Ridgewood Access Committee Meeting Minutes 20170518

Ridgewood’s Access Committee
Meeting Minutes May 18, 2017

The meeting was opened at 7:44pm.                                                                                                                                  (there was a slight delay due to a locating a room that was open to meet)

Present: Robin Ritter, Ines Bunza, Joanne Van Sant, Paul Aronsohn, Jack Dean, Susan Murphy, Mayor Susan Knudson

Item 1: Welcome                                                                                                                                                              Ines welcomed everyone to the meeting.                                                                                                      

Action Item: Approval of the April 20 2017 Meeting Minutes

Item 2: Housing                                                                                                                                                          General discussion was held discussing the status of affordable housing for people with developmental disabilities. While there are numerous actions in progress within the community to address housing, we are still waiting to see what comes next.

Mayor Susan Knudson provided an update of the current status regarding the development of housing in Ridgewood.

Discussion focused on the possibility of developing an assessment of the status of Ridgewood residents to determine the ongoing (present and future) needs for affordable housing. It was considered a tool that is useful to advocate for housing and supports. Robin Ritter agreed to look into the Support for Shared Housing (SHA) as a resource from which we might adapt our own survey.                                                                                                                                                  

Item 3: Employment                                                                                                                                                           An ongoing discussion is to develop strategies that will engage community businesses to employ people with disabilities. We have discussed hosting a forum that invites the business community to the table to talk about jobs, supports, needs and benefits. Joanne recommended inviting Erik Carter, PhD, Professor of Special Education at Vanderbilt University. He has done some groundbreaking work engaging the business community as potential employers. (http://www.tennesseeworks.org/employers/). Joanne Van Sant will follow up on the possibility of a meeting either in person, or online with the committee and Dr Carter.

Item 4: New Business                                                                                                                                                         Jack Dean announced Basketball will be starting up; he is just waiting to confirm the meeting place. Jack Dean also discussed having contacted “Rock Out Loud” for an event. Discussion was held about starting something in Ridgewood.

Community Access Weekend date is confirmed as October 13-15, 2017. The dance will be held Saturday, October 7^th 2017.

Item 5: Old Business

The By-Laws for the Ridgewood Access Committee were approved.

Ines Bunza reported back to the Access Committee regarding the Bergen Access for All Community Forum. She reported that there were many Access Committees from around the county reporting on the work that they are doing for their communities. A highlight of the event was employment and housing. Ines mentioned that Tom Toronto of the United Way has 54 housing units opening in HoHoKus.

Minutes respectfully submitted by Joanne Van Sant

The Next Meeting is June 15, 2017 in first floor Senior’s Lounge Village Hall 7:30pm