Board of Directors

Regular Meeting -- September 6, 2008

The Board of Directors held its regular monthly meeting at 2007 Bert Avenue, Austin, TX 78704, starting at 1:28 pm. The following directors (constituting a quorum of the full board) were present at the meeting: President Kathy Lee, Vice President and Secretary Leslie Harvey (via phone), Treasurer Pam Chambers, and Robert Gardner (by phone). Robert McGarey (Executive Director) was also present at the meeting.

Reading of Mission Statement and Approval of Minutes

The Mission Statement was read aloud at the beginning of the meeting. Minutes from the June, July and August meetings were read aloud. Minutes for June, July and August were approved as read.

President's Report

Volunteer dinner. The dinner was a great success.

Goodwheelchairs. Recently Kathy and Chris Grigassy picked up a donated scooter, and it was put in the new storage space under the garage apartment.

Awakenings conference. It will be held in February in San Marcos - there's a flyer up about it. There will be several great speakers. Volunteer opportunities available in exchange for free admission. Kathy is trying to work in a way to bring attention to the Center.

Executive Assistant's Report

Floors. The new carpet was installed. Marcus Barnes said we should just be able to just clean the wood floors and not have to re-finish them if we want the style of the floor to match the rest of the house.

New Office. We're planning another work day around the end of September when we may be able to officially move the office into the new space. Molding still needed for the window, and a few other details need to be done to the walls. We will wait until winter to add the remainder of the insulation.

Volunteers. Robert is finding that volunteer events done for groups seem to work out better than smaller volunteer opportunities. People seem to like volunteering more when they know there is a social aspect to it. The Craigslist ads appear to be an effective tool. Since posting the ad we've had a larger flow of people coming to the Center to check things out, and these folks can potentially be volunteers. The tumblebus ad is still on there and we're getting occasional calls about it.

Donations. Robert has been shopping Craigslist and other sites for donation opportunities. He's got a line on file cabinets and will get more information about them.

Permaculture, Chickens & Yoga. Robert is developing a new class. It will begin with a film showing and discussion about the Natural History of the Chicken.

Expanding Markets. Because the 'Potential' in Human Potential has a broad definition he is looking at what various groups we can attract who might not have come to the center before.

Grounds. The roof still needs to be installed on the info board, but it's almost finished. Some volunteers helped Robert to draw the mandala on the circle drive. He drew in some parking spaces and they are getting used so that was successful.Robert's been weeding the garden and preparing the fall planting. He's trying to form a grounds committee to take care of regular maintenance and improvements. The lead we had on a free greenhouse through Habitat for Humanity fell through: $500 on Craig's List 10'x16'. We may be able to get it somewhere else for $250 - Robert is still looking into this.

Executive Director's Report

Deck. Budget we need is $6K, though with Chris Martin's help we may be able to offset that cost.

Tumblebus. We have an offer on the bus, however the buyer wants a payment plan. Bob asked for input as to whether this is acceptable and what the terms should be. The board will provide feedback individually following the meeting.

Virginia Satir Conference. Bob and Pam are going and hopefully it will bring some attention to the Center.

Healthy Living Resource Guide. We just passed a milestone of an average of 10 hits per day, and so we need to start looking at this again.

Bingo Chairperson. As part of a new regulation, we need to appoint an officer or director to be an official bingo chairperson. Kathy volunteered for the job, and the Board appointed Kathy as the chairperson.

Since there was no further business, the meeting adjourned at 3:03 pm. Minutes submitted by Leslie Harvey, Secretary, September 6, 2008.