Fox Cities Project Promise Poverty Coalition

Zion Lutheran Church

September 10, 2008

7:30 a.m.

Meeting minutes

Call to Order:

The Fox Cities Project Promise Poverty Coalition meeting was called to order at 7:35 a.m. by Jon Stellmacher, Co-Chairperson.

Invocation:

Debra Cronmiller gave the invocation using segments from the diary of Mother Theresa and the book of Ecclesiastes 3:1-8. She concluded the convocation saying, “Let this be our time.”

Approval of Minutes:

A motion by Don Stoegbauer and seconded by Will Bloedow to accept the minutes of the June 11, 2008 meeting as printed was approved.

Treasurer’s Report:

Debra Cronmiller, treasurer, reported a current membership of 22 organization members, 102 members and a balance of $650 from organization dues.

Committee Reports:

• Executive Steering Committee: Jon Stellmacher identified the members of the committee and gave a summary of the committee’s duties.
• Education Committee: Kelly Butzlaff reported the committee has been working on a speakers’ bureau adding a power point presentation was being developed. Training will be available in the future for all members willing to be a speaker for the PPPC. The committee is also working on the annual January event. In the future the committee will be developing a new member orientation process for new members to the coalition.
• Awareness: Bill Guilbeault stated the name change for the Awareness Committee has helped the members focus on gathering and analyzing information that currently exists on poverty in our area. He added the committee will continue to use root cause analysis as it continues its work.
• Action: Andrew Konkel announced the literacy sub committee gathered information on current literacy efforts in the Fox Cities and reported a need for tutors for any members looking to volunteer their services. The sub committee is considering a book read or book drive in the future. The other sub committee is working with interfaith organizations to plan a Focus on Poverty Weekend. This sub committee plans to develop an outline of suggestions for use by participating faith organizations. A plan is in the beginning stages to work with county and city governments to pass resolutions supporting the elimination of poverty in the Fox Cities.

Miscellaneous Reports, Updates and Issues:

• The Poverty Matters Conference will be held on September 18 & 19, 2008 at the Paper Valley Hotel. At this time, 270 people have registered to attend. On September 19^th, Debra Cronmiller and Jennifer Wanke will be part of the plenary, and later in the morning Debra will be participate in a workshop. Those interested in registering should go to www.wiscap.org.
• Nicole Harrison reported a candidates’ forum (involving Fox Cities congressional candidates) focused on poverty is in the planning stages and will be co-sponsored by PPPC and the Wisconsin Council on Children and Families. Members questioned if the PPPC shouldn’t be focusing on state rather than national candidates. Since WCCF received a national grant (Wisconsin was one of twelve states in the nation to receive one) and our congressional race is one being monitored at the national level, the executive steering committee felt this would bring needed attention to the poverty issue. In addition, WCCF offered their expertise and assistance in arranging the forum. Any members interested in planning a forum for state legislative candidates in our area were encouraged to contact a member of the PPPC steering committee. Debra stated the League of Women Voters would be sponsoring a forum for the local candidates, and the PPPC may be able to suggest questions on poverty issues for that forum.
• Debra announced the October 15, 2008 Conference on Hunger in Rhinelander. An e-mail announcement will be sent soon with additional information. The planners are proposing an “affordable” conference with the registration fee estimated to be in the $25-$35 range.
• The October 12, 2008 Crop Walk (1,3 or 5 miles) will originate at the Presbyterian Church.
• On October 11, 2008 a public meeting, Common Destiny, will be held at St. Therese Catholic Church at 7 p.m. (See attachment.)
• The FVTC Money Matters Conference will be held in early November.
• The NAMI Walk will be held October 4, 2008 at Memorial Park. You may walk and/or contribute to participants who will do the walking for you.
• FVTC is holding an Open House on October 7, 2008 from 3-7 p.m. This is a great opportunity for clients living in poverty as the $30 application fee is waived on that day. Changes can be made on the application form after that day without any charge.
• Money Smart Week is October 12-18 with various activities planned.

Action Items:

• Jon Stellmacher explained the changes made to the Roles and Responsibilities document; changing goals to mission was done as goals change over time while the organization’s mission will remain. He also announced the name changes for the three standing committees of the PPPC; Information & Analysis, Awareness & Education, Action & Impact. A motion was made by Gayle Hardt to approve and Paula Morgen seconded the motion. After discussion the members agreed to switch the words to Analysis & Information so the committee names would be uniform in appearance and add within the coalition to the first bulleted statement under Information and Analysis. The members considered a suggested amendment to the definition of poverty, but chose to retain the current definition because it remains inclusive and it is a definition used in other areas of the state so we have a common language. The motion was approved.
• Jon Stellmacher explained the changes to the Goals document; #4… document the continuum of care; #5 listing a few facts to be known by the community, and #7 placing the emphasis on the PPPC being a volunteer organization. Mary Wisnet made a motion to approve the Goals document with a second by Roger Bertschausen. There was a request to define “community” in PPPC in the future, and another member asked for an explanation for the use of the term “100% of poverty”. Kelly Butzlaff stated there are a variety of federal definitions of poverty and PPPC is using 100%. Jon added if we had used a different percentage, such as 150%, we would be excluding many people who we would consider living in poverty. The motion was approved.

Other/Communication:

Payday Lending: A member asked about the status of this issue related to poverty. Debra shared that she had spoken to Tom Nelson, state legislator, and he recommended waiting until the next legislative session. The League of Women Voters will be working on this issue.

FVTC: A question arose about the FVTC administrator who had been working on child care for parents who were students at FVTC. This initiative may have morphed into the Next Steps Expo held this past June at FVTC, but no specific program has been created around the child care issue to anyone’s knowledge in attendance.

Warming shelter: It was announced there was frost reported in our area last night, and there is no building available for the Fox Valley Warming Shelter.

Adjournment:

The meeting was adjourned at 8:36 a.m.

• For further information about PPPC go to http://www.projectpromisefoxcities.org/.

• The next meeting date of the full membership is December 10, 2008 at Zion Lutheran Church, 7:30-8:30 a.m.