Steering Team Meeting Minutes

Tuesday, January 15, 2008 

In attendance:  Sharon Rich, Sheryl Butikofer, Tim Corkery, Linda Watson, Cathy Molumby, Alice Schaer, Malinda Hanson, Al Knox

FINANCIAL REPORTS:  

* One month $1600 dollars that we need to pay yet for Mentoring.  The goal is to get to August.

* We need to keep watching it carefully.  Coupon books will help supplement.  There is still  $500 in the TRC account so Sharon is going to transfer $$ over to the general fund.  

        * igive is working!

        * Fundraising category could be moved anywhere else in the budget

        * Haven't spent anything out of Community Grant yetÐhave to report on that by June

        * Sharon and Malinda are working on the next Community Coalition Grant

        * Youth Center is going strong

• Sheryl talked to Steve Friederich..he is having a hard time finding volunteers, he sent out a large email and no one respondedÐmaybe that is something we really need to work on
• The YC can be intimidating to both youth and adults
• How do you help people overcome their hesitation?
• What can we do about it?
• Orientation for sponsors?
• Have a youth center night for adults? Play cards,socialize, sponsors that have been there before can bring a friend..a Youth Center night for adults!
  Sharon paid insurance and asked for reimbursement from DFC

SUBGROUP REPORTS 
YOUTH

• All Stars

• Malinda will be having a parent mtg.  Wednesday, January 16 for parents
• Malinda and Tim have been working on finding a volunteer to take over the program but are having bad luck.
• Cathy Molumby suggested talking with the student teachers at Valley, they are freshmen so they would be around for a while.  She also suggested talking with Monica Enyart, a part-time staff person at Valley in the Ag Dept.

ALL STARS 

* Will be starting on January 21 ~ so far, 23 kids are interested

* Tim Corkery and I have been looking for someone to shadow me and then take over the program...we have talked to many people, and cannot find anyone willing to commit the time. We will keep looking!

AC4C (Alliance of Coalitions for Change)

* I submitted an application to be part of this state-wide group and it was accepted

* January 23 & 24: Training at Camp Dodge-Johnston, IA. It¹s a free training and they will provide meals, lodging, and gas reimbursement

NEEDS ASSESSMENT

We will have a short survey at the All-VCC meeting about SODA and also about pharming

5th & 6th Grade Youth Center

* The curriculum is going well! Parents seem to enjoy facilitating and the kids like the activities...it¹s a great curriculum!

SODA SNOW BALL

* Will be on Saturday, January 26 at the Elgin Legion

* Tammy Moser and Linda Davis have done a SUPER job!

SODA/CLERMONT NEIGHBORHOOD WATCH PANCAKE BREAKFAST

* Sunday, January 27 9-1 at the Clermont Opera House

* SODA kids and volunteers from confirmation classes will be helping out

TAKE IT BACK 

The kids need to get moving on this...they may be asking some of you to help with a few things...just a heads-up!

PROMOTING MENTORING

*SODA leadership team members went into all of the elementary classrooms to talk to the kids about mentoring ...they did a great job!

*Our COMET report was accepted and we got good comments from it!

*I will also be submitting a proposal to ACE

PARENT/COMMUNITY 
Cassie is not present

MENTORING
* Had an event this past Saturday

• There is a Mentoring Potluck coming up on the 26th
• Al shared to positives about Mentoring

• There is a student going to Ricky Bouska at Backbone counseling b/c of the Mentoring Program
• At a supervisor's meeting, a mentor shared a story..for a birthday, a mentee was taken to a movie for the very first time, and it was the first time anyone had celebrated his/her birthday.  The mentee has come to recognize that s/he has to "make the change or I will end up just like the rest of my family".

TAKE IT BACK

The date will be March 5 or 6

• Discussion about location for Take It Back:  Clermont Opera House is one choice
• Could we use the school  facilities to do it?  We would have to fill out a building request form

COUPON BOOK UPDATE 
Have already sold a few!

• Al sent out an e-mail
• They will be for sale at the All-VCC meeting
• Some business people are surprised that they donated to the books but weren't asked to buy one
• Cassie is making signs to put up in businesses..to thank businesses for participating as sponsors, to promote selling the books to the businesses and community, and to get people talking about the VCC
• It was really cool how many businesses donated so much stuff to the coupon book
• Fayette County does something similar with coupon books but they're tickets you rip off..ours are much better

ALL-VCC MEETING 
January 30th

• Talked about it before on the agenda
• Need to talk to Shane Andersen about food
• Something to keep in mind:  the Brick City Inn is in town nowÐthey gave the school a really really good deal on a meal for an inservieÐit's a new business in town that we should remember when we are having events

DFC UPDATE
Sharon and Linda went to DCÐit was an adventure!  They got to ride a bus to Minneapolis!

• Linda and Sharon met with Steering Team leaders to talk about the conference and sustainability of the coalition
• DFC ends in 2011 and we cannot re-apply after that
• Sharon was told many times at the conference... "congratulations!" for getting the DFC grantÐSharon didn't realize what a huge accomplishment it wasÐThere were 90 NEW awards across the whole nation..the VCC was considered a new awardeeÐ
• Sharon learned that the VCC has a DFC Project OfficerÐCynthia Rubio.  She oversees the Helping Services administrative staff
• At the conference in DC, there was a lot of talk about "Community Champions"Ð they are all over and we need to recognize that!  People in the community that are stepping up and doing things for our youth are "Community Champions"

SUSTAINABILITY
Having "Community Champions" are what sustains coalitions

• All of the Steering Team members are "Community ChampionsÐSODA leadership team members are "Community Champions"!!
• Could youth at the All-VCC meeting mention "Community Champions?
• Maybe the VCC could invite our "Community Champions" to the Youth Center to celebrate them!
• At the conference the words intentful and purposeful were used oftenÐ.we need to help others understand the intent and purpose of the VCC
• To sustain the VCC we need to decrease the 4 core measures:  (Age of Onset, Perception of Harm, Perception of Parental Disapproval, and 30-day use)
• An idea for sustainability:  There are coalitions included in line items of the county, churches, etc.  How can we become part of those budgets?
• Maybe there are churches, counties, etc that don't know we are out here
• Sharon will be contacting a coalition out of  Northfield, Minnesota  about social host campaigns..they have some really great information and we have $$ in the community grant to purchase supplies
• Social hosting is a really wide spread problem.  Probably because of the VCC coalition it's not as much of a problem in the Valley, but in the wider area

DRUG-TESTING IN SCHOOLS 
Drug CzarÐNational office of drug control policy..presented at the Washington DC Conference

• Promotes Drug testing of high school students
• A really good point he made in his speech: "We test for diabetes, high blood pressure, etcÐ.we should be able to test for drugs"
• Sharon wants the youth to buy in to itÐsomething like this can't be something adults push on them
• If they buy in, they will have to talk to a whole lot of people at school, through law enforcement, city councils, etc. to get this implemented
• It would be a great way for kids to have an excuse to say NO..
• Plus, it's like being part of the REAL WORLDÐ.people get drug tested for jobs, etc all the time..it's  something that they will have to do as adults.  Bus drivers at Valley get randomly tested
• ISCA- involve them

LINDA WATSON 
She will talk about the DC conference at the next meeting

• Linda thanked the school for allowing Sharon to attend the DC conference and to help figure out how to cover her time away
• Sharon and Linda talked and talked and talked and are now on the same page with sustainability  (how, in this five years, whether there is funding or not, the important outcomes that the VCC has keep going)
• March 1 we need to turn in a renewal grant with a sustainability plan-Linda will let everyone know what she needs from them for input
• Linda will not be at the next meeting
• Sharon was one of the only volunteers at the DC Conference..the rest of the participants were paid staff
• CADCA Primers:  there are 8 booklets..its good stuff, easy to readÐthey will be passed around to  Steering Team members to read.  It will help everyone to be on the same page with what we are doing and reading the booklets will help really clarify what we need to do

MOU SIGNERS

• Malinda and Cassie will go & talk to MOU signers and "plug them in" to a committee or group for the VCC
• We need to come up with Job Descriptions for the MOU signers.  The VCC Committees will come up with the job descriptions
• We want to make sure we are being EFFICIENT & EFFECTIVE(so we do the right thing)
• One reason why the VCC REALLY works is because the coalition doesn't talk about what the ADULTS do, they talk about what the KIDS do-it's student-driven and that's HUGE

FUND DEVELOPMENT

• Report by Al Knox
• Al contacted Jenny Stolka about heading up the TRC committee again this year.  This year, there will be more people to help her out.
• They want to get planning meetings started, last year the committee started meeting at the end of January
• The committee decided that the proceeds from the TRC will still go to Mentoring and will continue to.  Since the Mentoring program is running low on funds, it would be nice to push up the date of the TRC
• Dates for the TRC depend on the golf course
• Al reported that West Clermont Church exceeded their goal for their youth program at EWALU.  He has talked with Pastor Albers about ways to have some of those proceeds go to SODA or Mentoring.  He will update the ST
• Matt Dummermuth is from the US Attorneys office.  Al is checking to see if they have funds for youth programming.  Al invited Matt to come to an All-VCC meeting.  The US Attorney's office has a youth initiative and it might be an opportunity for the VCC.  Al has been in contact with Matt

CATHY MOLUMBY & CLAYTON COUNTY GRANT
Clatyon County-Wide substance abuse grant with a strong focus on binge drinking

• The grant is for $500,00/year for the County
• The lead school for the grant will be Starmont
• The school is going to partner on the grant, and Community Coalitions can as well.  The Steering Team decided that they want to partner
• Cathy will find out more information

Next meeting:  Tuesday, February 5