001[Music] Hey, hey, hey. [Music] go ahead and get started and we will start by saying the pledge of allegiance. [Music] I pledge algiance to the flag of the United States of America and to the republic for which it stands. One nation under God, indivisible, with liberty and justice for all. >> Do I have any volunteers to say the Evening prayer. Anyone? I do not want to leave this on me. Okay. Anyone going [Music] twice? [Music] >> Does that fall on the person leading the >> Yes. [Music] Okay. Everybody ready? [Music] Okay. Lord, thank you for this moment. Please cover us um with guidance. Uh help us steady with steady hearts. Remind us that all that we do is for the will of Union County. Give us strength, wisdom, and grace in Jesus name. Amen. Okay.
002Can we I'm going to say that's it first. Um can we have a motion to adopt to review the minutes >> to review the minutes from the last meeting. >> Do I have a second? >> Okay. [Music] >> All in favor say I. >> Thank you. >> Any opposed? Okay. And motion to approve the agenda. Okay. And now, can I have a motion to approve the agenda? >> I make a motion to approve the agenda. >> Okay. Do I have a second? >> Second. >> Okay. All in favor say I. >> I. Any oppose? Okay. All right. Good evening. So, tonight for the executive director's report, I would like to review with you all the process for consolidated human services board applications and ask you all to consider what we are proposing and then uh
003either approve it or make suggestions for us to make edits. And then when we come back to you with the rules and procedures in January, we'll incorporate this. But um so currently all of the applications that come to the human services board are added to the next month's agenda and once they're received by us uh during that meeting, you all review them and discuss them and determine whether or not to conduct interviews. In the last year and a half or two years, we've pretty much made the decision to consistently conduct interviews. And I'm listening to your feedback, it seems that it makes the most sense, regardless of whether there are multiple candidates for a position or not, for there to be at least a couple of questions to be asked of each candidate. And so,
004um, we wanted to bring something formal to y'all so that we could maybe put that into place. So I will just read to you what we're proposing and then uh you let us know what your feedback is. So to ensure a more consistent timing process, we would like to propose the following approach and that is when applications are received for an open or vacant position, the human services board chair will email the human services board with the applicant information for vacancies. And then you all the board members will designate a minimum of two members to complete the interview process at least one of which would be a member of the consolidated human services executive committee which is the chair the vice chair or the additional executive committee member. Now it could be as many of
005you as you'd like. Um although if we have a quorum then uh that does set forth a different set of procedures but it can be as many of you as as we would like that as you'd like to have participate. Uh and then once y'all identify who those people are that will serve the clerk which is Carla Souls will work with the executive committee representative and the other members to coordinate the interviews with the applicants and um But then uh those interviews would take place virtually and then be placed on the full agenda for review and discussion by the full board. And if the panel interview occurs at least one week prior to the next scheduled meeting, so for instance, if it occurred by last Monday, then we would place it on this Monday's agenda.
006And if it occurs sooner than that or closer to the next meeting than that, we would place it on the following month's agenda. and y'all would consider them as normal and then if you vote to move uh any of the applications forward, we would take them to the full board of county commissioners. I only have one question about it. The interview or the applicants that come in, does everybody on the advisory board have the opportunity to view the application? And I guess something would go out that you would send and say, "Okay, we have an applicant coming out. Who wants to conduct the interview and everybody has the opportunity to participate in the interview?" >> We can certainly do both of those things. Yes, absolutely. Um, and I think that that makes sense. So, we
007could pre-desate uh in terms of if you wanted to select two people that would just always do it, but it absolutely would work to do it individually each time as well. Uh just knowing that we would need at least two people that said yes, we'll participate. And so, if there were people that wanted to do it and then we send it out to everyone, we could do that and then send it and say, "Does anyone else want to participate in this?" That also would be an option. >> Yeah, I think that's good. in the sense that it doesn't take away from anyone on the advisory board too. Oh, sorry. I would um vote to just make sure that everybody on the advisory board at least had an opportunity to participate where it just wasn't like,
008oh, chair and vice chair, you conduct everything. That way, everybody's a part of it that wants to be Do you guys have any other thoughts about the process? So the revision here then would be that we will email out the applications. Uh you guys will determine amongst yourselves who will participate and indicate that and then we'll do that for all of them. And if y'all could I guess vote on that now, that would be correct. >> Can I get a motion to approve >> the application process? >> Motion. >> Can I get a second? Okay. Motion. All in favor say I. >> I. >> All oppose. Okay. Motion is passed. Excellent. Thank you all. Tracy, I think you are next would be Delta Dental Foundation. >> You can support our um grant application to the
009Delta Dental Foundation for a for a grant of up to $5,000 to support community dental care for children through their Smiles for Kids grant program. The public health uh dental clinic uh in uni county is requesting approval to apply for these funds to support and expand our dental care services for children who have financial challenges and so that they can receive the necessary care. We would anticipate with these funds to serve 25 approximately 25 to 30 children um with the funding. So it's it's uh very worthwhile. Any questions that I can answer? >> Why wouldn't you do it? >> It's a good question. It's a good question. We have applied for the grant funds a number of times and always received it. Um, so it's it's been very beneficial to our dental clinic in the
010past and we hope it will continue to be. So, um, this will then go to the board of county commissioners for review and and approval to apply and receive the funds. Any other questions? Okay, I think I have the next one too this evening. We have Katrina Cruz with us. Katrina comes with comes to us from Western Carolina University. Uh talked to her this evening. She drove 7 hours to get here, although she's, you know, she's from Union County, but she goes to school, Western Carolina, and she is going to provide a presentation this evening about her internship experience um with Union County Environmental Health. So, take it away, Katrina. >> Good afternoon. I hope everyone's doing well. So, my name is Katrina, obviously, and today I'm going to tell you guys about my internship.
011So, we're going to talk about me, obviously. We're going to talk about kneehip, the third party organization that we worked with, my host site, day-to-day activities, my final project, and kind of just reflect on everything that this helped me with. So, about me, I'm Nut Cruz, which you've heard like a million times already. I go to Western Carolina. It's a great mountain college. It's about four hours from here. I'm double majored in environmental health and bio. The WCU's environmental health program is really extensive. is actually one of the best in the nation and they work a lot with having us work in the community and one way they do this is by requiring that we do a 400 hour internship. So I reached out to NIH which stands for National Environmental Health Association. Uh a
012lot of people have probably heard of NIH before. It works with not only students but scholars. They I've worked with them previously. I'm one of the five national scholarship winners. So I was really happy to work with them again. They have a private sector that's called Mihip and it only focuses on internships. I reached out to them because I really they have a bunch of different opportunities you can do online, in person, hybrid, and they can send you like across the country. I knew that I wanted to be near home because of prior commitments. And then I also knew that I wanted an in-person scholarship uh internship, sorry. The only problem is that there wasn't one near me. So, we reached out to Union County Health Department and it was so great. They agreed to
013host me. I was so happy and I got to work with Charlotte who's just been really great. I did an inerson internship and it's about 30 minutes from my house so it wasn't too bad. I um got to work with Charlotte a lot a lot of hands-on activities. I had discussed with her during the interview process that I wasn't really sure what I wanted to do in environmental health yet. So she really helped me explore every area of environmental health which was such a good opportunity for me to kind of clear my focus because I am a junior. So I'll be graduating next December. On the daytoday, I did a few different things. During the first month, I got to rotate in between child care and on-site water protection, which was really fun. I got
014to work with a lot of great people like um Christy and FLI, who was just great, and then um Haley and on-site water protection. They were all great. It was a really good team there and they really helped me answer a lot of questions that I had. I got to see what it was like to really be there. It's one thing to learn in the classroom. It's a whole another thing to actually see how it works and it was so much fun and I had a great time. I also worked on the mosquito control web page during the interview process. I talked to Charlotte and she really wanted to start a vector education program which I think is great. I work in vectors next semester. So I'm really excited about that. But a lot of
015people don't know what vectors is. So we decided to start small and do a mosquito web page which I got to do all by myself. Well, I worked with Nicole obviously in communications. She's also a really great she taught me a lot and we got to work on the web page together. I um here it is. It was a video, but it doesn't work. So, I'm sorry about that. But if you'd like to look at it, it's underneath healthy homes on the Union County web page. It talks a lot about different mosquitoes that you can see in Union County, different ways you can track. It talks about our mosquito dunks that you can get for free. uh which was there's a lot of information, a lot of good websites that I think will really help
016the Union County community. Uh this is a kind of a big problem. Um and so I like that there's a lot of information and I hope that it helps raise awareness in any way that we can and hopefully we can move forward with the vector education program later on once we can kind of spread that around a little bit more. Overall, this was just great. I learned a lot of challenges that you can face in environmental health. Um, and I got to kind of clear my focus. I have decided that after graduation I want to work in FLI for a bit. Overall, my main focus, my main final goal is to work in water conservation and protection. So hopefully that happens. But I would really like to work in FLI for a while. I think
017I came in with a kind of bad attitude about it, but um, you all's environmental health program has such a good team and they showed me that it you can work with the community and be on their side. is not you against the community, but it's you and the community facing a problem together. And I just want to thank all of you guys for giving me the opportunity to do that. I'm really happy that I got that and it was a great experience and I learned so much from it. So, thank you for inviting me today and telling you about it. Does anyone have any questions? >> What's a mosquito dunk? >> A mosquito dunk is it it's something that helps you a lot of times with like water. It can they can collect around
018water, standing water, and so mosquito dunks kind of help eliminate that problem. I think I'm not totally sure on exactly what they are. I my focus isn't in vectors yet, so I'm not totally sure, but I know that it has to do with helping eliminate mosquitoes in your yard around standing water. And they um are free at the environmental health in the environmental health office. You can pick them up. >> Does anyone else have >> any other questions? Charlotte, did you have any >> say it's a larvaide? >> That's right. >> A larvaide kills the larvas. >> Just the larvae only. It's BTI, so it's not non-toxic. It's a natural occurren organism that the little mosquito larvas, the wigs before they get to become adults, you know. So, it's still water that you can't dump,
019you know, a pond, watering station for livestock, things like that. >> Okay. Randy in my neighborhood, they have uh we we have an effort to control mosquitoes and we have a good uh water and they call them buckets of doom. And so you can just get like a little bucket of water basically and you take a dump and you drop it in there. Actually only maybe a quarter of a dunk and and the mosquitoes love it and it really does help. So for for future summers, it's a really handy thing to to know about. >> And where do you pick them up at? like here >> at the Union County Environmental Health Office. >> Okay. >> Yeah. >> I have a creek that runs behind my house, so the mosquitoes in my backyard are awful.
020So, I'm glad to know about this. >> There's a lot of information on our mosquito. >> Thank you. >> So, you know, it's so great to have Katrina and she was such a she made such an impact on the environmental health uh division there. um she wasn't just there to sit and you know take up space and she was very interested in going out into the field and learning things from the staff. She plugged in. She she just rode along and was really open to the work that we did and really like in my conversations with her appreciated that we aren't just rule enforcers but to your point we we really want to engage with um the folks that we are regulating so that they understand what we're doing and why. And it was also
021special cuz she kind of got plugged in over here in public health a little bit and did some outry outreach work and Katrina's mom actually works in human services. She's a public health supervisor and leads our clinical assistance. So that made it extra special too. So wanted to present Katrina with a certificate for her work this past summer and let her know how much we appreciate her >> and just got you a little little gift. Well, it's my birthday in a few days. Hi, good evening everyone. My name is Michelle Marano. I'm the director of veteran services. While we get our slides up and running, you may not know this, but not only am I director, but I'm a military spouse. My husband is US Army retired. He served 21 and a half years. Um
022he was one of the first um convoys to move from Kuwait to Baghdad in 2003 and he served in that combat war for 14 months, 14 very long months. Um and I'm going to actually give this to Robert for him to introduce himself. Robert Turner has joined me today. >> Well, good evening. For those of you that don't know me, I am Robert Turner. I am one of the uh veteran services officers uh from Union County. I'm accredited with the North Carolina Department. This is going to get kind of long. I'm I'm accredited with the North Carolina Department of Military Veteran Affairs, the American Legion, the Veteran of Foreign Wars, the Disabled American Veterans, and the National Association of County Veteran Service Officers. I have been uh trained as far as uh basic entitle basic
023eligibility for veterans, advanced eligibility for veterans and advanced appeal process which we just recently got to to start. So we started about uh 8 10 months ago. So it's been a very great program. Glad we were doing it at our level now. Um, I get up every morning to do this work because I believe that uh, every veteran deserves and an advocate who understands what they've been through and can help them navigate the VA system. My goal is to make sure that no veteran ever feels forgotten and that every claim is developed with care and they get the benefits that they've earned through their service in the country. That's me. >> We're going to switch back and forth. Yeah. So, sorry. Thank you. >> I'm going to try not to read the slides, but I
024will read our mission statement to you. It is to provide Union County veterans and their families access to federal, state, and county benefits and entitlements based on their services in the United States Armed Forces and auxiliary services. Also, I hope to not use too many acronyms, but you know, there are a lot of acronyms, so I will try not to use a lot of acronyms. just have a short video for you to watch. My name is Michelle Mariano and I'm the director of the county veteran services. I am here to serve our veterans in the county. I'm a spouse. My husband is the veteran retired army. We do claims processing. We help them find their benefits, see what they're eligible for, and help them process their claims from the minute they walk in the door
025until they >> I am the admin assistant here at Union County Veteran Services. I feel like the people that I'm helping are very deserving and also very thankful for the services they receive. It feels good to be helping people and when you leave your job at the end of the day feeling fulfilled >> because there are a lot of veterans out there that um going through financial crisis um have disabilities that they're can't they can't get help for because they're not working so they can receive the health care if we get them into the VA system then we can actually get them compensation for the disability they receive while they're in and then also get them healthare on the other end as well. It's hard to put into words, right? Like what we do on
026a daily basis and and the gratification that we feel every day knowing that a veteran is moving forward through the VA process and knowing that we're critical and moving them forward in that process. >> You need to go to the BSO in the county that you reside in. But I tell people if they're in a different county to seek out those veteran service officers. It's it's a huge asset uh that a lot of veterans don't take advantage of. >> We are here to help them with their claims, answer their questions, help maneuver through the process. We're we're here to account and love the veterans. They're so sweet and so caring and they're so thankful to have us here to help them with the process because it's such a difficult process to maneuver. [Music] Shout out
027to Nicole for helping us with that video. And Jordan, where did he go? Is he gone? We're just going to do a quick overview about what we do because we do a lot. Um, in the military, there's a term called a one-stop shop. So, we kind of make a joke that we're the one-stop shop because we basically do what what a veteran whatever a veteran needs help with, that that's what we're here to do. Uh, we do an overview of veterans benefits. Every time a new veteran comes in, we kind of do a brief overview of the things that they could be eligible for. Um the next three bullets are starred because we call them the top three claims. So we do um primarily disability claims, healthcare applications, and pension claims. And we're going to
028go into those in a little bit more detail. We also do surviving spouse claims. We help retired military and their spouses, which is an entire different set of government agencies that we help with. We have to know about track care, how they get their ID cards renewed. Um, Defense Finance and Accounting Service, which is the agency that handles retired military pay. We work with the veteran from the minute they come in our door until they pass away. And then when they pass away, we also help their spouses. So, we help with the barrel arrangements. If they weren't presented a flag at the service, we present the flag to them. Um, we help them order their marker. We had one instance where a veteran had completed suicide and the family wasn't ready to receive the flag
029at the service. So, we had that in our office. That was quite a humbling and and sound experience. Um, so I wish that everyone could come work in our office with us for just an hour or a day if you can spare it to see everything that we do. Um, the education claims we don't do a lot of anymore because the VA is pushing digital and most of the veterans that exit the military now do their education claims online. Um, we are one of few counties in North Carolina that provide transportation to and from the VA clinics and their VA approved civilian care appointments and that is all county funded. Um, Teresa Torres from Union County Transportation helps us with that. We have a internal contract and they run the van but they make the
030appointment through us so that we can verify their veteran status and it's free of charge to the veteran. We're also very closely knitted with the community agencies here in Union County. We refer to them constantly and consistently. Um hopefully to make sure that we're we are that one-stop shop. So if we don't know the answer to the question, we're going to find you someone that can help you. >> Disability claims. So disability compensation is a tax-free benefit uh paid to veterans for their injuries, illnesses and conditions that they incurred um in or aggravated when while in service. Um to file this um first we do an eligibility determination. They um there's an honorable they can be other than honorable as well and the VA will make a decision to determine if it's honorable for VA
031purposes which um can be a great benefit for veterans but they need to come see us. We'll fill out the claim form. We'll get a copy of the DD214. We'll uh make sure they have supporting medical evidence um which is critical to make sure they have a complete claim. As we said, we can't guarantee a successful claim, but I can guarantee that that a complete claim is going to go up and we're going to give you your best go forward. Um, and yet they can receive um benefits. So, if they're service connected, which means somebody who jumped out of planes has a knee injury, has arthritis, the VA says, "Yep, jumping out of planes caused that," then they could be eligible for additional benefits. So there's VA healthcare, they could be eligible for adaptive housing,
032um how vehicle grants, uh life insurance, and uh dependent benefits, property tax exemption, those sort of things from the state. Pension claims are a little different. They're not like we think of you'll tell somebody pension like, oh, it's a retirement plan. Well, for the VA, it's a needsbased program. It's for wartime veterans. And wartime meaning they had to serve during the period. they didn't actually have to deploy. So there's u permanently and totally disabled qualify. So if they're through social security they're receiving a DBI SSDI then they'll may be eligible for pension program from the initial start and then 65 or older is the um the second or criteria not an and criteria. the uh spouses can also block in the event of the passing of the veteran. A lot of times these benefits are
033used when they're admitted into long-term care facilities where it eats up the mo most of their uh finances if not all. Then they'll be eligible for this program as long as they meet the criteria and that can pro provide up to $2,000 a month extra for them to pay their bills and pay for care. Um, and this do take about 8 to 12 months. I've had the one actually, I don't brag on myself a little, but I had one come back in one day. Couple more that's come back in a few days and a week. Um, but typically they're going to take 6 to 12 months. Um, that's the main points for VA pension claims. Again, not retirement, a needsbased program. uh surviving surviving spouse claims, which are probably one of our most difficult claims
034to do. Um as a a veteran dies and a spouse comes in to apply for benefits, they're already going through so much with every with everything that's going on, the other organizations they're trying to work with. Uh we try to take a lot of that off of them. So we help them determine if they're eligible for DIC, which is dependency indemnity compensation, which is a monthly allotment where if the veteran passed away from a service connected condition, so Vietnam veterans, there's a lot of presumptives, but if Vietnam veteran passes away from diabetes, if it was a contributing factor, then the spouse would be eligible for DIC, which currently right now is 16 16 and some change a month. Um, so that's that's an extra bit of income that they wouldn't have had because when the
035veteran passes away, if they were 100% they're getting over $4,000 at this point. That's a huge huge loss in income that they're used to having. So they uh one of the toughest times, but we're always glad to help. It's so so we're so grateful that we're able to help in that capacity uh when it comes to that in a time where they need help and the pension provides as well for survivors pension. So um go ahead. Sorry. So, healthcare applications, uh, my thing that I always say is yes, disability compensation helps with the financial burden, but if we're not solving the root of the problem, then are we really doing anything for the veteran? Um, health care is the most important thing that we can give veterans in my opinion. a lot of them suffer
036from severe mental health conditions, physical uh conditions and they need that support. Um and we that's what I'd like to provide people with. So healthc care for me is something I push. Um once they're once they receive a service connection, they're automatically guaranteed VA healthcare. Depending on their percentage, it may be limited, but they are into the program at that point. It is an incomebased program as well. So that's the most important thing to notice. So for instance, a family a veteran who's married, their household income cannot their gross household income cannot be more than $50,000 a year. So and again that's a household gross income. Um so it it it can be difficult to get in if you don't meet those requirements, which is obviously why we try to do the disability compensation first
037and say, "Hey, let's get this get your foot in the door with VA healthcare. Um but yeah, as Michelle stated earlier, we are one of the few counties that provide transportation um to the VA healthcare clinics. So that's a that's a plus and we obviously have a lot of veterans who use that and who need that. Um so that's a great benefit for our veterans of the county. >> One of the other reasons why we push the VA healthcare application is because the the veteran will get free eyelasses every two years. And then also if they pass their hearing test, they get free hearing aids, which are top-of-the-line, Bluetooth compatible. They're almost $10,000 for the hearing aid. So the priority groups, which are a little bit complicated to explain, but one through five are disability
038ratings. Six are special categories like P, purple heart. Um, seven and eight are income based. So there have been times very very rare I think one time in the time that I've been here which is 17 years um they've closed seven and eight for um population control. That's not the right word I'm looking for but seven and eight can be closed at any time but one through six are never closed. So if seven and eight are closed and you're already applied and you're already in your grandfather but they accept no new applications. That happens rarely. But it is a possibility that they can deny veterans healthc care coverage, which is a shame because when they sign up for the military, they're told they'll have healthcare for the rest of their lives. And that's changed >>
039one of Are you talking? >> Okay, go. >> So, one of the measures that we look at is a VA report. that's distributed every year and that's the um geographical distribution of expenditures. The the main one that we look at typically is compensation and pension. So that's the amount that is coming into I say it's coming into the county because it all the veterans combined are bringing in for instance uh fiscal year 24 they brought in $92 million to the community. So, of all the veterans we have who are receiving disability compensation, $92 million is coming into the community for that. Um, and then the DIC that I spoke of earlier for surviving spouses, they're bringing in $6 million um a year collectively. So, so their total expenditures really for um Union County expenditures for
040the government to us is 98 o over 98 million a year. It it it really helps put into perspective on what we do um and why it's important not just for the veteran but the county as well. >> And the thing that I wanted to point out about this slide is that we compare ourselves with Union Cabaris and Gaston. They are approximately the same size as we are as far as veteran service office. We all have um all of us have three or four veteran service officers and one director. So look at the numbers. We're all at about like 10, 11, and 13 and they fluctuate a little bit. You know, Vietnam veterans are dying off. We don't help the Gulf War and the OAF OEF veterans as much as we do the elderly. Um,
041but I want you to look at also Meckllinburgg. Mecklberg is one of three top um offices in our state. They're the biggest. So, we're looking at Meckllinburgg, Coverland, and Wake. Meckllinburgg has approximately 47,000 veterans that they serve. These are again through the GDX population. They have 17 service officers. The money that we bring in on Union County is more I think than what member brings in >> Per capita. Yeah. So the work that we're doing on a daily basis with our three VSOs, even though I am an accredited VSO, I do not see as many clients as the VSOs that see them all day long. So the Three of them bring in just as much money as the 17 in Meckllinburgg County. So hands off and hats off to my PSOS who do great work
042in our office. So something else that really caught my attention is that the projected the VA gives projections of populations exactly what this is. Every other county declines in numbers while we incline. So, we're we're increasing our numbers of veterans while other counties are decreasing the number of veterans. So, um I don't know if they're losing that fast. I like to think we're doing something better than they are. >> Of course they are. >> And also, it's just, you know, it's it's a sad statistic that the majority of clients we help right now are Vietnam veterans and they are passing away. And so because of the technologically advanced Gulf War era veterans, the VA considers Gulf War era from 1993 forward. They don't separate it into the different wars. Um they they don't need our
043help as much. Um we're there to help them if if they need it, but they're, you know, techsavvy. They do it on their phone. They upload their stuff themselves. Um so that just kind of gives you an indicator of the number of the number of veterans. And again, that's to me that's not a true depiction of the veterans in Union County because these are just the veterans that are receiving money from the VA that are tracked by the VA. There are many more veterans that we help on a daily basis that just have questions or, you know, need their grandfather D214 because they want to do some research, that sort of thing. I haven't asked for questions yet. Do I do that at the end? Anyone have any questions so far? So, performance measures. Um,
044I'm going to be completely honest. I am more of a quality versus quantity type of director. I don't like to put numbers on things. Um, the it's even hard for me to talk about, but on a daily basis, we have a gazillion phone calls that that we take. I would say roughly 30 to 40 each BSO every day. Robert 38 today. Um, and then in the middle of the phone calls, we're seeing clients and doing the admin work of the claims. Um, you can jump in. Robert's like math guru numbers bring um I I feel like I don't know what to say on this slide, but we're doing the work. >> We are we are doing the work and I think a lot of it is part of our reporting. changed. We're trying to use
045VBS, which is our our web based software that we've been using for three years, trying to maximize its capability to help us with reports. So, some of the numbers may be skewed a little bit and it's skewed in the in the lesser direction versus the the higher direction. Um, so there's I would say there's probably more than that going on. Um, and we do I had four I had four client appointments today. Each were an hour and a half long and I have 38 phone calls that I had to respond to. So we are it's it's a lot but again we love what we do. >> We are also trying to track emails because as the generation gets younger older the Gulf War generation um they're more email savvy. So we're trying to track the
046emails as well. We're still working on that process. Some information about our budget. We are a small budget. Um our our total expended budget for fiscal year 25 was 5887. We had 6285 budgeted. So we gave back to the county approximately 39,000. Um it's kind of a joke in the office. I don't know if I think it's funny, but they tell me I don't want to spend money, which I don't. I'm very frugal personality wise. So, it's hard for me to spend money. Um, but one one thing that is exciting is that um well, I'm one slide ahead of myself. Um, this is fiscal year 26 projected. We've spent 112 of our projected 633 of our budgeted 633. We also carry three retirees in that budget. So, keep that in mind. That's uh healthcare expenses
047and pensions for three retirees in that 633. Great news. First time we've been offered a grant by the North Carolina Division of Military and Veterans Affairs. That's such a long title. Um they are actually our accrediting agency. So it's very nice that they um have given us the opportunity for a grant. We applied for the first grant and we received 188 and we've spent as much as we possibly can. Again, if anybody has any ideas, please throw them my way because I don't spend many money. Well, um, we were just given the opportunity to apply again for another grant. Um, rumor has it that the new secretary of the VA came in and found money that wasn't being spent, so she offered it to the VSOs, which is great. you had to meet their qualifications,
048which was um under eight accredited service officers within the region that you're in um and be able to spend it within their time frame, which was very short. Um we did get an extension because it was supposed to be spent by the end of September and there's no way we could have done that. Um, but just to give you some idea of some things that we purchased, um, an amplifier system for our ceremonies that we hold usually outside at the air show. Um, we got flag spreaders, which are very cool. They make your flags look so pretty. Um, Jackie, you'll be happy to know we also got Space Force flags. We had new ch the one of the specifics of the grant was that you ha it has to be for client services. So, we
049bought new client chairs and new lobby chairs. And then we got a new table expander and there's numerous other things that we're still working on to purchase just from the first grant. Any questions so far? One of the great things that we love to do in our community is attend the veterans coffees. And I'm going to extend an invitation to any of you that would like to come. Um there are five in our community. Um, Lee Park stopped for a while, but they're the third Saturday, and they're picking back up again. Um, SPCC's is the second Wednesday. Major Post 535 is the second Tuesday. Wax is the fourth Thursday and Monroe at the Basemore Center is the first Wednesday. And these all provide free breakfast, free coffee. And our big joke is, you know, if
050you follow all of them, you get five free breakfasts a month. So, they really love that. But more importantly, they love the camaraderie that they get because these are all like-minded people that they can connect with. And every coffee has a speaker that has something to do with the veteran community or something that's beneficial to the veteran. And as schedule permits, one of us goes to every coffee I do have this flyer. It's in your packet, but if anyone would like it as a flyer, I can email that out to you as well. We have it updated. That was when Lee Park wasn't doing it, so we took it off, but we'll be putting it back on. We are located at the historic post office in downtown across from the government center and the judicial
051center. We just got new carpet and new paint and we are getting new client chairs. So we are look at spiffy. Um Monday to Friday we do operate by appointment only just because what we do takes so long. Sometimes it can be an hour and a half to two hours to complete an application and we don't want people sitting in the lobby that long. Now I think I can ask any question. >> I have a question. >> Yes ma'am. What you said secretary of VA is that for the state or is that person local for the state? >> Thank you very much. Any updates or comments that anyone would like to provide? business operations has been doing two projects, excuse me, for human services. The C the C continuity of operations plan that the county
052took on was assigned to the departments um I think back in July initially and we've turned all of those in to um Sarah with the county. She's our disaster recovery person. And so we'll be moving forward with that. And the opioid strategic planning initiative um was started as well. In September, we had the kickoff meeting and Janet and Stephanie did a presentation from the commissioners. And then we've since had a kickoff meeting with the work group in September and the first one in October. The next one will be October 22nd with two more meetings closing out the year. Then we should have a recommendation to go back to the board with um later in the springtime after the planning process concludes. All right. Um our Christmas bureau applications opened. Uh we are doing something a
053little different this year. We are doing applications online. Uh and we've asked uh anyone who would like to receive gifts to upload documents. So, proof of residency, proof of income because we do have an income cutoff for that. Um, we were taking phone calls in the past, obtaining all of that information, but we're just trying to streamline the process. So, that opened up on October 6th and closes on November 14th. Uh, and so far we've we've received about 200 applications so far. Um, and it's only been open for about a week. So, we expect a lot more. In addition, um I'm trying to get the um flyer to everyone, but I have the community health assessment. I know I presented that or stated the county health report, I'm sorry, a couple of weeks or months
054ago, but if you have not received it, there's there's some up here. Um so, please make sure to get a copy. Uh so, two things. one uh for transportation. I just want to give them a shout out and give Nicole a shout out for some of the excellent work that is being done from a communications perspective. We're going to be featured in the Business View magazine. It is online and in print and it's nationwide in an article that hopefully will come out in December of 2025 and so we will certainly share that with you when that happens. But um pretty cool. They actually reached out to us which is even cooler. I think um and it's gonna be a good article hopefully. Hopefully we'll make the front page too. We'll see. But uh they did
055some fancy some fancy photography work. So um we'll we'll see how that plays out. And then the other thing we are slated to meet in November and not in December but at this point two things and we talked a little bit about this uh last time after the meeting but Veterans Day is on Tuesday and uh so the meeting would be Monday night and I know a lot of people have to hear then let me know that and otherwise we'll communicate to you in regard to uh a potential cancellation of that. Hello everyone. I'm here for Ashley Lince and I am going to provide updates for economic services and our social works program. For economic services, they're gearing up for their federal marketplace open to have a good plan in place for the influx applications.
056Medicaid and the food and nutrition programs are meeting timeliness. The call center is working wonderfully and has allowed staff to work cases. Uh we have received notice that North Carolina food and nutrition participants will receive their October funds, but we have not heard anything regarding the coming months if the shutdown continues. There are currently no vacancies in food and nutrition and there is five vacancies in Medicaid. As far as social work programs, child welfare services, um the intake and assessments for childare services, they began a statewide system called PANC. Um that began on October the 6. So that roll out beyond foster care. Um there was three vacancies in foster care last month. Um those have been filled. They're waiting on their final offer letters. And currently there are three social worker vacancies in the
057chapter services investigations department. And um two of those have candidates of choice. >> Can I just ask how she's recovering? how she's doing >> actually. >> Yeah. She's she actually had a death in her family, so she's out tonight. Okay. Um or today and tomorrow for that, but she's recovering excellently and is actually back at work uh with a brace, but but back at work and going strong and Teresa actually wasn't able to make it tonight. So, um you all know that we've transitioned to propane for some of our vehicles. And so they're actually doing a training tonight uh with the fire to be able to help make sure that I guess putting out a fire or having an issue that you have to address with a vehicle that uses propane is different than gasoline.
058And so they're working on those processes with them, which is I have a correction. I said golf war date wrong. It's from 1990 forward. Thank you. >> Um I was just going to mention a um a training that occurred this past Friday. It was a long-term care symposium um that public health participated with emergency preparedness, um emergency management, the fire marshall's office in the county and also city of Monroe. We had a a pretty good participation. 20 individuals came, multiple uh facilities were there. Um so it was just a way to share information, help them to better understand what the requirements are, understand some of the background of why those requirements are in place so we can um keep that very vulnerable population safe uh moving forward. So, it was a really uh a wonderful
059event, lots of participation, lots of great questions and uh we hope to build on that in the future. But um just wanted to share that that took place last Friday. >> Thank you for sharing tonight. Thank you guys. Thank you. If there's nothing further, do we have a motion to adjurnn? >> Do we have a second? >> Second. >> All in favor? >> All oppose. Have a good night and the rest of the week. Sorry. [Music]