City of Lawrence, Kansas

HOUSING PRACTITIONERS PANEL

October 5, 2006

MEMBERS PRESENT:	MEMBERS ABSENT:
ECKAN- Jeanette Collier	Ballard Community Center -
First Step House- Bridget Dixon	Bert Nash CMHC- Lynn Amyx
HCCI- Tammy Kahle	Bert Nash PATH- Kent Hayes
Landlords of Lawrence- Bob Ebey	Brookcreek Learning Center- Jessica Tuttle
Lawrence Board of Realtors- Marilyn Lynch	Children’s Learning Center- Holly Turner
Lawrence SRS- Penny Schau	Coalition on Homeless Concerns -
LDCHA- Charlotte Knoche	DG CO AIDS Project- Mari McCleerey-Janssen
Lenders- Joe Oberzan	Habitat for Humanity- Jean Lilley
Pelathe Center - Teresa Staskal	Independence, Inc. - Kelly Nightengale
Tenants to Homeowners- Rebecca Buford	Independence, Inc.- Kendall Simmons
	LDCHA- Milton Scott
	Law. Comm. Shelter - Loring Henderson
	Project LIVELY- Sandra Kelly-Allen
	Salvation Army –Vivian Baars
	Trinity Respite Care- WTCS – Sarah Terwelp
STAFF PRESENT:
Neighborhood Resources Department- Lesley Rigney and Margene Swarts

Knoche called the meeting to order at 3:45 p.m. and stated that for lack of a quorum, elections would be postponed.

APPROVAL OF August 3, 2006 MINUTES

Buford moved to approve the August 3, 2006 minutes.  Ebey seconded the motion, which passed unanimously.

INTRODUCTIONS AND ANNOUNCEMENTS

Schau announced the changes to cash benefits and advised members to keep an eye out for clients looking for work experience. There are also changes to general assistance. SRS will be conducting a meeting for partner agencies October 27.

Buford announced the annual Tenants to Homeowners BBQ will be Saturday at noon.

Kahle announced the last H2H class has been postponed in order to recruit more participants. They are looking for 6-8 more families with the income to sustain paying for an affordable unit.

Knoche announced that Lisa Davis with the Statewide Homeless Coalition was present to discuss the possibility of Lawrence joining the Balance of State Continuum of Care (CoC). She asked if the group would agree to let Davis speak at the beginning of the agenda.

Davis introduced herself as the Executive Director of the Statewide Homeless Coalition and gave a bit of background on the state CoC. She explained the state’s process including how projects are ranked and reviewed. She stated that Lawrence would have a competitive advantage given the expertise and experience in the community and the state would also benefit since Lawrence would bring in the chronically homeless population (that the rest of the state lacks) as well as the renewal.

After a brief discussion, Knoche stated the CoC Subcommittee would need to meet as soon as possible to discuss whether or not Lawrence should pursue joining Balance of State CoC.

Davis stated that both Topeka and Wichita are presenting on their Shelter+Care programs at the Statewide Homeless Coalition Annual Summit.

SUBCOMMITTEE REPORTS

Homeless Issues – No meeting was held.

Housing Development – Buford said the subcommittee met September 7 and came up with a plan for the rental listing service. There is a telephone service that will become effective on Monday. Agencies can download the list and post it for clients. Tenants to Homeowners is sponsoring the website. Ebey is monitoring the telephone line and the list will be updated weekly.

Ebey stated there is currently a 12% vacancy rate and advertising in the Journal World is expensive. This is a free service and the more landlords participate the better.

Housing Support Services – No meeting was held.

ADJOURN

There being no further business, the meeting adjourned at 4:50 p.m.