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HomeMy WebLinkAboutWORK SESSION SUMMARY-05/12/2020-Work SessionSocial Sustainability 222 Laporte Ave. PO Box 580 Fort Collins, CO 80522 970.221.6758 MEMORANDUM DATE: May 15, 2020 TO: Mayor Wade Troxell & City Councilmembers THRU: Darin Atteberry, City Manager Jeff Mihelich, Deputy City Manager Jacqueline Kozak-Thiel, Chief Sustainability Officer Beth Sowder, Social Sustainability Department Director FROM: Janet Freeman, Equity and Inclusion Coordinator Leo Escalante, Engagement Specialist RE: May 12, 2020 Work Session Summary: Equity and Inclusion At the May 12 Council Work Session, staff provided an update on how the City is working to embed equity and inclusion into its COVID-19 response and recovery efforts. The update included an overview of the City’s Racial Equity Rapid Response team, several projects and preliminary frameworks for accomplishing principles of community and equity indicator work. Highlights include:  Council expressed support for how the City is embedding equity and inclusion into its COVID-19 response efforts and preliminary framework for an equitable recovery  Council expressed desire to continue to prioritize equity work  Council expressed support for a data-informed approach to the City’s equity and inclusion work and prioritization of revision offer to assist with this  Council expressed support for principles of community work and for ensuring the City leverages perspectives that represent all members of the community  Council expressed desire to make sure residents have services they need Follow-up:  The Adopt-A-Neighbor program currently has 369 volunteers and 60 paired neighbors.  The City will continue identifying opportunities where the program can be used to help low-income neighborhoods  The program is also currently attempting to launch a pilot program that equips isolated seniors at-risk for mental health burden brought on by DocuSign Envelope ID: 487848E8-E8F8-4D02-8464-6240072E660A 2 social distancing with technological devices to connect them with family and friends; current barrier is lack of $1500 for equipment purchase  The Equity Indicator project will cover a broad range of indicators related to social determinants of health, and will include robust stakeholder engagement  The City is applying the Just in Time equity lens to the CARES-CV funding allocation, and will work to embed equity considerations into future budget decisions and provide relevant data  The City currently works with community partners such as CSU, PSD, nonprofits and businesses, as well as others, to help ensure a systemic approach to advancing equity and inclusion and will continue to leverage those partnerships  The City is committed to continue developing participatory community solutions that are data informed and action oriented  Minority- and women-owned businesses have struggled to access the Payroll Protection Program (PPP) for a variety of reasons: (a) required loan documents – many of these businesses do not have full time accounting staff to maintain these documents; (b) understanding the document requirements – many applications were received with incomplete documentation (across all business owner types); (c) language barrier – none of the SBA documents, press releases were sent in English (the City and partners have been working diligently to provide translation and services for folks preferring a different language than English); (d) existing relationships with a bank – this is probably the biggest barrier, many small businesses including minority- and women-owned do not have a standing relationships with their bank. Next Steps  Staff will continue to use the Just in Time equity lens in response and recovery efforts while strengthening staff capacity for applying the full robust toolkit  Staff will continue to identify disproportionate burdens and impacts related to the coronavirus and its cascading impacts, and create targeted interventions to help mitigate  Staff will provide Council with updates on equity indicator work, including seeking input on which service areas might undergo gaps analysis  Staff will provide a memo that specifically addresses minority and women owned businesses impacts and strategies DocuSign Envelope ID: 487848E8-E8F8-4D02-8464-6240072E660A