Minutes | GPIA Monthly Meeting | 5:30 p.m. Tuesday, Jan. 16, 2024 | Pine Island Community Church

Present: Erin Lollar-Lambert, Executive Director GPIA; Aaron Barreda, Co-Chair GPIA; Chris Ressor, Program Manager of Grant Services, Rebuilding Together; Glen Sayler, Lee County Assistant Manager; Jeannie Sutton, Program Manager of Community Development Block Grant’ Danny Permar, Construction Manager, Horne

Treasurer’s Report — David Conner

• Balance: $144,816.74.
• Recent Expenses: $24,559, included the next six months of rent.
• Income: $70,000 is coming in, which includes $60,000 from reciprocal grants and $10,000 from Habitat for Humanity.

Partner Updates

• Habitat for Humanity – continues to support our mission and we are currently on our 3rd or 4th house with them.
• Catholic Charities – are also continuing to support us with funding
  Red Cross – in addition to support through funding they are helping to connect us to other great programs such as Camp Noah and Convoy of Hope.
• United Way – still conducting inventory on warehouse but we will resume our monthly trips to pick up donations as soon as they are open. Last month alone they donated 100K worth of furnishings.
• Lions Club – Through this partnership we were able to give away 12K worth of drywall and insulation supplies and will continue to set up giveaways in the future.
• Rebuilding Together – Continues to be a great partner to us and Chris Ressor is on our panel and will speak later in the meeting.

Project Updates

• SJC volunteers in need – in progress
• Matlacha Survivor – A family we were helping was able to get back in their home. They had been “camping” at their home and showering and cooking outside and now their home is almost complete. Beacon of Hope has helped with appliances, so they are able to cook inside again
• 20 Volunteers – We have a group of volunteers coming for a week from Indiana to help with various projects on the island.

Year-End Updates

• Volunteer Hours – you can see a running total on the website now: 332 Volunteers, 8811 hours, 1308 people assisted.
• Donations in Kind – comes from items donated as well as a monetary value for volunteer hours. We are working on the total for the year.
• Caseload – We have 85-95 active cases in our office that our two Disaster Case Managers are working with. In addition to the cases at GPIA, there is an additional 40 cases at Umcor for a total of about 110-120 currently active island cases.
• Camp Noah – Program based out of Minnesota for children in communities that were impacted by natural disasters. We will be holding one on Pine Island for Spring Break which will run March 18-22. You will be able to enroll your children online starting next week. It will be free of charge for children and will focus on resiliency using the story of Noah’s Ark to incorporate preparation, and what happens during and after the storm. The program also includes breakfast, lunch and two snacks. We need 15 volunteers to work with the children in addition to other volunteers to perform various tasks like cooking. Training for volunteers working with children will be online prior to the camp. Please reach out to us if you would like to volunteer by emailing team@gpialliance.org

Speakers

• Rebuilding Together – Chris Ressor – The Rebuilding Together organization helps in 23 counties in Florida. Chris is in the SW region which runs from Collier to Manatee. They assist homeowners in rebuilding their homes, working together with other community partners so they can help everyone. They utilize funds from the Ship and Shark programs, as well as the Red Cross. They also partner with GPIA, the Lee County LTRG, and the permitting office. They are currently working with the Red Cross and GPIA on 8 homes within our community.
• CDBG Program – Glen Slayer – Lee County Assistant Manager, Jeannie Sutton, Program Manager for the Community Development Block Grant, Danny Permar, Construction Manager, Horne.
  • The county has started door to door outreach and the online applications will go live Feb 1. They will also have a pop-up location for face-to-face applications and questions at the Pine Island Library once a week throughout the month of February.
  • Their website for information is www.leeflcares.com
  • We will also have information available at our office.
  • Programs are income based and will require specific documentation, full intakes, and damage assessments. Based on the assessments, they will repair, reimburse for repairs (with receipts), replace, or reconstruct.
  • Three new programs are:

1. 1. 1. Home Rehabilitation, Elevation, Reconstruction Program (also possible reimbursement for repairs made with receipts)
      2. Home Purchase Assistance Program
      3. Voluntary Residential Acquisition Program –This will be direct outreach as they already know which homes this applies to. After repetitive loss from a flood, they will buy the home so that the owner can then relocate out of the flood area.