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City of Houston Commission on Disabilities met Jan. 11.
Here are the minutes provided by the commission:
Housekeeping items:
- Provide instruction on ASL/Captioning and camera expectations for guests. Please make sure to introduce yourself before speaking for the ASL interpreters.
- If a commissioner is attending virtually, please keep your video and microphones off, but then turn your camera on for voting.
- If you are attending in person, please refrain from side conversations, as there are sensitive microphones throughout the room, and we will hear you speaking. Reminders about turning on/off microphones
- Individuals are encouraged to bring their computers to access the translating services.
- There is public WiFi in the building (TS-Web, no password) Chair Meridith Silcox asked Stephanie to proceed with the roll call.
Roll Call of the Commissioners:
Position 1: Michael Cottingham Present
Position 2: Ricky Don Harris Present
Position 3: Ann M. Bacon Absent
Position 4: Daquan Minor Absent
Position 5: Sashikala Nisankarao Present
Position 6: Monique Mason Present
Position 7: AJ Morton Absent
Position 8: Amie Jean Present
Position 9: Mary Sias Present
Position 10: Meridith Silcox – Chair Present
Position 11: Lydia Nunez Landry Present
Position 12: Michaela Cueto Present
Position 13: Osvaldo Capmany Present
Position 14: Alexis Smith Absent
Ex-Officio: Angel Ponce Present
Ex-Officio: Marshall Watson Present
Legal: Rebekah Wendt Absent
Chair Meridith Silcox called the meeting to order at 4:06 PM with a quorum present and welcomed attendees to the meeting.
MOPD Staff:
Angel Ponce, Stephanie Haechten, Sissel Carlsen, Kayla Melcho, Rey Herrera, Amanda Boyd, Hilary Pircher
Metropolitan Multiservice Center Staff:
Hannah Walker, Nolan Griffin
Review and Approval of September Meeting Minutes - Motion: Commissioner Amie Jean
- Second: Commissioner Michael Cottingham
Public Comments
None
Expert Speaker
- Audrey Omenson (Owner, The Therapy Collective)
- Navigating Advocacy Work Well
o Intersectional Identities
o Nonviolent communication
o Building Rapport and Connection
o Contact: Audrey Omenson, MA, LPC-S
▪ Audrey@therapycollectivetx.com
▪ www.therapycollectivetx.com
MOPD Report to the HCOD
- Angel Ponce (Director, Mayor’s Office for People with Disabilities)
o MOPD continuing same operations with new administration
o Information and Referral Services – Month of November & December 61 constituents were serviced
o Hosted 2 disability etiquette trainings
o Pedestrian Accessibility Review – Received and reviewed 29 applications
o Served over 90 turkeys and supplies in November for MMSC constituents
o Houston Civic Award in December- plaque was presented to former Mayor Sylvester Turner
o Reelabilites Festival –Abby (Reelabilites Festival Coordinator)
o Opening Reception Feb. 4th from 1-4pm
o UpAbilities Feb. 15th from 7-9pm
o ReelFilm Nights- Feb. 18,19,21
o ReelEducation week of Feb. 12th
o ReelMusic Feb. 22nd 7-9pm
o ReelArt Crawl Feb. 25th 10:30am-1:30pm
o ReelWorkplace Feb. 28th 11:30am-1:30pm
o Working with Office of Emergency Management
o MOPD is working on improving relationships with partners and bridging the gap
MMSC Report to the HCOD
- Nolan (Facilities Manager, MMSC)
o Holiday party with participants
o Wheelchair basketball team had a tournament in Dec.
o PROGRAMS are back
o MMSC will be a warming center for weather
o Metro will be running if MMSC is a warming center
Committee Updates
- Updates
- Education & Employment
o SSDI & Education access resources
o Family to Family Network conference in two weeks
- Community Access, Transition, & Housing
o Committee met last Thursday regarding access and getting out to the community about what they do.
o Plans to get committee together for townhall
- Emergency Preparedness and First Responder Training
o Encourage everyone to sign up for Alert Houston and Ready Harris with upcoming weather
- Immigration committee is on pause – Chair Silcox wants to bring back committee next month and possible commissioners on two committees
- March will be April orientations
- Houston Center for Independent living offering Housing series 2nd Thursday of each month
ADA Update
- Marshall Watson, Administrative Coordinator – ADA, City of Houston, Human Resources Department, Civil Service & EEO Division
o 3rd Quarter Report:
Commission Orientation
- March 18th orientation
Meeting Schedule
- March 14th, 2024
- April 11th, 2024
Commissioners Comments
Chair Silcox motions to adjourn meeting. Commissioner Sashi and Commissioner Amie seconds it. Meeting closes at 5:51 PM.
Meeting Minutes recorded by Amanda Boyd, amanda.boyd@houstontx.gov. Please email any corrections.
https://www.houstontx.gov/disabilities/agendas-minutes/20240111-minutes-english.pdf