Fairbanks Youth Advocates Board Meeting

October 6, 2014

Call to Order: 5:15pm

Present:  Kathy Birch, Dave Miller, Sarah Finnell, Brad Johnston, Meryem Kugzruk, Marylee Bates

Absent:  Barb Tyndall, Patrick Endres

Open in Prayer:  Kathy Birch

1)    Approve Minutes: Sarah moved to approve September minutes, Kathy seconded. Motion passed.

2)    Executive Director’s Report:  Marylee shared that she just received the check from Art Carroll for the estate of Mr. Yochem for $900,000.000.

a)     Outreach Update: We got a check from state of Alaska for an outreach grant. Marylee would like to hire a contract person to design a program and work out the bugs. She’s playing around with ideas for how to design an outreach component. 2-3 hours a week where they would ride the bus and hand-out materials/connect with youth. Possibly connecting with schools, going to 24-hour stores, etc. This would be contract or short-term hire. Brad said we might consider putting them under our insurance since they would be interacting with youth directly.

b)    We are now housing seven kids nightly. The youth with Mononucleosis is back in school.

c)     We have submitted to the National School Lunch Program for July, August, & September funds. They have accepted our submissions and need us to sign up on the sam.gov website. They were holding our checks because they noticed we had two different addresses and they were hesitant to send to the wrong address.

d)    We have 4 or 5 new donors this month.

e)     We have purchased 2 copies of How to Talk so Teens Will Listen and staff are working through it together.

f)     We submitted ESG final grant agreement paperwork – for approximately $21,000.

3)    Treasurer’s Report- we don’t have one this month. Early in the month is difficult for financials. Brad recommends that we don’t have board meetings before the 2^nd Monday of the month. He will try to post a Treasurer’s report to the website by the end of the month.

4)    Building Acquisition-We received the donation for the building and we’re moving toward trying to close by the 10^th. Brad made a motion to authorize Dave Miller to complete the transaction to acquire the properties that have been under discussion. Sarah seconded the motion and it passed. We discussed posting a plaque in memory of Mr. Yochem. Brad suggested naming a building or the campus with our benefactor’s name.

5)    Sunshine Committee—Sarah reported that the committee will be meeting to decide how we can recognize volunteers, staff, and donors and make them feel good about what they do for us.

6)    “Spirit of Youth”- There is an organization called “Spirit of Youth” who exist to bring out some of the positive things young people are doing, instead of the focus of negative things that young people are up to. They publish 48 radio spots a year, but also take nominations for “Spirit of Youth Award.” Marylee was contacted by someone in Anchorage to nominate Meryem for the award. Meryem was interviewed this past weekend. This will be on public radio stations all over the state. Brad made a motion to ask Marylee to submit Meryem’s name on behalf of the board of directors. Kathy seconded the motion and we are all in agreement. Motion passed and Marylee will submit the application.

7)    Foraker Public Meeting– Kathy attended an “Advocacy for Nonprofit Boards and Commissions” meeting, and typed her notes. She shared them with all of us on GoogleDrive, so take a look when you can. She shared that we should each have talking points that we keep in our minds for the moments when we spontaneously find ourselves discussing FYA with others (grocery line, elevator, etc). Foraker has lobbyists we could rent to bring a cause to the Legislature. She also mentioned that good food was provided.

8)    Building Acquisition– Dave asked that we have a meeting to specifically address the money we received and be sure that we are meeting the requests of the donor. Brad agreed- the first thing to do is line out the restrictions or intent of the donor (not necessarily as “restricted funds”)- including how we agree to do our best to match the intent of the donor. Brad says the next step is to put together a concept of what we want and his understanding is to develop a campus.

a)     Dave asked for a review of the timeline of acquisition of properties. Marylee shared the following sequence:

(1)  Last October, Marylee got a call about potentially receiving a donation.

(2)  Months later, Art Carroll called to tell Marylee that the properties next to us were for sale. Marylee said she would talk to the board- we might be interested.

(3)  This summer, Art met with Marylee to discuss how a donor may provide the funds to purchase properties adjacent to ours. He said, “We know that it takes funds to operate an organization like this, but what we’d really like to do is help you grow and purchasing property feels like that would be more of a long-term investment rather than using it as operational funds.”

b)    Dave asked for Marylee to put a summary of the meeting with Art Carroll, as well as the will of Mr. Yochem, in writing so we can be sure that we form our decision about these funds with all of the intent of the donor and executor of the estate in mind. We discussed the difference between our current building using city funds, versus this situation that is coming from a private donor.

c)     Brad also mentioned that we are only guaranteed up to ¼ million at AK USA and we should put some of our recent donation into CDs at other banks soon. Brad said he would call around to find where we should put this money. Marylee said MAC Federal Credit Union and Credit Union 1 have supported us financially, so let’s start there.

9)    Dave questioned Marylee about her self-rating of 7 out of 10, and Nikki’s self-rating of 5 out of 10. He asked if we have turned anyone away, or had any youth taken out of our care, or had any assaults, none of which is the case. Dave says while it’s good to be harsh on ourselves, we need to acknowledge that we are doing everything we said we would do, so we are really doing a 9 ½ out of 10. He wanted to go on the record and pat Marylee on the back and say that we are doing fantastic! Marylee shared a story about a young woman from Delta who is going to school. She is 18 years old and recently got a job at Subway. Last week the staff decided to give her an award of a necklace and a purse and presented it to her. She started crying and said, “No one has ever been this kind to me.” After the complaints from other guests, it’s nice to have a young person who is doing what she is supposed to do.

10)One Homeless Night– Meryem said it went well- there were many volunteers. She and Kathy had a debrief to discuss how it went. She said the stations were positive and the solidarity/prayer walk went well. After talking to others who were unable to attend, there was a large suggestion to have it on a Friday night rather than Saturday night. Next year we could improve the website, make it easier to navigate, get the word out, etc. We raised $7,140 that we know of at this time. Marylee said there is still money promised that has yet to arrive. More people participated this year than last (47 people participated), and we may have come close to doubling what we raised. Everyone expressed their thanks to Meryem for putting the project together and taking the lead. Marylee asked for Meryem to share some pictures at the next board meeting.

11)Marylee asked that we keep Tami and her husband in our prayers- he is going through surgery and treatment for cancer in his arm.

Next Meeting— November 11^th, 5:00pm

Meeting adjourned– 6:27pm

Respectfully Submitted,

Sarah Finnell