Community Action Board - Jan. 5, 2026

Agenda

The purpose of the Community Action Board (CAB) is to:

• advise the Community Action Agency (CAA) on ways to: mobilize human and financial resources at the local, state, and federal levels to benefit disadvantaged persons and maximize their opportunity for self-sufficiency;
• minimize the causes and conditions of poverty;
• cooperate with other persons and organizations interested in community betterment; and
• advocate for institutional change to reduce the conditions of poverty.

4:00 – Welcome - Adam

• Establishment of a quorum
• Introductions
• Adoption of minutes: December

4:05 – Milage Reimbursement

4:15 – Community Needs Assessment Outreach Plan

4:50 – Clackamas County Food Assistance Status

5:10 – CAP Infinity Training Opportunity

5:20 – Recruitment Update

5:25 – Director/Member Updates

5:30 – Adjourn

Next Meeting: February 2, 2026

Minutes

FACILITATOR: John Parker

NOTE TAKER: Sean Wells

Present:

• Paul Edgar
• John Parker
• Adam Khosroabadi
• Candice Laxton
• Greer Ryan
• Melissa Long

Absent:

• Richard Sheldon

Excused:

• Brian Nava

Staff:

• Kaitlyn Almonds
• Sean Wells
• Joey Johns
• R.E. Szego
• Tracy Garell
• Jennifer Much Grund
• Teresa Christopherson
• Danielle Cloyd

Meeting Called to Order

Quorum is 50% +1

John called the meeting to order at 4:08 pm. A quorum was present. 

Adoption of Minutes 

December minutes approved. 

Milage Reimbursement 

Tracy introduced Teresa Christopherson and Danielle Cloyd to go over the County’s milage policy. Teresa explained that the first step was registering as a vendor with the County and went over the paperwork that was involved with that. When that is completed the CAB members will need to fill out Milage forms each time they travel for CAB work. This includes attending the quarterly in-person meetings as well as other CAB-related events, such as tabling for the Community Needs Assessment or assisting with a presentation. The 2026 milage reimbursement form was not available to show the CAB. Teresa said that if CAB members had any questions, they could reach out to her or Danielle and supplied their contact info. Payments will be sent either as ACH transfer or a check and usually arrive around two weeks after the forms are submitted.  

Community Needs Assessment Outreach Plan 

Jennifer provided an overview of the finalized survey and said that SSD is hoping for 1,000 responses. The final survey should take approximately 15 minutes to complete. Online surveys will be kept anonymous, and the survey has been translated into Spanish, Russian, Vietnamese, and Chinese. She provided examples of community partners that SSD will be working with as well as some of the outreach strategies that the PGA will use to reach community members. She also shared a flyer that can be sent to community partners and displayed in various public areas and that PGA will push the survey on various social media sites. Kaitlyn took over the presentation and gave examples of organizations that she has reached out to since the December CAB meeting. She will be sending a link to the CAB members that has a form for members to let her know how they could best assist with promoting and collecting surveys. Once that information is collected she’ll send a follow-up link to coordinate outreach efforts. An Outreach Subcommittee meeting will be scheduled for the week of January 19th, the same week that the survey will be launched. Jennifer finished by saying that there will be an opportunity to reassess outreach strategies midway through the collection process. 

Clackamas County Food Assistance Status 

Tracy was unable to arrange for a speaker from the Oregon Food Bank to attend this meeting. She shared a brief video from the Oregon Food Bank and some information about food distribution since the government shutdown. Joey also contributed some links to information about food resources in Clackamas County. Adam outlined some of his ideas to assist local food banks as a Milwaukie city councilor. Tracy said that she would continue to work to find someone with the Oregon Food Bank to speak to the CAB at a future meeting. 

CAP Infinity Training Opportunity 

Jennifer reminded the CAB members about a CAPO training opportunity on January 15th from 10:00 am to noon. It counts as the training required for serving on the CAB. The link will be sent to the CAB members. If a member is unable to attend, they can still take the self-paced course for the same training. If a CAB member has any questions, they are more than welcome to reach out to Jennifer or R.E. Tracy will check on the registration process and follow up with the CAB members. John asked if this was going to be in addition to the new member orientation. Tracy confirmed that they are two different trainings and suggested that the new member orientation be presented either before or after the next in-person CAB meeting on March 2nd.  

Recruitment 

The recommendation packet has been sent to the BCC clerk and will be presented to the BCC soon. As soon as the BCC has approved the recommendation packet Sean will reopen recruitment.  

Director/Member Updates

• Tracy suggested that the CAB meetings that aren’t the quarterly in-person meetings should be changed to online only instead of offering a hybrid option. She noted that online participants in a hybrid meeting sometimes have problems hearing and contributing to meetings. The CAB accepted and Sean will reissue CAB meeting invitations with a list of which meetings will be online, in-person, or recessed. 

Meeting Adjourned 

The meeting was adjourned at 5:31. 

Next Meeting: 

February 2nd, 2026