MINUTES for 2020-12-08 FINAL - Laserfiche WebLink

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Veterans Advisory Committee Minutes December 8, 2020 Page 9 Gaspar: Marcia belongs to Daughters of American Revolution too. Chair Doolittle: So how we'll move forward with this, we'll put it on the agenda for the next meeting, we'll discuss it, we'll have some proposals, put a motion forward, vote on it and move it forward. Does that meet with everyone's approval? Chair Doolittle: I don't hear any objections, let's move forward. Homeless Veterans during Pandemic Emergency Chair Doolittle: This topic came about at our HIVM building site where we ended up with a large homeless community and 8 dump truck loads of junk and trash. We had no place to go with these people. Hope Services didn't want them because of the possibility of COVID infections and displacing them and evicting them from the site wasn't really the answer. We tried to dance around this for about 3 months without any resolution. The Mayor's office was involved, the police department our board of directors at HIVM. But the issue comes back up, one of the things we need to consider as an advisory to the County, how do we deal with homeless veterans, the bigger issue is how do we deal homelessness in general. It's not just veterans, we have a lot of homeless and to ignore that problem and the wider scope is irresponsible of the society. The issue of the veterans specifically because one of the squatters on our land was a veteran. I tried many different ways to try and find him a place and then he just wandered into the bush and then we lost contact with him. I don't know what we need to do or how we need to address this. But I think that's for a more in-depth discussion for our group and try to find some kind of creative solution for that. I just don't know where we go. Nahakuelua: I can add to that, when we have time. You know, as part of the social work- community, orkcommunity, let me know when you want me to go in depth with it. Chair Doolittle: it's probably a little but long for today and it's a better, it's an in-person discussion rather than this somewhat interrupted focus here. I think we need to put that on an agenda for some time in the not -too -distant future. I'd like to say February, but I don't know that we will be not in person meetings anytime in the near future. Certainly not before February. Any suggestions? Lewis: The only thing I'm thinking is that we need to be tied in with the community. They've go committees that are working, I know the churches are working it, so I'm just not sure who's the best contact. I can start making inquiries, but I think this is a big issue in our town and it is getting worse. It's affecting the bayfront stores, it used to be bad, but now its really accosting. It is getting ugly, really really ugly. Chair Doolittle: Yeah, that's a national problem as well. You're right, its kind of like what I was saying early on in this committee, there needs to be more coordination by all of the groups that have an interest in helping to solve this. As more of a select committee amongst the community representing just like we do on this committee, the churches a broader segment of the religious community, as well as the business community and the