Written on 25 April 2022.

20210415 - Ridgewood Access Committee Meeting Minutes

Ridgewood's Community ACCESS Committee
Meeting Minutes April 15, 2021

The ZOOM meeting opened at 7:35 pm.
Present: Ines Bunza, Robin Ritter, Mayor Susan Knudsen, Deanna Schlabik, Lisa Gardner, Joanne Stolfo, Lois Kislevitz, Jack Dean, Jan Philips, Erica Dunckley
Item 1: Welcome
Ines welcomed everyone to the meeting. Minutes from the March meeting were approved. Motion by Joanne Stolfo, Second by Robin Ritter and motion carried.
Item 2: Housing
Jack had met with Tom Toronto. The sheetrock is supposed to be going up. The housing should be ready for occupancy in mid-August. The electrical work is supposed to be complete. Tom is there every Friday; he stops in. The applications are going out the end of April.
Ines asked if the apartments will be fully furnished. Robin said yes, except the bed is supplied by the tenant. She mentioned that the furniture supplied is very nice, when the apt. is shared. The single apartments must supply all their own furniture.
Item 3: Treasurer's report
Lisa announced that the $300 check from Freedom Bank has finally been deposited!
Item 4: ACCESS Weekend
Ideas and comments:
Nicole from NJ Dance teaches how to do dancing through Zoom.
Charles and the library staff will be there to help us.
There was a great positive response to the Fashion Show via Zoom last Oct. It was less stressful for the participants doing it from home. Rachel is definitely in.
Marlene Pillow - will do the concert for the little ones on Sat. a.m.
Deanna would like to have her seniors outside if possible or indoors with masks.
Lisa will do her cooking class during the 12:00 time slot.
Joanne van Sant's service will be on Zillow.
Ballroom Dancing: Joanne and Robin will follow up on that.
Arthur Murray: Susan had reached out and is waiting to hear back.
Ali Stroker has written a young adult book which is coming out next week. On 6/8 at 7:00 p.m. on Facebook Live, she will do a reading from the book. She will be interviewed. She has been doing lots of advocacy work with young people. Maybe she could do it for our weekend, "Co-sponsored by ACCESS Ridgewood." Then it wouldn't have to be only watched LIVE.

Item 5: New Business

A. Deanna got a note from Katy Frey saying that she received the ROID Grant for LEAP (Learning and Exploring through Adapted Programming). For ages 12-24. Each month a different topic!
In May - art classes with Lisa Argenio from RIFE in Ramsey: Tues 5/4, 5/11, 5/18, 5/25. June - pickleball with an instructor
July - social night for young adults, age 25-ish
Aug - gardening in the community garden plot
Sept - physical fitness
Oct - musical instruments - behind the Stable
Nov - cooking
Dec - art program
There will be good Covid precautions.
Age differences don't really matter in this group.
It would be nice to have a dance again!

B. ACCESS Committee Structure

Susan would like to do outreach to get younger parents involved. She will send the volunteer form to Ines.

Ines and Robin have always invited LSHSA to attend our meetings. Robin is constantly advocating ACCESS to the schools. But parent involvement has dropped off. Ines suggested that younger parents may be more focused on school issues and may not be ready for our group yet. Maybe we could share it on Ridgewood Moms & Dads on FB.

C. Susan had an idea of how to use the empty storefronts in town. The Goodwill store has closed. Maybe we could use the stores as an outlet for clothing donations and as a place where special needs folks can work. Negotiate a deal with the landlords? Maybe a cooperative tax benefit. A sign with the words, "YES, WE CAN!"

Joanne Van Sant has a good network with the Emmanuel Baptist Church in town.

D. Jack expressed concern about traffic safety on the Franklin/Maple corner. Susan said that just last night at the village council meeting a plan was approved to improve safety at intersections.

E. Joanne S. said that seniors need help in applying for Accesslink. Robin said that she invites them to come and hear a presentation but that they are usually poorly attended. Perhaps it's because Ridgewood has a great Senior Bus.

Once the new building is finished Robin will contact the Dept. of Transportation and Rutgers for a possible grant for Travel Training with Melody to help new occupants with traveling by bus. And Patrick Chieffe would assist them if they are eligible for Accesslink.

Meeting ended at 8:45.

The next meeting will be May 20, 2021 at 7:30 p.m. via Zoom.

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20210415 - Ridgewood Access Committee Meeting Minutes

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