Steering minutes: 2020-04-25

Agenda:

Great Oak Steering Committee Meeting 4/25/2020

Present: Sharon (Chief Scientist), Annie (Membership), Marta (Common
House), Debbi (Steering Convenor), Mac (Grounds), Amy (Finance and Legal),
Mary (Buildings), Patti (Process), Eric (Meals), Tevah (Work), Gail G.,
Catherine, Pam, Willie, Syndallas, Dan, Kelly, Glenn, Elph, Jillian,
Polly, Susan, Drew, Olas, Erik K, Lesli Daniels (sitting in from Touchstone
Cohousing)

Facilitators: Mary King & Susan King
Minute-taker: Catherine Fischer

AGENDA
Welcome/Check-In
GO Survey #4 Results & Recommendations - Dan
COVID-19 Update - Sharon
Report from Grounds on COVID-19 Guidelines for Shared Resources
- Syndallas
F&L/Caring Survey Results; Resurrecting the Affordability Committee - Debbi
Update on Proposal: “Great Oak Community Support and Response When a
Household Self-Isolates” - Syndallas
Report on Inter-cohousing Meeting - Annie
Common House Room Painting Request - Marta
Announcements
Meeting Evaluation

Minutes:

TODAY’S DECISIONS AND ASSIGNED TASKS:

DECISION: Pause the risk survey for a week to have time to analyze/respond
to the survey results so far.

DECISION: Create an ad hoc committee on addressing the social-emotional
needs of the community.

DECISION: Agreement to re-launch the Affordability Committee

DECISION: Agreement for Common House committee to arrange for the painting
of the sitting room by a volunteer

DECISION: No Steering meeting on Memorial Day weekend

TASK: Dan, Glenn, Syndallas, Glenn, Sharon are initial members of the ad
hoc committee to address the social-emotional needs of the community, with
Susan willing to consult. This group is also asked to reach out more
broadly for volunteers and to consult with mental health professionals.

TASK: Elph share info on procuring alcohol with Grounds

TASK: Marta forward new CDC guidelines to Grounds

TASK: Debbi will email the community explaining the Affordability Committee
and asking for volunteers

TASK: Dan and Susan will share clean copies of the GO Risk and Caring
surveys with Annie

TASK: Committee convenors please review and reply to Work Committee about
the draft work survey by Sunday at noon

TASK: Process and Steering will need to connect with Work to get new
meeting assignments set up. (Facilitators, minute takers)


WELCOME/CHECK-IN
Quorum check: we have a quorum at the start of the meeting.

What is a superpower that you have cultivated since the pandemic began?
Facilitation skills
Writing emails to nudge people to take a boring survey
Letting go of the illusion of control
Patience living in a house with 2 guys
Management consultant
AirPods for daily dancing/ exercise
Playing wise person on zoom tv
Taking boring surveys
Sustain belief in face of a lot of opposition that eventually we’ll come to
an agreement
Patience to suffer fools in meetings (present company excluded)
Patience
Making bar charts interesting
Zooming all training for new co-opers
Managing staff who I cannot see and who are never easy to manage
Minute taking
Diagnosing people over video chat
Finding Rod’s keys

GO SURVEY #4 RESULTS AND RECOMMENDATIONS
Dan sent out the report by email this morning. The takeaway is that after
four weeks, most households are taking the right steps to mitigate our
risks. We had 50 responses this week.
Great that we are capturing the data. At this point, we have more data than
we can digest and respond to. We propose skipping the survey this week in
order to absorb the data and consider how to handle it.
For example, 74% of respondents are experiencing some sort of emotional
distress.

When we bring the survey back it will probably be more streamlined, for
example, the grocery group has the data they need.

Syndallas added that people are very generous, honestly indicating that
they have a struggle. First of all, don’t underestimate how much it means
to take a minute to check in with a neighbor!
We need an ad hoc group to address the social and emotional needs of the
community. Different from Fun Committee.

Support for pausing the survey for a week to have time to analyze the
survey results so far.

Discussion about the proposal to create ad hoc committee on the
social-emotional needs of the community--
This is going to carry on for many more weeks and into the fall. We do need
to think about the needs of the community in this way.
I want to encourage folks--you are going to love your neighbors'
suggestions. There are already two weeks of ideas--you don’t have to make
it all up.
Not all of the people who have professional-level skills in supporting
people are on this call now, so let’s not limit it to just the people on
this call.
I was planning to try to think of some things. I’m just waiting to hand off
the instacart jobs and then I would like to be on the committee.
Process is suggesting that we return to having alternative meetings as
well--can be another way to do some of this sharing and supporting.
Debbi has opened a pro zoom account, but the increase in service has not
happened yet (zoom is swamped). Debbi will continue to pursue getting the
pro account set up.
Anyone can open a free zoom account.
Support for creating an ad hoc group for addressing the social and
emotional needs of the community.
Willing to join: Dan, Glenn, Syndallas, Glenn, Sharon--and reaching out to
others to be part of it.
This group will think about the process we can engage in to support others
(as opposed to being expected to provide for the needs themselves). A
suggestion that the group contact people with solid mental health skills
for guidance. Susan is willing to be consulted.




COVID-19 UPDATE
First of all, don’t inject disinfectants!
Sharon shared a graph to show why the governor decided to continue the stay
at home order. There are some counties in Michigan that are beginning to
escalate their number of cases.
There is a spread along I-94 from the Detroit metro area. This leads
experts to think that people are not following the instructions. It’s
unfortunate.
There has been some progress on anti-body tests. Some of the tests are
picking up other coronaviruses. There is some research happening at the
point of care (at Michigan hospitals).
Malcolm is getting invitations to participate in studies using some of
these tests.
Request to talk a little bit about herd immunity. Epidemiologists are not
seeing the classic signs of herd immunity that would enable us to count on
it. They have identified people who clearly tested for the virus, but weeks
later they do not test with discernable antibodies. They’ve also found a
lot of personal variation in the levels of antibodies (and the tests are
that good either). So that causes two problems with the data stream. This
makes Sharon think we might not have a herd immunity that we can count on.
This is another reason it’s important to think about the long haul.
We have been doing a great job at GO. The governor’s task force is thinking
about various levels of risk, and this is something we can do at GO--how do
we go back to work and how do we go back to being an interacting community,
safely?
What makes the difference in people developing antibodies? It depends on
some people’s immune systems, on genetics, on health. There is evidence
that the healthier you are, the better you will be at navigating this
virus. Great idea to focus on our personal health.
What level of lockdown seems likely over the summer and fall?
We have been pushing hard for Governor Whitmer to have the tools for
diagnosing risk. Pushing the engineers to develop an app for people to make
daily symptom diaries. Also to develop a dashboard so health experts can
log in and see what is happening in local public health areas. Right now
they are getting the info way too late to slow the spread--when people show
up in hospitals.
We have to be able to get out ahead of the virus to contact trace and slow
the spread.
Where is Michigan on test and trace?
Right now, pretty good testing set up locally. Now people can go to a
testing center without a physician’s order if they are having some symptoms
or work with the public.
Contact tracing--there has been a response to the call for volunteers. The
school of public health has provided training materials. There are about
6000 volunteers, a good number for the size of our state.
Do we need widespread testing of the population?
Yes, but we have no mechanism for that in the State. We don’t have enough
tests for 10 million people. We don’t have a way to test a cross-section of
the population.
We’re using safety measures but we don’t have a way to follow up and make
sure that they are the right ones.
The way smallpox was eradicated on the planet was to test and vaccinate
everyone. But we don’t have the capacity for that kind of fieldwork in our
states.
What about colleges in the fall? Presidents of major Michigan universities
are on committees and learning the health info. They are responding in a
variety of ways.


REPORT FROM GROUNDS ON COVID-19 GUIDELINES FOR SHARED RESOURCES
Looked at CDC Guidelines for Community Facilities and Faith Groups.

Anything that is frequently shared, we want community members to be able to
clean it according to their desire to use it.

Play structure, sand box, community garden, outside tables, community
garages.
Will put up signs and also request that they be used one household at a
time. Gentle reminders.


Sanitizing stations will be set up:
Bucket hung up out of reach of kids, if your household wants to clean and
use shared outdoor equipment, the tools and instructions will be there .

East side for play structure or the outdoor tables.
North CH patio
By the schlepping carts
Common garage (alcohol, rather than bleach, due to the equipment)

Bleach solutions will need to be replaced every 24 hours. Working to come
up with a system where the bleach is replaced every day. But people forget
their jobs, there’s a lot going on. If you find an out of date solution or
empty spray bottle, the materials will be in the ch for you to replace
them. The whole community will be the safety net.


Discussion:
One solution needs to sit for 10 minutes. Electrolyzed water could create a
false sense of security.
Bleach is helpful because it only takes a minute.
Alcohol is safer, but we don’t have access to a large enough supply of
alcohol. We will switch from bleach to alcohol when we can source more
alcohol. Several people might have leads for securing alcohol, will share
with ad hoc committee.
Yesterday the CDC changed some recommendations. Marta will forward those.

F&L/CARING SURVEY RESULTS; RESURRECTING THE AFFORDABILITY COMMITTEE
Caring sent out a survey to learn where people are in terms of financial
need. We got a good response. There are 6 households that anticipate
approaching F & L for a payment plan. There are 9 households that
anticipate having difficulty with daily expenses. Some others anticipate
difficulty with other expenses.

3 households mentioned a willingness to contribute to emergency funds
(although the question wasn’t asked)

Proposal to bring together a new version of the Affordability Committee.
When GO began, the Affordability Committee gathered info about need and
available resources and matched households.
A current Affordability Committee could:
Resurvey about need, as things are changing as weeks go by
Find out more about available resources.
Pay attention to state and federal resources, ex., mortgage assistance
programs

If Steering approves, a call will go out to Talk to get volunteers for the
committee, create a group of 3 or 4 people maximum.

Discussion
Approval of launching the committee
Thanks to F&L and Caring Committee

Debbi will email Talk to explain the group and ask for volunteers for the
Affordability Committee.


UPDATE ON PROPOSAL: GREAT OAK COMMUNITY SUPPORT & RESPONSE WHEN A HOUSEHOLD
SELF-ISOLATES

An ad hoc committee formed last week to address the issue of what happens
when a go member has COVID or thinks they have COVID?

Main points of Great Oak Community Support and Response When a Household
Self-Isolates.
The proposal will come next week after we have coordinated with the
involved committees

Goals:
Provide a conduit for privacy and safety for all involved
Take actions needed to address the safety of shared spaces
Provide help for neighbors if needed and desired
Maintain sensitivity and protect the privacy of individuals and/or
households

Creation of a COVID Support Team
Community Work back up plans
Cleaning and Sanitizing Shared Spaces
Maintenance of a Resource Closet for things a household/Individual will
need if they are suddenly impacted- including training support for
sanitizing and disinfecting at home
Continued Follow-up/check-in to make sure the system is working effectively

We have some systems in place.

Proposal to create small covid support team 3-4 people. They would be the
receivers of the information. Ask people to let the group know if you think
you have or know you have covid.
Done in a way to respect the privacy of the person as they prefer.

Support team would have a protocol for the kinds of info they would collect
and the support they would offer.

Committees will have to deal with:
Work Committee needs to work with other committees to ensure that there is
immediate backup available for jobs that need them.

Other committees will need to be able to respond as quickly as possible for
other issues.

Resource closet for affected households--a list has been developed

Institute some follow-up. Keep checking in with how it’s working, improving
as feedback is gatehred. Proposal will be presented next week.

Discussion:
Sounds amazing, thanks for the work on this.
Kelly looked deeply into the CDC website. Thanks to Syndallas’ thoroughness
we are already 90% compliant
There will be a need for contact tracing.
Lesli from TS pointed out that sharing the existence of a case is important
but the name of the person does not need to be shared.

REPORT ON INTER-COHOUSING MEETING
Annie attended an online North American cohousing meeting regarding how to
handle COVID in cohousing. Hosted by some of the Canadian cohousing
communities.
Asked what have communities put into place for comfort, support, and
safety.
These other communities were smaller and had not yet begun many new
practices. They asked for copies of our caring and risk surveys. Of course,
happy to share our survey questions (not the answers). We will also share
with Touchstone.
One Vancouver community has a lending closet--might be an idea for us.
Annie was proud of us--said we “look really good” and are two months ahead
of some other communities.

COMMON HOUSE ROOM PAINTING REQUEST
CH committee wants to paint the sitting room. This would be done by one
person. Any concerns? No, in fact, many people might be interested in this
job!

ANNOUNCEMENTS
Patti--had anyone responded to Robin’s email asking for information for
marketing. Marta forwarded our list from last week of the things that we
have done.

Instacart volunteers--There is someone from TS who is willing to take on
the accounting for Instacart with Olas. We will still need another person
from GO to be trained. We will need volunteers to do other jobs too. Marta
will send out an email to GO

May work season--some time-sensitive updates from Work committee. We are
not redoing the formal allocation process. We are assuming that people will
continue doing their jobs unless they cannot.
We won’t be having people go to the usual work survey this time. We will be
sending out a google form for people to indicate their willingness to do
the new jobs. We will also be asking people how much work they can manage
in May. We are not expecting to distribute hours as evenly as we have done
in usual times.
By noon tomorrow--convenors look at draft work survey. Work committee also
needs to know about pre-assignments, how many new people are needed? Tevah
will send out the draft survey to committees.

It would be ideal to id facilitator and minute taker for next week’s
steering facilitators and minute takers.

A number of ad hoc committees have been created. It’s important that the ad
hoc committees make sure their committees know what needs to be added to
the work system.

Process will need to connect with Work to get new meeting assignments set
up. (Facilitators, minute takers)


Debbi--do we want to meet on Memorial Day? Easier to cancel a meeting than
to add one. Decision: no meeting on Memorial Day weekend.

GO meditation on Zoom will continue. Days might change, stay tuned

MEETING EVALUATION
Like seeing Erik here
Sneak glance of the new vehicle Erik is working on
Helps me feel better in this moment, seeing all of you lean in every week.
Thank you, it’s part of why I’m doing okay
We covered a lot of ground today!
Mary’s facilitation skills


--
Catherine Fischer
734-395-5244
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