HUMAN SERVICES ADVISORY COMMISSION
MEETING MINUTES
June 10, 2003
7:30 – 9:35 PM
32 Courthouse Square

Re: Call Meeting to Order /Introductions

Bill Goodwin called the meeting to order at 7:30 pm and introduced guest, Andrea Jolly, to Commission members.

Re: Promoting Volunteerism in Rockville

Mary Lou introduced the discussion of volunteerism by talking about what the City currently does in working with volunteers. She said that recently the City Manager sent an email to all departments asking them the number of volunteer hours generated at City events during the past year. A total of 100,000 hours of volunteer time was subsequently reported to the Mayor and Council. Mary Lou said that many of these hours are given through the Recreation and Parks Department where volunteers work as coaches and at special events. Students are also recruited to be volunteer supervisors of summer camps. More recently, the Department of Recreation and Parks has started to recruit volunteers of all ages to work in the City’s new Nature Center. Mary Lou said that the Department of Neighborhood and Community Services primarily uses volunteers as mentors and to assist with the annual Holiday Drive.

The City has various ways of recruiting volunteers. Using the City’s web page, Recreation and Parks has a sign up form on line. The Department of Neighborhood and Community Services recently published a booklet listing volunteer opportunities with those Caregiver Agencies funded by the City. The December 2002 insert for Rockville Reports also included volunteer opportunities and, for the first time, profiled eight individuals who had made an outstanding commitment to the community through their volunteer work. Other ways of recruiting volunteers within the City include producing miscellaneous flyers and placing ads on the Rockville Cable Channel.

Mary Lou said that she serves as liaison between the City and the Montgomery County Volunteer Center. In that capacity she works with Recreation and Parks to identify sites for the annual “Community Services Day”. Also, semi-annually she makes an evening presentation at Rockville University.

Andrea Jolly then provided an overview of the Montgomery County Volunteer Center. She explained that it is one of 500 volunteer centers nationally although it is one of very few that is internal to local government. This means it doesn’t have to do fundraising. Its primary function is that of clearinghouse. In this capacity it accepts listings of volunteer opportunities from approximately 600 local non-profits. The Center’s website lists 2000 volunteer opportunities. Additionally, a staff of eight people is available to meet one-on-one with people interested in volunteering. Every other week the Volunteer Center sends out press releases to about 140 places with information about volunteer jobs.

Another service of the Volunteer Center is the Weekday/Evening Program for people who only want to volunteer occasionally. Every month a calendar of volunteer opportunities is printed to meet the needs of this group. The Volunteer Center, through its “We Can Program”, also prints a calendar for middle and high school kids. The calendar includes both weekend and weekday opportunities. A council of thirty-five youth decides which opportunities should be listed.

Other initiatives of the Volunteer Center include the Senior RSVP Program, Donations Hot Link Program, the Language Bank (100 volunteers on call who speak 30 different languages) and the Corporate Volunteer Council, which coordinates volunteer opportunities for corporate community service. The Corporate Volunteer Council also runs seminars and holds an annual awards program. Each year the Corporate Volunteer Council supplies volunteers to help with the Capitol Open Golf Tournament, raising funds to donate to a non-profit. This year the funds will go to Manna Food Center and Stepping Stones Shelter.

Andrea said that they are always looking for new projects for young people and for corporations. It is more difficult for the Center to find volunteers that will come on a regular basis than on an occasional basis. They also need people who are willing to help shovel snow or pick up prescriptions during bad weather.

Bill Goodwin congratulated Andrea on what she has accomplished and said that the Volunteer Center is a wonderful resource. He asked if there were ways to make it easier for people to volunteer in Rockville. Mary Lou said that she has been involved in coordinating volunteers for the City for many years. Rockville has a wealth of people who want to volunteer. However, it is difficult to find volunteer placements. It’s also difficult to find group projects. She sees many of the same kinds of volunteer opportunities over and over again. Andrea agreed saying non-profits find it difficult to come up with new opportunities. And often people don’t want to work on weekends. In working with a business she considers it essential that the director of the non-profit, not just the volunteer coordinator, meet a group of employees that have come to volunteer. Ann Reiss commented that many times the volunteer coordinator position is thrust on an employee who may already be overloaded with other responsibilities.

Ann then asked how active Rockville corporations are in volunteering. Andrea said that many corporations don’t know about the Volunteer Center. Currently the Corporate Volunteer Council has only eighty-five members.

Charlotte wondered if there were any opportunities to work with people with disabilities. Mary Lou said that the City’s Recreation Department has developed the position of mainstreaming companion. Bill Goodwin asked if there were ways for organizations to mentor one another in order to overcome barriers; and, on the supply side, were there ways to attract more volunteers. In staffing the Commission’s booth for Hometown Holidays, he found that often people just need an invitation. Andrea said that she spends a day on public radio and receives approximately 3000 calls during the day. Those are the kinds of partnerships the Center would like to enter into. Ann said that in her many years of working with volunteers she has seen a change in volunteers. Traditionally volunteers were women. Now with more women working, they no longer have the time. The population of volunteers is limited. Allison Bunge said she has found it difficult to pin people down. There is nothing to make people do it. Mary Lou said that one aspect of volunteering is meeting new people. She thinks Rockville needs a program to promote that aspect. The city has two new areas—King Farm and Fallsgrove—with many young singles. One of the things the City can do is to provide networking opportunities for them. She would like the City to start something specific to Rockville very much like the program “D.C. Cares”. Andrea said this program is similar to the Volunteer Center’s Weekend/Evening Program and did not think the City would want to duplicate something that is already effective. Mary Lou said that one of the goals of the current mayor and council is community pride. She has noticed from feedback forms from the volunteers who worked at the Nature Center in conjunction with a recent Volunteer Center event that most did not live in Rockville but throughout the county. She would like to see a one-time/month activity to engage new residents and familiarize them with the City of Rockville. Ann said that Peerless Rockville already does something like Mary Lou was describing. Agnes Saenz asked Andrea if Rockville residents are matched with Rockville activities. Andrea responded that people tend to match themselves.

Re: Report on Hometown Holidays Booth

Bill Goodwin said that he, Agnes and Tom had all been involved in staffing the Commission’s booth over the Memorial Day weekend. Agnes said that she had requests from people asking for volunteer opportunities. Many parents were asking on behalf of their children. She thought it was good exposure for the Commission. She found the giveaways, such as pens, effective. Bill said that he would gladly put the effort into it again. The time involved amounted to 8-9 hours over a two-day period.

Re: Approve May 13 Meeting Minutes

Two changes were made in the minutes of the May 13, 2003 meeting. The word “four” was inserted before the word “tasks” in the paragraph entitled “Vote” on page five. And the second sentence was deleted on page six. Tom then moved that the minutes be approved as amended. Bill Meeker seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously. Deborah Hopson commented that she had missed the last meeting and appreciated the fact that the minutes of the meeting were so complete.

Re: Assign Tasks Emerging from Work Session and Discuss Commission Structure

Bill Goodwin said that he had tried to break this issue down into component parts, which he hoped would help the Commission with its organization. To illustrate his thinking he had drawn a picture of a shelter. The roof of the shelter represents the ultimate reason for the Commission’s existence, namely providing advice and guidance to the Mayor and Council on human service needs and how to address them. The four supports of the shelter represent four critical functions. These are to gather input on needs; to prioritize needs; to explore the City’s role and the services to meet needs; and to oversee and publicize services. The final part of the structure is the floor, which is constructed of several equal tasks. Bill said that if one of these parts were missing, the structure would still be sound. The tasks are to:

• Promote cultural sensitivity
  
• Ensure that safety net services are available
  
• Encourage information and referral services
  
• Assist with development of City funding mechanisms
  
• Recommend revenue-generating opportunities
  
• Maintain liaison with other commissions
  
• Facilitate volunteerism

Bill said that there would be a lot of “floor activity” at Commission meetings. Some, such as the discussion on volunteerism and the briefing on 211, has already been done. Most of these tasks will be accomplished through Commission members educating themselves.

The main work of the Commission is the “pillar activities” and, Bill said, that if the Commission is truly going to achieve in these areas, members would have to take on work between meetings, as individual time allows. He encouraged members to consider if they could take on a priority need this year. Of the tasks identified at the Worksession with the Mayor and Council, Bill thinks the Commission should focus on the first two priorities—creating a business plan for a health clinic in Rockville and easing integration and access to services for recent immigrants. He advised members that if their interests do not lie in the “exploring” function, they could give time between meetings on the “gathering” function. “Gathering” needs to be done more systematically as, for example, using surveys, attending civic association meetings, or through meeting with key informants or a focus group. Bill then passed around a sign-up form for members to consider how they would like to make a contribution.

Deborah Hopson said she like the idea of working on only two tasks. Bill Meeker agreed that the Commission should not take on too much but keep the other tasks on their radar. Bill Goodwin responded that speakers could be brought in to address other issues. Charlotte said she thought it would be helpful if, for the next two months, any speakers address the two primary issues. Bill Goodwin said that one of the functions of the smaller groups would be to make recommendations for the regular monthly meetings. Charlotte asked if Mary Lou Jacobs and Sarah Gicale could be involved in the groups. Mary Lou responded that they could be resources. Mary Lou also said that the Commission might consider another option. In the coming year she will be asking the Caregiver representatives to take a more active role in identifying and addressing needs in Rockville. One way they could do this would be to help the Commission’s committees. Their input might make the Commission’s job easier. There was general agreement that their involvement would be helpful. Ann added that there are several existing health clinics that must have had to create business plans at one time. Representatives of these clinics could advise the Commission on their business plan.

Re: Update on Recruitment for Commission Vacancy

It was decided to wait until next month’s meeting to discuss current applicants for the remaining Commission vacancy.

Re: Brainstorm Agenda for Next Meeting

Bill Goodwin said that he would send a letter with the sign-up form to Agnes, Darrell and David who had not been present for the discussion on task assignment this evening. A final tally of individuals’ preferences would be reported back at the next meeting. He also asked if Mary Lou would develop for discussion an update on activities/accomplishments since the last annual report was written.

Re: Adjourn

Bill Meeker moved to adjourn the meeting. Tom seconded the motion. The motion passed unanimously and the meeting was adjourned at 9:40 PM.

The next regular meeting of the Human Services Advisory Commission will be held Tuesday, July 8, 2003, from 7:30 - 9:30 PM, at 32 Courthouse Square.