CRESC
April 22, 2010
Attendance: Jeffrey C. Woodyard, Tracey Geary, Cecilia Luna, Barry Nazar, Ivy Rose Schneider, Linda London, Patti Brader, Jim Cavenaugh, Regina Ramos, Ron Tilley, Bill Peterson, Luis Rosa, Mary Beth Burton, Larry L. Coleman, Larry Washington, Tim Whelan, Jeff Ditts, Lisa Moser, Damon Wagner
Larry Washington- showed the beginning of a video, Past These Walls, by Mark Ludholm. It is a comedy about recovery, crime, and incarceration.
Meeting started at 3:05pm at CareerLink.
Postpone accepting minutes from March but will approve them next month.
Acknowledgements: Jim Cavanaugh was nominated for Volunteer of the Year through the United Way. Community Action Commission (David Miron) won the Champion of Diversity for an agency. Nate and Pat Gadsden won the Champion of Diversity for individuals.
Committees:
WorkforceDevelopment: (Alonda sent a report)
-Ex-Offender’s Workshop- Dauphin County Work Release Center- March 26, 2010
5 attendees
CareerLink- April 9, 2010
13 attendees
-CareerLink Ex-Offender foot traffic- Daily averages per month; March- 7, April- 5
-Correspondence to/from CareerLink from inmates- 5 letters
-Court ordered to participate in CareerLink or CareerLink Partner Services- 13
Reentry: (Jim Cavanaughreporting)
-Most persons that come into the CEEED office have records.
-12-14 persons are signed up for next
- May 7th is Jim’s last day as the reentry coordinator. Introduced the New Reentry Coordinator, Regina Ramos.
-Luis Rosa from the Board of Probation and Parole commented that 4 out of 5 of the workshop orientation participants were offered jobs after one interview.
Mentoring: (Larry L. Coleman reporting)
- Nineth week of Mentor- 35-45 attendants
- Mentoring Team meets every Thursday. Next meeting April 29th at 8am at Dodge City.
- Mentoring Meeting- First Thursday of the Month at Dodge City
-Barry Nazar from Temple commented on an ex-offender who asked to co-teach an Excel Program at Temple. The ex-offender shared his appreciation for Larry Coleman and CRAM for previously helping him.
Finance: (Barry Nazar reporting)
- Two SAMSHA grants outstanding
- Juanita Grant (CRAM), The Program, and Hamilton Health will be applying for the HIV Prevention Grant. May want to involve Dauphin County SCA. Ivy Rose Schneider may help to write the grant.
- What does it make sense to go after regarding grants?
Treasurer: (Jeff Woodyard)
- Only one additional membership fee paid by Gaudenzia New Options
Additional:
- Website domain name registered. It costs $50 a month to maintain. Ron Tilley knows of a foundation from New York that helps 501C3s with technological issues.
- Luis suggests inviting more ex-offenders to CRESC meetings.
- Barry suggested that Appreciative Inquiry be used for CRESC Strategic Planning Meeting and summarized the email he had previously sent to CRESC members regarding AI. Appreciative Inquiry is focused on strength-based and evaluation. Main questions: Why do we keep coming? What do we do best? Let’s do more of those things. Larry, Bill Peterson, and Vladimir Beaufils offered supportive feedback.
Presenter:
- Cecilia Luna is the Intern for the Tri-County Fatherhood Coalition through the United Way. She handed out a packet and gave stats on fatherless children. Cecilia will be emailing the needs assessment to the coalition.
- FatherhoodAcademy- Both volunteer and court-mandated fathers are welcome. It is free and it consists of ten different lessons, such as values and discipline. A volunteer does not have to attend all ten sessions but court-ordered attendees do per their individual order. Nate Gadsden will be the facilitator. The official start date is not determined but the classes will probably be held at HACC.
- Family Empowerment Forum starts this month. First meeting will be April 30, 2010 held at Dodge City at 8am. This meeting will be held the first Friday of every month at Dodge City from 8-9am. This forum is open to community members and is hosted by Nate Gadsden from the United Way.
Announcements:
- Fundraiser on June 5 from 6-9pm at Saint Paul Baptist Missionary, 1201 N. 17th St. There will be seven groups for entertainment.
- AIDS Walk on CityIsland starting at 2pm on April 25th. You can donate money or come out and walk to show support.
- Barry gave compliments to Jeff for chairing the last meeting and Ivy for taking the minutes.
Meeting adjourned at 4:37pm