Tenant and Community Services Committee

Transcription

1 931 Yonge Street Toronto M4W 2H2 Page 1 of 8 The of Toronto Community Housing Corporation met on, in the Main Floor Conference Room, 931 Yonge Street, commencing at 9:07 a.m. Committee Directors present: Councillor Cesar Palacio, Chair Munira Abukar, Vice Chair Councillor Frances Nunziata Regrets: none Additional Directors present: Also present: Catherine Wilkinson Chuck Dowdall, Vice President- Operations (Interim) Nadia Gouveia, Social Investment Fund Coordinator Michelle Haney-Kileeg, Vice President Resident Services Hugh Lawson, Director Strategic Planning & Stakeholder Relations Janice Lewkoski, Board Secretary Lindsay Viets, Coordinator, Information & Business Support Councillor Cesar Palacio, the Committee Chair, called the meeting to order and Mirela Bolentiru served as recording secretary. CONFIRMATION OF AGENDA The approved the agenda as presented. All items were held for discussion. DECLARATION OF CONFLICT OF INTEREST The Chair requested members of the to indicate any agenda item in which they had a conflict of interest, together with the nature of the interest. None were declared. DEPUTATIONS The Committee Chair polled for any deputations to be heard at the meeting and explained the deputation process. The Chair noted that no written deputations and requests for verbal deputations were received prior to the meeting. One deputant attended and provided a verbal deputation with respect to agenda item 4 Social Investment Fund Update.

2 Page 2 of 6 MINUTES CONFIRMATION OF TENANT AND COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMITTEE MINUTES JANUARY 25, 2013 by Ms. Munira Abukar, the confirmed the above-captioned minutes. ITEM 1 Q QUARTERLY PERFORMANCE REPORT TCSC: The had before it the above-captioned report (TCSC:2013-5) from the President and Chief Executive Officer. A discussion ensued, including the following highlights: Page 13 of 16 of the Q Quarterly Performance Report - further details were requested with respect to the new categories such as elevator phone, administration, etc. included in the top 10 categories for non-maintenance service requests created in Q4 2012, as the numbers were not self-explanatory about their significance. Management will report back with a description of categories as data was not available at that time. Pest Control - page 15 of 16 of the Q Quarterly Performance Report the Committee discussed the suggestion to remove the pest control category from the top 10 categories for work orders created and outstanding in Q as it is not possible to be resolved within five (5) business days and to report quarterly on pest control to the Board of Directors, including the pest control strategy. Anti-social Behaviour Occurrences - page 8 of 16 of the Q Quarterly Performance Report - the Committee noted that the locations where police has found hidden guns were not included in the statistical information provided in the report and suggested that police provide the Board of Directors with updated information on community safety with respect to the status of individual operating units and the locations of the guns found. The Committee Chair recommended the engagement of external experts and senior management to help staff move in the right direction with respect to the anti-social behaviour. o Management explained that the Community Action Team is assisting with the safety of the buildings by working in conjunction with police.

3 Page 3 of 6 by Ms. Munira Abukar, the received the report for information. ITEM 2 RESIDENT AND COMMUNITY SERVICES PRESENTATION TO TENANT AND COMMUNITY SERVICES COMMITTEE MARCH 7, 2013 The had before it the above-captioned presentation from the Vice President, Resident Services. The Vice President, Resident Services presented the Committee with a summary of the PowerPoint Presentation, including the following highlights: Residents, focusing on youth, families and people needing support to live independently. TCHC s partners in its communities high level partnerships with CAMH and the City of Toronto. Community and health agencies. Support to residents with serious mental illnesses (over 9,000). Dedicated team providing support through referrals to the appropriate agencies and agreements with TCHC s partners. Management is now developing guiding principles to lead the Resident Services Division that has been created at the President and CEO s initiative. Team s mission is to improve the quality of life for residents by using local solutions that strengthen communities. Team s structure comprises three streams: o Economic opportunities and capacity building (addresses the mental illness). o Resident engagement and community development (focus on youth, families and residential lenders). o Resident access and support (residents looking for work). Asset mapping exercise is important to give management the necessary data with respect to staff needed in communities. There are no funds available at this time for scholarships, but efforts are being directed to out reach potential funding sources. Current partnerships are now subject to management s scrutiny: if a partnership is not beneficial to a TCHC community it will not be renewed. The Committee suggested that a youth evaluation process be in place and management will consider its formulation and the

4 Page 4 of 6 transfer of the skills and knowledge. o 2013 is the year of the youth and a youth forum will be held in mid December. Job fairs will be held and the Committee requested that management provide the details with respect to their locations. The Committee Chair recommended that management strengthen its partnership with the City of Toronto by working with the City Councillors from the wards that have been allocated a large amount of funds under Section 37. Management will report back once the economic development plan is in place. ON MOTION DULY MADE by Ms. Munira Abukar, seconded by Councillor Frances Nunziata, the Services Committee directed management to report back on the following: Allocation and utilization of community space within Toronto Community Housing Corporation s properties by agencies and availability to residents (including the ratio of the space allocated to agencies and the space allocated to residents); Information about the rent received for use of the space; and staff and contact information for the Resident and Community Services Division be made available to the public. ITEM 3 TOWN HALL MEETINGS: Q TCSC: The had before it the above-captioned report (TCSC:2013-6) from the President and Chief Executive Officer. A discussion ensued, including the following highlights: The Committee Chair commended the President and CEO for the initiative of holding town hall meetings with the residents. The purpose of this report is to provide the Committee with details with respect to the responsiveness of staff to the residents complaints and the level of completion of the corrective measures implemented by management. The complaints addressed were not related to specific individuals and/or units, but related to generic or systemic issues. The Committee recommended management to address the complaints raised with concrete actions, articulating clearly what the complaint was about and what remedial action was done. Management will report back to the Committee with solutions at the issues flagged by the residents.

5 Page 5 of 6 ON MOTION DULY MADE by Councillor Cesar Palacio, seconded by Councillor Frances Nunziata, the Services Committee resolved to: Receive this report for information. Support the President and CEO s efforts of meeting with residents throughout the City. Recommend to the Board that Town Hall meetings, similar to those approved in April 2012 and attended by Board members, continue to be held, and the meetings be chaired by a Board member. Ms. Munira Abukar wished to be recorded as dissenting. ITEM 4 SOCIAL INVESTMENT FUND UPDATE TCSC: The had before it the above-captioned report (TCSC:2013-7) from the President and Chief Executive Officer. Miguel Avila-Velarde and John Richard Davies made verbal deputations on this matter. A discussion ensued, addressing the following matters: SIF funding recipients and benefits to TCHC residents: o Management explained that all the agencies subject to SIF funding serve the TCHC residents. o If an agency is an outsider, it has to demonstrate that it worked closely with TCHC residents and how many residents were impacted by the program/project. o Management confirmed that none of the SIF funded projects received any funding from the City (no duplication of funding). o All projects are not more than 1 year. o Management decided to discontinue funding in 2012 and 2013, and is currently contemplating other alternate sources of funding to support the residents. ON MOTION DULY MADE by Councillor Cesar Palacio, seconded by Ms. Munira Abukar, the received this report for information.

6 Page 6 of 6 PUBLIC MEETING PROCEEDINGS ON MOTION DULY MADE by Councillor Cesar Palacio, seconded by Councillor Frances Nunziata, the Services Committee adjourned the public meeting at 11:35 a.m. CLOSED MEETING PROCEEDINGS by Ms. Munira Abukar, the resolved to meet in closed meeting at 11:45 a.m. to consider items A and B. TERMINATION by Ms. Munira Abukar, the meeting of the terminated at 12:02 p.m. Secretary Chair,