Loading...
HomeMy WebLinkAboutCity Council - 09/05/2023 - Workshop APPROVED MINUTES CITY COUNCIL WORKSHOP & OPEN PODIUM TUESDAY, SEPTEMBER 05, 2023 CITY CENTER 5:00 – 6:25 PM, HERITAGE ROOMS 6:30 – 7:00 PM, COUNCIL CHAMBER CITY COUNCIL: Mayor Ron Case, Council Members Kathy Nelson, Mark Freiberg, PG Narayanan, and Lisa Toomey CITY STAFF: City Manager Rick Getschow, Police Chief Matt Sackett, Fire Chief Scott Gerber, Public Works Director Robert Ellis, Community Development Director Julie Klima, Parks and Recreation Director Jay Lotthammer, Administrative Services/HR Director Alecia Rose, Communications Manager Joyce Lorenz, City Attorney Maggie Neuville, and Recorder Sara Aschenbeck GUESTS: Senior Community Services Director of HOME Jon Burkhow, Executive Director of PROP Shop Cindy Eddy, Executive Director of PROP Jennifer Loon, Meals on Wheels Program Director Wendy Vossen, and Executive Director of Onward Eden Prairie Tricia Wright Workshop - Heritage Rooms I and II (5:30) I. NON-PROFIT UPDATE Case welcomed guests from local nonprofit organizations. Getschow stated tonight’s discussion will focus on housing and food insecurity. The Council’s goal is learning more about City constituents served by each nonprofit organization. Eddy stated PROP Shop serves over 13 thousand clients, including 3,347 families and 5 thousand kids. PROP Shop is open 32 hours per week and serves eight to ten families per day. The need for beds and dressers has drastically increased. PROP Shop is currently coordinating its annual school winter coat drive, which provides 700 winter coats to school aged children. The need for winter coats has increased 25 percent this year. PROP Shop has 3,700 volunteers, including 740 kids. Toomey inquired what percentage of constituents served by PROP Shop are from Chanhassen. Eddy responded between one and one and one-half percent. Wright stated Onward’s mission is to help adults experiencing homelessness by providing stable housing and support. Onward was founded 5 years ago and has provided housing to 17 young adults. Onward has one four-bedroom single family home in the City. A program manager works with residents to set career, education, and life goals. Wright shared the story of an Onward resident who had been estranged from their parents and struggled to afford necessities. As Onward charges $300 per month in rent, the resident could reduce their working hours to focus on school. During their time at Onward they received a nursing degree and used Onward resources to create a resume and City Council Workshop Minutes September 5, 2023 Page 2 apply for jobs. Half of the rent paid is saved for the resident to access when they leave. One of Onwards largest challenges is having only one home for four residents at a time. 20 individuals apply for each opening. Onward’s goal is to add a second home and launch an independent living program for residents who have recently departed Onward house. Financial support is needed to realize these goals. Another challenge is lack of awareness about homelessness in a community perceived as affluent. Vossen explained Meals on Wheels is volunteer run and operates in Bloomington and Eden Prairie. It serves seniors and the disabled but does not turn anyone away and will locate available resources. Meals on Wheels fed 40 thousand people last year. Some clients pay for the service to remain independent as they age. Meals on Wheels utilizes a sliding fee scale, and veterans receive free meals. The largest growing client group is clients needing free meals due to food price inflation. 20 of 21 new clients need partial or full financial assistance. Narayanan asked how many Eden Prairie clients Meals on Wheels serves. Vossen stated Meals on Wheels brings 150 meals to Eden Prairie every Tuesday with the help of six volunteers. A decline in volunteers during COVID caused Meals on Wheels to modify its delivery schedule to frozen meals once a week. Vossen’s goal is to return to daily hot meal delivery. Case inquired how the number of Eden Prairie residents compared to the number of Bloomington residents. Vossen confirmed Meals on Wheels delivers over 100 hot meals daily in Bloomington. Burkhow stated Senior Community Services (SCS) helps seniors stay in and maintain their homes. There is a team of licensed social workers to connect seniors to community resources. SCS helps seniors who live by themselves use technology to stay connected to decrease loneliness and isolation. SCS also provides resources to caregivers, who often have full time jobs or are seniors themselves. Caregivers can use the web-based tool Carenection to form a care team, organize tasks, keep journal entries detailing visits, and share information with out of town loved ones. SCS is experiencing a difficulty finding volunteers and could benefit from using the City’s communication channels to share services and need for volunteers. Case inquired how many City residents SCS serves. Burkhow confirmed about 100 Eden Prairie clients are served per year directly or indirectly. Loon stated PROP is primarily a food shelf, and provides short term emergency financial support for housing, car repair, childcare, and utility payments. PROP provides youth scholarships, employment counselors, therapists, nutrition coaching, and financial counseling. PROP has the capacity to offer 720 food appointments per month, an increased from 400 monthly appointments in early 2022. Seven clients can visit the food shelf in each 30-minute timeslot. PROP will add a new shift in October to increase monthly food appointments offered to 820. Clients may schedule up to two appointments per month, however PROP often does not have enough availability for each client to visit twice a month. Demand for PROP services is growing. 5,785 Eden Prairie households visited PROP in the fiscal year ending June 30, 2023, a 37 percent increase from the prior year. Case inquired how many of those visits were unique households. Loon confirmed there were 788 unique households and 2,590 unique individuals. City Council Workshop Minutes September 5, 2023 Page 3 Loon explained PROP partners with Second Harvest Heartland, which requires food shelves serve any visitor regardless of residency. PROP visitors from other cities have increased as compared to several years ago when PROP only served Eden Prairie and Chanhassen. The price increase of basic living costs has created a greater demand for food support. Most food shelves have gone to appointment only service after COVID. Those in need will visit the location with the first available appointment. PROP has emergency boxes for clients with an immediate need. Case inquired if there is a tracking system for individuals visiting multiple food shelves. Loon confirmed there is not. 77 percent of PROP clients live in Eden Prairie, a slight decrease from the prior year. Narayanan asked if the number of PROP clients living in the City has remained stable. Loon confirmed the number of clients served is increasing, including Eden Prairie residents. Eden Prairie clients have grown 28 percent. Nelson inquired how many Eden Prairie families visit PROP. Loon confirmed PROP served 871 Eden Prairie households in the most recent fiscal year. Loon noted the demand for housing support has significantly increased. Families are behind several months of rental payments. PROP can help with one to two months of rental payments, but clients are often behind thousands of dollars. PROP partners with the County and other support agencies to create payment plans with landlords. Narayanan inquired what type of housing PROP clients occupy. Loon confirmed 99 percent of PROP clients are renters. In the fiscal year ended June 30, 2022, 48 of 60 households receiving housing support were in Eden Prairie. In the most recent fiscal year, 70 of 81 households receiving housing support were in Eden Prairie. Toomey inquired how PROP funds housing support for clients. Loon stated PROP’s largest source of funds is donations from individuals. The City provides $30 thousand in Community Development Block Grants. United Way provides $14 thousand of federal emergency family support program funding. PROP also applies for grants from major foundations. PROP is significantly exceeding its housing budget and has placed limits on clients receiving repeated housing support. An increasing number of clients are living in their car as the shelter systems are full. PROP has funded more short- term hotel stays in the past few months than ever before. Nelson inquired what percentage of PROP families have school aged children in the home. Loon confirmed 32 percent of the Eden Prairie population receiving food services are children, and 22 percent receiving non-food services are children. Case expressed his appreciation for each organization. He asked for more information on background of Eden Prairie clients and the cause of increased need. Eddy responded inflation, in addition to an increase in refugee families coming to the City with nothing. Loon seconded new immigrant families as an increasing trend, especially Spanish speakers. Many clients are living with family or sharing a rental unit with multiple families. Narayanan asked for the demographic split of clients served. Loon stated 18 percent are African American, 3 percent are Asian, 28 percent are Caucasian, 29 percent are Hispanic, 5 percent are Russian or Eastern European, and 7 percent are Somali or East African. Narayanan asked which demographic categories have increased. Loon responded Hispanic clients. Nelson inquired if any demographics have decreased. Loon stated while some families graduate beyond needing PROP assistance, it is not demographic specific. City Council Workshop Minutes September 5, 2023 Page 4 Toomey inquired how many employees PROP and PROP Shop have. Loon responded 12. Eddy responded 17. Case inquired if PROP or PROP Shop ever discover concerning information about a client’s safety indicating need for Police or Fire intervention. Loon stated the City has been helpful in providing guidance when needed. Police spoke with volunteers about de-escalation tactics when PROP increased the number of clients per food appointment timeslot. Case asked Gerber and Sackett if Police and Fire refer individuals to PROP and PROP Shop. Sackett stated yes, Police has a longstanding good relationship with both organizations. Gerber noted Police and Fire refer frequently visited households to vetted community service resources. Case inquired if the City connects panhandlers to community services. Sackett noted the embedded social worker provides community service information to panhandlers, though they are often uninterested. Case asked Meals on Wheels, Onward, and SCS what their largest needs are. Vossen noted Meals on Wheels is looking to add another kitchen in Eden Prairie to prepare meals. Toomey stated she would contact St. Andrews Church, which has an additional kitchen in the basement. Burkhow said the largest obstacle for SCS is finding volunteers, especially for ongoing maintenance such as raking and shoveling snow. Toomey inquired if Eden Prairie High School still offers a varsity letter for volunteering. Eddy confirmed the school does. Wright highlighted the mental health crisis as increasing challenges for Onward. Narayanan asked how many individuals living at Onward house are Eden Prairie residents. Wright stated residents become embedded in the community once they live at Onward house, one current resident started school today at Eden Prairie High School. Narayanan noted volunteering at Meals on Wheels was an eye-opening experience. He inquired if the nonprofits could pinpoint one reason for the increased need. Eddy responded inflation. Loon responded it is a mixture of many items including inflation, job loss, mental health, and lack of access to healthcare. The Council thanked the nonprofit organizations for their time and insight. Open Podium - Council Chamber (6:30) II. OPEN PODIUM III. ADJOURNMENT