Basic Needs Committee
- Tuesday, May 7, 2019
- 1:00-2:00 pm
- Bennett Valley Room in Student Center (2nd floor)
Agenda:
- Budget update/ expenditure review
- Grant opportunity
- Fall planning dates/ meeting schedule (2 per semester)
- CalFresh update
Notes:
Members Present:
- Toni Boracchia
- Jesus Garcia Valdez
- Sue Hardisty
- Stacy Heldman-Holguin
- Nancy Keller
- Stacey Murray
Members Absent
- Erik Dickson
- Maria Fuentes
- Allison Goodwin
- Karen Herrera Cruz
- Gabriella Morin
- Talena Sanders
- Karen Vielma-Cortez
Stacy commenced meeting at 1:04p and due to member’s schedules, she rearranged the agenda as follows:
Grant Opportunity
The Chancellor’s Office provides for a one-time $20k grant. Applications are due in one week. Nancy mentioned we need EBT pin numbers to accept CalFresh cards in the dining venues, so we need to purchase software and hardware to support this. There are two program options: restaurant or grocery (farmer’s market).
The EBT cards are restricted on what they can be used for so we have to have the program that can approve the appropriate expense types. Dan O’Brien is working on this. This might be a good use for this grant. Funds must be used within 6 months.
We already have money in the SB85 grant to put in the refrigeration for the Pantry and Erik Dickson is working on the permit process. This grant runs out in October.
Reusable grocery bags, netted bags for produce, directional signage, laptop or desktop and a private booth in the Pantry, signage inside the Pantry, printed recipes, a smart TV to show recipes, nutritional videos, etc. that students could take a photo of as it cycles through were some of the ideas that members shared. Also a brochure with resources (off and on campus) to hand out at the Pantry was mentioned. Nancy has a Marketing Plan that she could share that can be used as a template for the grant application. A-frames, branding of program throughout campus is another idea. We could add the QR reader to lead them to the CalFresh application office and the Basic Needs website.
Stacy will consider the suggestions, and utilize Nancy’s Marketing Plan template to draft a grant proposal.
Budget Update/Expenditure Review
We have the SB85 grant which concludes in October (for further updating of the Pantry). We asked if it could be used for an emergency grant program versus housing. We were asked to put in an official request at the end of the semester. We are not to use this grant for giveaways.
The other is a 3 year grant from Chico. This is a very challenging grant to manage. We have better aligned the grant to meet our needs, and pay intern staff. We bill the grant quarterly based on staff time spent on CalFresh allowable activities. We won’t be able to use the grant to partially fund a case worker as previously planned. We can charge back one-third of a person’s time to state share.
Upcoming Training for Basic Needs Ambassadors. 7 modules will be covered on June 19 or June 20 in Long Beach. Same training on each day. Do we want to send participants to Lead Ambassadors training? Are there others who could attend this training to add to our team? Up to 4 participants per campus per day. Nancy suggested Merwyn Welch (Nutritional Dietetic Tech Registered) might be a good rep to send. Or possibly Lauren Antoni who is replacing Dan O’Brien. Nicole Stein is another potential rep (Seawolf Scholars Coordinator). (check in with Gerald) Stacy will see if Talena Sanders is interested. Kaila Shivers (Veterans Services), Erika Black (Transfer and Transitions) were also mentioned. Stacy will reach out to these folks to see if they are interested in attending the training and joining the Basic Needs committee.
CSU Initiative
CSU is trying to facilitate county health and wellness partnerships on each campus. They would like campuses to identify partnerships and share resources to help students with basic needs. In reaching out to county agencies and their partners, our message is that we want to understand the services they provide and to work with them to develop a partnership, where we could help with sending them interns or something like that.
We already have our county CalFresh contact. We need to figure out other partnerships. Out of the 6 counties in our service area, none were at the CSU meeting about this initiative. This is based on an effort in the LA County which brought in over a billion dollars to K-12 for Basic Needs. We won’t likely get the same resource options but can we build up relations enough to know how to help our students navigate who to go to for help? Face to Face, Social Advocates for Youth, Living Room – are non-profits who do a lot of work with the county. Who oversees these agencies?
Missy Brunetta may have contacts through her emergency work. Ruth LeBalanc is the new Director of Environmental Health and Safety and she may have county contacts.
Members were asked to think of any others who may have county contacts and to send info to Stacy.
Good News!
SSU student, Sinoun Phuong, won $150 for her entry into the CSU Student Cooking Video Contest for her Easy Delicious Fried Rice Using Pantry Items video. We can utilize her video in our marketing efforts.
Fall Planning
- Proposing 2 meetings per semester. One at beginning and one mid-semester to check in on progress.
- End of September CalFresh Day event
Target 3 groups at beginning of Fall semester:
- Sophomores coming off meal plan, entering transfer students, and Freshmen living off campus.
Summer intern will begin developing a campaign to reach these target groups.
Meeting adjourned at 1:56pm.