C.R.I.M.E. 03/23/2017
03/23/2017 C.R.I.M.E. Goal Leaders Committee
Present: Donna Grubbs, Larry Schmitz, Ellyn Tilburg, Norman Rush, Bishop Kermit Jones, Sue
Wills
Place: NNPD Headquarters, 9710 Jefferson Avenue, Training Room
Call to Order: 6:24 PM, Bishop Kermit Jones
Prior to Call to Order:
Sue Wills (NNPD): Made the request that goal leaders take the time to email their goal group's
next meeting date, time, and place directly to her when it becomes known rather than relying
on her to keep track of monthly meeting patterns or read through the minutes from the last
meeting. This will save her some time.
ACTION ITEM: Goal Leaders will e-mail their upcoming meeting date, time and place to Sue
Wills at [email protected] upon setting.
Goal Group 2
Norman Rush (G2): Goal 2 is losing one of their co-chairs because of personal reasons. Ms.
Wills indicated she would contact RDHA to see whether they have any other members who
could step up and fill the slot.
There was no DHS survey data available for the targeted area of Courthouse Green, so the team
members decided to use the ABCD data, which provides a section entitled "What would you
like to learn". 19 vendors have been identified so far as attendees for the "resource fair" area
of the Courthouse Green event. (Goal 2 is working in tandem with Goal 3 for this upcoming
"Neighborhood Connections" event). A date still needs to be set. May would be ideal.
The group was meeting once a month over the holiday season, but now that they are readying
for another resource fair, they are back to their old schedule of meeting every two weeks.
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New Brochure
A draft of the revised C.R.I.M.E. brochure was passed out and input received. There was one
typo identified that needed to be changed, and several recommended changes due to a change
in goal name (addressed as a new business item here).
ACTION ITEM: Sue Wills will make the recommended changes to the brochure update.
Goal Group 1
Bishop Jones asked Ellyn Tilburg (G1) about the project with the Newport News Public School
students in the targeted grades. The group is waiting for goal chair Lori Lorenz to get the final
video to everyone after which time they plan to meet with School Board Member, Doug Brown,
to get his input and assistance. They are also working with Brian, who is a member of NNPS
administration.
Goal Group 3
Donna Grubbs (G3): The March 18th Community Gathering (Neighborhood Connector) event
was held, and they had 3 individuals from Courthouse Green who came forward and expressed
their interest in helping with the upcoming Spring event. Tim Bowden of Virginia Transitions
Tidewater Services has volunteered to organize the event. The residents of Courthouse Green
(CG) are very positive about doing the event on the grounds at CG. Goal team 3 members told
the CG residents that they will fully support CG in this endeavor as the members of CG organize
and set-up the event. This is the opportunity for CG to begin taking responsibility for their
community.
Goal Group 4 (NOTE: because of a restructuring of the goal groups to meld goal group 4 with
3, previous Goal Group 5 is now 4.)
Larry Schmitz (G4): Working with "Five Loaves" and "Clean Comfort", they are establishing
quarterly drops of seasonal supplies for the homeless. They are in the process of setting up
time tables for the drops.
Homeless Connect is an April event that is scheduled, and Edward Johnson, one of the G4
members, is working with Mike Taylor to coordinate. G4 would like to have a mini job fair take
place at next year's event (there is not enough time to coordinate for this year's). Larry Schmitz
(G4) volunteered the Goal 4 team's services to Mr. Johnson to assist with the Homeless
Connect event.
G4 members are working with fellow members Lt. Tietjens and Cpt. Hudgins to keep current on
the locations of the tent cities inhabited by the homeless in Newport News so that the
homeless can be kept apprised of upcoming events and resources.
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The idea was posed to have job-search tools such as resumes available to the homeless ahead
of when a job fair occurs so that the job seekers are prepared. Norman Rush (G2) mentioned
that the Family Investment Center at Ridley Circle is available for this function. He agreed to
check and see whether individuals who live in areas outside of Ridley Circle can use this
resource. Bishop Jones indicated that Peninsula Work Link also offers resume services. Donna
Grubbs (G3) indicated that the STEP program has jobs for those young people under 24 years of
age.
ACTION ITEM: Pastor Norman Rush will check with the Family Investment Center to see
whether citizens outside of the Ridley Circle residential area can use the center's resume
resource.
Amy Jones, with the Heart of Giving, has a multi-state network set up, and has been
instrumental in helping the goal team meet the needs of the homeless with the various items
they have been collecting for them the last few months.
Norman Rush (G2) asked if Larry could provide a list of the kit contents. He reminded Larry that
various places of worship collect items also, and could also serve as a collection point for the
various item drives held.
ACTION ITEM: Larry Schmitz will get a list of the homeless kit contents to Pastor Rush.
Larry Schmitz (G4) said as a longer term project, he went to the pastoral council with Cpt.
Hudgins to pose the idea of an internet-based resource coordination point.
Assistant City Manager, Alan Archer, sent Larry an e-mail that updated him on the homeless day
center project. The first hurdle has been broached, and now the City is working on obtaining
the use of the property.
Group Banners:
Norman Rush (G2) has a draft design for their team's banner. He will e-mail it to Lori Lorenz
(G1), who indicated she will prepare it for printing, and send it to Sue Wills.
Discussion ensued about the size of the banners and the need for grommets
Media:
Members are reminded to send their information to NNPD PIO Jamie Bastas (secondary) or
Valerie Davis (primary) for posting to the Facebook page for CRIME.
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New Business:
Chairman Positions – At the request of Co-Chair Waymon Lewis, the topic of the Program's CoChair positions was raised for discussion. The group unanimously agreed that they would like
Bishop Jones and Mr. Lewis to continue as the co-chairs, if possible, to add continuity and keep
the program's momentum moving forward.
Goal Group #3 – Name: Donna Grubbs (G3) brought up the name of Goal Group 3 (Increase
Measurable Success for Youth). She felt this name created the feeling that only success that
could be measured would be the aim of the team. After brainstorming, the meeting
participants came up with "Increase Youth Success Opportunities". Co-Chair Bishop Jones
called for a vote and it was unanimously accepted.
ACTION ITEM: Sue Wills – change the brochure and web pages to reflect the modification of
Goal 3's name.
Norman Rush (G2) – relayed a question on behalf of his co-chair, Sgt. James Paddleford. Sgt.
Paddleford wanted to know the status of the summits. He feels they are important to draw
interest. Group discussion talked about using social media as another outlet to draw interest.
Co-Chair Jones said that people are impatient for instant results, and lose patience with the
long process of developing a program and solutions to issues.
Donna Grubbs (G3) – stressed that they have over 80 members, but have an average of 20
members come to each meeting. She reminded the Team Leaders of the importance of
keeping the lines of communication open and sending information to ALL who may be
interested, not just those who physically come to meetings. She said that when workers are
needed, all the members readily come forward with an "all hands on deck" attitude.
Goal Group 3 has been invited to attend a PTA meeting on March 30th at Jenkins Elementary
School (which is where many of the Courthouse Green students attend) to set up a table to
promote the C.R.I.M.E. Program and answer questions about the program and ABCD. Events
like this are akin to mini-summits.
Co-Chair Kermit Jones indicated he will share the minutes with Co-Chair Waymon Lewis so they
can discuss issues and set the next meeting date.
ACTION ITEM: Kermit Jones – share the meeting's discussion with Waymon Lewis and set the
next Goal Leader meeting.
Adjourn: 7:32 PM
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