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HomeMy WebLinkAbout11.2.21 SKHHP AB Minutes approved P a g e | 1 SKHHP Advisory Board Meeting November 2, 2021 MINUTES I. CALL TO ORDER Trish Abbate called the virtual meeting to order at 6:00 PM. II. WELCOME Trish provided welcome and overview of meeting logistics - meeting is public and being recorded. Angela welcome and gratitude before turning over to SKHHP staff work group members, Joy Scott, Colleen Brandt-Schluter, and Hannah Bahnmiller. Joy provided historical context of her time working with SKHHP starting in 2016 with a Housing Development Consortium pilot program involving 6 cities, nonprofit service providers, and affordable housing developers making the case for collaboration. The pilot program worked on a number of initiatives carried forward into SKHHP to ensure everyone in south King County (SKC) had access to healthy, affordable housing in a community of their choice. Centering community voice whenever possible is the most important piece of advisory board. Staff work group is available to help support the advisory board and move decisions forward. Colleen expressed excited and longtime vision for collaboration in SKC. At the beginning meetings with elected officials uncovered a lot of hesitancy, some commonalities amongst jurisdictions, but it was asking a lot of jurisdictions to pool funds and work on policy efforts. Excited to have the voice of community guide SKHHP’s work, staff work group is here as a resource to support you. Hannah, one of two staff members from Renton including Mark Santos-Johnson – who was a key player in the formation of SKHHP. From a regional perspective, SKHHP helps generate support for efforts that extend beyond city boundaries and Executive Board has been a place for staff to elevate issues and get formal action. Excited about possibilities in 2022 with the advisory board. III. ADVISORY BOARD MEMBER INTRODUCTIONS First round of introductions for Advisory Board members, SKHHP staff, work group members, and members of the public attending – name, pronouns, food that reminds you of home wherever/whatever that means to you. Trish reiterated that everyone appointed to the advisory board demonstrated commitment to and passion for serving and addressing homelessness and affordable housing – everyone is incredibly dedicated to these issues. Second go around will be more of an in depth introduction opportunity to share what brings you here today and whether you are here as an individual or representing an organization. Menka Soni representing nonprofit AmPowering which serves homeless folks in SKC. Experience on various committees, serving on in this capacity gives another opportunity to serve with purpose close to heart. Also works at T-Mobile and looking forward to drawing corporate connections. Jennifer Hurley lives in unincorporated King County, works for City of Auburn as social worker for senior center but not here representing employer. Sees how housing affects current clients, and previous clients as health care social worker in SKC and seeing folks displaced from Seattle into SKC and even into Tacoma. Involved in local politics as field coordinator and volunteer for 30th legislative district – knocking on doors housing seems to be one of the major universal concerns. P a g e | 2 Linda Smith, representing SKY Urban Institute (nonprofit organization since 2010). Experience advocating with neighbors experiencing homelessness, important that we name them as our neighbors and friends. Instrumental in turning old city jail into the first day center in Renton, now managed by REACH. Service on many boards (King County equity and justice in light of George Floyd, Renton Housing Action Plan advisory board), all coming together has an opportunity to really make a difference. Maju Qureshi, representing Multi Service Center (MSC), community based organization primarily based in Federal Way, Kent, and somewhat Burien. Oversees family shelter, permanent supportive housing, transitional housing, and rental assistance programs. Been with MSC seven years, and lots of exposure to households impacted by housing instability . Housing services for youth and young adults was almost nonexistent and interest was lit. Working in other programs led to realization of regional housing issues. Excited to learn and help create solutions. Ryan Disch-Guzman representing Mary’s Place as outreach and diversion director serving unsheltered families across King County. Larger shelter provider for families in King County (5 locations), Burien most central location in SKC. Future of affordable housing and what that looks like, excited to interact and be a part of the group. Idabelle Fosse, racial equity and community engagement manager at Public Hea lth at healthcare for homeless network, not here representing employer. Began a little over a year ago in COVID response. Still in COVID response working with community members to figure out how to get folks testing, vaccinations, etc. using racial equity lens. Live in South Seattle/Skyway. Committed to neighborhood and community, excited to help try to get more affordable housing in neighborhoods and in communities. Andrew Calkins, representing King County Housing Authority (KCHA), public housing authority operating outside of Cities of Seattle and Renton. KCHA administers many programs – largest being section 8 voicers, and owns 12,000 units. Excited to create new connections within Advisory Board and connect back to KCHA, and advocacy work at state and federal level to get more resources and create more affordable housing. Experience in SKC is grounded in work on a graduate research program on housing conditions in SKC about 8 years ago, one recommendation was to convene organization like SKHHP and some other policies that have been enacted in SKC , great to see implementation. Uche Okezie– not representing organization but works for HomeSight – community development organization focused on homeownership. More than just building the housing stock, have to help the business associations and need all of the things to help build a community. Has lived in Burien for 4 years, Seattle for 15 years prior to that. Attracted to the opportunity to create pathways to create affordable housing, reminiscent of what happened in Beacon Hill and helping to ensure that SKC doesn’t lose essence and there are opportunities to stay in community and be a part of the solution. Dorsol Plants, representing Fusion – family center in Federal Way. One reason honored to be here is one of the most fascinating and impactful things is when government and people start to meet – housing is one of those places where regional solution is necessary. Kaitlin Heinen – staff attorney at Housing Justice Project (HJP), not representing employer. Line of work that has radicalized and challenged assumptions. Strong connections and abides by ethics code and yet it feels like it never applies. See the wave of anti-homeless legislation making its way down the west coast, important for lawyers to take responsibility for profession. Excited to learn more about affordable housing decisions and development decisions. Excited to be part of a group of people with opportunity to influence decisions. Amy Kangas – social worker with HJP, not representing employer. Moved from Shoreline to Burien on year ago. Prior to working at HJP worked at Downtown Emergency Service Center (DESC) as P a g e | 3 mental health case manager and housing program manager. Excited to bring together work background in housing and what is happening locally. Trish followed up the second go-around with an emailed document for advisory board members to fill out indicating their connections to other advisory board members. The intention is to get a sense of who knows each other going into this work and how that changes over time as advisory board members connect with each other as part of the SKHHP Advisory Board. Trish will share the results at the next meeting. IV. ADVISORY BOARD BACKGROUND Trish provided a high level overview of outreach and standing up advisory board , including work being done to pursue compensation for advisory board members. As outlined in the SKHHP Interlocal Agreement the Advisory Board is to be 12-15 members – we are light on the affordable housing developers and finance experience, so we have held 3 open seats and are in the process of strategizing future recruitment and possibility for folks to join in the next few months. Onboarding plan: • Relationship building (staff, work group, Executive Board, Advisory Board) • Create advisory board bylaws • Priority setting for SKHHP Housing Capital Fund • Identifying strengths of Advisory Board as collective and what additional support is desired from SKHHP staff V. GROUP AGREEMENTS Trish presented an overview of group agreements and posed the following suggested group agreements: • Listen to understand; be open to learning and willing to embrace some discomfort in orde r to learn • Consider intent versus impact: take responsibility for what you say and do The intention is for advisory board members to consider the following questions and come back to the second meeting to dive deeper into group agreements. • What agreements do you want to create for this group? • When we are in conflict, how do we manage it as a group? • When you are hurt or offended, what group norms do we want? VI. MISCELLANEOUS BUSINESS a. Future meeting scheduling setting Group suggested a doodle poll limited to Tuesday through Thursday evenings. General consensus that group prefers virtual meetings, will continue to meet virtually and revisit at in-person versus virtual at a later date. b. Open public meetings act training Group agreed to watch the open public meetings act video on their own and print out certificate. Trish will send out link via email. There will be time set aside at the next couple meetings for discussion and questions. P a g e | 4 c. SKHHP website – Advisory Board member bios Trish will follow-up with advisory board members for confirmation on bios and photos of advisory board members for the SKHHP website. d. Board member organizational representation protocol Trish will send an email to supervisors for verification for advisory board members that are participating as a representative of their employer/organization. VII. CLOSING Final go-around to close out the meeting – one thing you’re excited about and one thing you would like to better understand. Maju –Feel happy after meeting, want to understand work flow and relationships and how it’s all connected. Concern over previous board participation and want to stay connected to big picture. Kaitlin – excited to expand network of professionals in housing, knowing people feel better equipped to learn about resources and able to better educate tenant clients . Curious to learn more about how decisions are made and what influence looks like down the road. Linda – excited about knowing, connecting, and having access to different entities. Just from tonight will widen knowledge and access base. Gives hope we are really trying to eradicate injustices. Menka – excited to see such diverse background and experience that everyone is bringing and excited to connect and work together. Amy – excited to have met everyone and bring everyone together. Looking forward to diving into the work, and what that looks like. Ryan – excited to meet and get to know everyone in this process and going forward how voices will all come together. Take some time to get there , but interested and excited for the opportunity. Jennifer – excited to look at things from more macro level and help get things done in community, looking forward to learning more and opportunity to serve on board. Excited about housing capital fund and diving into that work. Idabelle – excited get to learn from everyone, excited about possibility to make change that’s positive and healthy for community, excited to share racial equity point of view that she has been creating and working with at Public Health. Great opportunity to do something hopeful and helpful. Dorsol – excited to understand everyone’s perspectives and approach to this work. Chaos creates opportunity – balance many folks coming from emergency background, solutions to affordable housing crisis require such long term solutions and planning, interesting to see how we keep addressing the urgency of the emergency while dealing with such a long lengthy process for change. Andrew – excited to be here with the group, building with everyone, and learning more about SKHHP. Want to better understand the 6 month – one year plan and how advisory board fits in to that. Also excited to hear more about capital fund and what goes into that process. Uche – excited to be part of first advisory board, energy seems really good, everyone is focused on helping solve this problem. Interested in learning more about the types of policy that help to move the needle. Trish adjourned the meeting at 7:52 pm.