2026-09-17 - Citizen Advisory Council

00:02that's like something that I operate

00:03within my own like IT organizational

00:06job. So, um I really think probably the

00:08best uh method to do that is just on the

00:12ground effort. Um I think a lot of that

00:14comes with like personal volunteering.

00:16Um there's a lot of different kind of uh

00:19um isolated I guess more in silo efforts

00:21within the city of Worcester um that are

00:24making individual cases to service those

00:27in need uh and houseless folks in uh

00:30specifically whether that's some type of

00:31soup kitchen whether that's some type of

00:33like clothing distribution um there

00:35there are a lot of people that do

00:37interact with these people um and there

00:39you know there are setup little areas

00:41within the city that have that and I

00:44hate to say that it has become kind of a

00:46recent hot topic of um just the the

00:49tents that people have kind of been uh

00:51relying on getting torn down by

00:53unfortunately the police and other folks

00:55just complaining about these poor people

00:57that are really just looking for a place

00:58to live. So there are little pockets of

01:00communities and I think it's just really

01:02going to be an individual effort base.

01:04People just have to go there. People

01:06have to go there and expect to have

01:07honest conversations and look to just

01:09try to connect individually. Um and I

01:11think the most important part about that

01:13is the consistency. Um, it's one thing

01:15to just go and have a conversation one

01:17time, but you you need to develop

01:18relationships with people and you need

01:20to follow up with these people and kind

01:22of take accountability to get them to

01:23where they need to be [music] to to be

01:25helped in this aspect. So, I think

01:27that's the best effort.

01:29>> Thank you.

01:30>> Yeah, of course.

01:32Obviously, this is not the topic for

01:35this group, but I will say as a citizen

01:37of Worcester and a member of this body,

01:40I was very concerned to see the plan

01:42that's going to come into place in terms

01:44of trying to remove encampments from the

01:46city without first putting in place um

01:49opportunities for housing for all and

01:51services for all. And I think um the

01:54Commission on Homelessness really has

01:56its work cut out for it in light of the

02:00halfbaked plans that are being profered

02:02by the city at this point in time. Um I

02:05hope uh that's an issue that you've been

02:06following and that you'll continue to

02:08follow whether or not uh whether or not

02:10you're able to make it onto that board.

02:12>> Yeah, absolutely. Um you know,

02:14ironically, my I think my application

02:17for this uh commission um was placed

02:19prior to a lot of that coming to the

02:21public air. So um it kind of just you

02:24know highlighted the necessity for this

02:27uh committee to kind of meet and start

02:30giving some strategy and guidance

02:31because I it's it seems kind of

02:34backwards to me about how we're

02:35approaching it not just in process but

02:38um also just via the infrastructure of

02:41Worcester like what's the plan here?

02:42We're going to like terrorize these poor

02:45people that are like really just trying

02:46to survive and then you're going to like

02:48funnel them where? Like what's what's

02:50the solution? It's there is no solution.

02:52They they just want I have a lot of

02:54thoughts on that, but yes, I've been

02:55following along, so I won't get into a

02:56tangent about it, but I do think that

02:58there's ways that we can support people

02:59without just doing things like that.

03:02>> Thank you very much.

03:04>> Yeah, of course.

03:05>> I'm I'm going to ask you to expand a

03:07little bit more. Um it's not a solution,

03:11but it's a start. What do you think in

03:13your in your eyes could be the first

03:16steps to helping folks other than

03:18support with food and u medicine? Um as

03:23far as housing, any ideas for what you'd

03:25like to do for transitioning some of

03:26these folks that you could offer

03:29suggestions to the board?

03:32Yeah. So, I I know that there are a

03:34couple organizations within um not just

03:36Massachusetts, but central Massachusetts

03:38that are uh that do work with people,

03:41you know, for instance, one of them is

03:42Central Massing Housing Alliance. Um I

03:45feel like that they're pretty relevant

03:46to working with the homeless population.

03:48Um whether that's like uh lending some

03:51type of resources for searching and

03:53assistance, case management, all that

03:55type of fun stuff. Um and people that

03:58are in the scenario of being houseless

04:00already. Um I think again there's just a

04:03lot of um unfortunate practical barriers

04:05that are pres preventing them from kind

04:07of following up with this. So for

04:10instance like how some having something

04:11as simple as uh an email, right? Like

04:14how do you keep in communication with

04:16people that are trying to actually

04:18assist you? You need to have some type

04:19of reliable correspondence method. Um,

04:22so just like I think on the ground blueg

04:24grass efforts really to just get these

04:26people the resources that they

04:28potentially need to connect with the

04:30folks that have the ability and

04:32allocation to to help them [music] and

04:34get them into housing. Um, there's a lot

04:37of projects for a lot of different areas

04:39in Worcester to to build new apartments

04:41and stuff like that. You know, I think

04:42that there's probably um some room in

04:46the city of Worcester, I imagine, can be

04:48made for more people to kind of live and

04:51exist. There there certainly can be more

04:53shelters and we're shutting them down by

04:55the year, unfortunately. And I think

04:57that's kind of a big problem. Um there's

05:00unfortunately a larger and larger house

05:02population within the community and what

05:04we're doing is we're going in the wrong

05:05direction on the other side of that.

05:06We're getting rid of the infrastructure.

05:08we're narrowing down the amount of space

05:10and rooms that we have for these people.

05:12So, it's, you know, it's a twofold

05:13problem. We're we have reducing asset

05:17and housing, but we also have an

05:19expanding population of the

05:21homelessness. So I think really just

05:23trying to determine how we can reverse

05:26the situation in terms of the housing

05:29and shelters that we have for these

05:30folks but also kind of go to the actual

05:33source problem and see what we can do to

05:35prevent people from falling into the

05:37slippery slope that can lead them to

05:39being homelessness in the first place.

05:40So you know it's it is a multi-pronged

05:42approach. I don't think it's as simple

05:43as just saying let's do this. It's I

05:45think it's going to be a multiple um I

05:47guess coordinated effort that's going to

05:48probably be quite a long time. you know,

05:51there's there's not going to be just

05:52like a short-term uh gap or solution

05:54that's going to be able to be

05:55implemented here. It's going to it's

05:56going to take a lot of coordination.

05:57It's going to take a lot of people and

05:58it's going to take consistency.

06:02>> That's going to take a lot of money,

06:03too.

06:04>> Yeah, of course it will. But, you know,

06:05um I

06:07>> there are a lot of people within the

06:08city that are passionate and are looking

06:10to volunteer and potentially lend their

06:12own time or lend their own resources

06:13into this. And um I'm hopeful that we

06:16can find the money some way somehow or

06:18find a solution around that. You know, I

06:20I understand money is really kind of the

06:22beall end all in a lot of this, but

06:24what's the what's the alternative,

06:25right? So, I think that there are a lot

06:27of answers that we can follow up and

06:29we're not going to know what path that

06:30we can take with these uh problems until

06:33we start crossing off these answers.

06:36And I agree. I'm not in favor of the uh

06:40this banding of the encampments, but for

06:43that's a personal

06:44>> Yeah.

06:45>> opinion. Thank you. I appreciate your

06:48your comment.

06:48>> Thank you for the question.

06:52>> All right. I think we're ready for the

06:53vote.

07:01>> Somebody sound. All right. Um Roberto

07:04for um the commission advisory

07:06commission on homelessness. Um Richard,

07:10>> yes.

07:12>> Ter,

07:13>> yes.

07:15>> Kelly,

07:16>> yes.

07:18>> Mike,

07:20>> yes.

07:22>> Uh Carol,

07:24>> yes,

07:26>> Sarah.

07:28>> Absolutely.

07:30>> All right. All six of you for the for

07:33Roberto to move to the next stage.

07:37>> Thank you so much.

07:38>> Thank you for your time and passion and

07:40good luck with the rest of the process.

07:42>> Thank you.

07:43>> Good luck everybody.

07:49>> So it doesn't look like anyone else on

07:51the list is here, but I do see um

07:54Charmaine Whitman JSON. Are you here to

07:57interview tonight for a position?

08:01No, I um I uh I'm I'm the new employment

08:06coordinator for the city of Worcester.

08:07So, I work with the mall.

08:09>> Yeah.

08:11>> Well, welcome to the team and thanks for

08:13being here tonight.

08:14>> Absolutely.

08:16>> So, what was

08:18>> she will be she will be assisting me

08:20going forward. um sometimes if I'm not

08:22available, of course, she will step out

08:24to um to conduct these meeting and and

08:27coordinate the effects of um the

08:29different books and commission like what

08:32I do now. Yeah, she's the new employment

08:35coordinator like she replacing me from

08:38the old position. So, yeah.

08:40>> Got it. Well, welcome aboard. So, great

08:42to see you here.

08:44Um just in case I'm missing anything, is

08:47there anyone in the room? I don't think

08:49so. based on the numbers I can see up

08:51ahead. But is there anyone here who

08:52thought they were interviewing tonight

08:53and haven't been called?

08:59All right, I guess that means we can

09:00move on with our agenda for this evening

09:02and close out the interview portion. Um,

09:05next up we have recruitment and outreach

09:08with once again a link to

09:09worcesterculture.org

09:11in uh the agenda. Does anyone have any

09:14events coming up that they'd like to

09:16propose that we get involved with or did

09:18anyone have a chance to go to any last

09:20month that they wanted to share results

09:22with us on?

09:27>> I I just wanted to confirm I'm okay to

09:29drop from now. I believe this is your

09:31permission. Yeah. Okay.

09:32>> Absolutely. You don't have to.

09:34>> All right. Awesome. Thank you guys.

09:36Thank you everyone. Have a great rest of

09:37your night.

09:38>> You too. We're Thank you.

09:41Um, I think when I I was looking through

09:44for upcoming and I think I'm I'm

09:47officially one year in this role which

09:48is so exciting and it's been awesome.

09:50I'm like

09:52>> amazing

09:54[gasps] a a zoom cake um or a team's

09:57cake. Um and I well I was thinking about

09:59and I was like I've never

10:01>> Oh yes. Um I I was thinking about it and

10:04I was like oh I haven't asked about

10:07either limitations parameters or

10:09expectations of this section and for me

10:12I I I think that's a miss on my part

10:14where I'm looking and I'm thinking all

10:16right

10:18Worcester is booming with farmers

10:20markets from you know oh my gosh like

10:23Exchange Street you know Brussels and

10:25then even the Boston uh Boston even the

10:28Burncoat um arts and wellness center has

10:31these like frequent farmers markets.

10:33Keep in mind, we're in September, so

10:35this is a delayed thought. But I think

10:37that was one area I thought is is was

10:39that a missed opportunity for us or is

10:41that something that, you know, maybe we

10:44were engaged in and I I we didn't speak

10:46of it in here? Um, so I I I have that in

10:50the back of my mind. And then in tandem,

10:53I'm also curious of what limitations or

10:56maybe opportunities there are even with

10:59social mediums. Um, so I'm kind of

11:02that's where I'm at right now. And and

11:03so for me, as I'm new, but not that new,

11:07I should probably know these answers,

11:09but I'm putting it out there. So I just

11:11any wisdom would be great or maybe there

11:13was a good idea in there somewhere.

11:16>> Well, I think the farmers markets are a

11:17great idea, but let's let's talk more

11:19generally about outreach um and

11:21recruitment from the purposes of this

11:23council. Um, we've always done it on a a

11:27how do each how does each member feel

11:30comfortable doing outreach. Um, you

11:33know, Ted is a frequent fairgoer, for

11:35example, and loves to bring materials

11:38and can chat up anyone he's ever bumped

11:40into ever. Has a skill that I just don't

11:43have as an introvert. I'm more of a good

11:46uh table person, a one-on-one person.

11:48And so, um, as my schedule permits, I

11:50like to sign up to go to fairs and

11:53events behind city hall in order to meet

11:55people, um, who who, uh, who have

11:59express that curiosity about it. Then

12:01every once in a while, you know, a

12:02neighborhood association will ask us to

12:04attend or a city counselor will ask us

12:06to come to one of the neighborhood

12:07meetings to talk about who we are and

12:10what openings are available and what the

12:12interview process is like. So, it's

12:14really, you know, where where you want

12:17to use your strengths. we absolutely

12:19encourage you to do so. And one of the

12:20things that that's great is that as soon

12:22as you come up with an idea, we can we

12:25can get you the business cards and the

12:27flyers um and any other materials that

12:30would be appropriate to share the

12:31environment that you're going to. Um

12:34what I will say in terms of the social

12:36media side of things, um the city has uh

12:40its own like media outreach department.

12:44So we as a council itself cannot just

12:48issue something but we as individuals

12:50who live within the city of Worcester

12:53>> can promote things the way we want to as

12:56individual members but if we wanted to

12:59for example put out a posting about like

13:01hey there's all these ZBA appointments

13:04um we'd have to go through the city to

13:06get that kind of going

13:08>> which there's kind of a comfort in that

13:10from a sake of branding and and and

13:13>> cohesive messaging. Um, but that's good

13:15to know. I mean, I think for me, you

13:17know, when we think about even LinkedIn

13:19presence or other things. I mean,

13:21Worcester's been doing a great job with

13:22that. So, maybe there's just maybe

13:24there's another promotional something,

13:26you know, whether it's this group or we

13:28can share out as the voice that lists

13:31out maybe highlights some openings, you

13:34know, in the near future. Um, I know

13:35I've seen that previously. Um, I love

13:38that. That gives me a strong sense. It

13:40sounds like there's a little bit of like

13:42freedom and and individuality to it. Um,

13:46and then the only other thing I saw kind

13:47of coming up would be the city manager

13:49cleanup event. You know, even if one of

13:51us is there and can just be a presence,

13:54also give back to your community. Um, I

13:56feel like if there are folks there,

13:58they're already called to do service for

13:59Worcester. So, that in itself may be,

14:02you know, something great. Um, so that's

14:04those are my ideas.

14:06I I actually really love that idea of

14:09the cleanup event being something that

14:10we specifically target. Do you by chance

14:13I don't uh remember uh breezing by that

14:15on the list. Do you remember when uh

14:18when that's taking place?

14:19>> September 27th, I think 9 to 11. I think

14:23it's the morning.

14:27>> Just checking my calendar real quick.

14:29>> I know, right? I I have to see if I can

14:31go, but I feel like that would be a cool

14:33those areas of service. I'm like, "Oh,

14:35people are called to help out this

14:37awesome city that we live in." Um, so

14:40maybe there's a, you know, they're

14:41yearning for a little bit more. Um, so

14:44who knows?

14:45>> I'm trying to remember where they're

14:46meeting on on that. I think it's I can't

14:48remember if it was Milbury Street they

14:50were going to start at. I can't I have

14:52to look it up again.

14:54>> But, uh, that's a good question. I'm

14:56going to do

14:56>> Yeah, I I forget where they're meeting.

14:58I think it's down at Kelly Square. I

15:01could be long. Um, I'm going next month

15:04I'm going to go to an event uh that the

15:07Worester Police Department does every

15:08year. It's an annual uh uh the trick-or-

15:11treat event where they set up by across

15:14from Worester Academy and they have tons

15:16of people that bring their kids over

15:18there for the cree candy and there's

15:21sponsors there that you know you know a

15:22lot of them are candidates and so forth

15:24and they give away the free candy. You

15:25got hundreds of kids there with their

15:27parents. So, I'm going to I'm going to

15:28hang out at one of the tables that I

15:30know that are being set up over there

15:32and uh I have some materials and I can

15:35always make some copies. I do have

15:37cards, so I'm good for that. Uh but it's

15:41actually I'm going to enjoy doing it at

15:42the same time because I get to see all

15:44the kids in the costumes and uh we know

15:47you just going for the candy. [laughter]

15:50>> I wish I listen, I wish I could, but I

15:52lost a lot I I don't do candy anymore. I

15:54lost a lot of weight, so I want to keep

15:56continue what I'm doing. I lost a total

15:58of 195 pounds.

16:00>> I see that you look fantastic.

16:02>> Thank you.

16:04>> More importantly though, we want to know

16:06what Halloween costume you're going to

16:08be wearing to the event.

16:09>> Oh, that too. That too.

16:11>> Well, you see, all I have to do is put

16:13that look on my face and I look like a

16:15gangster.

16:16[laughter]

16:17>> There we go. I don't know that gangster

16:20is the right way to necessarily recruit,

16:22but maybe it's an offer they can't

16:24refuse, you know? Exactly. You just out

16:27of my mouth. You just took the words out

16:29of my mouth.

16:30>> Very good. I like that.

16:32>> Um so for now effort uh like even today

16:37um the whole summer we've been having

16:39like attending really great different

16:42events and I've been working so hard as

16:44well as our recruiting fulltime roles

16:47for the city. I'm doing that for you

16:48know the different BS and commission as

16:50well. Even today I went to Clark

16:52University. We had a career fair.

16:54Tomorrow we have a very big one at uh

16:57the polo park. Uh Mars hike is hosting

17:00like I know central Mars career fair

17:02over there. I have some cars. I have

17:05some flyers. I have like different

17:07information materials that I share with

17:09folks why they are looking for fulltime

17:12rule. I'm also like pushing the

17:14different BS and commission the current

17:16vacancy we have on different bowls and

17:18commission. So hopefully um some of the

17:21efforts were were you good um or good

17:24outcomes.

17:26>> Love that. And honestly,

17:29>> go ahead. I'm sorry.

17:30>> Oh, sorry. I was just going to say as

17:32someone who works in higher ed, if there

17:34are any colleges you're going to and I

17:36can just jump on the ride and like meet

17:37some cool people, I would love to come

17:40because those are I mean people working

17:42in colleges, they they know to work

17:44outside of business hours and they care

17:46about community. Like that's a great

17:47pocket whether students or even their

17:49employees. That's awesome.

17:51>> Definitely are.

17:57>> Well, um in addition to thinking about

17:59future outreach events, what about

18:01future agenda items that folks want to

18:04have us discuss?

18:08>> And I actually do have one to propose. I

18:10don't think we need to get into the

18:12details tonight, but um throughout my

18:16years on this council, we've been really

18:18irregular with when we actually hold an

18:20election for officers. Um but I will be

18:24terming out in March. And I think it

18:27makes sense that we hold an election

18:29sometime soon so that there's a kind of

18:32a a consistency with the transition

18:34that's going to happen. I realized that

18:36those two are antonyms and that didn't

18:38really make sense, but it'd be nice if

18:40we had some overlap. Um, so that as I'm

18:42phasing out, the new chair is kind of

18:44getting settled in. So, um, how would

18:47folks feel about getting an election on

18:50the books for either um, October or

18:52November?

18:55>> How about you just staying where you

18:56are?

18:58Mhm.

18:58>> Uh tempting, but uh it will be two and

19:03two/3 terms, so I actually do have to

19:05transition off this time. So

19:08>> that's a copout.

19:10>> I love this group though. This has been

19:12>> We love I love

19:13>> I mean I say it I say it every month. I

19:15love the interviews. It's just so much

19:17fun to hear the passion of the people

19:19who come before us.

19:21>> That's why we do it.

19:22>> Yeah.

19:23>> It's life. It's lifegiving. I think

19:25there are moments, not to get cheesy,

19:26but in this world where you can get back

19:28from work and feel like a kaggen and

19:30then you talk to people in this city who

19:32are just super impressive, super

19:35missiondriven, uh, and so interesting.

19:40>> We have the coolest We have the coolest

19:42neighbors, the best.

19:44>> We really do.

19:45>> And it's encouraging to see, you know,

19:47it helps us keep going.

19:50>> This is why we do it. If we see that in

19:52a person that's, you know, we're

19:54interviewing and the passion that that

19:56rubs off on us and keeps us going.

19:59>> Absolutely.

20:02>> I'm addicted. I'm sorry.

20:07>> Is there any decision on what the chair

20:10just suggested? Um, I will have to

20:13include that in the meeting. So, is that

20:15a definite decision on that?

20:18Um,

20:20that would be up to you folks. You know,

20:21if you want to do it in November, give

20:24everybody a chance to think about, you

20:25know, who would succeed, Rachel, and who

20:30may be interested and make that

20:31commitment.

20:33>> I think November makes sense. Uh,

20:35especially if we could then routinize it

20:38in November. Just it'll be easy to

20:40remember going forward. I'll

20:42>> try to remember the next meeting in

20:44November is. Let me see.

20:48What is it?

20:49>> One second. It's uh it's November 18th.

20:54>> That's a good idea.

20:56>> Yeah, it'll be it'll be on Wednesday,

20:58November 18th.

21:00>> Okay,

21:04>> sounds good. So, we want to put it on

21:06the agenda for that.

21:08>> Well, we can.

21:08>> Sure. Sure. So does does that mean does

21:11that mean maybe in October we should

21:13discuss who will be voting for in

21:17November and we need

21:19>> we need to identify who wants to be um

21:22considered for the role in October so

21:24that come November we have somebody to

21:29>> well we need two you need the chair and

21:31the alternate chair so

21:33>> that's two positions

21:34>> so is that a discussion item for October

21:37or do we just do everything in the

21:39November eating soup to nuts.

21:41>> I think we should have it as a

21:43discussion item on the agenda for next

21:45month. Um but it it is not necessary

21:48that we have all nominations complete

21:51next month. We can take nominations from

21:53the floor on the day of elections. It's

21:55not um

21:56>> yeah, somebody wants to throw their hat

21:58in last minute. We're not going to tell

21:59them no.

22:00>> Yeah, [laughter] we're probably going to

22:02give them the crown.

22:04No, this is a a group who loves

22:07volunteerism, so it will be great.

22:09>> And it would it would be nice to have

22:11more of our members present

22:14>> at our next meeting as well. So, if we

22:15can get that word out in an email

22:18>> saying, you know, that discussion is

22:19going to be coming up. That way, we

22:21might have I don't know who we miss

22:23about three people.

22:24>> Yeah.

22:25>> Four.

22:26>> Yeah.

22:27>> Yeah. I think that's a great idea.

22:29and and I'll be um I'll be conducting

22:32interview somebody specifically apply to

22:35sit on the CAC that application came in

22:37today when I swim my last review so I

22:43will be um meeting with a person

22:45probably next week um to conduct

22:47interview and see if [snorts] they are

22:49suitable to sit on the CC maybe by then

22:52their nomination would have gone through

22:53before the council and all of that then

22:56um yeah

22:59And Charmaine's going to bring the

23:00coffee at the next meeting.

23:02[laughter]

23:06>> All right. Well, unless there are other

23:08agenda items for next month, I could

23:12take a motion to adjourn.

23:15>> So moved.

23:17>> Carol, you never leave me hanging. I

23:19love it. So,

23:20>> thank you team. So great to see you all.

23:22Can't wait to see you next time.

23:23>> Well, you're good. Thank you everyone.

23:26>> Thanks everyone.

23:28Nice to meet you, Charmaine.

23:29>> Yes, nice to meet you.

23:33>> Byebye.

23:33>> Byebye.