Welcome: The board welcomed Nicole Merriweather, our new shelter supervisor. Everyone Introduced themselves. Marylee explained that the state requires two administrators and that Nicole fulfills that role and Marylee the other.

December minutes were approved as amended.

Directors report:
Marylee reported that the shelter is housing three to four youth every
night. FYA is currently tracking the percentage of mental health trust fund recipients
who are utilizing the facility and it comes to around 50 percent. One young man had
been asked to leave our shelter (he had spent seven days at Bassett Hospital and had
not been given any of his medication).

Problems with the shelter are twofold. Staffing is the first. Sarah Smith fills in two days
a week and is engaged in ongoing recruitment. Marylee fills in at night after working all
day. Obviously she can’t do this indefinitely. There is a need to hire a part-time person
for this work. This employee would work three 8-hour shifts a week as a part-time
shelter assistant. Since Nicole needs to supervise two people, this would satisfy that
requirement, as well.

The second problem concerns the ages of those who are utilizing the shelter. These
youth range in ages from 17 to 19. The Rescue Mission admits adults who are 18 or
older. Alaska Housing says that these older youth could go to the Rescue Mission
instead of our shelter. However, the Rescue Mission sends 18 and 19 year olds to us
when they think the mission is not an appropriate place for them. It could be a
safety issue to place troubled youth in a much larger population of older men. Brad suggested that we work with Rodney at the Rescue Mission and see if their policies could be modified to address this issue.

Marylee happily reported that FYA received its first official reimbursement from Alaska Housing Finance which will fund payroll and insurance. She is also working on the BHAP
(Basic Homeless Assistance Program) grant for approximately $176,000, which is due in February. The ESG portion of that grant provides approximately $22,000 for utilities, oil, phone, insurance costs, garbage, etc.

Sarah Finnell asked about the written qualifications for our faith-based shelter. She wondered if potential employees should be required to be regular church attendees, or of the Christian faith. She felt there were many qualified and good folks who may not meet that criteria but would be good employees at the shelter. She said the policy was exclusive and she doesn’t like it. Patrick agreed that putting the label “Christian” on a person was no guarantee that a person would do a better job. Marylee related a recent time at the weekly Rescue Mission meeting when everyone was sharing how lives were being changed. There was a time of genuine rejoicing over the result of Christian ministry. Brad added that if our purpose is to spiritually impact youth in our care who ask for spiritual guidance and direction, then we need people in place who can give that to them, making this an important qualification. He said his preference would be to have perhaps less qualified people with a strong faith, working with our troubled youth, than a highly qualified person without that component. The consensus of the board was to leave the requirements in place.

The Board spent time looking on line at the Survey Monkey results of the board self-evaluations. This was posted by Rilene as requested at the last board meeting. Kathy had also worked on combining the best of surveys. We reviewed the Board Review document. Patrick proposed we create a committee of three members to review and create a board evaluation. Kathy and Meriyem agreed to work together on this. They may recruit a member who was not present at this meeting.

A work flow chart will be posted on our web site.

Patrick will be meeting with Mike at Foraker to discuss our legal issues for the shelter. He will be reporting back to us on his findings.

The board next took a few minutes to read and review the mission of FYA as posted on our site. Long- term goals were also looked at. The vivid description of our long-term goals showed us that these goals are being realized and moving forward.

Patrick encouraged the board to be looking ahead for ideas and items for our next agenda. These items should be sent to Patrick with a cc to Marylee. Conversely, if things need to be sent to Marylee, a cc to Patrick will keep him in the loop.

An event to thank all our volunteers was proposed by Sarah Smith. A summer picnic was suggested. At this time, FYA staff are choosing one volunteer a week and thanking them on our Facebook page. There may be a need to go door to door looking for donations for volunteer gifts. Sarah Finnell offered to chair this event if it takes place in July. Marylee said we need to thank around 45 volunteers.

Financial Report: Brad Johnston said that we are now starting to make payroll. To make things easier with the IRS we are also picking up Dave Bates salary, which is covered through an automatic deposit from Clearwater to FYA. Brad informed the board, that they are liable for payroll taxes if they are not paid. It is the responsibility of board members to see that this is being done or their personal monies can be attached.
Patrick made a motion that the board approved Brad as treasurer to pay the payroll taxes for FYA employees. Rilene seconded the motion. Motion carried unanimously.

The board approved sending Marylee Bates to the Annual Leadership Summit in Anchorage this coming April.

The updated brochures were made available to board members. The fliers are in draft form and will be updated and distributed soon.

The proposed art event fundraiser at Friends Church has been postponed until February.

The next FYA board meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, March 5 from 5:00 to 7:00.

Meeting adjourned at 6:59
Respectfully submitted,
Barbara Tyndall
FYA Secretary