2020-10-21 Youth Commission MinutesPage 1.1.1
Youth Commission Meeting Minutes 10/21/2020
Commission Members Present:
Secretary Owen Lee
Sydney Pearson
Hunter DeLeon
Brook Roberts
Grace Kamila
Jacob Sawyer
Treasurer Caitlin Chung
Finn Paynich
Brooke Rinehimer
Aaron Nateephaisan
Commission Members Absent:
Zane Marulitua
Staff Present:
Kim Anderson
Councilmembers Present:
Laura Johnson
Guest Speakers:
Mindy Woods
Amanda Zollner
I. CALL TO ORDER
Brook Roberts moved to call the meeting to order at 6:00 pm over Zoom
Owen Lee seconded that motion
Motion passed unanimously
Brook read the land acknowledgement statement
II. MINUTES - Approval of 10/7/20
Owen Lee moved to approve 10/7/20 meeting's minutes with no revisions
Jacob Sawyer seconded that motion
Motion passed unanimously
III. DISCUSSION ABOUT MINDY WOODS REGARDING HOMELESSNESS
➢ Mindy Woods is the new Human Services program Manager for the City of Edmonds
o Experienced homelessness twice herself: first time being when she had to leave
her residence due to the growth of mold, second time being when she wasn't
able to find a place to live after landlord stop accepting section 8 vouchers for
rent; in both experiences, she slept on different couches and in motels, and
during the second experience, she had to send her 18 year old son to live with
another family
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o As Director of the Human Services program, she manages the health and human
services fund from the city, and oversees the distribution of money from the
CARES act to families to help with rent, mortgages, medical care, food, etc.
➢ Before COVID-19 caused massive shutdowns, many families were living paycheck to
paycheck monthly, so COVID created a financially devastating impact that could cause
homelessness
o Most of the time, homelessness is caused by medical reasons —it is important
not to judge those who are homeless, but also listen to their story and focus on
solutions or programs that could help them
➢ Within the Edmonds School District, 21,000 kids are in the Free & Reduced Lunch
program, with about 600 of those students being homeless or facing housing instability
o Washington Kids in Transition (WKIT) is the primary organization helping these
students (from all different backgrounds) in both the Edmonds and Everett
Districts by helping with any expenses that the families of students may face,
working with the YWCA shelter to house families, and purchasing/creating
fundraisers for gift cards to gas stations, grocery stores, and clothing stores
o WKIT also provides gift cards to students as holiday gifts, allowing them to select
items that they want, so they can have a sense of normalcy
➢ Within Snohomish County, there are many other organizations that help the homeless
population directly
o Jean Kim Foundation, an organization that recognizes that education is crucial to
breaking the cycle of homelessness, runs the Lynnwood Hygiene Center (at
19726 64th Ave West, Lynnwood) which provides showers, food, and clothing to
the homeless population
■ JKF is looking for younger volunteers at the moment, please email
joan.jolly(@Rmail.com for more information about opportunities there
o Trinity Lutheran Church in Lynnwood also provides medical services, a shower
unit, and more for the homeless through a coalition between multiple groups
and organizations
➢ Equity and ensuring everyone who needs resources gets them can be achieved through
word of mouth, promoting services and programs at places where people congregate,
such as the library; information gets passed along through different groups by word of
mouth
➢ The best thing to do right now to help is to donate gift cards to organizations like WKIT;
donate food and clothes to places like the Lynnwood Hygiene Center; and volunteer (if
you are able to)
➢ Amazing willingness of taking action can be incredibly inspiring
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IV. DISCUSSION WITH AMANDA ZOLLNER REGARDING SHORELINE'S TEEN DEVELOPMENT
PROGRAM &
➢ Amanda is the Director and Supervisor of the City of Shoreline's Youth and Teen
Development program (YTDP)
➢ Before COVID-19 caused shutdowns, the YTDP partnered with the YMCA and Shoreline
School District to run a dedicated Teen Center, which was a place for youth to gather
and spend time together through playing video games, sports, and participating in day
camps —all for free
➢ While we are still in the middle of the pandemic, the YTDP offers free camp programs
for middle and high school students, following CDC guidelines, all for free
➢ Have also implemented a day program for students to complete their online school at,
again following CDC guidelines, with a cost of $230/week; has a capacity of 50 students,
with 10 spots reserved for high schoolers, 15 for middle schoolers, and the rest of
elementary students
o Realized cost created barriers, so CARES funding was used to cover the tuition
for all families who said they couldn't afford it
o Registration prioritized to families within the Shoreline School District who are
on FRLP, then to anyone who wanted to register
o Costs increased due to how in order to limit exposure to COVID, the same staff
would have to work with the same kids each week (meaning the hiring of full
time employees)
➢ YTDP also oversees the YOLO Mental Health program, a youth outreach leadership
opportunity that was created 4 years ago in response to a drop in attendance from the
regulars of the teen center (losing word of mouth promotion)
o At the same time, many other organizations were finding similar trends, so they
partnered with Community Health Services in Shoreline to bring mental health
resources to youth, as they also found that the youth lacked knowledge in
resources available to them (especially for mental health), and thus weren't
getting them
o Applied for and won grants from King County that allowed the creation of two
phases of YOLO: 1) hiring mental health therapists at the teen center, and 2)
paying youth members stipends to help in youth outreach and give feedback of
the programs, also connecting other students to resources
o Community started to recognize these programs and supported them
➢ Underserved communities are reached by using the youth outreach leaders to
communicate within schools and students; these youth leaders were committed to the
program and learning new job skills (all while being paid)
➢ In creating a program similar to YOLO, we need to figure out how to serve the youth,
and this is all through relationships with other youth members of our community
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➢ Although the schools and the Shoreline District wasn't helpful in promoting the
program, workarounds were made by specifically targeting and interviewing students
from underserved communities within those schools (such as leaders of BSUs, GSAs) and
from different high schools within Shoreline —not just Shorewood, but also Shorecrest,
to promote these programs
o Utilized the social media skillsets of the youth outreach leaders to create
Instagram page for the YTDP (with city permission), promoted through facebook
groups and news outlets
o Built meaningful relationships with School Administrators over time through
student connections, in order to ultimately get them to promote these
programs; also had graduating outreach leaders recommend other students to
take their place in order to have continuity in school relationships and
promotions
➢ Current YOLO program has a new therapist, so relationships are being formed and
transferred
o Therapist offers drop in hours on Monday, Wednesday & Friday, with sessions
relating to COVID, anxiety, depression, and coping with events
o Also looking at having another therapist at the Teen Center for students who
have high needs
➢ Recommend looking at other organizations to partner with such as Verdant or
Snohomish Health District to bring contracted therapists to Edmonds youth (also saves
money for the city)
V. HEALTH & HUMAN SERVICES BUDGET PROPOSAL
➢ Primary focus of this year will be on supporting the increase of mental health and
homelessness resource access for youth, a combined priority
➢ Knowing that the proposed $500k towards Health & Human Services can always fluxate
by the time that the Council pases the budget, we should look into collaborating with
the Snohomish County Health District and Verdant Health to bring these resources to
youth, in addition to applying for grants, which could be a major source of funding
➢ Councilmember L. Johnson: important to keep in mind that the Council will only approve
the budget amount, not what is actually spent —the resources are dependent on the
administrative aspect
o Good place to start is to make sure that School Counselors can be available for
students, including one-on-one sessions to talk about stressors, or also bringing
therapists to schools
■ Currently, Counselors are busy helping seniors with their college
admissions, so their schedules are packed as of mid -October
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o Press the Edmonds School District on extending the counseling office hours and
increasing availability at schools (virtually)
o Look at programs through the Senior Center and see how they've targeted their
primary demographic (seniors) through programs aimed towards then, and take
what they've used —including what did/didn't work —and apply it to our future
projects when targeting Edmonds' youth
VI. POLICE CHIEF INTERVIEW
➢ Mayor Nelson has asked the Youth Commission to select a representative to ask
questions during the interview of candidates for Edmonds' Police Chief position
o Hunter, Caitlin, Owen, Sydney, and Brooke are all potential representatives for
the Youth Commission; vote will be held via email
➢ Questions were framed in a way that was difficult, but could also be answered by
outsider candidates are listed:
o How will you respond to any event of peaceful protest (racial injustice, LGBTQ,
etc.), and would you make an effort to protect the protestors?
o What kind of accountability measures are you intending to keep, enforce, or
implement?
o Will you be able to offer equal services for all parts of Edmonds?
o What do you want to change the most about the current Police department
based on the demographics of Edmonds?
o What will be your approach to addressing mental health issues within our
community, from the police perspective?
o How will you ensure that all internal reports of racial bias or excessive use of
force are properly addressed and that there will be accountability within the
department?
o What training or experience do you have that makes you a qualified candidate
for this position?
o How will you develop relationships with the diverse community members of
Edmonds?
VII. FINAL COMMENTS
➢ Kim: make sure to download GroupMe and send phone number to Brook Roberts if you
haven't already, please submit your vote for the officer positions if you haven't already,
and keep an eye out for an email regarding a vote for the Youth Commission's
Representative on the Police Chief interview panel
VII. ADJOURNMENT
Secretary Owen Lee motioned to adjourn the meeting at 7:37 pm
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Brook Roberts seconded that motion
Meeting adjourned