Cowlitz Community Network Board Meeting 

Tuesday, January 24th, 2023 | 12:00PM – 1:00PM 

MINUTES 

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 

Introductions and Icebreaker:  Happy New Year! What are you most excited about for this year? 

Additions to Agenda–   Propose new meeting time 

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 28th 
  • 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 31st 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 21st , 2023, 12pm-1pm 

Board Minutes 12/20/2022

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?

Additions to Agenda-

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.

Old Business

2023 Operating Budget discussion-

Since the Network has not received grant funding yet Rochelle will revise the budget based on the Network expenses only. Then the board can vote to adopt the budget in January. Once more funding is secured the budget can be revised again to show accurate revenues and expenditures.

After the Network transitions to being a non-profit, the Network can raise funds through donation campaigns for projects and programming.

Luggage of Love-Non-profit transition: Joint board meeting to be held in February or March

Discussion on revisiting mission statement: Work session scheduled for January 9th, 9:30am-10:30am at Michael’s house to discuss the board strategy going forward. Rochelle to send invitations to the board. Discuss the option to support other agencies by contracting with them to facilitate solutions to challenges they may be facing.

CFSWW focus grant application update and feedback from Esra (see attached)

Giving Tuesday- Held November 29th 3-6pm at Youth and Family-Louise attended and shared that the Network was gifted 2 gas cards and 2 reams of copy paper.

New Business

Feedback on ELC collaboration to create early learning/family online resource guide- Rochelle will continue providing some assistance to Sabrina from United Way and see if this is a contracted project the Network may want to take on. Michael shared a resource guide called healthbridge.com that could be helpful and provided a contact person from Cascade Pacific Action Alliance (CPAA)

Community Events

Next Meeting

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

Board Minutes 11/15/2022

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 

Introductions and Icebreaker:  What plans are you looking forward to on Thanksgiving? 

Additions to Agenda–    

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 1st 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 8th 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 18th 
  • 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 

October 2022 Board Minutes

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.

Old Business

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)

Community Events

Next Meeting

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

Board Minutes 8/16/2022

Cowlitz Community Network Board Meeting 

Tuesday, August 16th, 2022 | 12:00PM – 1:00PM 

MINUTES 

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 

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. 

Rochelle to get further explanation on treasurer report items 

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 14th 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 20th–  

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

Y&F back to school resource fair, August 24th– 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 

Board Minutes 7/26/2022

Cowlitz Community Network Board Meeting 

Tuesday, July 26th, 2022 | 12:00PM – 1:00PM 

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 

Additions to Agenda 

Consent Agenda 

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

  • 06-2022 CCN Minutes (draft) 
  • 07-2022 Treasurer’s Report 
  • 07-2022 Red Canoe statement  

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

Grant Status Reports 

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 23rd 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 14th 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 2nd 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 10th @330pm 
  • Attending summer outreach events- 
  • Squirrel Fest, August 20thTo 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 24th 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 

Community Events 

Next Meeting  

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

Board Minutes 6/21/2022

Cowlitz Community Network Board Meeting

Tuesday, June 21, 2022 | 12:00PM – 1:00PM

MINUTES

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

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

Guests Present:

Staff Present: Rochelle Fassold

Introductions and Icebreaker

Michael welcomed attendees and thanked everyone for their participation. Everyone participated in the icebreaker question.

Additions to Agenda

-More Power tech issues

Consent Agenda

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

05-2022 CCN Minutes (draft)

06-2022 Treasurer’s Report

06-2022 Red Canoe statement

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

Grant Status Reports

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 April session and the feedback for the session was excellent. 1 participant received a $50 Conscious Discipline gift card and the other participant received a CD book for attending. It was determined that 6:30pm would be a better time for people to attend so the last class on June 23rd is rescheduled to 6:30pm-8:00pm. Rochelle gave an update on success of FaceBook outreach and confirmed that the last program report due on July 29th would get completed and submitted.

Old Business

Michael informed the board that the Red Canoe account has been updated

New Business

Board Member Application- Kay Gunter reintroduction

The board voted for Kay to rejoin the board: Laurie approved this motion, and Michael seconded, and the motion carried

Newsletter delivery platform: Sender (124 opened and 14 clicks) vs Mailchimp (257 opened and 149 clicks), of 530 recipients

Rochelle informed the board of the delivery issues of the newsletter and emails being bounced when sent with Sender. The board agreed that Mailchimp seems to be the better choice for sending our newsletter.

More Power tech issues-

Michael explained our struggles using More Power for our tech support and how they charged the Network $175/hr to set up the new laptop. This past week Rochelle’s email was having issues but Michael was able to get More Power to resolve the email issue at no additional cost after reaching out to them several times. The board discussed options for getting a more affordable and reliable tech support person going forward. There were recommendations to ask Youth and Family who they use, possibly bringing on a tech savvy board member, reaching out to school districts, churches. Rochelle agreed to follow up with Y&F and get leads for other options.

Community Charter meeting is scheduled for Thursday, June 30th, 2022, 9:30am, at the County Administration Building, 3rd floor conference room

Michael shared the agenda for the meeting. Rochelle will send out calendar invite this afternoon. We’ll need to gather an estimate from Charter members and contacts on the number of children cared for by FFN and the challenges families need support on for the new grant application. Discussion on continued efforts to reach families in the Hispanic community-Woodland School District, Y&F, St Rose Church and other possibly other churches.

Community Events

Stella Museum- Sat, July 9th Free Kids Day 11am-4pm, July 23rd Craft Day, August 20th Butterfly Boat 11am-4pm

Next Meeting

The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, July 19th when Rochelle will be on vacation.

Rochelle will contact all board members to possibly push out and reschedule the next meeting to July 26th from 12pm-1pm and update the board.

Board Minutes 5/17/2022

Cowlitz Community Network Board Meeting

Tuesday, May 17th, 2022 | 12:00PM – 1:00PM

MINUTES

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

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

Guests Present:

Staff Present: Rochelle Fassold

Introductions and Icebreaker

Michael welcomed attendees and thanked everyone for their participation. Everyone participated in the icebreaker question.

Additions to Agenda

Consent Agenda

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

04-2022 CCN Minutes (draft)

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

Grant Status Reports

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 3 attendees at the April session and the feedback for the session was excellent. 2 participants received $50 Conscious Discipline gift cards and the 3rd participant received a CD book for attending.

Old Business

90 day check in- training review scheduled for May 24th @ 9am with Michael, Corie, and Louise at Y&F. Sharon will be joining the group at 10am to discuss new grant project ideas

New Business

Michael explained and motioned to approve updating Red Canoe payroll account: Amber Rosewood has resigned and needs to be removed from the online account and Michael O’Neil, board chair, added as the governing bank account holder. Kay Gunter has resigned from the board and needs to be removed from the account and Rochelle Fassold, the program coordinator, added as the primary online account user. Louise motioned to approve, 2nd by Jeane and the motion carried.

Signed __________________________________

Michael O’Neill, board chair

To do: Rochelle to call Red Canoe and make arrangements to get account updated

Next Audit due 5/30/2022 (Rochelle and Amber are scheduled to complete on Wed, May 18th)

A meeting with the Community Charter to discuss new project grant ideas will be scheduled for June 30th, details of getting the meeting set up will be further discussed on Tues, 5/24. Michael will bring a tentative agenda for discussion topics, like revisiting what we’ve learned and the data from the childcare survey, and a plan to address current issues. Discuss setting up community forum in the Fall to raise awareness and partnerships and how we can all work together with representatives in our government to fix the issues.

NEW GRANT idea was discussed, and the board is in favor of supporting FFN

Community Foundation of SW Washington – Focus Grant Cycle 2 applications open July 15th, closes August 31st

Project idea: Help children succeed in school by helping those providing Family, Friend, and Neighbor care by providing resources for caregivers and learning activities for children

Ideas for how to identify these families were discussed: reaching out to Youth and Family Link resource coordinators and Rochelle attending parent groups, connecting with FCRC at the school districts, Cowlitz Tribe, Library story times, PeaceHealth social work programs

Community Events

Woodland School District- 2nd annual Hispanic resource fair. The event will be in-person, outside on May 24th from 3-6pm

Children’s Discovery Museum, Wed, May 18th, 11am-4pm, Soft re-opening

Next Meeting

The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, June 21st, 2022, from 12-1pm.

Board Minutes 4/19/2022

Cowlitz Community Network Board Meeting

Tuesday, April 19, 2022 | 11:30 – 1:00PM

MINUTES

Present: Michael O’Neill-Chair, Louise Brown, Laurie Severson, Gabby Meador, Corie Dow-Kramer; Jeane Conrad Guests Present: Chelsea Pugh, Gayle Reid Staff Present: Rochelle Fassold

Introductions and Icebreaker

Michael welcomed attendees and thanked everyone for their participation. Everyone participated in the icebreaker question.

Additions to Agenda

Consent Agenda

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

03-2022 CCN Minutes (draft)

04-2022 Treasurer’s Report

04-2022 Red Canoe statement

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

Grant Status Reports

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: Michael and Rochelle informed the group that no one showed up for the March session. Rochelle let board members know that participants were followed up with and received confirmation from 5 people about attending the next 3 classes. In addition, the BH class flyer was reposted on Facebook, and distributed to other early learning centers including Nook’s and Granny’s in Kalama and EOCF Woodland. Rochelle will email flyer to Gayle Reid.

Old Business

Staff Transition

New Program Coordinator Training Schedule update- 90 day check in- training review scheduled for May 24th @ 9am with Michael, Corie, Jeane, and Louise at Y&F

Storage

Rochelle removed all items from annex building storage except 6 boxes of locked personnel files -discussed

WOYC event report: Corie provided an update

Approx 300 bags were distributed at the event with CCN flyers in them

250 reusable CCN logo bags are at Y&F to be used for next year’s event

New Business

Next Audit due 5/30/2022 (Rochelle and Amber are scheduled to work on it May 9th)

New grant ideas and goals

According to survey data the top needs of childcare providers are affordability and availability (including extended before and after school hours and weekends) and staffing shortages

Ideas for using the survey data already collected to offer solutions- Subsidizing childcare for employees, outreach to connect with parents and childcare providers, community awareness

Help searching and applying for new grants: Rochelle has been emailing Sharon Weinhold about getting help to secure and write our next grant. Sharon is happy to help if it is in person in town. When they meet, they will discuss applying for a grant from the Community Foundation of SW Washington.

Ideas discussed: The board agreed upon the need to regroup and talk about possible next steps and project direction. To help facilitate this Michael encouraged getting another community charter meeting set up. Focusing on partnering with larger organizations to provide needed resources and/or training to early learning centers, teachers, schools, families, home providers, and family caregivers. Assessing what centers need to be successful, retain and support teachers and paying special attention to the long-term impact of the COVID pandemic. Plans will be discussed in more detail about reaching out to the early learning providers, setting up focus and parent groups, and raising more attention to the government about making a positive impact.

Ideas for virtual training incentives, $500 to spend:

Gift cards for coffee or Conscious Discipline store

Children’s CD books to give out to parents as incentives for providing information

Have a drawing for each CD session to win a CD book

Purchasing CD flip calendars or skills on a string tip cards for teachers

Michael and Rochelle will plan a follow-up discussion about purchasing incentives to use for the remainder of the BH grant. Consensus was to spend $100 per class on a CD website gift card(s) as a drawing give away. Leaving $200 to spend on purchasing books (Shubert and Sophie) to give out to centers or families.

Recruitment

Partnering with EOCF Woodland-Rochelle is visiting with the site director Amie on April 20th

Community Events

None

Next Meeting

The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, May 17th, 2022, from 12-1pm

Board Minutes 3/15/2022

Cowlitz Community Network Board Meeting

Tuesday, March 15, 2022 | 11:30 – 1:00PM

MINUTES

Present: Michael O’Neill-Chair, Louise Brown, Laurie Severson, Gabby Meador, Corie Dow-Kramer; Guests Present: Chelsea Pugh, Gayle Reid Staff Present: Rochelle Fassold

Introductions and Icebreaker

Michael welcomed attendees and thanked everyone for their participation.

Additions to Agenda

Consent Agenda

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

01-2022 CCN Minutes

02-2022 CCN Minutes

03-2022 Funds Status Report

03-2022 Expense Report

February Transactions

ADP Payroll Fees $ 50.66

Dell Laptop $ 733.99

Hiscox Insurance $ 51.66

Cowlitz County Administration Print Shop & Voicemail Services $ 118.19

February Account Balances

Red Canoe Savings $ 10.16

Red Canoe Checking $ 3,484.58

Cowlitz County Treasurer $ 45,804.41

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

Grant Status Reports

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 sessions for child care providers and families on the fourth Thursday of the month, January – June 2022, from 6-7:30pm.

Program Updates: Michael let the group know that three attendees participated in the BH continuing education and that there was a new presenter from Head Start.

Old Business

Rochelle will work with the CWCOG to get the remaining things from storage and she has the remote office items.

New Business

The 2020 audit has been completed by the Washington State Auditor’s Office and the cost is approximately $500.00. The next audit report will be due on May 30, 2022.

The Network has been invited to participate in the Week of the Young Child. The registration form has been submitted and Rochelle will connect with the coordinators to drop off bags and flyers.

The group talked about a workplan for Rochelle including which topics to learn, tasks to work on and additional trainings.

Community Events

Father’s Matters event, March 26th

Perinatal Mental Health Screening and Referrals

Early Learning Coalition meeting, March 18th

Next Meeting

The next meeting is scheduled for Tuesday, April 19, 2022, from 11:30am-1pm.