Affordable Housing and Community Equity Development Commission - Regular Meeting

the open the affordable housing and community equity development commission meeting tonight. Um we actually have just two members here tonight. So I'll do a quick roll call. Um Elijah Heric Blaine here

and I don't know do I have to go through the whole name the whole list? I don't know proper protocol because I've never been down that many. My name is Terry Bond. I'm acting chairperson um tonight for the commission. So, um, we cannot, uh, approve our November meeting minutes because we don't have a quorum. So, to take that off the agenda. So, really, we'll just be hearing from our block grant applications applicants tonight, capital block grants. Um, and Denise put this together. So, I'll let Denise take this part over.

Terry, I'm sorry. Before Denise, I'm I don't mean to interrupt, but could you please, just for the benefit of of the minutes after the fact, could you please quickly go through who's not present from the board? Sure. Sure. Um Nancy Lipkcom is not is not here tonight. Um uh Karen Britain is not here tonight. Rich Josephson isn't. And Patrick Sheridan is out of town, so he's not here tonight either.

I'm sorry, Terry. I I I I had to do something and I lost you guys in the meeting. Give me a Give me a second. I'm having a rough night tonight. Oh, any way we can help?

No, I just need to open up my screen so I can get see. I was fiddling around. Okay. So, we've we've um invited um we have we actually have five applicants. However, I believe we only have four here tonight. And so, we're going to just get started. These people have worked all day like us. We have four here tonight. And um we're going to start with a rund lodge. So if you can let Mr. Mr. Hazuka in um Josh, I would appreciate it. And he can tell us a little bit about he's from the Arund Lodge.

Hi Mr. Hzuka. How are you tonight? How are you? I'm well, thank you. Can you see me? Yes, we can see you. Thank you for coming out tonight. Thank you for having me. Yeah, we just want a little idea of what Arundle Lodge does and um you know the you know what your what you would like us to help you with with your agency.

Okay. Um well Arunda Lodge is a private 501c3. We've been in opera lodge itself has been around for more than 50 years now and we provide comprehensive outpatient and residential services to residents of of Anaundle County. So part of that, the the portion of which is of interest in terms of this grant is our residential program um which includes about 120 individuals who live in residences spread throughout Anaonda County. Those folks um are are in treatment in the in our program also at 2600 Solomon's Island Road. So the people that live in our residences also come to our date program. They see therapists outpat our outpatient clinic uh provide services to to these individuals as well. They have a day program there. Um, and we're a a missiondriven organization and recovery oriented organization. And the purpose is to help people on their journey to recovery, provide the supports that are needed. Um, and the the funds that we're asking for this year have to do with our what we call our Bay Ridge program, which is um, seven units that we own spread throughout Anonda County. It includes 28 people who reside there and it's to bring the the um work on the um critical improvements to each of these residences so that they remain safe, functional and sustainable. And this particular program is among some of the most vulnerable people that we provide services to. Um

these are individuals who are um dealing with a significant behavioral health challenge and oftentimes also um have substance use issues and also may be diverted from um the criminal justice system as well. So we what we do is our very best um to provide the keys that that they need for their own success, help them to move forward, help them to remain stable in the community in the least restrictive environment possible. So we have about a staff of about 150 um many of which are in our residential program and um they are the folks in our residential program spend the most time with with our clients.

So the the the program the homes that we're talking about I think I I don't know if I told how many people reside there. 28 people live in those homes.

Yeah. So it includes bathroom renovations of flooring, subflooring, tile, kitchen renovations, new countertops and cabinets, replacement of carpeted areas including stairways. And the reason why some of this happens is because especially with folks who reside in some of these homes, part of the treatment process is to help them take care of their own surroundings. Um, and if you combine, you know, some of the challenges that that these folks have, um, following up on certain things in the home may not be top on their priority. So, we end up, you know, the staff ends up assisting clients with with a lot of the activities that happen in the home. There's a lot of wear and tear in these homes and we want to do our best. I always say I want to make sure that I would refer a a relative or or a family member or a friend and feel comfortable with that with them living in one of our residences. So, that's really what we're trying to do.

Okay. Very good. Does anybody have any questions for um Got to get that last name right. AA Hey Kevin, this is Elisha Heric Blaine. Hi Elisha. Thanks for all the work that you all do um in the community. Obviously you all have been a staple of the community for a very long time.

Um so can you just tell me a little bit more? So have you all have you all as an organization received federal funds for these types of capital improvements in the past? I I've been here for two and a half almost three years and I'm not aware of any federal funds that we got in the past. No, certainly not since I've been here. So when you say federal funds, are you talking block grant are federal funds and I know that you have used block grants have other help. Yes, we got we got a grant from you guys last year, right?

And that and we we put that money towards our deaf homes. We also we have five different residential programs and one of them is our deaf program. So we put the money uh that we got last year I'm sorry I misunderstood your question. Um we put the money that we you that we got last year towards similar things in in improving the the deaf residences that we have. Great. And so just to build off of that then you are understanding and able and it's kind of built into the programmatic work that you all are doing the income verification needed for. Absolutely. These are all Yes.

Yeah. Great. Just wanted to get those two facts on the record to kind of establish that baseline for you all. And I also just want to get on the record um I know the staff checked this but the homes that you're working on are is are in the city of Annapolis, right? Yes. Okay. because you said you serve the whole county and it's like Yeah. Well, we serve the whole county, but these are in Annapolis. Yes. I thought so. I just wanted to put that on the record. Yeah. Thanks. We have Teresa's hand raised. I just want to mention to Elijah that they come under the presumed benefit category. Oh, and CDPG. Okay. Yep. Thanks.

Okay. If that's it, thank you so much for Miss Mr. Haza.

And and I just want I want to thank you all because without this, especially in this day and age, all the challenges that we have even to Medicaid, a lot of our people are on Medicaid. Um the challenges that we have in having to face cuts and and and um grant like federal grant cuts. Um, it's now more important than ever that we have the support of the communities. Now, I'm very grateful and speaking for the agency, I'm very grateful for you guys for your support in in helping us do really noble work. So, I appreciate that. We appreciate you. Thank you. We're glad we still have block grants to give. That's

Yes. That's a good thing. Yes. Okay. Thank you so much. Okay. Have a good night. You as well. Thank you for your time. Good night. Good night. Okay. Can you bring in um housing authority? I think that's aim. You say is on the call? Um Josh? Yes, ma'am. He's coming in now. And is Melissa on the call, too? She is. Yep. Bring them in, please. Thank you. Can you hear me? Yes. Yes, we can. Hi, Aim. How are you? Hi. How are you doing, Denise? We're doing fine, thank you. Thank you. I think Melissa's coming online, too.

She's right there. I see her. Hi, Melissa. Thank you so much for coming on. Hello. Good evening, everyone. Good evening. Hi. So, we just want you to give us a little oversight of the housing authority, which I think we all know,

and then just what it is you intend on doing with any funds granted to you. Sure. Thank you for inviting us to speak with you today and for uh providing us the opportunity to apply for uh CDBG funds with the city. Um at the housing authority, we provide um lowincome housing assistance to those who are income qualified uh through variety of programs. um in particular the public housing program in which uh we provide homes for um families throughout the city of Annapolis. We have submitted an application uh to request funding for uh the Eastport Terrace Harbor House community which houses uh 357 families uh to assist with capital improvements. We are in a comprehensive uh uh planning uh phase for the community to ultimately redevelop the community. Um we have apply applied for choice neighborhood grant funds with in partnership with the city and other uh community stakeholders and our development partners. But as as you all are well aware uh redevelopment can take many years. So, we anticipate great improvements to the site in the next um 5 to 8 years, but uh families need assistance now to ensure that the housing that they're living in currently stays habitable. Um and also it helps us ensure that we uh meet the licensing requirements and city code requirements uh related to city inspections and HUD inspections. Um we uh have uh requested funding specific uh to uh the needs of capital improvement and capital repairs

that we are needing to uh perform now. Um, so we uh have utilized funds from CDBG in the past and they've been a crucial part of our capital uh repair program and we uh greatly appreciate uh the ability to continue to apply for these funds and the assistance because they have ensured that we are able to continue to assist families uh despite delays that we experienced for from HUD with funding in uh in deficient funding. For example, as you are probably well aware, there was a federal government shutdown um of HUD last fall uh and in part which has delayed uh in us being able to get our capital funds from HUD for 2025. So hopefully next month, within the next month or two, we'll get our 2025 capital funds. Um but it has caused uh we have significant delays uh with regards to receiving much neededed funding from HUD. So the funding that the city does provide has uh uh provided that important gap funding and uh due to the uh uh challenges in timing in which we do receive funding from HUD in relation to the need to repair items now. So items we uh are engaged in repairing are systemic issues with regards to plumbing, electrical uh microbial growth abatement um systems uh repairs as well as um uh unit turn um uh uh costs uh which for our properties

um are exceedingly high due to the condition of the unit. The average cost for a unit turn now is about $20,000 for our uh community, which is exorbitant as you can imagine. And uh and uh results in us going through our funds very quickly um for the funds that we do receive. So again, we're grateful and we'll be happy to answer any questions you may have. Any questions?

No question. Just again just a statement of appreciation for all that you all have done um under tremendously challenging uh circumstances for uh the people in the community that need it the absolute most. So really appreciate all that you all continue to do and I'm very excited about the future, the planning that you're doing. Great plans. lovely, you know, looking forward to that. Great. Thank you. We'll help you in any way to make it happen. Great. All right. Thank you. Thank you all. Thank you guys for coming on. I appreciate you. Thank you all for taking the time. Thank you very much. Greatly appreciate it. Bye. Bye.

Okay, Josh. Um, I guess we can bring in Angie De Mo from Fellow Inc. I don't know if Josh heard me or not. Oh, there she comes. Hi, Mr. Morlin, welcome to our meeting. How are you today?

Good. Thank you so much for having me this evening. Um again, I'm Angie Demorland from Fellow. I've been at Fellow for 28 years. I am the director of executive operations. Um Fellow, formerly known as the Ark Central Chesapeake region, has used CDBG grant funds for our 76 um spa dry property. Um the funding I'm going we're going for right now is for our 931 Spa Road um uh office. Um a little bit about Fellow. For 65 years, Fellow has been creating inclusive communities where people with disabilities thrive. We provide personalized daily support and services that reflect each person's goals and strengths. Fellow works to strengthens communities um making people sure people are connected, included, and valued. not just accommodated. At the end of the day, everything fellow does is about belonging. What the funding we're going after or for is for our 931 spa road. It is our uh one of our corporate facilities in Annapolis. Um fellow is requesting the funding to replace aging and inefficient windows at our Annapolis office. Um, this location serves as the administrative hub for community-based disability services and a welcome space where people we support receive support and access to critical resources. We we serve about 270 people out of this location. Um Annapolis residents out of this location through workforce development, drop in supports, entitlements, meaning um SNAP benefits and um SSI, SSDI, behavioral support services, and mental health therapy. Um this office houses about 20 employees who provide these services throughout the community or in the office ensuring that the care for the

people with disabilities to live independently or with family members. Um these windows are about 30 years old cont um contributing to drafts um increased BGE um expenses as we're all used to um these last few months um temperature fluctuations and um allowing excess moisture and to infiltrate um leading to condensation and and mold buildup and um so we're hoping to improve safety and comfort and energy efficient while um creating a more stable and welcome environment um for employees, people and families who rely on that space.

Thank you. Thank you. You have a it's a beautiful building. You've done wonderful things with that building on Spa. Yes, it is. It's beautiful. The landscaping is we've done some interior um upgrades during COVID. We as everybody did, we shut you know shut down. Everybody went remote and we were able to do uh some upgrades um in the building at that time. Um we're just um noticing more and more needing to happen for um it's a very old building. I don't know if you guys know the history of the building. It used to be the old Sunny Acres uh school for for children with disabilities

way back when. Um there used to be like a tunnel in the basement that went to the fields below. Um that kind of went underground to the fields and there used to be uh uh showers and stuff like that in the basement of the building. Um so um I'm not can't remember the year or whatever the time frame that um the ark at the time or uh the association for um citizens gained the building and then we you know and then over the years it just changed names through we changed names throughout. So is the is the property still owned by the board of education? Yes it is. Oh okay. Okay.

Yes. Um, a fellow has in a long-term lease with them, uh, 20-year lease. Uh, we're probably year f or five in our into our 20-y year lease um with them. Uh, we actually pay a dollar a year for for that. That's a good rental. It is a it's a good one. And, you know, with with our work, we we you know, we have our length income location and we have our sever location. And it just really helps to be able to be in the county or in the city area where we can support those people directly there. Um, as as you know, transportation can be a major issue for for people with disabilities and this way we can meet them where they're at. It's a great use of the building. It is.

So, Elijah, you got any you have any questions? I don't. Thank you. Thanks for all the great work that you all do. Oh, no problem. No, it's been an absolute blessing to be part part of this organization again for 28 years. I have totally drank the Kool-Aid and love everything that we're doing. Well, congratulations. All righty. Thank you guys so much and you have a great evening. Thank you. Sorry for the wait. I hope. Oh, no worries. All right. Thank you. Thank you. Yeah. Okay. Last last one. Miss Angela Taylor, trainer.

Hi, Miss Traina. Welcome. How are you today?

I'm well. How are you? Thank you, Denise, for having me. Thank you to the whole committee for having me. Um, Miss Wellman, it has been many years since we've seen each other. How are you? Good. It's good to see you. My name is Angel Trainer. I am the executive director of Serenity Sisters. And what we do in the city of Annapapolis is we run recovery homes for individuals who have been impacted from substance misuse issues. Um I'm an Annapapolis girl. I don't like to commute, so I like all of my properties right here in the city, right where I can get get to them quickly. Uh we have been we're a 501c3 nonprofit. Uh we have been operating for the last 13 years in the city. Uh currently we run six homes here. We have two single female homes, a mothers and children's home, one single male home and um thank you to the state um for entrusting us with grant funds. We Annapolis gets to boast the only two men with children in recovery recovery homes in the state of Maryland. Um, which is is a really big deal for for dads. Um, I'm I I'm a person in long-term recovery and I recover out loud and sometimes I stomp my way through um to get my point across and and I've been talking to the state for five years about what do what are we doing to help the dads and I'm happy to run mothers and children's homes, but um running the fathers and children's home has just been that has been one of our our big accomplishments as of recently. Um, this CBD grant is um Oh, I got that wrong. It's not CBD. I It's part of It's part of my mindset for what I do for a living. I apologize. Um,

for these grant funds, we are requesting um money to renovate our single men and ch uh men's home, only our men's home. Uh we've been operating that home for six years. We're in a long-term lease, so we have a 20-year lease um for the property, and we just need to do some upgrades. We need to renovate the kitchen. We need to renovate two of the three and a half bathrooms. Uh we need new flooring, new entry. Um and then our back deck needs some work done to it. Um, you know, I was listening to, um, I've worked closely with some people over to Rundle Lodge and and I was like, he he really nailed it. Um, because the homes, even though, you know, I I have a staff of four and we are very invested and we are on our properties all of the time. And even at that, I mean, they recovery homes and and these kind of homes just take a take a beating. Um, but you know, I too would want to refer a family member to one of my homes, a friend. I would like to refer a friend. I I would want to live in a house myself um that that I'm housing a very vulnerable population in. Um I know you you had asked a question um Mr. Blaine, you asked a question about other funds, capital capital funds, and we actually have received capital funds um funds to purchase a house for our second men and children's house. Also, um, Serendi Sisters owns a property in parole, um, out in Ward 3, and we are opening a recovery community center, very much like what Fellow does, um, but we focus on individuals in recovery because they just lack so many resources

when they when they first come into recovery. Um, you know, I I I guess the one thing that that I would like to add is that for for the city to invest in this is is for the city to invest in people's lives. And and that's what we do here every single day is we invest in people's lives. Um, I've in my 18 years of recovery, I've lost way too many people to this dreaded disease. So, we work very hard at Serendy Sisters to um put a dent in it. I don't kid myself that we'll ever stop it, but I sure would like to put a big dent in it. So, that's that's what the funds are for. It's to to help to renovate um parts of this house.

And we want to help you create that dent. Thank you. Thank you. Any questions? Anybody? No. No. Thanks for all you all do. Yeah. Really? Thank you for allowing us to do it in the city. Some places aren't aren't very kind about it, but the city has been very good to us. So, thank you. That's great. All righty. Thank you for coming. Is your name Angela or Angel? Cuz the application says Angela and your Yes, correct. So, my government name, if you will, is Angela.

Okay. I'm sorry. But but I have been I have been called angel since the day I was born thanks to my grandmother. So Okay, Angel, thank you for joining us. Good to see you. Thank you so much. It was good to see you, Teresa. Thank you. Good night. Well, do we That's the end of our applicants. Do we have any other business to discuss tonight? Anybody? No. Okay, Elijah, good to see you. Good to see you all. So, what I mean, how much money do you have? Are we still streaming live? Do we still have

So, I mean, we've got Are these four four? I think I sent I I I sent you. You did. It was like right before, wasn't it? Yeah, I know. I know. Cuz I Sorry, I saw it come in right as I was looking for. Do we still have Is do we still have the the other people on this meeting? Because I had a question. They're they're out now. Okay. I didn't think everybody was on that list you gave to us. Were they Were all those applicants on one that was missing? We only had Homes for America. No, that's not what America didn't apply because

that was a 25. They did, but they did put in a That was a 20. So, I was just worried that of those people that spoke, some weren't going to be funded. Am I misunderstanding because the list you sent us, Denise, I don't think had I don't remember um Arc being on it or Serenity Sisters being on it. They were on it. Okay. Arc goes by fellow, right? And

I you know, and I don't actually don't I don't have that in front of me either because I just cut today. So, I wrote down what I thought was on it and they weren't on it. But again, you know, I'm glad. I just I didn't want to say anything cuz I cuz I know that there was there there were those that requested and then what what was approved and I didn't know if something wasn't I sent you the wrong list. You're right. I was going to say it's the 26 list. We need the 27 list. But that's all right. Y'all forgive me. If you knew what it take to put this meeting together, you will definitely forgive me this time. No more mistakes in the future. I was in such a hurry to do it that I pulled up the wrong one. I apologize. I'll send you an email. Well, now that this makes a lot more sense. I'm feeling better.

Yeah. The only Yeah, just the housing authority. So, the other applicant was um that was did not present tonight is Rebuilding Together Anaonda County, Inc. Yeah. The the person that was supposed to present had to leave town. They Is that Laura? No, she asked me to have Mr. James do it. Okay. And um he wasn't available. Okay. So, and just in the interest of self of disclosure, I used to be on the board and was the the board chair of that. Just to say it out loud again. Well, you don't have to worry. They didn't come tonight, so it's okay.

No, they're doing much better, though. For what it's worth, my understanding is that they've, you know, my departure and the departure of the long-term executive director were were associated. I I think it all happened at one time and they kind of got into a little where they couldn't even move forward and now they've turned the corner. Yeah. Now they've turned that corner. Yes. Yeah. How how are they doing with their money? drawing down their money almost to the end and they draw it from us well for what it's worth.

Yeah. Well, you know, when you look at some of these programs and the good they do to help people, we're grateful to have them. So, thank you for helping them as well, Elijah. Yeah, we're right in the thick of it. I got to get when I get off of this, I've got to go finish the action plan work. Oh, boy. All right. Well, thank you all. Well, I I will I think it's time to adjurnn. You want to call for adjournment, Elijah? So moved.