Kane County Reporter

City of Aurora Advisory Commission on Disabilities met May 9.

Here are the minutes provided by the commission:

CALL TO ORDER: Chairperson Janine McDonough called the meeting to order at 6:00 pm

ROLL CALL: Janine McDonough, Sean Williams, Sandra Harrison, and Elana Newkirk Others Present: Katrina Boatright, Elizabeth Diederich and Meredith Lindgren

OTHERS IN ATTENDANCE: No vote was necessary to permit other Commissioners to attend the meeting by means other than physically in person. A physical quorum was currently present.

APPROVAL OF MINUTES: There were a few changes to "Announcements'' from the April 11th meeting - Alexandra Engelhardt, not Janine McDonough spoke with Jennifer Wisnewski from Fox Valley Special Recreation about a Sensory Tent to be used for events and the Soothing Initiative. Alexandra Engelhardt, not Janine McDonough, advised Lexi Masterson from Fox Valley Special Recreation also will be participating in the Disabilities Listening Tour. The adjustments were noted to be corrected. Sean Williams made a motion to approve the minutes. Sandra Harrison seconded. Motion carried.

PUBLIC COMMENTS: NONE

SUBCOMMITTEES: Four subcommittees were compiled off the Mission and Goals Statement. Elana Newkirk read the subcommittee volunteers as follows:

ADVOCACY: Elana Newkirk, Janine McDonough, and Wanda Malone

COMMUNICATIONS and AWARENESS: Elana Newkirk, Sandra Harrison, and Janine McDonough. Janine is willing to be the chairperson for this subcommittee.

ACCESS TO PROVIDERS and SERVICES: Sean Williams and Janine McDonough. COMMUNITY and RECREATION: Sean Williams and Janine McDonough. Sean Williams is willing to be chairperson for this subcommittee.

Subcommittees can take minutes. no decisions or voting is conducted since they are not board members. Their ideas or concerns would be brought to our agenda. Not appointed and can be anyone from within the community. The subcommittee members can choose among themselves who they would recommend as their chairperson if someone does not already step up to take on the position.

RIBBON CUTTING CEREMONY: Katrina Boatright, Sandra Harrison and Elana Newkirk attended the Grand Opening of "The Place" for children with Autism. The new facility is fabulous and a very well staffed full-day center based ABA therapy in a preschool -like setting for children ages 2-6.

RESOURCE FAIR: Sean Williams and Katrina Boatright are looking into available space located at the Prisco Center. There is an active list of some vendors from outside of Aurora. However, Sean Williams is looking to focus on vendors from the Aurora, Fox Valley area having top priority. Due to the size of spacing at the Prisco Center, vendors may have to be limited to just one or two tables. Need to have a set date locked in before July 1, 2022. A Thursday evening in October is still the target day for the fair.

BYLAWS: The City put together the current packet for the Advisory Commission on Disabilities, which is more detailed. Katrina Boatright has advised the board that the Bylaws are optional and not necessary. During the June board meeting a vote will be conducted to officially dissolve the Bylaws.

HOUSEKEEPING: Members who have yet to complete the OMA (Open Meeting Act) training need to get that done. Only has to be performed once and on file with City Hall. Code of Conduct form also needs to be signed and on file with City Hall. Name tags for the newest members are still needed for; Sean Williams, Sandra Harrison and Wanda Malone. Summer meetings for June and July will still take place as long as we have a physical in person quorum.

RECRUITING OF BOARD COMMISSIONERS: Applicants Elizabeth Diederich and Meredith Lindgren each briefly spoke on why they want to be a part of the board. The position of subcommittees were also explained to them by Chairperson Janine McDonough.

LISTENING TOUR: Chairperson Janine McDonough reports there were four amazing dates done. For the in person dates the Eola Center had twenty-five people and the Prisco Center had fifty people in attendance. Fifteen to twenty partners appeared. Main topics that seemed to repeatedly come up a lot throughout the Listening Tour were: Resources, Transportation, Housing (Affordable, Accessibility), ADA Accessibility and compliance, Aurora Police SNAPP Program, Services needed in the future, and Employment Services.

CITY REPORT: Katrina Boatright looking to apply information gathered during the Listening Tour to be applied towards the Advisory Commission on Disabilities to accomplish and focus on. Clayton Muhamad has started a disability page on the City of Aurora website. Katrina Boatright will be looking into how that page can be connected to our current Facebook page.

ANNOUNCEMENTS: Sandra Harrison is participating in "Dance With Our Stars" Simple Destinee for Suicide Prevention on May 12, 2022 from 6 -9 pm at Gaslight Manor Banquet Hall.

ADJOURNMENT: A motion to adjourn the meeting was made by Elana Newkirk. Sandra Harrison seconded. Motion carried. Meeting was adjourned at 6:41 pm.

https://www.aurora-il.org/AgendaCenter/ViewFile/Minutes/_05092022-2894