ALIEF SUPER NEIGHBORHOOD MEETING
Minutes for Tuesday, July 27, 2010
Alief Super Neighborhood # 25 held its regularly scheduled meeting on Tuesday, July 27 th, 7:00 P.M. at the West Houston Medical Center, 12121 Richmond Ave, Doctors Building, Ste. 201. This is an annual event featuring the various medical providers in our area.
PROGRAM:
Chairman, Barbara Quattro, called the meeting to order at 7:20 P.M. She requested that cell phones be turned off. Roll Call of council members was done by sign-in sheet. A quorum was met. (See attached.).
Hospitality: Hospitality was provided by the West Houston Medical Center. A thank you certificate was presented to April Lord, thanking them for their support of the ASNC.
GUESTS: Veronica Hernandez (City of Houston Mayor’s office) and representatives from Hope Clinic, Ibn Sina Clinic, El Franco Lee Clinic and West Houston Medical Center as well as two candidates for the upcoming elections.
MOTIONS MADE:
1. Marie Lee motioned to approve the May minutes. Seconded Monique Pham. Council voted, motion passed..
COMMITTEE & STANDING REPORTS –
CHAIRS REPORT –Barbara Quattro stated that the City of Houston passed its recent budget through 2014 and none of the Alief six CIP requests were included.
TREASURER’S REPORT –Monique Pham, Treasurer, reported the current balance was $3264.54 after a small check was written to Chili Peppers for web services.
ELECTIONS/NOMINATING COMMITTEE.
SECURITY/ INTERNATIONAL MANAGEMENT DISTRICT: – A very successful initial recycling event sponsored by the International Management District was held July 24th at Crump Stadium on Harwin Rd at Cook. A steady flow of participants dropped off electronics, paper, plastic and cardboard. Shredding was done on-site. Notice of future recycling events can be received by contacting Brian Burks at 281-564-5252. It is anticipated that this will be a twice-yearly event
ALIEF COMMUNITY ASSOCIATION –Mike Kreinsen was absent. Marie Lee announced dates of upcoming events (see below)
PROJECTS/SNAP COMMITTEE-..
TREE PLANTING –
NEW BUSINESS
GUEST SPEAKERS: -All speakers provided a power point presentation and literature. Each will have a presence at the annual SAVE Alief health fair in August.
Shane Chen, Hope Clinic, 7001 Corporate Drive, Ste. 120: Ms. Chen provided an overview of the services provided by the clinic (Helping Other People through Encouragement). The clinic offers a variety of services to all people, including children, with a sliding fee schedule based on income. It is open Monday through Friday. Several languages are spoken here. Dr Ashu Paul discussed the services in more detail. Their website is www.hopechc.org and can be contacted at 713-773-0803.
Shahnaz Ajami, Ibn Sina Clinic, 11226 S. Wilcrest. Ms. Ajami provided an overview of the services offered by the Ibn Sina Clinic, also serving a multi-language community who are underinsured or uninsured, on a sliding scale based on income. It is open Monday through Saturday with after hour’s services. Their website is www.ibnsinafoundation.org and can be contacted at 281-977-7462.
George Thomas, El Franco Lee Health Center (Harris County Hospital District), 8901 Boone Road. This facility opened in 2009, also provides a variety of services to families with limited incomes and diverse languages. They serve over 8000 people per month and 80% are Hispanic. The facility is currently applying for NCQA status. They take the gold card and have an eligibility center next door. Their website is www.hchonline.com, and can be reached at 713-526-4243.
Charles Laird, COO, W Houston Medical Center, 12121 Richmond Ave. Mr. Laird expressed his excitement over the new expansion to the facility, part of which is to come on line in December 2010 and the 25 year anniversary of WHMC. He spoke about the emergency room and the attempts to address the 61% of people who come to the ER with non-threatening conditions. The majority of the people coming into the ER are uninsured or self-pay. The hospital has started referring people to the other facilities and services in our district (see above) where they can receive medical care for these non-emergency conditions on a sliding pay scale. WHMC works in conjunction with Ben Taub for critical emergencies and neurological damage. They currently have below the standard 90 minute window for heart attack patients which is saving many patients’ lives. They hope to decrease the time to 60 minutes.
UPCOMING SPEAKERS – The speakers for the August meeting will be from METRO. Barbara is considering having non-partisan political guests for September and October since the festival partnership with HCC will now be in the spring. She suggested that having a group explain the numerous courts may be helpful to voters since a large part of the November elections will consist of judges.
PUBLIC SESSION
Public Session and Announcements.
The next quarterly small business breakfast meeting will be August 3rd at 7:30 am at the International Trade Center Building, 11110 Bellaire
The third annual parade will be on September 25th at 9:00 am and the grand Marshall will be Sherriff Adrian Garcia on horseback
The SAVE Alief annual Health Fair will be held Saturday, August 7th at 9:00 AM at the Hastings Ninth Grade Center. The MD Anderson Blood Drive Mobile Donor Coach needs forty people to sign up: contact Tiffany Dao at 713-295-2229. Walk ins are welcome. Visit www.mdanderson.org/bloodbank for additional information
The Houston Community College will be hosting a festival at their location in Alief on Hayes Road in September.
The House of Amos on Boone Road provides voter registration every Saturday
The West Houston Medical Center is sponsoring “Operation Backpack” teaming up with the YMCA to provide school supplies to needy children. W Houston is one of the major drop off points from July 23rd to August 6th. For further information visit www.ymcahouston.org/operation-backpack/
By calling 211, Ask a Nurse, you can receive referrals for medical care, 24 hours a day.
Marie Lee reported that there will be a toy drive for identified needy children December 11th
Chet Ma Chen announced Wei Lee of the Chinese Community Newspaper is attempting to put together a daily flyer in his paper (in English) featuring events in Alief. Marie Lee noted that the Chronicle on line has an Alief section since it abandoned the weekly Alief section in the paper (www.chron.com)
The next ASNC meeting will be held at 7:00 P.M. on the fourth Tuesday, August 24th, at the CenterPoint Energy Building, 12330 Bellaire Blvd.
The meeting adjourned at 8:55 PM.
Minutes approved on _____________________
Compiled & Written by V. M. Sugar
Respectfully Edited and Submitted by Secretary, Anne Williams
