the kids within the school district for an event during the last week of May, 2008 to create "Humana line" .. Craig Mitchell advised the Committee that this fundraiser will bring the community together and is a celebration of multi-culturalism within the community. All the funds donated will go to help needy children in Africa. The motto for this project is "Collect, Connect, and Reflect" and if all the kids in Maple Ridge participate in the Humana line it could reach to 27 kilometres in length. George Klassen, Amazon Evangelism Society advised the Committee that they have worked on humanitarian causes for the last 20 years. George Klassen also advised that the main goal of his organization is to feed, clothe, and educate the orphans. Craig Mitchell requested that the Social Planning Committee share this project and encourage people and organizations to participate. Mr. Mitchell also provided his email address; CM itch el l@schooldistrict.ca Councillor King advised the Committee that she will mention this at the next Council meeting. Craig Mitchell, Sheila and George Klassen left at 7:33pm 5. Unfinished and New Business Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Minutes Page 2 of6 Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes April 2, 2008 Draft Minutes -Subject to approval ROB-14 5.1 May Meeting Date Discussion (the LMLGA meeting is scheduled for May 6-9th which will effect Council representation at the May SPAC meeting) Councillor King and Councillor Dueck confirmed that they will both be available for the first Wednesday in May for the Social Planning Advisory Committee meeting. 5.2 SPAC Membership Update Sue Wheeler distributed the most recent copy of the membership list to the Committee and reviewed each position with the Committee. Ms. Wheeler introduced Gordon Hall who is representing the Maple Ridge/Pitt Meadows Youth Councils, Tom Mier who is representing the Business Improvement Association, Safety and Security Committee. Ms. Wheeler also advised the Committee that there are currently vacancies for; a Secondary Institution Representative, and a United Way of the Lower Mainland representative which she hopes will be filled shortly. The Committee discussed the difficulty there has been in filling and maintaining the Secondary Institution Representative position and the possibility of changing that vacancy to an organization that can better represent the housing issues within our communities. Sue Wheeler advised the Committee that originally there was a Membership Sub- Committee that worked on the bylaw changes and this concept could be forwarded to them for a recommendation for the Committee's consideration. Motion was moved and seconded That the Social Planning Advisory Committee recommends that the Membership Sub- Committee review the membership designations and forward a recommendation for the Committee's consideration. CARRIED 5.3 CSPN BC -Traction for Community Action: The Second Conference on Community Social Planning in BC Sue Wheeler advised the Committee that the first BC Social Planning conference was held 2 years ago and was very valuable. The conference is scheduled for May 23 and 24th in Richmond and registration deadline is May 9th. ACTION ITEM: Add to May agenda to confirm Committee members wishing to attend. Lyn Taylor Scott joined the meeting at 7:45 pm. 5.4 Snapshot 2002: Community Impact Profile Update Sue Wheeler advised that in 2002 the Social Planning Advisory Committee worked with Building Community Solutions, a United Way funded project, to develop the Community Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Minutes Page 3 of6 Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes April 2, 2008 Draft Minutes -Subject to approval Impact Profile which is essentially a report card on how our community is doing with regards to health and wellness. The document includes 47 indicators in 9 categories with comparisons to other Lower Mainland communities, GVRD, and BC. This document has been very helpful in establishing community priorities in the past. In 2002 the community priorities were: poverty, youth and neighbourhood connectedness. Ms . Wheeler also advised that at either the May or June meeting of CYFN service providers will be given the opportunity to provide input to the update of the Community Profile document. Sue Wheeler advised the Committee that the update will provide our committee with a comparison to the benchmarks set in 2002. This document will enable our community to set current priorities and those priorities are intended to guide the Social Sustainability Strategic Plan scheduled for this Committee to work on in 2009. 5.5 Nightingale Housing proposal Sue Wheeler advised the Committee that the Canadian Housing Mental Association (CHMA) was working on an application with a tight timeline for a grant from the BC Housing Funding and their application was due March 31st. Ms. Wheeler also advised that although any request for endorsement would normally come before the Social Planning Advisory Committee to develop a recommendation that would go before Council However due to the tight timelines on this application Sue Wheeler and Mike Murray, General Manager of Parks & Leisure Services were asked to complete the research and prepare a report with a recommendation for Council. Sue Wheeler reviewed the proposed project: Nightingale House a 5 bed supportive housing project for women with addiction issues. Ms. Wheeler reviewed the recommendation that was forwarded to, and approved by, Council. Andy Libbiter confirmed with the Committee that under the Community Care Act a facility of this size is not required to be licensed. He also confirmed that unlicensed facilities are not monitored and that Fraser Health only funds licensed facilities and only refers clients to these facilities. Mr. Libbiter also confirmed that CMHA is known as a very reputable organization. Sue Wheeler advised that the Alouette Home Start Society has been stressing that the success of transitional or supportive housing is closely related to adequate and appropriate supportive services being provided. 6. COMMITTEE REPORTS 6.1 Child, Youth and Family Network Updates Sue Wheeler advised the Committee that a new CYFN Coordinator who is going through the orientation process (Jessie Hill). Ms. Wheeler also advised that there was a meeting held last week on Food Security and there is a possibly that a community roundtable could be forrned on this topic. Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Minutes Page 4 of 6 Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes April 2, 2008 Draft Minutes -Subject to approval 6.2 Sue Wheeler advised the Committee that United Way came to the last CYFN meeting to report on the work they are doing with UBC on the middle years (9-12 yrs). Currently, United Way and UBC are looking at developing a research mechanism for the middle years like the Early Childhood Early Development Indicator (EDI) that scores every child that enters school across the whole province on development in 5 different areas. This helps to service providers to identify and target resources at the neighbourhood level. Having access to this information on the middle years will be very helpful . CYFN will be hosting a meeting in May to discuss the possibility of establishing a Middle Years Standing Committee to conduct work much like the Early Ch ildhood Development Committee does. School Community Connections Update Sue Wheeler advised the Committee that "the Hub" received phase 3 funding of approximately $125, 000. Eric Langton has been confirmed as the Hub school and Davie Jones is confirmed as the first satellite school. Renovations are currently being planned that will take place over the summer months. There will be a Neighbourhood visioning process along with working conducted in the early fall to establish specific neighbourhood needs which will determine the services that will be developed at each site. Over the next several months there will also be some training and exploration of the possibility of integration of services. 6.3 Building Community Solutions Update Christine DiGiamberardine advised the Committee that the Building Community Solutions application for continued funding has been submitted to United Way and they are waiting for confirmation of funding. The Committee is still promoting the Seed grants for neighbourhoods wanting to host activities designed to connect neighbours. Ms. DiGiamberardine also advised the Committee that the Mountainview Association had their 2nd Easter egg hunt with 150 children in attendance. Christine DiGiamberardine advised the Committee that the BC Healthy Communities held a "Recipes for Food Security" conversation workshop on March 27th. Eighteen people attended and a report from the session with recommendations for next steps will be completed by the end of April. 6.4 Round Table Cheryl Ashlie Cheryl Ashlie advised the Committee that there was a project at the Greg Moore Youth Centre where students were charged $10 to participate and all the funds went into a pot for KIVA (www.kiva.com). Ms. Ashlie explained the concept behind KIVA; where you can loan money to people to get their businesses up and running and once this has been completed there is an expectation that the money will be paid back. Ms. Ashlie also advised the Committee that as a group the students selected the business person they were going to support. It was great to see this energy and pretty good leaders in our midst. Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Minutes Page 5 of 6 Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes April 2, 2008 Draft Minutes -Subject to approval Cheryl Ashlie also extended an invitation to the Big Bike Ride on April 25th (Friday) where there is a need for 9 more people and explained that this supports the Heart and Stroke Foundation. Judy Dueck Judy Dueck advised the Committee that with regards to Craig Mitchell's presentation it gives the children in our community the opportunity to reflect on how fortunate they are and how they can make a difference as a whole. Tom Mier Tom Mier described the area that is covered by the Downtown Business Improvement Association (BIA) which is funded by additional taxes for that area along with funding from the municipality. Tom explained that the BIA is trying to help promote this area with safety and security and are really thankful for the RCMP, Municipality and Bylaws all working together. The goal is to create a safe and attractive downtown area for the citizens of our community. Paul Livingstone Paul Livingstone expressed a concern with the unlicensed facilities in the community. Lyn Taylor Scott Breaking ground on the new Ch ildren's centre -supportive child development and housing for community living supports. Lyn Taylor Scott also advised the Committee about The Life after School Information Session Transition Fair. Councillor King Councillor King expressed appreciation for the BIA being here which has been helpful in trying to make the downtown area a more positive place. Councillor King also advised the Committee that yesterday there was a news release that there will be an ethanol component in our fuel to reduce the carbon input but most are made from food grains. Councillor King finds it unethical to put food grains into our gas tanks when it is needed in other countries as food and would like to see this committee think/work on a resolution to not support this happening. ACTION ITEM: Committee Clerk to add this to a future agenda with background or research done on this for pre-reading prior to a discussion at this meeting. Gwen Champagne Gwen Champagne advised the Committee that she attended the Measuring UP Forum where there were some good ideas and also advised that she offered to help with compiling the results. Ian Brooks Ian Brooks was requesting an update on Alouette Home Start's proposal and Sue Wheeler advised that she will email SPAC to let them know when it will go before Council. Christine DiGiamberardine Christine DiGiamberardine gave an update on the Garden Project and also advised that the school children put together a video and presented it to the garden club members Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Minutes Page 6 of6 ) Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Meeting Minutes April 2, 2008 Draft Minutes -Subject to approval and asked for volunteers to work with the kids in the garden or do a workshop in the classroom. Some Garden Members offered to donate seeds, plants, vines and trees to the school garden. Sue Wheeler Sue Wheeler advised that Community Services will be holding a garage sale on April 12th. Ms. Wheeler also reminded the Committee about the Elder Abuse special meeting that will be hosted by RMSS on April 11th at 7:00 p.m. Ms. Wheeler also advised the Committee that the new Youth Action Park will have a soft launch this weekend and the grand opening is on May 10th. 7. CORRESPONDENCE 8. 7.1 Business Community Anti-Poverty Initiatives-St John 7.2 Wellesley Institute National Housing Report Card 7.3 Making Cities Liveable Conference: True Urbanism: Designing the Healthy City 7.4 Child Rights Information Network Resources 7.5 Effects of Neighbourhood Income on Reported Body Mass Index Next Meeting The next regular meeting of the Social Planning Advisory Committee is scheduled to be on Wednesday, May 7, 2008 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 8:51 p.m . /tc Social Planning Advisory Committee Regular Minutes Page 7 of 6