Bourbon County Inter-Agency Coalition

General Membership Meeting Minutes

September 1, 2021

1. Welcome: Eleven members representing ten agencies attended. Following a face-to-face only meeting versus a combination face-to-face/Zoom meeting discussion, consensus was to let the Board of Directors decide at their September meeting.

2. Member Introductions and Announcements:

• Cinda Reynolds, American Red Cross, noted that the Red Cross is looking for volunteers to help with hurricane relief in Louisiana; information can be found on the Red Cross website. Cinda will be helping with the blood drive in Iola next week.
• Sandy Haggard, NCCC and RSVP, announced that the Scott View Apartments Tenants Association will be doing some 9/11 and Christmas projects. She also noted that the volunteer program was going well at the Beacon. Beacon clients are still able to receive two food boxes per month.
• Elizabeth Schafer shared that Feeding Families continues as a drive-through program; Jean Tucker will be retiring as Director of the program in December; and a new director needs to be found.
• Leah Anderson, Community Health Center Resource Specialist and first-time Coalition attendee, announced that her duties include getting families connected to the necessary resources.
• Holly Fritter, Multi-County Health Department, reminded members that the next “Mommy and Me” meeting will be September 22, at 3:30, at the health department. These meetings are open to any pregnant woman or mother.
• Hannah Geneva, Multi-County Health Department, shared that they can give Covid boosters now to those that are immunocompromised.
• Jeanne Camac, USD 235, noted that the National Honor Society has completed the “Veteran Wall” project at the Uniontown High School with the help of several donors who purchased plaques and flags. This wall honors every UHS graduate who is or has served in the military.
• Rhonda Hoener, USD 235, informed members that she now has a new role for the district. Rhonda is now the Student Support Coordinator with Communities in Schools.
• Christine Abbott, SEK Kansas Works, has recently completed qualifications to become a Certified Work Force Development Professional. She continues to work with clients 16-24 years old to help them find jobs and further their educations. She is now housed in the office in the Luther’s building; she is in the Fort Scott office on Mondays. Christine also shared that the Kansas Works website now lists 55,000 jobs available in the state of Kansas.
• Nancy Van Etten, American Red Cross, shared that she is now in the Multi-County Health Department helping with the increased work load due to Covid.

3. Program: Jody Hoener, Healthy Bourbon County. Due to a family emergency, Jody was not able to attend; she will present her program in October.

4. Open Forum: Following a discussion on updating the Bourbon County Resource Guide, members were reminded that the Aunt Bertha website has all the current Bourbon County information.

Billie Jo mentioned that Devin Gorman is the new Executive Director for the SEK Community Foundation; Devin replaced Kit Parks who recently retired. Devin is planning to attend a Bourbon County Coalition meeting in the future.

5. Adjournment: Next General Membership meeting will be October 6, 2021.