Regular Meeting -- February 10, 2009
The Board of Directors held its regular monthly meeting at 2007 Bert Avenue, Austin, TX 78704, starting at 3 pm. The following directors (constituting a quorum of the full board) were present at the meeting: President Kathy Lee (by telephone), Treasurer Pam Chambers. and Robert Gardner. The following directors were absent: Vice President and Secretary Leslie Harvey. Robert McGarey (Executive Director) and Kathryn Ehlert were also present at the meeting.
The Mission Statement was read aloud at the beginning of the meeting. Minutes from the previous meeting were read aloud and approved as read.
Fund Raising. We discussed a possible garage sale/barbecue and a pottery bowl/chili event to gather some funding as a fundraiser. We'll have to work out the logistics.
Could we contact the Salt Lick? Robert may check into this to see if they do that sort of thing. We would need someone who's already licensed to sell food to the public. We discussed the idea of having a slow food, local restaurant do a fund raiser for the HPC. Applebees was mentioned and Robert asked someone to kick a fork through his eyeball.
Work Load. Bob is still feeling a little overwhelmed with not being here at the Center as he wants to work things off site. As he's more involved elsewhere he's concerned about the day-to-day running of the Center. Bob mentioned how we're putting ads on craigslist to find volunteers to help with clerical/computer issues and infrastructure. He's hoping this will take some of the pressure off him in the computer realm and free him up for supervising others.
AHP. Bob discussed the possibility of work with AHP on a conference including some of his classes. He's excited about the possibility about working with them to do large events that make center profit and are good for the community.
Community Shares. Bob filed the appropriate paperwork and we were approved as a member. We were included as a social justice organization and we're focused on prevention. Community signups will start in September and we could receive our first check in June of 2010. We will be responsible for at least three presentations in TX at a workplace fair.
Presentations. Bob is presenting at a poly conference in Philadelphia in the next few months. He's also been invited to the poly leaders conference. He's nervous again, about leaving the center behind to do things outside of the center.
GoodwheelChairs. Chris sold an $85 wheelchair and we're hoping for more. The GWC website needed to be updated and Bob is excited that it's looking nice. The programming is complicated and Bob is hoping to find someone to take care of things like that in the future. Bob has a lunch meeting tomorrow with Nick from the Kerring Group, who might be able to help with a mega sale for GWC where we have an ad in the paper and a larger facility to allow people to take a look at the chairs.
Finances. Financially we're at a bottleneck with finances. Our income is fluctuating with bingo revenue. On the up side, we have new interns, possible Art Barn rental and other revenue sources. Bingo is producing 3k for the month of February.
Colleen is still working on our statements for the finances. Overall we've drawn down our savings and bingo is doing well overall. AHP conference could be a large revenue stream if we could work it out. Bob is excited about the possibility of increased revenue but it's a really large project. The tumblebus has people interested and we're hoping to sell it soon as it would provide some cushion.
The mortgage isn't a good idea at the moment due to the 8-9% interest rates. Bob was encouraged to wait until the rate is closer to 6%. Our credit is still good and we're glad. The balloon payment is mentioned as a concern as we ponder the mortgage and our long term goals. We're hoping for larger scale income and possible large donations to help us on our way.
The Art Barn is being cleaned out and we're excited about having someone rent the space. We're working on getting the shed here so that we can store the extra stuff in the shed and clean out the Art Barn. Eduardo has checked with a friend and Robert has posted a truck rental ad on craigslist to hopefully rent someones car for a day to pick things up.
We received a minisplit a/c donation from craigslist via Robert and Bob. We're hoping to reroute the a/c through the activity room and it'll not blow loudly from the back porch. Our courier service did a good job in picking the item up and was very helpful.
Car. Kermit is now street legal. We've not received the title, we did get the stickers we needed for inspection and we're street legal. All has been taken care of except for the title and we're hoping it's in the mail. Kermit did break down though and we're unsure what the mechanical issues are with the car.
Shabby Chic. Shabby Chic is going well and we've finalized the move into the new office. We're cleaning up the old office space and Pam is organizing the videos that go into the storage cabinets.
The center is moving forward rapidly but not rapidly enough for Robert. All is well, though he admits his frustration with not having a truck to haul garbage and pick up supplies/donations for the center.
The yard/garden looks great and Dylan has done a wonderful job with her skills here. The grounds look better than ever. I recommend to the board that we offer Dylan a similar deal for regular work.
Eduardo is doing well and keeping in touch. He's not sure how he'll pay the rent but I reassured him that we're more interested in his helping us than his rent and we're more likely to be lenient on the issue.
Rachel is paying rent on time and doing wonderfully. Her father has helped repair a few things in her apartment and her volunteer time is mainly in fixing up her place at the moment.
Sherryl is still interested in interning here at the HPC and is keeping in contact.
We received a donation from the Natural Gardener in the amount of $50 Robert also applied for a donation from Barton Springs Nursery via email.
Since there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 4:21 pm.