10-05-2016Richfield Human Rights Commission Minutes
October 5, 2016
Commissioners Present: Chara Blanch, Carrie Chillman, Kristen Klosinski, Sarah Gumke, Mike
Koob, Mike Howard, Will Ruckel, Swopnil Shrestha, Ben Sunderlin, Simon Trautmann, Mark
Westergaard, Jeff Wright
6:30 PM
Mark - call to order, approval of agenda and previous minutes
6:34 PM
Guest Speaker - Dan Kitzberger - Policy Director - MN Coalition for the Homeless
Their organization represents service provider members who assist and provide services to the
homeless community statewide.
Discussed how we count people experiencing homeless
- Homeless are defined as people out on the street, spending night in unfit homes,
doubled -up in another household temporarily, emergency shelters, transitional housing
- There is a Point in Time count nationwide every January through service providers due
to federal law
- Wilder Foundation also performs a statewide homeless survey
- October 2015 was the most recent
- The estimates show 5000 in the last Point in Time survey, and 9300 in the Wilder survey
- Trends show a 9-10% annual decrease recently, however, a jump of 32% from
2006-2012.
- Drop of 17% in Hennepin County this past year
- Increases seen among seniors - raw number small, but jump large
- Youth 40% increase from 2012
Why are people homeless?
- Disability
- Mental illness
- Chemical dependency
- Domestic violence/trafficking
- Criminal background
What is happening with affordable housing?
- 30% or less of household income is considered affordable
- 700 of 1100 naturally occurring affordable housing losses were in Richfield last year
What can we do to assist?
- Lobbying work
- Bind together continuum of entry level sheltering up to home ownership
- Prioritize investments statewide in a coordinated fashion
- Become an organizational endorser
- Participate in Day on the Hill activities
7:02 PM
Officer reports
Mark Westerberg - Chair
- Committees are charged with doing the hard work and bringing it back to the full
commission.
- We benefit and should maintain good working relationships with city council, police, etc.
with the activities we perform
- Noted change in bylaws
- Student at Richfield who moves away can stay on through end of term
7:07 PM
Jeff Wright - Treasurer
- We have to use money and close account
- We have not figured out how to access it
- Discussed options for how to spend the money - supplies, shirts
Debbie Eng - Secretary
- absent
7:12
Vice chair - Sarah
- Pennfest went well, thankful for the volunteers we had
- More lead time in the future would work better in order to coordinate with other
commissions - start a month earlier
7:14
Police Liason - Mike Koob
- No report
7:15
City Council Liason - Mike Howard
- Planning document for Cedar Corridor passed at City Council
- Lists out key priorities
- Increase housing options for all income levels
- Can access through the city council minutes
7:18
Unfinished business
Survey for boards and commissions is ready
Categories and questions set to mirror Richfield Human Rights Act and data from last
survey
Asks all commission members to complete and submit questionaire
Suggestion for edit from Jeff to remove public assistance line but too late this year and
desire among several to keep all protected classes
Mark suggests we move forward with creating a resolution in support of CEDAW
Can mirror Edina resolution
Resolution committee set
7:30
2017 event planning and choosing preliminary volunteers for each
Muslim 101 in spring - May - Islamic resource group
Need site - planning start in March
National night out - coordinate with police ahead of time
4th of July parade - Kristen can help plan
Pennfest
Black History Month - library reading
Cinco de Mayo - decided to exclude as it tends to be Americanized and there are likely
better ways to connect with Latino members of our community
7:40
Trafficking event update
Planning commencing with Advocates for Human Rights
Open to the public, geared for students
November 3, 2:45pm RHS
7:42 Naturalization event - day after Presidents' Day
7:45 new -future business
Mark - outlines upcoming speakers
7:46 open forum
No comments
7:47 Adjourn
Submitted by,
Ben Sunderlin for Debbie Eng