Category: Board Minutes

Cowlitz Community Network Board Meeting 

Tuesday, February 21^st , 2023 | 12:00PM – 1:00PM 

MINUTES 

Present:  Michael O’Neill-Chair, Louise Brown, Kay Gunter, Jeane Conrad 

Absent: Corie Dow-Kramer, Laurie Severson 

Guests Present: Ann Little (Cowlitz Tribe) 

Staff Present: Rochelle Fassold 

Introductions and Icebreaker:  Are you more productive in the mornings or in the afternoon/evening hours? 

Additions to Agenda–    

Consent Agenda 

Consent Agenda documents were sent to members for review prior to the meeting. 

• 01-2023 CCN Minutes (draft) 
• 02-2023 Treasurer’s Report 
• 02-2023 Red Canoe statement  
• 2021 Audit Assessment 

Motion: Kay motioned to approve the Consent Agenda as presented, Louise seconded, and the motion carried. 

Old Business  

• Update on Luggage of Love-Non-profit transition 

• Corie was not present to give an update  

• Firstenburg grant application revised submission due by February 28^th–  

• Rochelle to resend application to board for review with new proposed program budget  
• Jeane suggested looking into Grant writing classes offered by the City of Kelso to get assistance on future grants 

New Business 

• Guest Ann Little-CCDP (see attached flyer) 

• Well-funded federal program that spends approximately $170,000 per month to child care centers, churches, and FFN care providers 
• There are no income requirements to qualify for and parents don’t have to be working or in school 
• The program also helps train FFN caregivers with CPR training, background checks, health and safety and emergency preparedness training 
• The board discussed the possibility of partnering with the Cowlitz Tribe to offer Conscious Discipline book clubs or trainings to families of care providers.  Michael also invited Ann to consider joining the Network board. 

• Ann suggested getting in touch with Kristina Langley, Sara Hegnes, and Carmen McLain and make sure that the Network can present data showing the effectiveness of CD trainings for prospective partners 

• Follow up discussion on RFP meeting held on Feb. 13^th-  

• Plans of starting book club at Wallace Center- meeting with Y&F and Head start was cancelled, and Rochelle is waiting for the meeting to be rescheduled 
• Michael highlighted the key points or the RFP work session to the present board members  

• 2021 Audit Assessment completed (attached) 

• Cost $400 due in March- This is a requirement due to the Network’s governmental status and hopefully the audit process will be easier when we become a non-profit status 

• Rochelle to clarify the requirement with Sharon 

• 2022 Audit due May 30, 2023 

• Notice- Gabby has resigned from the board and her position at the Woodland School District to spend more time with her family 

• Reminder to the board members to think of people to invite to join the Network board 

Community Events 

• Participation in Celebration of Children- 

Week of the Young Child Resource Fair Friday, March 31^st 1-7pm 

• Stuff activity grab n go bags March 22^nd-March 23^rd 12:30pm-4pm @ WSU Ext building 

• Louise volunteered to help Wed and Kay on Thurs  

• Interest to help set up (10am-1pm), read stories, and/or volunteer at the resource table 

• Louise volunteered to help from 12pm-3pm and read a story 
• Kay volunteered to attend all day if needed and read-   
• Michael volunteered to attend for the later shift 4-7pm and read around 430pm 

• Discuss purchasing needed items (tablecloth banner, copies, child activities ideas) 

• Rochelle to get cost estimates to present at next meeting 

Present:  Michael O’Neill-Chair, Louise Brown, Kay Gunter, Laurie Severson, Jeane Conrad 

Absent: Gabby Meador, Corie Dow-Kramer  

Guests Present:  

Staff Present: Rochelle Fassold 

Consent Agenda 

Consent Agenda documents were sent to members for review prior to the meeting. 

• 12-2022 CCN Minutes (draft) 
• 01-2023 Treasurer’s Report 
• 01-2023 Red Canoe statement  
• 2023 Operating Budget 

Motion: Kay motioned to approve the Consent Agenda as presented, Louise seconded, and the motion carried. 

Old Business  

• Approve 2023 Operating Budget–  

• The board reviewed and voted.  Laurie motioned to approve the operating budget as presented and Kay seconded, and the motion carried.  
• Update on Luggage of Love-Non-profit transition:  
• Joint board meeting to be held in March.  Rochelle to follow-up with updates from Corie. 
• Discuss outcomes from the Board Strategy Work session held on January 20th 

The Network’s goals: 

• Organize a work group to start creating a one-page service proposal sheet to partner with different agencies around the community to obtain contracts to host Conscious Discipline book clubs and/or trainings on topics such as ACEs, NEAR, SEL, and financial literacy 
• Organize and facilitate FFN playgroups and support FFN caregivers as needed.  
• Help coordinate the early learning conference in the Spring and Fall 
• Partner with Head Start-LCC, The Children’s Discovery Museum, and the Cowlitz Tribe 
• Connect with translators/interpreters to provide materials to diverse populations 

• Acknowledge the stress that parents and families have gone through in the past 3 years and find ways to increase positive family engagement  
• Utilize technology as a positive resource and coordinate with other programs being offered such as Strengthening Families  

• Firstenburg Grant Cycle open January 16th-February 28^th 
• Rochelle revising application and will send to board for review before resubmitting 

• Laurie suggested highlighting the connection of how childcare affects the economy. She recommended using the Raising of America documentary as a reference 

New Business 

• Discuss Participation for Celebration of Children-WOYC on March 31^st 1-7pm 

• The board decided to have a booth at the resource fair and will provide parent information and a child activity 
• Also donating a giveaway prize for the families that participate during the week on Facebook 

• Rochelle to fill out and submit registration form 

• Propose new meeting time 

• Rochelle to send a doodle poll to the board to propose a new meeting time that works best for everyone 

Community Events 

• Empowering Parents hosted by the KSD on Tues 5-7pm– Jeane shared information and flyer for this event. Rochelle to send flyer to board and post on Facebook 

Next Meeting  

The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, February 21^st , 2023, 12pm-1pm 

Cowlitz Community Network Board Meeting

Tuesday, December 20th, 2022 | 12:00PM – 1:00PM

MINUTES

Present: Michael O’Neill-Chair, Louise Brown, Kay Gunter

Absent: Gabby Meador, Laurie Severson, Jeane Conrad, Corie Dow-Kramer

Guests Present:

Staff Present: Rochelle Fassold

Introductions and Icebreaker: What are your holiday plans?

Consent Agenda

Consent Agenda documents were sent to members for review prior to the meeting.

11-2022 CCN Minutes (draft)

12-2022 Treasurer’s Report

12-2022 Red Canoe statement

Motion: Kay motioned to approve the Consent Agenda as presented, Louise seconded, and the motion carried.

Next Meeting

The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, January 24th, 2023, 12pm-1pm

Cowlitz Community Network Board Meeting 

Tuesday, November 15th, 2022 | 12:00PM – 1:00PM 

MINUTES 

Present:  Louise Brown, Kay Gunter, Gabby Meador, Laurie Severson, Jeane Conrad 

Absent: Michael O’Neill-Chair, Corie Dow-Kramer  

Guests Present:  

Staff Present: Rochelle Fassold 

Consent Agenda 

Consent Agenda documents were sent to members for review prior to the meeting. 

• 10-2022 CCN Minutes (draft) 
• 11-2022 Treasurer’s Report 
• 11-2022 Red Canoe statement  

Motion: Jeane motioned to approve the Consent Agenda as presented, Laurie seconded, and the motion carried. 

Old Business  

• update on CFSWW grant- Rochelle to email Maka or Esra by next week to check in on status 

New Business 

• Firstenburg Foundation grant application meeting update: Louise and Rochelle explained to the board that we were not selected for this round of funding but felt optimistic that we could get selected for the next cycle of funding after the first of the year once the executive director, Jennifer resubmits our application to the board.  

• Luggage of Love-Non-profit transition: The joint board meeting will be scheduled after getting an update from Corie  

• Discussion on revisiting mission statement:  The board agreed the current mission statement is too broad and should be revisited.  Consider assessing the gaps in the services based on community needs and the interests and abilities of the board to come up with a more focused mission.  This will be added to December’s agenda for more discussion. 

• Advocacy Campaign:  The network is currently working on ways to get people’s different perspectives and stories on how the childcare crisis is affecting them.  There is an advocacy tool on the website and information is being shared via the monthly newsletter and Facebook.  

• Laurie brought up keys points about supports that help bridge the gap to Kindergarten (T-K), which offer free preschool, however, this also causes financial hardships for childcare center/providers.  As we navigate this crisis, we need to collaborate and come up with solutions that work for everyone. 
• Jeane discussed how far behind children are social/emotionally as well as academically due to the COVID pandemic and how isolated families were.  Many parents are at a loss how to help their children succeed and we need to find ways to engage these families. 
• **Encouraging parents to read to and with their children is vitally important 

Community Events 

• Giving Tuesday– November 29th 3-6pm at Youth and Family (we are listed in the catalog and will need to pick up our donations by 5:30pm)      

• Louise volunteered to be present to pick up donations 

• WOYC-Celebration of Children– Saturday, April 1^st at Youth and Family, set up on March 31st – interest in participating and/or providing raffle prize or goodie bags?  

• The board is interested in being involved and setting up a table with an activity and information at the event.  Rochelle will get more information at the Dec 8^th meeting 

• Activity ideas focusing on social emotional development:  getting donated books from the Rotary Club or Dolly Parton’s imagination library, Inside Out movie, Discovery Toys, Conscious Discipline, Create raffle baskets for different age groups 

• United Way’s Kindergarten Readiness Goal community survey: 

Asking for participation to fill out the online survey to provide feedback on the challenges and strengths of our community, and to help identify how we can support families and children.  Here is the link:  https://www.cowlitzunitedway.org/kindergarten-readiness?fbclid=IwAR3hCwMpa5gA-ky-jvsefiZl1dKZ9RkCNEYE2aBzQi2yFIc28R3vpc4vULo 

• Early Learning Coalition meeting-Friday, November 18^th 

• They are working, along with LCC Head start, on doing a community assessment to bring information from our region to the state level 

Next Meeting  

The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, December 20th, 2022, 12pm-1pm 

Cowlitz Community Network Board Meeting

Tuesday, October 18th, 2022 | 11:30AM – 12:00PM

MINUTES

Present: Michael O’Neill-Chair, Louise Brown, Kay Gunter, Gabby Meador

Absent: Corie Dow-Kramer, Laurie Severson, Jeane Conrad

Guests Present:

Staff Present: Rochelle Fassold

Introductions and Icebreaker:

Additions to Agenda-

Consent Agenda

Consent Agenda documents were sent to members for review prior to the meeting.

09-2022 CCN Minutes (draft)

09-2022 Treasurer’s Report

09-2022 Red Canoe statement

Motion: Louise motioned to approve the Consent Agenda as presented, Gabby seconded, and the motion carried.

New Business

Firstenburg Foundation grant application status: No news yet, Rochelle will reach out by the first week of November if we don’t hear back. Michael noted that regarding the CFSWW grant, Maka is on an extended PTO and it could possibly affect when we hear back about that grant

Luggage of Love-Non-profit transition: More details of being gifted the 5013C status were explained to the board members. Rochelle to check in with Corie regarding the timeline and steps for holding the joint board meeting and completing the transition

Finance Committee meeting held October 4th- Discussion held on proposed 2023 operating budget spreadsheet

Advocacy Campaign Charter meeting-from 12-1pm today via Zoom (agenda attached)

Next Meeting

The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, November 15th, 2022, 12pm-1pm

Present: Michael O’Neill-Chair, Louise Brown, Kay Gunter, Gabby Meador, Corie Dow-Kramer 

Absent: Laurie Severson, Jeane Conrad 

Guests Present:  

Staff Present: Rochelle Fassold 

Introductions and Icebreaker 

Additions to Agenda 

Consent Agenda documents were sent to members for review prior to the meeting. 

• 07-2022 CCN Minutes (draft) 
• 08-2022 Treasurer’s Report 
• 08-2022 Red Canoe statement  

Motion: Louise motioned to approve the Consent Agenda as presented, Gabby seconded, and the motion carried. 

Old Business 

• More Power paid, Josh Carter, board president of the Children’s Discovery Museum agreed to provide as needed tech support for the Network for minimal costs (up to $25/hr)  

New Business 

• Additional funding from the Childcare partnership grant was not approved 
• Advocacy Campaign Ideas to address child care crisis- 

• Follow up meeting scheduled for September 14^th from 6:30pm-8pm  
• Ideas to prepare talking points for people to write letters into the Daily News and go to local legislative meetings to share their stories of how the child care crisis affects them 

• CFSWW focus grant FFN project outline and progress 

• Discussion on the feedback from Maka and thoughts on creating an advisory committee, taking steps to ensure we reach every part of the community 
• Corie suggested connecting with Sally at the Ethnic Support Council 

Community Events 

Squirrel Fest, August 20^th–  

Woodland back to School Bash- August 20^th, 3-6pm, backpacks and food provided 

Y&F back to school resource fair, August 24^th– 10am-2pm, approx. 600 backpacks provided by Red Canoe.  Also 200 backpacks will be available at the Wallace Elementary event 

Kalama Back to School event, August 25th, table reserved 3-6pm-Kay and Louise volunteered to attend and help out 

Next Meeting  

The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, September 20th, 2022, 12-1pm 

MINUTES 

Present: Michael O’Neill-Chair, Louise Brown, Laurie Severson, Kay Gunter, Jeane Conrad 

Absent: Gabby Meador, Corie Dow-Kramer  

Guests Present:  

Staff Present: Rochelle Fassold 

Introductions and Icebreaker 

Consent Agenda 

Motion: Louise motioned to approve the Consent Agenda as presented, Laurie seconded, and the motion carried. 

Behavioral Health | Cowlitz County Health & Human Services | Award $7,800 

7/1/2021 – 6/30/2022:  To provide technical assistance for child care providers that serve children with behavioral needs in Cowlitz County. 

• Expected Outcomes: 80% of child care centers will have staff participating in at least one training; at least 100 child care provider staff will attend at least one training; at least 6 trainings will be conducted for providers; at least 4 trainings will be conducted for families, share information at least two times per month; at least 100 new subscribers on the distribution list.  

• Program Activities: The Network has scheduled virtual learning Conscious Discipline sessions for childcare providers and families on the fourth Thursday of the month, January – June 2022, from 6-7:30pm.  
• Program Updates: There were 2 attendees at the May session and the feedback for the session was excellent.  The last class on June 23^rd was held 6:30pm-8:00pm and had 2 attendees.     
• Discussion about future class engagement: Ideas to increase attendance: survey people’s needs before setting time and location of class, have picture of class book on flyer for participants to make connections, advertise with fun class title, hold classes between September-December if offering STARS credits. Connect with the Early Learning Coalition and ESD112 to see how they contact and engage participants.  

Old Business 

• Community Charter meeting follow up: 7 members attended 

• Follow up meeting scheduled for September 14^th from 6:30pm-8pm to promote a legislative advocacy campaign and action steps that members can take to raise awareness of child care needs in our community. 

• More Power tech issues-   

• Rochelle to contact Pepper Carter at Children’s Discovery Museum and Kathie at Parent’s Place for tech support references.  Rochelle to pay the outstanding bill with More Power.   

New Business 

• Call for Vice Chair position-   

• Michael called for nominations and nominated Louise, Jeane 2^nd the nomination.  The board unanimously voted Louise for vice chair 

• Following and liking Facebook pages and posts- Rochelle asked for the board to follow the CCN page and like and share posts 

• Additional funding from Childcare partnership grant- Rochelle informed the board that we should hear news this week  
• CFSWW focus grant application open- meeting with Maka on August 10^th @330pm 
• Attending summer outreach events- 

• Squirrel Fest, August 20^th– To avoid $75 registration fee Rochelle will reach out to Y&F to ask about sharing a table with them  
• Y&F back to school resource fair, August 24^th– Louise, Kay and Michael volunteered to help at the event to get more people signed up for the Network newsletter and get interest in the FFN program 

• Kalama Back to School event, August 25, table reserved 3-6pm-Kay and Louise volunteered to attend and help out 

Next Meeting  

The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, August 16^th, 2022, 12-1pm