12.10.2019 HCCSC Board Meeting Minutes – HCCSC Board Approved 1.14.2020 1

HOMELESS CONTINUUM OF CARE OF STARK COUNTY BOARD MEETING

Tuesday, December 10, 2019 9:30am at the Community Campus at Goodwill

Meeting Minutes

Members Present Lynne Dragomier Kim Kroh Lisa Warden Danelle Lightner Rollin Seward JoAnn Breedlove Julie Sparks

Members Not Present Captain John Gabbard Cheli Curran Maria Heege John Aller Shannon McMahon Williams

SHNI Marcie Bragg Melissa Terrell

Shirene Starn-Tapyrik Beverly Lewis Marty Chumney Cathy Jennings

I. Welcome At 9:40 a.m., Marcie Bragg, Board Chair, called the meeting to order and welcomed everyone.

II. Conflict of Interest ReminderMarcie reminded the board members of the conflict of interest policy and asked Homeless Continuum of Care of Stark County (HCCSC) Board Members to abstain from voting, when necessary, to avoid any conflicts.

III. Stark Metropolitan Housing Authority (SMHA) Updates & Initiatives (See Attachment 1 & 2)During the November HCCSC Board meeting, Marty Chumney, Director of Housing Choice Voucher Programs at SMHA, shared some significant community changes with SMHA properties. Ashely Wright, Director of Planning and Development for SMHA, was scheduled to discuss updates and initiatives with the HCCSC Board, but was unable to join the meeting, so Marty Chumney updated the HCCSC Board.

At 9:43am, Shirene Starn-Tapyrik entered the meeting.

Marty distributed two documents to the HCCSC Board members which included a spreadsheet of SMHA’s 2019 Housing Assistance Program’s (HAP) financial expenditures and Housing Choice Voucher (HCV or Section 8) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) document.

a. Housing Assistance Program (HAP) financial spreadsheeti. The program is funded with awards for operations and the Department of Housing and Urban

Development (HUD) provides funding based on actual funds spent during the previous year whichincludes a formula for inflation and proration of funds. The spreadsheet included an average of$444.00 spent per household for 643 Public Housing (PH) units. Marty reviewed the spreadsheet withboard members indicating that the acronyms for EOP and NLU: EOP are households exited from theprogram that pay the full rental amount and NLU are Newly Leased Units. Marty indicated that ProjectBased Vouchers have services attached to the program, and after one year (assuming a tenant is ingood standing with SMHA), tenants are able to apply for Tenant Based Vouchers which can beutilized in other geographical locations; Tenant Based Vouchers do not have services attached to theprogram. In the previous award year, HUD provided SMHA with additional funds for a shortfall, HUDwill provide these funds to keep people from being evicted, however, when SMHA is in a shortfallnew households are unable to enter into lease agreements. This year, SMHA did not expend all thefunds; funds not expended during the award year are placed into a reserve and utilized as needed.

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SMHA does not lose any unutilized funding, the reserve can be utilized until the target number of households have entered into a lease agreement. Additionally, Marty indicated that Public Housing Authorities have the ability to award themselves additional Project Based Vouchers for new and current structures or they can hold a competition for other agencies to apply for the Project Based Vouchers. There are currently around 700 landlords that SMHA works with to provide housing opportunities for individuals and families they serve. Marty also discussed the ability individuals have to port their vouches into other counties, including Stark County. Currently, Stark County has more participant’s port into the county than port out of the county.

At 10:14am, Beverly Lewis exited the meeting.

b. Housing Choice Voucher (HCV or Section 8) Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)i. Marty reviewed the document with board members and discussed payment standards, utility allowances

and suitable dwelling size. There is a minimum rent requirement of $50.00. If participants cannot paythe minimum $50.00 rent requirement, they have the ability to apply for a hardship. The HCV programhas eligibility requirements that participants have to meet. In addition to eligibility requirements someexclusionary rules apply such as owing the Public Housing Authority money for previous obligations orbeing evicted from PH in the last 5 years. PH rental leases could be for one year (with a securitydeposit) or three years (without a security deposit).

Discussion: HCCSC Board members inquired whether or not any landlords/units are not utilized. SMHA has to adhere to HUD’s Housing Quality Standards for units. Inspections are completed prior to participants signing a lease with the landlord. If a unit fails inspection, landlords are given 30 days to resolve the issue(s).

ii. The Section 8 Waitlist opened on December 2nd, 2019. The waitlist will close on December 16th at5:30pm. This is a first come first serve process. There are currently 1,650 applicants.

iii. Marty discussed some of the community changes for PH.a. SMHA will close 81 units at McKinley Park; the participants will receive a Section 8 voucher or

relocate to another PH unit. There was discussion regarding different options for this propertysuch as selling, tearing down or rehabbing the units; none of these options have been confirmed.

b. SMHA sold units at Jackson – Sherrick to SARTA with the approval of HUD. The participantshave been given Section 8 vouchers or relocated to other PH units; all units are currently vacant.

c. SMHA has a housing stock of 2,544 units and is developing private housing by Meadow Lake inPlain Township. Additionally, SMHA will be renovating the Linwood units through HUDcapital funds for repairs and upgrading units at Rose Lane on Mahoning. SMHA is workingtowards updating Heart Apartments in Alliance for ADA compatibility. There are no buildingsthat are specifically targeted for the elderly, however, in Project Based Vouchers there are unitsfor assisted living. SMHA no longer owns the Metro Center.

IV. Review and Approval of November Meeting Minutes

Motion: Marcie requested a motion to approve the Homeless Continuum of Care of Stark County Board meeting minutes for the month of November as presented. Rollin moved to approve. Shirene seconded and the motion was carried by a unanimous vote of all members present.

V. Review and Approval of HCCSC Strategic Plan Unit Need Narrative (See Attachment 3)Marcie distributed the HCCSC’s Strategic Plan narrative that outlined the housing invention investment needed toend homelessness. During the November HCCSC Board meeting, members requested that Marcie create anarrative for the unit increase needed to end homelessness in Stark County. HCCSC Board Members discussedthe need to create a narrative that differentiated between the goal to end homelessness verse the final HCCSCBoard approved goal for permanent supportive housing (PSH) and rapid rehousing (RRH) units. Marcie requestedfeedback from members on the document.

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Motion: Marcie requested a motion to approve the Homeless Continuum of Care of Stark County’s Strategic Plan narrative as presented. Lynne moved to approve. Julie seconded and the motion was carried by a unanimous vote of all members present.

VI. Review and Approval of HCCSC Board of Directors (See Attachment 4)HCCSC Board members reviewed the 2020 Proposed Board of Directors document with upcoming expiring boardmembers’ terms and expiring Executive Committee Officer terms.

Motion: Marcie requested a motion to extend the Homeless Continuum of Care of Stark County Board of Directors and Executive Committee Officer terms. Shirene moved to approve. Kim seconded and the motion was carried by a unanimous vote of all members present.

During the November HCCSC Members meeting, Marcie solicited board candidates for HCCSC Board’s consideration; Marcie received two recommendations from HCCSC Members. The HCCSC Board has the capacity to have up to 18 board members and no less than 15 board memebers. Marcie discussed the proposed board members and their affiliation with the HCCSC.

Motion: Marcie requested a motion to approve the proposed 2020 Homeless Continuum of Care of Stark County Board of Directors candidates. Kim moved to approve. Lynne seconded and the motion was carried by a unanimous vote of all members present.

VII. 2019 Success Stories & 2020 Initiativesa. YWCA

i. YWCA Executive Director, Cathy Jennings, discussed some of the YWCA’s successes and futureplans. The HCCSC Board viewed the YWCA’s Mission video prior to discussion. The YWCA has beenworking on workforce development initiatives such as the partnership with ICAN’s EmploymentSpecialist. The YWCA has a 2020 Strategic Plan that includes a program analysis. The Board ofDirectors is seeking more members especially those with housing experience. Additionally, the YWCAis restructuring positions due to a Compliance Officer resignation. The Compliance Officer positionwill remain and the Strategic Plan is in progress.

b. ACFi. ACF Executive Director, Shirene Starn-Taypyrik, discussed some of ACF’s initiatives. ACF has

worked towards enhancing services provided and has many initiatives such as a dental care program(for all zip codes), working with the Early Learning Center health clinics with Mt. Union and ICAREteams at A-First. ACF has expanded training on safety factors for children in the home that is focusedon creating a non-violent environment to raise children (ex. language used around children and types ofmedia or music being exposed to the children). ACF created an employment program that is modeledafter a program that Franklin County is currently utilizing. ACF is also creating their first agencyCommunity Impact Report.

c. ICAN Housingi. ICAN Housing Executive Director, Julie Sparks, discussed some of ICAN Housing’s successes. ICAN

recently opened Arbor Ridge that has the capacity to house 14 participants. ICAN worked closely withSisters of Charity of Canton for assistance in funding the Employment Specialist for Rapid Rehousingprojects; it is anticipated that this position will continue to be funded through additional funders. ICANunderwent Value Stream Mapping to envision the future state of ICAN and to evaluate currentprocesses. ICAN attended and helped to organize the Ohio Community Development Conference heldin Canton. ICAN plans to begin renovating the 20 unit Basic Accommodations project in 2020.

VIII. OldN/A

IX. New BusinessN/A

X. AdjournmentWith no further business to be discussed, at 11:22am, the meeting adjourned.