DeKalb Times

DeKalb County Health & Human Services Committee met Jan. 9.

Here are the minutes as provided by DeKalb County:

DeKalb County Government

Sycamore, Illinois

Health & Human Services Committee Minutes

January 9, 2017

The Health and Human Services Committee of the DeKalb County Board met on Monday, January 9, 2017 at 6:30 p.m. in the Administration Building’s Conference Room East in Sycamore, Illinois. Chairman Little called the meeting to order and those Committee Members present were Ms. Askins, Mrs. Emmer, Mr. Porterfield, Mr. Reid, Mr. Whelan and Chairman Little. Mr. Schmarje was absent. A quorum was established with six Members present and one absent.

Others present were Nathan Scott, Vicky Broos, Gary Hanson, Donna Moulton, Jess Collins, Mark Pietrowski and Greg Millburg.

APPROVAL OF THE MINUTES

It was moved by Ms. Askins, seconded by Mr. Porterfield and it was carried unanimously to approve the minutes from the November 7, 2016 meeting.

APPROVAL OF THE AGENDA It was moved by Mr. Porterfield, seconded by Mrs. Emmer and it was carried unanimously to approve the agenda as presented.

PUBLIC COMMENTS There were no public comments made.

CHAIR’S COMMENTS Chairman Little welcomed the new Committee Members and wished everyone a happy New Year.

U OF I EXTENSION PRESENTATION Vicky Broos, County Director of the U of I Extension Unit 2 serving Boone, DeKalb and Ogle counties joined the Committee to present an introduction and update on the U of I Extension Office. Ms. Broos shared that the U of I Extension offers practical, research-based, unbiased education to help people improve their lives and communities through learning partnerships that put knowledge to work. The programs have evolved extensively throughout the years from their original purposes of providing agriculture, consumer, and economic information to farmers and homemakers.

Ms. Broos continued to provide the Committee with information regarding the staff and the educators who serve the Boone-DeKalb-Ogle Unit. She also reviewed the U of I Extension’s Program Highlights handout with the Committee. The handout, attached to these minutes, detailed most of the programs that the Extension Office offers to the public. Ms. Broos shared that although the deadline is not until April 15, they already have 91 new members enrolled this 4-H year. She also share that through state funding, DeKalb County has .2 FTE to facilitate Latino youth participation in 4-H. This new club will begin this January and has 8 members to date. Also, through a grant, efforts are being made to reach a more diverse audience with 4-H in DeKalb County and there is a new Cloverbud program serving youth from University Village in DeKalb. There are 10 youth working with staff and volunteers from NIU.

Mr. Broos and the Committee lastly talked about the Extension’s finances and grants they acquire through the USDA. She also noted that they have received no State funding for FY 2016 at all and so far non for the FY 2017 year. Although there is concern, she is still hopeful funding from the State will come through eventually.

Chairman Little and the Committee thanked Ms. Broos for coming and sharing information regarding the University of Extension and detailing all of the programs they have to offer to the Tri-County area.

LOVE INC PRESENTATION Nathan Scott, Harvest Bible Chapel DeKalb-Executive Director joined the Committee to provide information regarding the Love In the Name of Christ (Love INC) organization. Mr. Scott shared that Love In the Name of Christ operates as a central clearinghouse and ministry center, receiving calls for needs of all kinds and verifying the legitimacy of all needs. Love INC empowers Christian volunteers to meet needs and accomplish ministry through GAP Ministries with partner churches. Love INC also makes sure that, as a ministry, they have all the resources and help of area agencies and organizations at their fingertips, including complete knowledge of the ministries and services of each network church. Love INC strives to be the best steward possible of the variety of resources that will help people with legitimate needs. For individuals and families with chronic needs the hope is to expose them to ministries and agencies to help accomplish long-term change. Love INC desires to see transformation come to homes and the communities because of their coordination and network approach to ministry. All clients go through an intake and verification of need process before assistance is provided.

Mr. Scott reviewed the verification process that Love INC follows to determine the need is real. He additionally added that they are thankful for the 11 office workers that give weekly time to get things moving. As the person calls the intake office our volunteers are ready to encourage. Not only is the intake done, but they listen to the sometimes painful stories of clients calling. Intake specialist offer prayer and provides hope and encouragement before they say, “goodbye”. The intake volunteers can testify to the change in mindset of the caller in this first phone call. This intake role is essential, behind the scenes but very important due to a number of reasons. For many it is where hope begins.

In 2016 there were more than 2,500 individuals assisted with Love INC’s 28 Gap Ministries (30- 35 clients per month). Mr. Scott noted that they were an approved 501c3 not for profit organization and they are classified as a Religious Organization. Funding for the organization comes from donations from individuals and Churches.

Chairman Little and the Committee thanked Mr. Scott for joining them and presenting information about Love INC and for his continued efforts in being the bridge between people in need and the Church.

OLD BUSINESS / NEW BUSINESS Under New Business, the Committee was informed that it was Senior Tax Levy time. The Members were previously presented with a draft of the FY 2018 Senior Tax Levy Request for Bids application. After brief discussion and review, it was determined that no other changes needed to be made to the application beside the dates and allocation amount.

It was reiterated that the purpose and intent of the Senior Service Tax Levy is to prevent the unnecessary institutionalization of elderly DeKalb County residents.

ADJOURNMENT It was moved by Ms. Askins, seconded by Mr. Porterfield, and it was carried unanimously to adjourn the meeting.