Perry Township Board Meeting Minutes: Thursday, September 1, 2022

The meeting is called to order at 3:00 pm

Members Present: Jack Davis, Barb Sturbaum, Susie Hamilton, Dan Combs

Non-Members Present: Sharon Yoder, Pat Combs

Agenda

1. Funding Request from Community Groups
   • Amethyst House (Gina Lovell)
   • Beacon (Amy Kendall & Forest Gilmore)
   • Boys and Girls Club (Celine McNally)
   • Community Kitchen (Vicki Pierce)
   • Courage to Change (Marilyn Grimes)
   • Friend’s Place (Forrest Gilmore)
   • Girls’ Inc (Hannah Hirsch)
   • Hoosier Hills Food Bank (Julio Alonso)
   • Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard (Megan Betz)
   • New Hope Family Shelter (Emily Pike)
   • New Leaf New Life (Jordan McIntire)
   • Pantry 279 (Cindy Chavez)
   • Stepping Stones (Centerstone) (Rene Llewellyn)
   • VITAL (Bethany Turrentine)
2. Perry Township Budget Items
   • Food Pantry Perry Township
   • Emergency Shelter (set-a-side) not for Friend’s Place
3. Other
   • Friend’s Place
   • In Person Board Meetings
   • New Office protocols
   • Next Board Meeting

Funding Request from Community Groups

Gina Lovell was present for Amethyst House and their request was the same as last year. Amy Kendall, the Development Director, and Forest Gilmore, the Executive Director, for Beacon were present and their request was the same as last year. Celine McNally, the Grant Coordinator for the Boys and Girls Club was present and their request was the same from the year prior since they request once every other year. Rene Llewellyn for Centerstone was present and their request has increased a little since the apartment complexes they work with have started to charge them for application fees and background checks on their clients. Vicki Pierce for Community Kitchen was present and their request was the same as last year as much hasn’t changed except that they now have their food truck running Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday in Ellettsville and then Monday, Wednesday and Friday in Bloomington. Marilyn Grimes, the Executive Director/Co-Founder, with Courage to Change was present and their request is the same as last year and that they have recently been re-certified by the state. Hannah Hirsch with Girls Inc was present and they are requesting this year where they have not in the past couple of years due to being suspended from COVID. She states that about 50% of the girls they help are from Perry Township.

Julio Alonso sent an email for Hoosier Hills that he could not be present and was excused. However, their request was taken into consideration as it is the same as last year. Megan Betz for Mother Hubbard’s Cupboard was present and says that the request is the same and the only changes are that they are now open to drive through and inside shopping again and they have expanded their hours to Tue, Wed, and Th 12-6 and their numbers have increased. Emily Pike, the executive director, with New Hope was present and announces that the New Shelter was completed and opened three weeks ago and their request is the same as last year. Jordan McIntire with New Leaf New Life was present and announces that they are going to be able to start going back into the jails and doing classes in the jails again soon and that their request is the same as last year. Cindy Chavez with Pantry 279 was present and states that they are doing their best to keep food in the pantry but it has been hard. They did provide the board with better numbers this time stating that they serve over residents per month of those around 800 would be from Perry Township. Bethany Turrentine with VITAL was present and states that there have been an increase in the patrons they have been seeing lately and their request is the same as last year.

Perry Township Budget Items

Food Pantry fund is for buying food from Hoosier Hills and then whole sale stores and butchers when Hoosier Hills runs too low or out which they are coming close to now. The Emergency Shelter Fund is set up to pay for sheltering those in the shelters during times when they have to be closed due to construction or when other shelter needs to be found during extreme weather. The Set Aside Fund is money put aside that can later be transferred to another area of the budget it may need to be later in case of emergencies. The Court Liaison Fund is set up to pay for mileage, supplies, etc for a caseworker to be set up at the courthouse during eviction hearings as a resource.

Budget Review

Township Form 17 was discussed by the Board.

Other

Friend’s Place has or may have standing water in the parking lot that may be a drainage issue. The Board is concerned about this and Dan has assured them that he has had the drainage grates cleaned and will look into it again the next time it rains and see what is going on and get it taken care of.

Board discusses the possibility of what funds they may give to certain community groups and how funds need to be rearranged. Final decisions will be made at the next board meeting which is scheduled for Monday September 12 th at 3pm.

Dan tells the board that since the end had come up on the Governor’s mandates that it will now be required that at least two of the board members be present in person for the meetings for certain meetings. It is agreed that they will be present as long as masks are required. Dan also brings up office policies and what new policies the office might be putting into place soon or what the office is allowed to put into place now that the Governor’s mandates have run out.

Meeting was concluded at 4:40 pm.