MN Statewide Independent Living Council

Meeting Minutes -- March 9, 2017

State Services for the Blind

2200 University Avenue West, #240

St. Paul, MN55114

Members Present:Heather Allyn, Jessica Andrist, Tammie Campbell, Melissa Doherty, Rose Ann Faber, DavidFenley, Kim Hicks, Zainab Jama, Mary Koep, Meredith Kujala, Linda Lingen, Cynthia Moore, Anita Olson, Mark Smaaladen, Renee Solomon-Wise, Annette Toews, Brian Wagner

Members Absent, Excused:Shelly Pflaum, Brad Westerlund, James Lovold, GloriaLafriniere

SILC Coordinator:Pam Taylor

Minute Taker:Suzanne Renfroe

Guest: Jacob Schuller, Executive Director, SEMCIL

The meeting was called to order at 9:07am by Heather.

Introductions/Icebreaker:

“What is your favorite Spring activity?”

Agenda Approval:

Cynthia made a motion, Kimseconded to approve the March9, 2017 agenda as presented.Motion carried unanimously.

January Minutes Approval:

Tammie made a motion to approve with corrections made, Cynthia seconded.Motion approved.The following members abstained since they did not attend the January meeting: Jessica Andrist, Kim Hicks, Zainab Jama, Mary Koep, Meredith Kujala, LindaLingen.

The January 2017 minutes needed the following corrections:

  • Annette commented that she was given too much credit regarding her duties on the Finance Committee.The minutes were changed to read: “Annette set up a meeting with Brian, someone from VRS, Chris Johnson and SSB/fiscal person.It was a long conversation and they clarified a few things regarding long-standing practices regarding regulations.The state of MN had asked the federal government to divide money going to VRS and SSB.With one entity, it has merged to the point where SILC has generously given SSB money for outreach.None was received from feds.Annette has looked into different ways to report to the finance committee.There might be some good possibilities for them to report the information.Brian asked if the carryover is part of the question.Brad responded that, ‘the hope is that with simplification of one system, and not two separate places, providing a better framework.Annette will work on using a spreadsheet for better categories; with monthly or quarterly crosscheck to have a better snapshot of the money.Annette responded, ‘We hope to be able to help SILC make better decisions.’”
  • Tammie Campbell’s first name was misspelled in a couple of places.They will be changed to reflect the correct spelling.

Public Comment:

There was no public comment, but Anita used this time to distribute and discuss, “Legislative Advocacy: Do’s and Don’ts”.This handout came from a presentation that the SRC-G had and offers tips on how to talk to legislators.Members were reminded that MNSILC’s role is giving information and advocating only.As members of a state council, MNSILCcan’t lobby.

Professional Development Conference Update:Tammie and Renee

  • Date:June 13 and 14
  • Location:Double Tree Hotel, Bloomington
  • Theme:Building Skills to Meet the Challenges of Independent Living
  • Logo has been chosen
  • Working with planner
  • Speaker subgroup:working on confirming speakers

May Meeting:Heather, Pam

  • Dates:May 11 and 12
  • Location:SMILES, Mankato

Pam passed around a sheet for people to indicate their needs; i.e. room accommodations, number of nights needed, and transportation.

Roster Update:Pam

Pam verified each member’s contact information.

Finances:Brian

Brian summarized the various balance categories.

Pam explained the meaning and balance of each column.

  • Certain columns in the Finance table have not had entries yet.For example, the column for note taker has been blank.Now, Suzanne’s salary will be included.Other columns, like the one for trainings, have large balances because the events have not yet taken place.We have the two-day meeting in Mankato, as well asJune’s Professional Development Conference coming up. So the appropriate columns will have larger amounts entered soon.We are doing okay at this point.

Break:10:05-10:20am

Committee Reports

Executive:Heather

This committee meetsthe Thursday after this meeting to discuss plans for upcoming meetings as well as other SILC business that may need attention.They also plan on working with Outreach for recruitment.

Outreach:Cynthia

The committee is discussing ways to reach out to the community, both to increase awareness of the IL Program and also for purposes of recruitment for the Council. A “brochure” that will offer basic information about the Council is being developed that willbe used for recruitment.

Network of Centers:Heather

Network of Centers has begun working on the branding activities from the SPIL.They have met with members of the Outreach committee to discuss the role of each committee in getting this work done.

Reports:Anita

Anita reported that the Annual Report is complete and delivered to DEED for completion. They are confident that their requests regarding print (color, size) will be honored.Annette stated that one of SSB’s employees will be transferring to DEED Communications. This change will be helpful for ensuring good accessibility in documents.

Other Reports

Meeting of Chairs:Heather

Heather called a meeting of the Chairs of committees/task forces.People come with a variety of experiences and backgrounds and have different levels of expertise in chairing meetings, so she thought some basic skills discussion would be helpful as well as hearing from chairs about any challenges they are facing.The group decided that periodic meetings would be helpful for them.

SRC-G:Anita

Anita passed out the SRC-G Annual Report.She briefly went through it.It is also available in various formats, and online.One of the interesting features is that readers are able to see and hear the interview with some consumers through a link in the document. High impact in listening to the person rather than just reading their comments. SRC-G’s next meeting is in April.

SRC-B:Rose Ann

She indicated that the SRC-B also has a number of new members who joined at their February meeting.It ended up being an overview of various sections of SSB (i.e. workforce area, helping people find employment, communication area, Senior services, etc.).Also, both council chair and vice chair were re-elected to another term of one year.

SSB:Annette

  • Mississippi State University researchers will be at SSB in March.
  • She reminded the group about the tour of the facilities right after the meeting.

VRS:Brad

No report because Brad was absent.

Lunch:12:00-1:00pm

Announcements:Heather

  • NCIL Conference is in Washington DC, from July 24-27.This year’s theme is, “Revolution: A Global Independent Living Movement”.

Member Survey:Anita

Anita distributed the member survey and requested that people answer it.The purpose is to find out what skills and talents members have that will help MNSILC in working on the SPIL.It will only take a few minutes to complete, but the responses are very important.

Committees and Task Force:

This section describes each group and allows you to ask questions.Members need to participate in at least one committee actively.This means attending meetings and taking on work assigned.You can participate on more than one committee or a task force as your time allows.

Executive:Heather

This committee has a closed membership.It is composed of the council’s chair, vice-chair, treasurer, secretary, and representative-at-large. A representative of the DSE also attends.Elections are held in the fall.

Finance:Brian

Brian encouraged anyone who is good with figures to join.Their membership includes Brian, Annette, Tammie and Brad.They meet the first Wednesday of the month at 11AM.

Network of Centers:Heather

This committee has quite a few assignments from the SPIL and will be working hard over the next three years.Many of the Directors of the CILs sit on this committee also.Among the tasks they are working on is developing a brand for independent living. Members include: Heather, Brad, David, Rose Ann, Annette, Renee, Jake, Jesse, Alan and Don. They meet on the second Tuesday of the month at 1PM.

Outreach:Cynthia

This committee looks at communication between the Council and community.Tasks include recruitment, tools for communication, looking at how to get the new brand for IL out to the community, etc.Members include: Cynthia, David, Linda, Rose Ann and Vicki. This committee meets on the third Monday of the month at 1PM

Reports:Anita

As stated earlier, this committee is probably busier than others.Besides the Annual Report, they do the 704 and State Plan.If you are good at and enjoy writing and proof reading, please join this group.Even though busy, they manage to have fun!Members include Heather, Shelly, Anita, and Brian. They generally meet the first Thursday of the month at 11AM.

Professional Development:Renee

Renee spoke about the work required for this task force.The event is scheduled for June 13th and 14th.They are working on getting speakers and finalizing the program.There is an event coordinator working with them.They could use help, especially as they get closer to the date.One plus, is that this is a task force for this event, and the commitment is short lived.Membership includes; Renee, Tammie, Linda, Brad, Melissa, Shelly, John, and Cynthia.They are meeting as necessary usually on a Wednesday.

New members were asked to select their committee (s) and task force.

Finance: Zainab, Kim, Mark

Outreach: Mary, Meredith, Jessica

Network of Centers: Melissa

Professional Development: Zainab

Adjourn:The meeting ended at 2:00pm, to provide time for interested members to tour the State Services for the Blind facilities.

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