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HomeMy WebLinkAboutHuman Rights and Diversity - 01/12/1999 MEETING NOTES EDEN PRAIRIE HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION TUESDAY,JANUARY 12, 1999 7:00 PM, CITY CENTER Prairie Rooms A & B 8080 Mitchell Road COMMISSION MEMBERS: Brad Behrends, Richard Helzel, Harry Moran, Vicki Pellar-Price, Darryl Stanton, Gloria Winans, and Munna Yasiri YOUTH REPRESENTATIVES: Jennifer Johnson and Sopanha Te CITY COUNCIL STAFF: Michael Barone, Supv. Personnel/Payroll, and Jan Nelson, Recording Secretary I. ROLL CALL Behrends, Helzel, Moran and Stanton were absent. Due to the lack of a quorum, Chair Winans said only Agenda items that did not require a vote would be discussed at the meeting, and item W.B. would be the first item discussed. IV. OLD BUSINESS B. Senior Issues Discussion -Sandy Werts Winans said we made a commitment to work with the senior community as a part of our diversity commission because age discrimination is a big issue for our society. We have asked Sandy Werts to tell us about the needs of seniors in Eden Prairie. Sandy Werts, Recreation Coordinator -Senior Services, said nobody seems to know what to expect in terms of preparing for an aging community because people are living longer and are healthier so that age is not longer determined by chronological age. She said most of the seniors she works with don't contemplate moving from their homes until they are 80 or so. Werts said in 1992 the Metropolitan Council Area Agency on Aging did a survey of human service agencies called the Generation Project. They identified several issues among which was access to services. In 1993 Focus Groups for the Agency identified transportation, access and cost of health and health care services, safety in the home and neighborhood, social and volunteer opportunities, and in-home services as issues needing to be addressed. HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION NOTES January 12, 1999 Page 2 Werts noted there will be a 73% increase in the 85 and older group by 2010. She said they have recommended comprehensive case management where one agency follows a person wherever they are in the system. Eden Prairie contracts with Senior Outreach to provide a social worker at the Senior Center in Eden Prairie, who follows clients along the way and contacts other case workers to manage the case. Yasiri asked if we know what the case load is. Werts said at one time it was about 90,but she was not sure what it is currently. Werts said her vision is that there would be a one-stop center for seniors in each community where a packet describing services could be easily obtained. She said the Area Agency on Aging was made its own agency in 1998, and they are undertaking a regional planning process. She said common service concerns are housing, transportation and the current and future work force shortage. There also is a shortage of workers for nursing homes and in-home services. In 1995-1996 the Eden Prairie Senior Issues Task Force met and produced their report on issues facing seniors in Eden Prairie. Werts thought the priority issues are transportation,housing in the city or in adjacent communities, and a lack of household services. She said HOME is part of the senior community services, and it provides housecleaning, shopping and painting and repairs on a sliding-fee scale. They have trouble finding people from Eden Prairie that will do the services work here. She said there is a need for family members to know the services available in the community. They often do not start looking until they need the services. They have talked about having a web site linked through the City's web page that would link with FamiLink. Yasiri said such a web site should link to the state's Department of Human Services Aging Initiative web page which will provide information on senior nutrition programs, community support for seniors and other issues. Werts asked if the site is available now. Yasiri said it is not available externally,but they are hoping it will be up in the next six months. Werts said there are education issues. Seniors need to become aware of what the services are that are available in the community. Werts belongs to an organization called Eden Prairie Professionals in Aging that gets together every two months to discuss mutual issues. She said there really is not a need for another program for Senior Awareness Week, but there is a need to support the programs that exist. Transportation is the serious issue. Werts said there is a growing minority community here, especially Russian speaking, and the Senior Center provides ESL two days a week. There will be a need to identify their special issues that are not being met. HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION NOTES January 12, 1999 Page 3 Winans asked Werts to describe FamiLink. Werts said it was previously the Community Resource Center, which may have been a better name for seniors to relate to since there may not be a connecting point with an organization with family as part of the name. Pellar-Price asked what the housing issues will be when the baby boomers approach the aging categories. Werts said the report from the Senior Issues Task Force addressed that. There is not a lot of land available for development and there is a question of whether the City can dictate what the developer builds. People with high incomes can do whatever they want,but there are a lot of others who aren't in that category. The new Cooperative Senior Housing at Smetana Lake has been very popular. At that facility residents buy a share in a condominium and pay rent but still have some equity. Winans said she understood there are only 300 units in that development. Yasiri thought more of such developments will come as time passes. She did not think housing and transportation are two issues that we will be able to tackle much on this Commission because the HTSSB deals with those. She said there was a group that provided transportation in the City several years ago but it was not able to stay in business. Werts said that group was only allowed to provide transportation to doctor appointments so it was very restricted. Winans said the Commission has decided to stay away from the housing and transportation issues. Werts thought everybody needs to work in unison by looking at what other groups are doing and see what we can do to support that effort. Johnson was interested in the services provided by HOME. She said there are students who are interested in doing chores. Te thought the service groups in the High School should be targeted. Werts said she received only two calls in response to the notice about providing services. Winans thought we need to remember we are at 1999, and the senior population will grow in the next five to ten years. Pellar-Price has noticed that many of the service providers advertising in the newspapers are from out of the area. She thought the services must be affordable and sensible. Werts said HOME provides services on a sliding scale system; however, it is difficult to get many people from Eden Prairie to do the services because of the low rates. Nursing homes are relying on students to do a lot of their work instead of adult workers. Yasiri noted there are a lot of regulations regarding what volunteer services can provide. Winans thought we need to help with promotion and awareness of the Senior Awareness Week in May. She asked Werts if there are any plans in place for this year. Werts said they will meet in the beginning of the February, and the Commission could be a part of the planning committee. The committee will meet to look at programs that might be interesting. Winans asked if there are any plans in place to promote the Senior Center as a HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION NOTES January 12, 1999 Page 4 one-stop service center and if the Commission could help with that. Werts said they don't have a plan at this time. She thought the recommendations of the Senior Issues Task Force were put forth,but no one was targeted to act on those findings. She thought there are issues regarding how things affect people across the board and the broader spectrum of how we use City money to take care of things. Winans said the HTSSB has been asked to help design units that are appropriate for seniors. Werts noted that would also take care of the disabled, which is an example of multiple uses for programs. Yasiri thought we have started on that route with affordable housing. The Columbine project provided moderate income housing. She thought we need to look at multi-stage housing as well as affordable housing. Winans reviewed the points brought forth during the discussion: 1. Werts suggested everybody needs to work in unison by looking at what other groups are doing and seeing what we can do to support that effort. 2. The Commission can help plan Senior Awareness Week in May. 3. The Commission can help to build awareness by providing materials at our events and providing information about the one-stop service center for seniors. Barone asked Werts to send him the information about the Senior Awareness Week planning committee and he will forward it to Winans. Werts thought the first meeting will be the first Wednesday in February. Winans said the Commission has talked about some kind of discussion group or study circle and asked Werts if that would be a viable option to have some seniors involved in. Werts was not sure how that would work, and she suggested a representative of the Commission come to one of their Professionals in Aging group meetings to learn more about what is out there. Yasiri thought perhaps a study circle should be focused towards the baby boomers who have aging parents. They may be dealing with issues in other states and need to be better informed on the issues they will have to deal with. As a family-oriented community, she thought a lot of the issues are not the same in terms of our community, and we need to face the baby boomer issues here. She thought we need to tie out to the existing seniors while helping the baby boomer population be more aware of the issues faced by seniors. Pellar-Price was concerned about the lack of affordable housing in the City. The apple orchard development had a variety of housing types but people were opposed. Yasiri noted there has always been a great resistance to multi-unit development in the City. Winans thanked Werts for her presentation. Werts said she would be happy to come back to give another presentation to the entire Commission. HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION NOTES January 12, 1999 Page 5 Winans said she would like to present this discussion to the larger group next month. A. Memorandum to Tria Mann Barone said this item was for information only. Winans thought it captured everything the Commission discussed. C. Revised 1999 Planning Calendar and 1999 Objectives and Work Plan Barone said he updated the activity column. Winans asked if there will be diversity training this year. Barone said he would check. Winans asked if the Student Representatives had any information about a MLK Birthday celebration or Black History month event. Te and Johnson said they have not heard of anything. Winans asked if we will staff a booth at the State of the City event. Barone said this event is normally held at City Hall but will be held elsewhere this year because of the parking lot problem; however, he thought we should be able to provide materials for the booth. Winans said she had seen that the Chamber is holding some kind of forum and they invited the City Manager and the Mayor. She thought we should have a representative there. Barone noted he revised the objectives and work plan as proposed last time. V. NEW BUSINESS A. Report on HRA and Youth Scholarship Awards for 1999 Barone passed out the time line for HRA and the Youth Scholarship Award. Winans noted we won't be partnering with the Chamber this year. We have invited them to attend the event that is set for Wednesday, April 21. Barone distributed copies of the ad that will be in the newspapers and the press release that went to the Eden Prairie News and the Sun Current. The application form is still in process. Yasiri noted the Youth Scholarship was listed on the financial aid information at the High School. Te said there is a multi-scholarship application form at the High School to use for a number of scholarship applications. Yasiri thought we should send updated materials to the High School. HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION NOTES January 12, 1999 Page 6 B. Copy of Proclamation Presented to City Council on January 5, 1999 Winans said she attended the City Council meeting to present the Proclamation. Swaggert was to make sure it will be positioned in City Hall. They added the fact that 1999 will be Human Rights Year in the City of Eden Prairie in order to celebrate the 50th Anniversary of the Human Rights Declaration. There is a copy of the Proclamation in the Commission packet. D. Other Items Barone noted the memo from David Lindahl regarding the Housing Educational Forum. Winans asked if we should have someone from the Commission attend. Winans noted that Behrends has notified us about having serious health problems that will limit his attendance, and he does not feel he can assume the role of Chair in April. Winans asked Barone to check with Swaggert to see what the procedure is in that situation. She noted he wants to stay on the Commission to complete his term. Yasiri asked if we would need to find a new representative to HTSSB. Barone said his term would expire in March so we could discuss it then. Winans reviewed the schedule of events at the University of Minnesota celebrating Dr. King's birthday. Barone noted ABC House won an MLK award from Minneapolis Community College. VI. REPORTS OF COMMISSION MEMBERS A. Housing, Transportation & Human Services: Brad Behrends No report. B. Minnesota League of Human Rights Commissions: Gloria Winans Winans said she attended the December meeting in Richfield. They are working on setting up the Annual Conference for 1999. C. Report of Youth Representatives: Jennifer Johnson and Sopanha Te Johnson asked about the diversity training. Winans said we have not heard from Marna, but she will call Johnson at home to set it up. Te said they are planning to stage a mock refugee camp to celebrate 1999 as the Year of Celebration for the American Refugee Association. Winans asked when it will be held. Te did not know,but it will probably be in the spring or summer. Winans asked her to get the information and let us respond. HUMAN RIGHTS AND DIVERSITY COMMISSION NOTES January 12, 1999 Page 7 Te asked if we are planning to talk to the American Cultures class. She noted it is now called Sociology II. D. Quarterly Report -Pride Institute: Munna Yasiri Yasiri said the December meeting was canceled and will be rescheduled. VII. REPORTS OF STAFF A. Activity Status No activity. VIII. FUTURE AGENDAS/EVENTS Barone said he will call Commission members if there is a need to get together to participate in the State of the City event. Winans asked if we have finished the letter to companies requesting contributions for the Youth Scholarships. Barone said he will be finishing that soon. February 9, 1999 7:00 -9:00 PM HRDC Regular Meeting February 23, 1999 7:00 -9:00 PM Optional HRDC Workshop March 9, 1999 7:00 -9:00 PM HRDC Regular Meeting March 23, 19997:00 -9:00 PM Optional HRDC Workshop April 13, 1999 7:00 -9:00 PM HRDC Regular Meeting April 27, 1999 7:00 -9:00 PM Optional HRDC Workshop