Okay. So, um, welcome everybody to the CDBG public hearing. This is basically the kickoff of the 2026 season. And, um, I guess I'll start by saying we've got two new members who were just appointed. um they
haven't been sworn in yet, but they are attending tonight to take part in the discussion and learn more about the program. If there were any votes, they wouldn't they wouldn't be able to vote yet, but I'm not I don't know that we're going to have to take any votes tonight. Um so, if each of you want to just give
a quick introduction to the rest of the group Mayan, you want to go first? >> Sure. >> Yeah. Um my name is Mayan. I'm a freshman at Ammeris College. my perspective uh political science and economics major and I'm from San
Francisco, California originally but uh I'm live in Ammeris now that Ammer College. So yeah >> and Mel. >> Hello I'm Muriel. I'm a sophomore at UMass Ammerst and I'm studying urban planning and architecture and I live in
New York City outside of school. >> Great. And um so before we do anything else, we need to you people need to vote on a new chair. I guess there is going to be a vote tonight or at least have a discussion about it cuz um you do need a chair now that Becky's resigned. So I
don't know if anybody has any thoughts or nominations they'd like to put forward. I was I was thinking maybe Zoe would be a good candidate. Unfortunately, she's not here. Or maybe maybe fortunately maybe we can we can elect her.
>> Um yeah, and we can also I think elect somebody at the next meeting. I just don't want to put it off too late. Um but anybody else have any thoughts or opinions? >> I I would second that. >> I can email her and see what she thinks.
Um, I don't want to like force somebody into something that they don't feel up to, but if she's willing to take the nomination, we can at least take the vote on it next time. And uh, did who was vice chair before?
Did you have a vice chair? >> I don't think we ever had a vice chair. >> Yeah, it doesn't sound familiar. >> Probably wouldn't be a >> bad idea. Just just in case the chair is not available, that way you know who's running the meeting. Um, so that might be something to think about as well.
Okay. So, I believe that our agenda starts out with um a sort of overview of the projects that we have going on from the previous grants.
And I'll start um the 2022 22 2023 grant is still going. We've extended it until June next year because we've had some delays with the infrastructure projects. So, we've got two projects still going
in that grant. One is the park at Southeast Street School that um the project was to take up some coverts that had failed and restore the original stream bed and add like a a bridge and a pedestrian trail. So, they were making good progress on that and then the
ground froze and it snowed and so they got a little stalled out, but they're hoping to get it done these next couple weeks while it's warmer. Um, they don't want to have to wait till spring cuz they're working in a wetland, so it's easier to do it now while it's not as wet. Um, so that's going well. And then
North Pleasant Street multi-use path pedestrian improvements project also got a start. They got um I don't know if anybody's been up on North Pleasant, but they got the sidewalk done all down one side already. Um so they'll be coming back in the spring to do the other side.
So that's also promising. And that project ended up getting the money from the um the money that we switched over with that last set of hearings is also going to that project.
So, uh, any questions on those projects before we move on? They're they're just chugging along. No. Okay. So, for the 24 grant, which just started in July, we've got the town project is more of North Pleasant Street. So, we're just going to continue
on with that one. The grant will end in June, but the work will not um they'll keep going further down. And, uh, that's it. That's the only infrastructure project we had in 2024. So, the other projects we have are all social services and I believe that we've got people from
some of them here to give us a little update on their projects. Um, so I don't remember what order I put people in on the agenda, but anyone have a time limit or need to want to go first so that they if they
have anything else they need to do? If so, raise your hand. Uh, okay. Susan and Sarah. Okay, we've got three raised hands. Um, so hopefully these will all be quick. Um, Susan, why don't
you I'm going to promote you to panelists. Do you have anyone else with you that a minute? Okay. Hi everyone. I'm sorry my screen just froze and um I missed the last 30
seconds of what was said. But >> yeah, I was just asking if there's anyone else who's going to be joining you or if it's just you. Oh yeah, I'll I'll just be be me um representing Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County. Okay. >> Right. Well, thank you so much. Is it okay if I show some slides?
>> Absolutely. Let me make sure that it's set up for you to share. >> Oh, great. Thank you. >> Um I think so. I think you should be able to share. Okay. All right. Just just take one second to um
share these. Um let's see. Whoops. Okay. Well, thank you all for your patience and thanks so much for our the funding that we received from AMRCDBG is just incredibly appreciated
and so critical to the work that we do at Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County. Um, and just want to say hello to the continuing panelists and welcome to the new panelists. I have some slides. So, I'll just kind of, you know, just go over our work um you know, so that to have so that everyone knows a
little bit about what we're doing and have just some updates about what we've been accomplishing um yeah during this year. So, it's been a really exciting year for Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County. Um we're just doing some exciting expansions and um yeah,
serving more youth than ever. So, we're really excited about that. Um you know just this slide just you know just talks about our theory of defending potential that we you know how we see the littles that we serve who are kids ages 6 to 18 um who are all u residents of Hampshire
County but specifically with this funding we're serving um are all Ammerst residents and that's the majority of the people that we serve um within Big Brothers Big Sisters. So um you know so then our work um bringing together our case managers and staff with working
closely with family members and caregivers and then the bigs the mentors that we match with littles. Um so all those three pillars of support working together um to benefit the um the young people that we serve here in the community. And you know we do a lot of recruiting
and um engaging new mentors and you know this just playing ball is a gamecher and you know other messages that u basically are um part of the marketing uh strategy through the national big brothers big sisters of America. So we're uh an affiliate of big brothers big sisters of
America. So, in addition to being a local nonprofit, we're one of um 250 or more other affiliates all across the country who are um all using the same high quality program standards to um to plan and implement our programming. And
Big Brothers Big Sisters of America has been around for over 115 years or so. Um, so we're really we really benefit from being part of that national network as well as well as being a um, you know, a nonprofit here here on the ground in
um, right here in Hampshire County. Um so our you know our overview just that we you know these funds are being used to continue to expand mentoring opportunities for youth in Ammerst um which you know very much is um connects
with you know our synonymous with our mission to create and support one-to-one mentoring relationships that ignite the power and promise of youth. So um yeah, so that's our mission and that's the mission of all Big Brothers Big Sisters um chapters and yeah so we're really
proud to be um serving the children of Ammerst again it's children ages 6 to 18 um and providing um long these enduring mentoring relationships with caring adults and our overall goal to you know have you know result that those mentoring relationships will result in
um higher aspirations um greater confidence for the kids being served um stronger relationships, avoiding risky behaviors and educational success, you know, and all of those things are um borne out in the research about mentoring. So, a high quality mentoring
programs like us, you know, have been shown through, you know, kind of extensive programmatic research to have those kinds of results. Um, and this photo actually just wanted to point out this was um from our gingerbread decorating event that we've been having every year at UMass Ammerst. And that
was only about um that was actually last weekend. So, um just one of our matches um building a gingerbread house together. And that was just one of my one of my favorite pictures from our um from that recent event. And um so that's a UMass student who was matched with an
Amoris child and um having a really great time together and accomplishing a lot in their match. So yeah, I just wanted to uh share that and whoops our um just a little bit more about our overall goals and this is an Amoris
match as well. um including the likelihood of our matches. Um having you know developing personally and professionally have uh successful adults um yeah bringing together um successful adults to support um mentoring that include you know that encourages um
healthy social, emotional and cognitive development. So we see that um we see that in a consistent basis with um the matches that we're serving and we're really excited to be continuing to bring um you know like I said the majority of the matches that we serve are um
ammersebased um and again like we're saying that mentoring is what we call an evidence-based strategy that we know positively impacts youth um and yeah another one of our Ammerst matches that um hope getting to see some of the faces
of the people we're serving is helpful. Um and that yeah and that the way we know mentoring um supports youth in reaching their full potential um through the power of onetoone relationships. And again just a few you know just a few statistics with the you know what we see
with national trends that mentored youth have are more self-confident, better able to express feelings, more likely to attend college, avoid substance use, more likely to hold leadership positions themselves as adults. So just some just a sample of what we know um about the
positive impacts of mentoring and yeah and then just a little bit more about the you know individuals we've been serving so far this year we've so far served 79 matches in um existing and new matches since um since July 1st and
of those matches uh 60 are community matches and that includes the matches that we create involving UMass students which is a major part of our focus here in Ammerst and then 19 are sightbased matches and that includes our new lunch buddies participants.
Um and then yeah so from there I'm just going to move so 50% of our community matches are um mamm children and over 26% of our sitebased matches are ammer children being served through our new lunch buddies programming at um and that started this fall at Wildwood
Elementary School. Um and then we always have a growing waiting list of um kids and um so specifically in Amoris there's um 19 Amoris youth wait on the ready to be matched weight list. We continue to process new um Ammerbased volunteers and
so we anticipate you know continuing to um you know we match um ch youth and with mentors throughout the year and we're um you know with sign Is >> it just me or did we all lose?
>> Yeah, I think we all we all did. I think >> frozen. Yeah, >> they're frozen. Yeah. >> Nope. Oh no. Hi, I'm sorry the internet I don't know what's going on with my internet but it
just suddenly just went away. So um here back in the meeting. So I'm so sorry about that. >> Uh is was it okay if I just finish up with um just share again? That's okay.
>> Again apologies for the strange internet action going on. Um yeah, as I was just saying about the partnerships that we have many, you know, most of our our strongest partnerships are Ammeris based. So working with our partners at
UMass Ammerst, um Kestrel Land Trust, um the National Fish and Wildlife Refuge. So um and we work with those partners to, you know, plan a variety of events for our Ammerst matches and families. Um and then you know very excited to have um you know we currently have a total of
three lunch buddy sites and our newest one is at Wildwood Elementary School in Ammerst. So that launched this fall. Um we have five matches currently underway and we have additional volunteers coming forward and new referrals um for kids to match up with those buddies. So that um
we anticipate having you know additional lunch buddies matches that'll be meeting at Wildwood Elementary School. And um basically that's a way for mentors to meet with kids once a week during the child's lunch break at school. So all of those matches happen on site and on a
weekly basis. So it's a really great way to you know for mentors who aren't available on weekends and you know prefer to have you know just kind of a very fixed uh time to um to meet with a mentee. Um that's worked out really well. So, we're yeah, really proud of that expansion and looking forward to
involving more mentors and kids um in the three lunch buddy sites that we have going this year. And go to my next slide here. Um what we you know just highlighting that
we provide u match support um every month through you know monthly check-ins the first year of the match and becomes quarterly. um you know our case managers are able to provide support anytime um matches need that and then in addition we you know have these regularly
scheduled activities as well as donated tickets that we provide to our matches. So um you know so there's a a whole kind of spectrum of community involvement um when a family joins our programming. Um just last few pieces of information.
Oh, this is a photo from our um just showing the sign of um the for our picnic that we had in September that brought together um you a very large group of our um our matches and families at our annual picnic um and that we had
at our local Ammeris Park and everybody had a great time. Um and then just you know highlighting these are our latest survey results um and we'll be compiling those again um for the new fis you know for the current fiscal year when this ends but showing you know just
specifically for the youth that we're serving um you know that they're increasing experiencing increased academic performance um emotional growth increased social confidence um improved mental health um so we're you know we're always really glad to see how our survey
results are you know kind mirroring what we um what we know is true on the national level as well with um big the Big Brothers Big Sisters programming impacts. And this was just um just a photo from our 50th anniversary celebration this
year. Um Big Brothers Big Sisters of Hampshire County is celebrating, you know, 50 years of providing mentoring relationships to so many families here in Hampshire County. So um we had a large group of supporters from you know past staff, current staff um everyone in between you know kind of coming together
to you know to reunite and celebrate um our 50 our 50th year. And so that was um and that happened right here in Ammerst and you know so many um Ammerst residents, our former staff members, our former um program director and case
managers um the majority of them are Ammerst residents. So it was a wonderful gathering um celebrating that accomplishment and yeah so thanks so much for you know supporting our program and that you know
what helping us ignite potential for youth um really very much appreciative of this funding that makes um so much of our work possible. So, thank you. And um if anyone has any questions or comments,
I'd be happy to um share any more information that might be helpful. >> Yeah, thank you, Susan. Um any questions from anybody? >> Thank you. >> Hey, thank you all. And again, apologize for the technical difficulties.
Appreciate your patience. >> No worries. >> Thank you. All right. Um, well, if there are no questions, we will move on to our next uh I did find the agenda. So, it looked
like Ammerst Mobile Market will be going next. If um Rosanna, if you're ready, I'll promote you to a panelist. Um, oh, hello. Uh, good night. Uh I have um
um another presenter is um Andres Cookalong. >> Okay. Um yeah, let me >> uh we need access also to uh for him to share.
>> Give him just a minute to join. >> Uh Susan, I'm trying to put you back in the attendee list and it's not working for some reason. Okay, I think I think we're set. >> Okay, so um good night everybody. Um this is the
Ammerst modeling market um the Ammers model market CDVG report for season 2025. Andreas is um do you have access to share and
do you okay okay so uh we are here I am Rosanna Salasaral and we are here with Andres Kalong Uh for this presentation um I will start with the our our mission
uh the our mobile market ensure that every resident regardless of income, transportation, language or physical ability has dignified walkable access to fresh cultural meaningful fruits and
vegetables. We bring affordable produce directly to the neighbor to the neighborhoods giving people the power to choose the food um whether they purchase then or receive then at not cost. Our
mission is to create a welcoming equitable market experience where all community members can uh access healthy food with dignity, autonomy and respect. Um and
for this season, the Ammerismo market completed this uh its 2025 season with a strong engagement, stable attendance and continue grow in community trust. From season 2025, the market delivered fresh,
healthy and cultural relevant produce directly to v vulnerable neighborhoods across Ammerst. Um through CDBG support, the Ammeris mobile market successfully reduce barriers to uh food access
and for low to moderate income households, seniors, families with children and immigrant communities. Um uh we um during this season the emer market conducted uh 1,677
households transactions reaching an estimate of uh 4,000 to 96 individuals across Ammerst and the market distribute more than uh 14,000 units of fresh
fruits and vegetables while operating on a weekly basis at three walkable locations ensuring access for residents with all vehicles and those facing mobility challenges. So the Ammerst mobile market continues to stand as an essential public health resource
addressing food food insecurity and this is a question that why the ammer market models matters. Um yeah because uh we are building community uh through all
these uh words but also uh by supporting uh children health and well-being that is the next um slide and um yeah the Ammeris uh mobile market the intention integrates activities and
services that nurture whole community wellness these elements transform the marketing into a holistic health support space, not just a a place to to to buy food. Um, and you could see
uh we we wanted to share a lot of pictures with with you to know what we are doing in this uh this season. And um also through personalized connection and trust uh people return not only because
the food is accessible but because they feel no welcome it and respect it. And the next one is um also to through a model rooted in dignity and equity. residents can walk up to the market,
choose the food that best serve their families and participate in a marketplace experience uh and that honors their culture, autonomy and and dignity. Um also because it's a space where
community is built every week. Each market day creates a welcoming space where neighbors gather uh families connect and relation grow. Um uh also is a community a community resource a culture I have and healthy
future. The ammer market is building a healthier, more equitable ammerance by by strengthening uh community ties, supporting diverse cultural traditions, improving nutritional well-being and creates spaces where family feeling
value and connected. Um this is why the model matters and and and why its continuation is vital for the community long-term resilience
and our objectives is benefits benefits uh to low uh to low moderate people income communities. The program ensures
um affordable fresh produce for low moderate income households. Also physical access for individuals without cars or with uh mobility challenges. Uh uh cultural meaningful food choices and
no cost shares and snap access for highly vulnerable residents. Um this is um we were focused on this during the season and the and we had we had three
locations three market locations all walkable access sites. Uh we were in East Hadley Road. We were in North Ammerst University Village uh colonial and colonial village and all the
neighborhood that surround those uh places. So locations were selected bases on proximity to low moderate income housing uh seniors residences bus lines and family communities.
um addressed some barriers. Yes, that is the distance to grocery stores, lack of transportation, time constraints for working families, higher food codes at local retailers, limited availability of
cultural relevant produce to physical mobility challenge. Um besides all these also these uh barriers now um uh Andreas will continue.
Hi everybody. I'm the Andreas the mobile market coordinator. So my first slide is uh the 2025 season impact.
Well uh during the season 2025 season we strong returning customer uh a stable participation across all sides and continue high demand for culturally relevant foods. Uh
we we had bilingual signage visibility in housing community and we also reinforce like trust and rehability in the community. The financial overview, the total gross
sales is around almost uh $24,000. Uh we had uh no shares uh and other uh discounts for $17,000 approximately.
The net uh sales were $6, $114 and total transactions were 1,660 uh transactions. Uh so uh so we provided over 800 no cost
shares uh use uh we also supported EBT purchase distributed more than 300 pounds of don of donation products and offer additional special supports. This uh help families stay connected to
the market during financial hardship. Our bestselling products uh and most culturally relevant were the uh most people bought tomatoes, uh potatoes, plantains, mangoes, uh yuka uh also
known as cassava. So those were like the highlights of the market, the product that most people, most families bought. So uh in our social media with the content that we created, we had 14
49,000 approximately uh impressions on Facebook with the create the content that we did. uh we reached 38,000 uh people uh around the town of Ammerst
and we gave uh 640 uh flyers in English and in Spanish uh around the town of Ammerst to to different places. We also created flyers, videos, uh ced digital posts and we connected directly
through WhatsApp to different people that came to the market asking about the different products that we had. So we communed directly to uh some of the people that came regularly. Uh for the additional program components
uh the market also serve as an educational space offering weekly children activities. Uh we had the food as medicine project uh that uh we informed the public uh about the
how to use the medicine uh the food as medicine. Uh we created uh six uh different uh flyers educational flyers uh to promote the
the program. and operation and improvements. Uh our priority was reability. We showed up every week rain or shine. Uh we made improvements to the checkout. Uh we use
multilingual support that help smooth the operation. Uh we had 19 workers and volunteers that support uh us over the season. We did some satisfaction surveys. Uh
these are some of the uh most common answers. Uh how would you rate the location of the Ammeris small market? Very accessible. Uh the variety of the products very sat satisfying. Easy of access very satisfied.
Uh how satisfied are you with the quality of the product? Very satisfied. Uh did you feel welcome? Yes, completely. And there they felt an increase in their consumption in fruits and vegetables.
The access uh accessibility and equity are built into the model through flat layouts, wide walkable ceilings, options, bilingual stuff and large print signage. This is how we
the model market adheres to the ADA activity practice practice. Um well the conclusion the ammer market continues to be a vital community asset
supported by the CDBG. Uh the 2025 season demonstrated strong participation, effective outreach and progress towards reducing food insecurity and well this last one is Rosanna.
>> Yeah. And yeah, thank you to CDBG um also tunnel farmers uh leadership, our partners, uh our um organizations, donors, local farms, volunteers, and to the families to trust and rely on the Ammers market
each week until November 1st. Thank you very much. And we have a brief um uh video um for you. four minutes. We're here at the East. My name is Andres Kalon. I'm the Ammer market
coordinator. We're here at the Isadi Road where one of our locations open. We're a nonprofit that goes around the town of Ammerst to different locations bringing food to to the community that lives there. wanted was to bring food to
everyone in the community. people that didn't have cars that could go to the different locations of the other markets and also bringing products from different farms that are organic and healthy for them vegetables, fruit when
they come and to an affordable prices for the community and for the people who live right here in this place, which is absolutely convenient. And I think that especially now when
everything is the prices going up is a place where we can come and know that we have especially product of good quality. I think that we should have this type of programs in our community and I'm very
grateful. Market part is uh working with the community and getting to know the people that come here every every uh see that they are being uh satisfied with the with the with the service that
we're giving to them. We're doing different activities for the kids and bringing all the the products that they can buy uh without uh transportation or it's not easy to get for them. So, it's satisfying for us as a nonprofit to see
how we can help out the community. We work together with the farms uh to bring as many products uh that we can uh that that they are producing. Uh I think it's a both sides benefit from it. We
buy from them, bring it here and it's a weekly uh production from them that we buy. They help us out also with the timing and the logistics about it. So it's been pretty uh easy to work with
them uh for the past uh six months. The idea is to keep growing the market, doing more activities for the community, having more type of products around that they can buy in a store here. So to be
keep growing, that's the idea. >> Well, thank you. Thank you very much. Did you have any question? >> Yes. Thank you both. That sounds sounds like you're doing great. Sounds wonderful. Were there any questions or comments?
>> Enjoyed the video. It was nice. >> Thank you. Thank you very much. >> Thank you for all the information. >> Thank you. All right. Um, so I guess if that's it for
the mobile market. Um, next one I have on here is the center for new Americans. We have someone here from the center of new center for new Americans who'd like to present. Maybe not. Okay. Well,
um they are a recurring grantee, so I think everybody here is probably at least a little bit familiar with their work. Um the specific project the CDBG funds is um support for new
immigrants in learning English, applying for jobs um and getting settled in Ammerst or nearby communities. So if no one's there, we can reach go on to family outreach. Someone from family outreach here to
present. Yes, Francine. All right. There we go. Hi, Benine. Hi. Good evening, everyone. Good evening and welcome to the new members of the committee. Nice to see
some new faces and some young faces. Um, so my name is Francine Rodriguez. I am the program manager at family outreach of Ammerst which is a program of the center for human development. Um we have been funded for a community
housing support program where we assist tenants in Ammerst that are at risk of losing their housing due to rental arars or lease violation. Um and so we work we meet with folks to clearly help them retain their housing
and access any kind of public assistance benefits if or employment whatever is the barrier for them to retain their housing. Um this first quarter we've served 50 households in the first quarter which was a total of 135 beneficiaries.
um out of those 10 households uh received assistance with emergency funds and we were able to avoid them being brought to housing court. Um and then there were some families that were already brought to housing court and so seven households that we accompanied
them to housing court and uh were able to retain their housing by reaching court agreements. Um we've built very strong relationships with area landlords. So we work very closely with landlords in Ammerst and they often
refer tenants to us or we have one p particular landlord who has now started her own raft applications that's the emergency funding and then we'll send the client to us so we can assist them to do their portion which really works
smoother because a lot of the times the landlord portion doesn't get done in time and then the application times out and we have to start the process all over again which is timely. Um, some barriers that we have faced in this program
are when folks are just a little bit over that income limit to be able to access the emergency funds. There's, you know, we can't do anything about that. Um, and unfortunately, I'm seeing a lot of that more often and it's just
slightly over or maybe even $1,000 over, but they're not eligible. Um, another barrier is folks that have subsidies and um, for one reason or another have fallen behind in rent. Unless they have a really good cause reason and can prove
the good cause, they can no, they can also ask to access um, emergency funds, they wouldn't be eligible for those funds either. Um so the demand for housing clearly the assistance is is rising um and it's
forcing us to look at creative solutions um whenever possible. Uh lately at at any other point in my career, I'm finding um being really frustrated about how difficult it is to access affordable housing or access just housing that is
realistic for a family to pay or even individuals. Um so it is really frustrating that we're having to come up with solutions and it's getting harder to find solutions that actually work. Um, so you know, with that being said,
we we are able to help folks and we have been able to keep a lot of people housed, but I'm seeing a lot more times than not that it's it's sometimes not possible. Um, so that's frustrating that
if we come across that barrier. Um, one one uh recent uh incident we had was that the sheriff was already at the tenants home and the landlord was there with the sheriff. Um, their neighbor actually called our office cuz the
neighbor was a past participant of ours and asked if we could go there to help the tenant. Um, so we were able to get there in time and we convinced the sheriff and the landlord to stop the eviction. The family had to get down to
Springfield immediately right then and there to file a stay of an execution, which is like to pause the eviction to be able to go back to court. I went with them to court and uh we were able to um come up with an agreement to keep them housed, but the cancellation fee of the
sheriff is $1,450 and the landlord then told the tenant they were responsible for that fee. Um but family outreach cuz I know they were already struggling with rent. So, uh, we were able to raise that money for them and cancel that, uh, sheriff's fee so
they could just focus on maintaining their monthly rent and not have this additional um, fee cuz we made an agreement that they would pay an additional $100 a month on top of their rent for a year to get it paid, but I know that was
daunting for them. So, to help them just focus on staying on track and keep them housed, we raised the money and we were able to cancel that out. So, um, again, thank you for funding our program. It's definitely needed, um, as housing
housing costs continue to rise and rents continue to rise and people's employment, their money isn't rising to match up with rents. Um, so appreciate that you're funding us to be able to help the community to the best we can.
Thank you. >> Thank you. And uh yeah, sounds like you're doing good work as well. Nat, do you have a comment or question? >> Yes. Um thank you Francine for all that you're doing. Um question I had about the landlords that you tend to work with. Are they kind of large-scale
landlords that you are frequently working with that have, you know, lots and lots of properties around Ammerst or do you find yourself often with small landlords with one or two properties who may not be as familiar with the processes and the services that uh
you're providing to the tenant. >> Yeah. So, um we're working very closely with like Beacon Communities. Um they're very familiar. um South Point, that's um
uh MBG. But um the larger like landlords that are not in this area, we had a struggle with um North 116 Flats, like they're they're a corporation that's like in California. Um and we had a really
difficult time getting RAPH done with them. I had to actually get housing discrimination attorneys involved because I did ref times and the landlord never did their portion on time. Um, and I offered to help, but she didn't seem
like she wanted the help either. So, so I'm finding it's more like our local smaller communities that are are working with us. Great. >> Thanks. >> You're welcome. All right. If there's Thank you again. If there's no other
>> Thank you. >> Thanks for the work you do. >> Thank you to the committee. Have a good evening. >> You as well, >> too. >> Um, we have the survival center next on our list.
Uh, did someone have a presentation for the survival center? All right, I'm going to promote you to panelists. >> Hello, >> Darlene. Nice to meet you. Hi. Um, I'm Carlen Bassor. I'm the
interim executive director here at the Survival Center. Um, I want to thank the committee for giving us the opportunity to tell you what we've been up to uh since July. Um, and welcome to the new committee members. This is my first
presentation, so uh, forgive me. I have no amazing slides or videos. Um, I'm going to follow in Francine's fabulous footsteps and just give you a rundown of of where we are. So, um, for the folks who may not know us, the
folks who are new, I'll just give you a brief overview. Uh, the programs that we offer at the Ammer Survival Center are um, both food related and then a few wraparound services. So, we have an on-site pantry here at 138 Sunderland.
Um, it's an on-site choice shopping. We also offer tailored curbside pickup and tailored home delivery. We also just recently opened our UMass campus pantry. Um, and that's a weekly shopping experience via drop in or by appointment. Um, both the pantries offer
all of the participants up to two weeks worth of food for every single person in the household, including fresh milk, bread, cheese, fruits, vegetables, frozen and canned proteins, uh, grains, and and much much more. It's it's really wonderful and people do walk away with a
great deal of food. Those are the things that are only available to the people who we serve in our 13 towns. Ammerst being our largest constituency. And then for the campus pantry, one must be UMass affiliated. You either be a student, an enrolled student, a staff member, or a
faculty member in order to access the UMass pantry. Um on site though we do on site here at 138 Sunderland we do offer a community meal program four days a week that's open to anybody who comes to visit us for dining in warm um delicious
meal takeaway. We also have some cold takeaways available and we offer to anybody who comes to the center a fresh food distribution and that's daily um fresh produce breads and sweets that we um get from our local commercial
recovery partners. So, it's really really wonderful and it's especially great for people who can't access the food pantry because they're outside of our area um so they can walk in both having had a nice lunch and then also walk away with a bag. Um all of the
efforts that we have here, we are extremely small staff. We have 13 staff, but we have well over 300 volunteers a week. So, it is it is well supported by our community in general. Um, and it's just wonderful because the amount that
we receive from the CTBG is crucial to helping us make sure that we're serving our low to moderate income Ammeris residents. Um, I I would like to say that when we submitted um the grant application for the 2024 cycle, we had
anticipated serving about 3,000 low to moderate income Ammeris residents. Given the current economic climate and the uncertainty created by proposed and impending cuts to social supports like SNAP and healthcare subsidies, the
actual need for that has far ex exceeded our projections. Um over the past year, our community has experienced a significant rise in crisis level need. Many more residents are struggling to maintain basic economic stability and meet the essential needs such as and you
heard from Francine about housing but definitely food and utility costs. Um of the 3,500 Ammeris residents who used since July, over 400 of those individuals were seniors and 798
of those individuals were brand new to the pantry. So, we're continuing every single month to see a steady rise of people coming to the pantry for the first time or returning to the pantry. People who haven't been here since 2016,
17, 18. Um, it's it's an indication of the way in which people are thinking about their current financial situation and what they know is coming down the pipe. Um, both pantries have distributed over 440,000 pounds of food since July 1st and first,
and that's the equivalent of 370,000 meals. As I mentioned, we're currently seeing many people who are firsttime registrants in our pantry. And many of these folks sit at our intake desk, they're extremely overwhelmed, saying,
"I never thought I would need this." Um, and with the financial challenges on the rise that we all read about every day in the newspapers, we expect to well exceed our original estimate of serving 3,000 individuals when we come to the end of
this grant cycle, the 3,000 Ammeris residents. Um, so but I want to stress that behind each and every one of these numbers, there's a person um an Ammeris neighbor of ours, a person who's doing the very best they
can um with what they have. Many of these individuals are working one, two, sometimes three jobs. They are in earnest, really trying to do everything they can. During the most recent SNAP crisis, one resident asked me, "Are you going to be able to keep up with all the
people who need food when we don't get our SNAP money?" And I very confidently replied, "Absolutely." But deep inside, my concern was profound. Because even with the very best efforts and the most
financially prudent planning, there's no possible way that food pantries can make up for the difference in the amount of food SNAP provides. And what we do know is that the upcoming legislated challenges to SNAP will take effect that'll take effect in January 2026 will
stretch our food pantry capacity even more. So just to paint a broader picture, over 50% of Hampshire County residents are struggling with food insecurity and rough estimates indicate that one in six Ammerst residents are struggling with
having enough food to meet their needs. and that number becomes one in four for children. Moreover, 25% of UMass students are estimated to struggle with food insecurity. While the adult population makes up the largest percentage of individuals utilizing food assistance resources in
Ammerst, food insecurity is a prevalent across all age demographics including a significant portion of children and high relative risk for college students and seniors. The need in Ammerst, a town
that has both an extremely high cost of living and a significant income spread across its residents, is extreme. So, the CDBHG funding that we receive currently covers approximately 10% of
our food pantry costs related to serving low to moderate income Ammeris residents. And we are, I cannot say this more strongly, deeply grateful for this essential support. Um, as the demand continues to rise, we're going to see
continued CDBG funding to ensure our most vulnerable Ammeris residents have reliable access to nutritious food through the Ammeris survival center. >> Thank you. And next time I do this, I promise there will be pictures.
Thank you, Carlen. Um, I thought that was great, even without pictures. And yeah, it's always good to hear what the Survival Center does. You get a lot a lot of good work done. Anyone have any questions or comments. All right. Um well, thank you again and
we're on to our last um presentation which is the Valley CDC. Um Sarah, you're here for the CDC. Raise your hand if you want to be promoted to panelist. All right.
Hi everyone, how are you? Um, thanks so much for being here tonight. I appreciate um all of your support for CDBG funds for Valley. Um, actually I'll give a little bit of uh our partnership that we're doing with Center for New Americans, so you'll hear about them
too, though our funds are separate. Um so we have been a reoccurring recipient of CDBG funds for Valley Community Development and the funds are used for our small business program to provide um small business technical assistance or small business advising to um business
owners in the Amoris community. Um so since July 1 for this year we have worked with 23 small businesses so far. Um that's like as of today. We might get a few another one or two or more hours in the next few weeks here, but um the
majority of those are owned by households who um have are below 80% of the AMI. Um businesses served include retail, arts and creative services, restaurants, and other service- based
enterprises. Um the technical assistance has focused on foundational business skills, business planning, marketing strategies and steps to start or purchase a business. Um so we're helping people in all stages pre-startup,
startup and existing. And then actually we have moved into helping people with a little bit more of succession planning as some business owners are looking to to retire and pass them on. Um this year we previously had been working with the international language
institute um in Northampton but we have made a partnership with um center for new Americans with Lori and we started um offering our small business fundamentals program for English language learners and um so far
since July we have run two cohorts um one that was very beginner-based and for um the whole class was for um Haitian and um this second cohort we are doing right now is a mix um of cultures and um
anyway it has been really awesome to run this and be a part of um all the different the the diverse community that we have and so nine people from Ammerst of those 23 are have been in participating in that um cohort. Um, so we continue, you know, to do our
outreach through our flyers, social media, news, word of mouth. Um, that is primarily where it comes is our partnerships and word of mouth. Um, and so we um feel like we're on track to hit our goals that we set um we put in our
plan and um we're looking forward to seeing where um these 23 clients and more that we start working with are going to go. Can I answer any question? >> Yeah. Any questions? >> Uh just curious about the partnership
with um Center for New Americans and and that uh uh group. How has the um language part of it worked if you're working with um new immigrants who are still learning English? Mhm. So, um the
first cohort we did, we um actually one of um our staff, I Salah, he is um was an English language learner himself as an immigrant. So, he has that experience, lived experience. Um but we have created a curriculum that allows us
to target it to beginner and intermediate level depending on the class um base where everybody is. And so we did it on a very beginner um the first cohort was very beginner and in addition to that we
had um two volunteers who sat in who both speak um Haitian Creel and so they were there if we needed to but the goal was to teach the class in English because they're trying to learn English and the business terms in English. Um,
and if we needed to, we relied on those two volunteers to help make some, you know, clarify a few things. Um, and those volunteers have also offered to come and sit in and do one-on-one social interpretation essentially. Um, not a
true interpreter, but um, yeah. So, it's been going really well. Um, this second cohort is a little different because not everybody in the class either speaks French or Haitian Creole. and um but it's more of an intermediate class and so there it it's the language barrier
isn't as um the gap isn't as large. So um but we will we continue if we need to for one-on-one pull people in that speak the language to you know try and help bridge the gap there too. I think what's also important about that um Lori reached out to us kind of in a
with the current political climate and all the things that were happening with people's visas and like they came over and then all of a sudden it was you know they're pulled out from under them and different things that happened pretty quickly. We're trying to find other ways for people to make um to source income
for their households when their visas no longer available. And so that was part of the immediate our immediate response to helping her in um trying to give that Haitian population um income. And what's been really interesting is many of them
actually have had businesses prior to coming here. And it's just they want to do similar or something different here, but running a business here versus there is very different. Um lot more a lot
more red tape and paperwork. So yeah, >> great. Thank you. >> Thank you. Um, so that concludes our
uh review of the ongoing projects. Obviously, we've got a ton of great stuff going on. Um but we have another grant round coming next year. So um the next the second half of the hearing is kind of a
chance to discuss the priorities and um the strategy for next year. Do we want to make any changes to what sort of projects are prioritized where the funding goes or the areas in town where the funding go? So, I'm going
to share um I've got a list of what we have currently for priorities. So, this is just directly from the town website. The non-social service priority
I I changed this 2026 but this is what we had for last year is to meet the goals of the community's master plan community development strategy and community priorities by focusing efforts on the target areas um including town center east Ammeris village center and east road palm
village center. So I I looked at the calculations. It looks like the target areas still generally overlap with the low to moderate income um eligible areas. So I think it probably makes sense to continue with
those same target areas for this year at least. Um but does anybody have any thoughts or feedback on priorities in general for the non-social service activities? Like they're still pretty comprehensive. >> Yeah,
we do have housing rehabilitation on this list, which is actually a uh CDBG eligible activity that Ammerst does not and has never funded. Um I was talking to Nate about this. It some towns do spend a lot of their money on this. Um,
Ammerst has found it to be extremely ownorous administratively and difficult to find eligible um, people, but um, I guess there's no reason not to just leave it on the list. Um so assuming there's no other thoughts on
that one, the social service priorities, uh also fairly broad, but the idea is to maintain a balanced approach among household stabilization, uh homelessness support, youth development, economic self-sufficiency, food and nutrition, lowcost
comprehensive health services, support services for seniors, and transportation services. Some of these we already have programs that have been doing work in one of these categories. Some of them we do not. Um, but does anybody have any thoughts, new priorities they'd like to
address or priorities they don't feel are as important at the moment or any other comments on this section? Yeah, we don't seem to get proposals for those three bottom ones, but having said that,
>> I don't know that we need to take them off. I mean, if um if anyone does want to put in a proposal, wouldn't want to stop it. >> I wish I wish we got more about transportation. I think that can be a tough one to target to specific populations, but
yeah, that would be a good one. um does seem like we're seeing a lot of demand for housing and food support specifically tend to be the most expensive for people >> and we do seem to have some good
organizations >> targeting those. >> Yeah, they're awesome. Um, all right. Before we move on, I'm going to go ahead and stop this share, but I would like to see if there's any public comments on any of the priorities or any thoughts about areas that we
should be prioritizing. Anyone in the public wants to make a comment, you can just raise your hand. All right, not seeing anything. We're always open to email comments as well. Um, that being the case, if we're happy with
the current um priorities, we I have the community development strategy on this list as well, but that's actually going to be due to be renewed next year. So, I think makes more sense to keep it as is and then next year we'll do the full
community outreach process to to renew the strategy. Um, so unless anybody wants to address that, I think we can probably skip it for now. And that concludes our public hearing. Um, we
just have a few more housekeeping things for the public meeting part. And obviously the public's welcome to stay. Uh but we're going to close the hearing itself. And then for our public meeting um announcements,
I don't think I really have anything. Um they're trying to states trying to move back to their regular schedule of an early spring application and then a July 1 start to grants. The last few years
have been a little odd, but they're trying to move that back to that specific schedule and the usual grant amounts. So this year we'll be getting up to 875,000 is the maximum grant. Um and it'll become available July 1st. The application is due in March.
Um they've yeah they haven't really proposed any other changes. Um they haven't suggested that they're worried about the federal budget. We haven't heard anything that makes me think they don't think they're going to get their money from the federal budget.
So we're continuing on as if that's all going to be fine. Um we've been awarded the 25 grant. Um, and those activities will start probably in February, but uh, we haven't actually
received the money yet. Um, but yeah, so I think I think that's all on track. I don't have any like specific announcements. Um, we don't really have any comments
from the public hearing. Uh, the requests for proposals for this next year will be going out on Monday. Um, I was going to send them all out. I didn't quite get all the edits done this
morning that I wanted to get done, but I'm going to be updating the budget specifically. I talked to our state representative because every year we get comments that the budgets from the social services need a little bit more detail. Um, so she's going to I'm going to try to come up with a template that
helps people provide the right amount of information from the get-go. So hopefully we're not having as much back and forth. Um, other than that, I think the RFPs tend to work pretty well. We got a pretty good set of proposals. So I'm sending them out on Monday. They're going to be due towards the end of
January, and then we will have a meeting to review them in February, midFebruary. So that will be the next meeting. I believe is in midFebruary. Um, and I will send them all out to you as well when I send them to everybody
else so that you can just take a look and, you know, refresh yourselves on what your what the proposal should look like. And yeah, that's about all I got unless there's any other comments from anybody members of the public or committee
members. Um, thank you Mel and Mayan for sitting through. This is probably one of the longer meetings we're going to have in this cycle. Um, but it is nice to hear from all the groups and see what all the work they're doing.
>> Walker, just on on schedule again. Uh, so do we have any meetings right now on the calendar? I can't remember. >> Yeah, I've tried to I tried to go ahead and schedule the whole meeting cycle all ahead. So our next the funding proposals
will be due on the 23rd and um the final like answers to the questions and what not will be due February 13th and then the next meeting is on the 19th February 19th >> and make your recommendations. Yeah. >> And then there will be another one in
March um just to hear back any feedback or public comment on that. >> Um and then the application is due at the end of March. So, just two more meetings and then we'll have a couple check-in meetings after the application as well.
Um, Maya and Morel, do you have any questions or comments or thoughts from seeing your first being part of your first meeting or about the year to come? >> It was great to see all the presentations. I've heard of a lot of the groups, so it's good to see like the
impact and have numbers to put to like the impact that the funding can do for it. >> Mhm. Yeah. I was just going to add on like I feel like it helped me learn a lot more about what's going on in like the local community and like it's really
cool to hear about how many different programs and like how unique each program is to address the concerns of like particularly like low-income people in in Ammeris. So, it's really cool. Yeah. >> Mhm. Mhm. Yeah. Yeah, it's definitely great.
Um, all right. So, I guess email me if you have anything. I'm I'll email Zoe and just phrase that. I guess I don't know if we want to wait till February to see the Cheryl. I guess it doesn't really matter since you're not meeting before that anyway. But I'll try to keep
you all posted on that. Um, if we have to have a quick meeting just for that purpose, we can. Doesn't have to be a public hearing. And um yeah, otherwise happy holidays. >> Well, you too, right? Thanks. >> Thank you. >> Thank you, Walker. Have a good night.
Thank you. Bye. Bye.