08-02-17 Community Relations - Laserfiche WebLink

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peace. In recent months the South Bend Community School Corporation hosted a training at Rise Up Academy that focused on restorative practices to teach people how to be circle keepers. With the International Trainer of Trainers,Katie Pranus, participants expressed interest in putting forth a resolution to encourage the City to put money in the budget for free conflict resolution services. This is seen in many cities around the country. With the primary concern being youth violence,they would like to train young people to be circle keepers and subsequently be paid a stipend. In one (1) of our first meetings last year, out of concern for income inequality and longstanding disparities with regard to jobs, education, and other issues facing the Black Community,we hosted JP Consortium, a consulting firm out of Chicago. Our hope was to bring them to South Bend and lead a community-needs assessment that would provide data to help us understand areas of inequality and identify areas of need. There were many meetings with City Administration and there was money set aside but after many months, Christina Brooks decided not to extend a contract to JP Consortium. They are an all-black firm out of Chicago but they were deemed to be too militant a group to pass review by our Board of Public Works. The City is currently pursuing a partnership with a large non-profit called ProsperityNow. They are looking to provide a needs-assessment for our community. We want to make sure the City is addressing the right people for these identified needs. Committee Chair Williams-Preston then announced, If you are a property owner in South Bend and have received a notice stating your property will be sent to tax-sale,there may be help available to save your home. If your tax statement has special assessments related to penalties from Code Enforcement,you may be able to have those penalties dismissed. Please call the Community Forum for Economic Justice at 574-222-4966 to get help. Housing and Neighborhood Development Committee Chair Williams-Preston stated, Many members of the community have expressed concern with the City's lack of fore-thought of its most vulnerable populations. For instance, the roundabouts have been constructed without the proper safety measures in consideration for the blind. There are also not a lot of safe, quality housing options for those on low, fixed incomes. The minimum people on SSI receive is approximately seven hundred and seventy-three dollars ($773) a month. Compounding this problem, apartments, like the Hoffman Apartments downtown, don't always offer reasonable accommodations for people with regard to their disability. Unfortunately,this is a norm among quite a few South Bend landlords when it comes to accessible housing. For more information or to join that conversation, please find the Michiana Disability Advocacy and Support Group on Facebook. There has also been concern expressed to make sure the new homes coming to the west side of South Bend are not confined to only single family homes. We need affordable multi-family units because not everyone has the time or resources to maintain a home on their own. Seniors, for example, need to have affordable options that can accommodate their needs. To this end, I'm proposing to hold an upcoming Community Relations meeting to hear more about the needs of those with disabilities, and to learn more about how the City can be more responsive to those needs. Committee Chair Williams-Preston continued, This brings us to the issue at hand tonight. We must hear the voices of the members in our community that are not often heard. Those are the fifty-three percent (53%) of people who live in households that, according to the United Way's 2