The Leadership Council met yesterday, June 24, 2009.  Draft minutes are attached.

John O’Brien, Regional Director of the US Interagency Council on Homelessness, joined us to speak about our work in the context of what is happening in the nation and in the state of Massachusetts.  The minutes include a detailed summary of his comments.  He also handed out several studies, attached: Home & Healthy for Good, Progress Report, 2009; Cost of Rural Homelessness (Maine, 2009); and Home to Stay: Helping Families Avoid or Recover from Homelessness in Maine\’s Rural Areas (2009).

In moving forward, we are establishing work groups to meet between Council meetings.  These groups will be open to the public, and network members are especially urged to join; you can indicate your interest in participating in the comments.  The groups, their responsibilities, and Leadership Council members are:

  1. Coordinated Service Delivery: Evaluate RFP responses and choose providers; and work with Regional Coordinator and WMIC to improve provider and government agency communication, coordination and relationships throughout region. Yasmin Otero, Liz Sullivan, Paul Bailey, Peg Keller, Gerry McCafferty
  2. Performance Measurement: Oversee hiring of Data Analyst; and work with Data Analyst to collect data, produce data reports, and monitor grant performance and impact.  Tim Brennan, Dave Christopolis, Lori Ingraham, Charlie Knight
  3. Community Engagement: Work with Regional Coordinator to create and implement public information strategy; form consumer advisory council; and work with Fr. Stan Aksamit to oversee faith community initiative.  Andrew Baker, Bob Fleischner, David Gadaire, Mayor Sullivan, Paul Bailey, Lynne Wallace
  4. Leadership Council Membership Ad hoc workgroup to assess Leadership Council needs and invite new members as needed. Evan Dobelle, Martin Chaisson, Jane Sanders, Peg Keller, Michael Konig, Steve Como, Lynne Wallace

The next Leadership Council meeting will be September 30, 2009, 10 am to 1 pm, at Westfield State College.  Meetings are open to the public.

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