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HomeMy WebLinkAbout2019-09-24 Minutes Page 1 Meeting Minutes New Hanover County/City of Wilmington Community Relations Advisory Committee NHC Library 101 Chestnut Street, New Hanover Room September 24, 2019 5:30 PM Committee Members Present: Chair Evelyn Bryant, Vice-Chair Owen Wexler, Reverend Charles Davis, Jeff Hovis, Jen Johnson, Elise Rocks, Kathy King, Lori Wainright Absent: Dr. Maurice Locklear, Florence Warren, Dr. Anne York StaffPresent: Tufanna Bradley-Thomas, New Hanover County; Dahria Kianpour, New Hanover County; Suzanne Rogers, City of Wilmington I.Call to Order Vice-Chair Wexler called the meeting to order at 5:30 pm. Quorum established. II. Approve Agenda MOTION: Ms. Rocks MOVED, SECONDED by Mr. Hovis, to approve the agenda. Upon vote, the MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. III. Approve Minutes MOTION: Mr. Hovis MOVED, SECONDED by Reverend Davis, to approve the minutes of August 27, 2019. Upon vote, the MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. IV. Guest Speaker: Katrina Redmon Presentation of Wilmington Housing Authority (10-minute presentation; 5 minutes for questions) Ms. Redmon provided a brief history on the establishment of the Wilmington Housing Authority (WHA) including that it was the first housing authority in North Carolina and was incorporated in 1938. The mayor of Wilmington appoints members to the board and -funded programs are not part of the entitlement budget. Sixteen corporate entities are under the umbrella of WHA including Rankin Place Terrace, Creekwood South, Sunlight Properties, and several others. The full list is available on the WHA website. There have been 3,300 families served and 2,030 housing choice vouchers have been provided. WHA does not provide emergency housing. There are about 900 people on the public housing waiting list, which was last opened in 2015. Over 2,000 people are on the housing choice voucher waiting list, which was last opened in 2018. Hurricane Florence eliminated 2,000 affordable units from the market. 5:43pm: Chair Bryant arrived Several types of housing vouchers are available including Housing Choice Vouchers (HCV), Mainstream, Veterans Administration Supportive Housing (VASH), Non-Elderly Disabled (NED), and the Family Unification Program (FUP). Several programs are offered for connecting families with services which are the Resident Opportunities and Self-Sufficiency Program (ROSS), Elderly and Disabled Services Program, and the Family Self-Sufficiency Program (FSS). Regarding the issues Jervay faced after Hurricane Florence, the location seemed fine initially, but mold grew and for the health and safety of the residents, they needed to be vacated. That location is not owned by WHA. The old Jervay public housing was torn down under the Hope VI brandanymore. The new developer took it over and could either do a land lease or take it over and commit to keeping it affordable. WHA does own some properties around Jervay place. There are 24 units of public housing owned by WHA at Dawson Lofts. There is a work requirement and seniors and people with disabilities are not excluded. Notifications will be distributed throughout the community and applications will be available soon. Regarding Market North, WHA does not own the property, but a private developer does. After Hurricane Florence, there was water damage and the developer is still trying to work with the insurance company. The property was then sold to a new developer and they are working with WHA to issue bonds. Page 2 Ms. Redmon explained the application process. The waiting list must be open and it does not stay open because it gives a false hope that an apartment will be provided quickly. Some waiting lists are 3 years or longer. When the waiting list is open, applications may be submitted up until the application period closes. The application is being updated so that it can be submitted online and assistance is provided if someone needs help applying. The open waiting list is advertised in the newspaper, with the city, and probably the county. Ms. Redmond explained the funding process for Creekwood and Creekwood South as they are funded differently due to tax credits and income requirements. She also explained how the housing choice vouchers work and the inspections required. Regarding the retirement community in Wilmington and whether it changes the market, Ms. Redmon stated many seniors are served through WHA and it is growing as the population is aging. V. Sub-Committee Reports: Crisis Prevention/Preparedness Sub-Committee: No report due to cancellation of meeting. Ms. Wainright reported for the Programming Sub-Committee as follows: Ms. Wainright stated that the C-RAC survey will be launched in the next few weeks. Members will be assigned an area of responsibility to help with publicizing the survey and the goal is for each member to share at least 25 surveys. The sub-committee recommends having one C-RAC member to be the main spokesperson for the survey. It was recommended for Chair Bryant fill that role and she agreed to be the spokesperson. An email will be forthcoming with more details about the survey. This is a very time-sensitive project andUNCW students will conduct the survey by phone as well. Members are working on trying to have it translated to Spanish. On October 12 and 13, there will be a C-RAC table at the event led by Reverend Davis for On-Time Ministries and members are asked to attend. The resource guide is still in progress and Mr. Hovis and his wife have been verifying the phone numbers and contacts. Ms. Johnson is gathering information from organizations related to LGBTQ and requested recommendations for contacts. She is planning to contact the ACLU, NC Equality, Representative Deb Butler, and several others. 6:20pm: Mr. Hovis was excused from the meeting. Public Education Sub-Committee: No report due to cancellation of meeting. VI. New Business: Sub-Committee Discussion: A brief discussion was held regarding new members joining C-RAC as well as a review of the Meet and Greet at DC Virgo in September. There were not many attendees and a suggestion was made to promote C-RAC events via social media in order to reach a broader audience. It was also discussed to assign a topic of interest for each Meet and Greet. Once the feedback from the survey is received, this will help provide ideas of topics that the community would be interested in. Another suggestion is for C-RAC members to attend other organizational meetings and present information about C-RAC. Discussion was held about the weekly Outreach Site at the library and to consider moving this to weekends or evenings. However, the concern is still to share with the public that the site is available for people to visit. A motion by Mr. Wexler was made to temporarily suspend the weekly Outreach Site. MOTION: Mr. Wexler MOVED, SECONDED by Reverend Davis, to temporarily suspend the weekly Outreach Site. Upon vote, the MOTION CARRIED UNANIMOUSLY. Statistics on Individuals Served: An information sheet with statistics on individuals served was prepared by Ms. Bradley-Thomas. There were several questions on the data including if the complaints were submitted via phone or online, the status of the complaints, and following up on the complaints. This item will be added to the next meeting for further discussion. Page 3 Upcoming Officers Elections: Officer elections will occur at the October meeting. It was discussed that the bylaws state elections are to occur in July. A suggestion was made to change that from July to October in order to align with the timing of the appointment terms. Ms. Kianpour will research more about this change. A nominating committee was established with Ms. Rocks, Ms. King, and Ms. Wainright agreeing to serve and determine a slate for the next meeting. VII.Public Comments: None. VIII: Announcements: October 12, 10am: Community leaders honor Major General Joseph McNeil at a Dedication Ceremony October 23, 10am: City of Wilmington's Commission on African American History - Dedication/Naming Ceremony for the 3rd Street Bridge IX. Adjourn: Meeting adjourned at 6:55pm.