Minutes
Winthrop Commission On Disabilities · from the Town's website · 3 pages · 55 KB
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Winthrop Commission on Disability MINUTES Meeting Date: November 13, 2024 Commission Members In Attendance: John Morgan Denise Quist Kathleen Kane Andrew Carr Karla Murphy Nancy Tufo Susan Smith Public: Karin Chavis (Citizens Finance Committee) 1. Roll call 2. Approved October 2024 meeting minutes 3. Welcome new members: Susan Smith and Nancy Tufo; both have been active in the field of disability for years; Nancy is a member of WINARC and Susan is the Director of Operations and Development at BCIL; Denise will send them applications and get approval from Town Council (UPDATE: both members have been approved and will be sworn in at our next meeting) 4. WCOD email is currently commissionondisabilities@town.winthrop.ma.us Denise will have it shortened to WCOD@town.winthrop.ma.us 5. Year in Review Updated commission on all we have accomplished since June 2023 (see summary at the end of the minutes) 6. MOD grant UPDATE: The Commission successfully secured $225,000 to update the library and make it accessible to people with disabilities! 7. CODA We are now on the CODA email list; monthly meetings are virtual, usually the first Wednesday of the month but lately there have been no meetings 8. Notices Include on all municipal meeting agendas the statement regarding accommodations: Denise will include that on all agendas 9. Facebook page: Karla will set one up 10. Speaker Series Susan will check with BCIL to provide speakers for two workshops: Staying in Your Home: Supports and Services and Services and Supports for Transition-Aged Youth: 14-22 years Karla Will check with Matt from the Senior Center for Staying in your Home (possibly in January at 1 p.m.) Denise will talk to Lisa Howard about holding the Transition workshop in one of the schools, possibly in March in the evening Susan will check on possible dates and times for both Repeat the Guardianship with Kathleen and Jon in May 2025 Possibility of Erin from Sierra Club holding a training 11. Other Projects ADA ANNIVERSARY: Susan brought up that the ADA 35 th anniversary celebration is in July 2025 and proposed doing some disability events and include a historical perspective; commission members agreed that we could hold this event and collaborate with other local organizations including the Winthrop Historical Society Need one of our members to spearhead and organize this event; could be held on the anniversary in July ACCESSIBILITY STUDY: Get high school kids or other volunteers from the community to self-assess our accessibility; Karla will bring in the document and share it at the next meeting ROLE OF THE ADA COORDINATOR: Ralph DiCicco from MOD and also Chair of the Revere Commission could come and speak to our commission The next meeting of WCOD is Wednesday, DCEMBER 11 at 6 p.m. in Harvey Hearing Room Respectfully submitted, Karla Murphy Year in Review (since June 2023) Elected officers of the Commission Published and distributed Resource Guide Joined the Massachusetts CODA (Commission on Disabilities Association) which meets monthly on the first Wednesday of the month Applied for MOD Grant for Library (UPDATE: GRANT AWARDED!) Two HP signs erected near the library entrance Started Speaker Series: guardianship, social security, medical advocacy, health insurance Met with CDICR Held Accessible Adventures event featuring pedicabs, adaptive bikes, harbor cruise, fishing, resource tabled, live radio and deejay; over 200 participants; we provided 12 volunteers; applied for grant with Friends of Winthrop Beach and was awarded $2500 John Morgan requests 6-month report on 22G funds from Finance Went on WCAT with Judy VanKooiman