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St.
Jude's | ||||
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Planning |
Facilitator: Frank
Tetto |
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Note Taker:
Alycea Tetto | ||||
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Frank Tetto, Maria Tetto, Alycea Tetto,
Michael Apostol, Marion Breitenkam, Phil Graziano, Chris Graziano, Mary
Johnston, Carol LaForte, Steve Lewis, Grace Cerrato, Joe
Gallagher | ||||
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Frank Tetto
called the meeting to order at Minutes from the
last meeting were reviewed and accepted, with the exception that Alycea
had Mary and Agenda
Item: Status
Reports Attorney
Search Mike reported
that he had tried to connect with the attorneys were he works, but was
unable to do so. He did put
out some feelers, but was not encourages by the results. Mary also asked several attorneys,
but was unable to find any willing to do it pro-bono. She did get some fees from Bruce
Harris, Esq., ranging from a low of $1000 to become incorporated and have
the by-laws reviewed to a high of $5000 for IRS filings. She also mentioned that no
fund-raising can be done until 501C is requested. Joe also did surfing on the �Net
and found some info in which the initial incorporation can be done as low
as $200. Steve said that he
also thinks that we can do some, if not all, of the paperwork and filing
on our own. Frank said that
another member referred an attorney to us. The attorney called Frank and he
suggested that we get sponsorship first. Frank also has written to Seton
Hall and Rutgers University Law Schools requesting assistance from
students. No response as of
yet. Phil said that filing of
corporation papers is actually minimal. He�s done it several times. He changed his filing several
years ago and became incorporated in Delaware, and the fee was
$300-$400. In NJ, it runs
about $195. Mike asked why
incorporation in Delaware is attractive. Phil said that the stronger
incorporation laws in Delaware make it safer for officers and members with
respect to liability. Sponsorship Frank has
approached Father Bob about sponsorship. St. Jude�s, Catholic Charities and
K of C were discussed as possible sponsors. Father Bob agreed to look into
it. Phil asked why we would
want to do this, and Frank responded by saying that working under the
umbrella of an established organization will give us the structure of the
entity, as well as assisting MCCT in gaining quicker acceptance. Phil said that he would also bring
it to the K of C council meeting to see what kind of interest is
there. Accountant Frank has the
name of an accountant who has a disabled child, and who has mentioned
willingness to assist us once we�re at that point. By-Laws Joe distributed
three sets of by-laws that he found on the �Net. He had prepared a spreadsheet
identifying the commonality among them, and reviewed it with us. Frank asked that a by-law
committee be formed, and asked for volunteers. The following people
volunteered: Joe-Chair of the
By-Law Committee, Chris, Frank, Mike, Carol and Grace. The committee will come up with a
recommendation that can be fine-tuned at the next planning committee
meeting. Alycea agreed to
send e-mail addresses to the group. Business
Plan Mary presented
her draft of the Business Plan.
It only covers the first phase, as that can be done without
liability. Frank has agreed
to write the Background and Situational Analysis, and Mary agreed to edit
it. Web
Page Phil has agreed
to donate the first year of registration for http://www.mycommunitycareteam.org/
and his friend will put a page together. It can be constantly reviewed and
updated as we grow and develop.
Outreach to
the Community Frank began by
explaining why he thinks its important for families with special needs to
have input into how MCCT developes.
Marian suggested that we put it into church bullitens to reach
out. Chris suggested that
eventually we can approach the bulliten publisher, Bonaventure, but that
we need to wait until we have a stronger structure. Mike agreed that we should wait
until we�re stronger and tighter, but at the rate we�re going, it
shouldn�t take long. The Center
for Non-Profit Corporations
Frank told us
how he contacted this agency, and has paid the $50 fee to join on MCCT�s
behalf. In a nutshell, it is
a 501C agency that advises other groups on how to become non-profit
agencies. The web site, for
anyone who is interested, is http://www.njnonprofits.org/. He has already received a packet
of information from them, and Alycea will make copies and distribute them
to the planning committee members.
ListServ
MCCT
Frank apologized
for the way it started out, and will redistribute instructions for
joining. Press
Release Pended until
further notice. Agenda
Item: New
Business Student
Council Letter Libby Werner
wrote a letter on behalf of the MOHS Student Council asking if they could
support us as part of a council project. Frank already responded yes, with
the caution that we are not yet developed, and asking her some additional
questions. He is still
waiting for a response. Logo Phil has been
doodling, and expressed some of his ideas. Mary has two daughters who are
graphic artists, and she will ask them to play around with it. Joe agreed to scan it and send it
to us. Agenda
Item: Mission Statement We brainstormed
around a mission statement.
Mary wrote our ideas on the whiteboard, while Carol put them into a
more cohesive form on her laptop.
Inclusive org Advocacy to and for
family Community base Social service
structure Empower families Assist families to become advocates
Wide open
organization Helping people in
crisis Reintegrated into
society Focus on lifetime challenges for people
with cognitive and physical challenges Mission
Statement The
mission of the My Community Care Team is to reach out to families in
crisis as a result of a catastrophic illness or injury. Our focus is to support their
informational needs by providing a network of referrals and support
services. The ultimate result
should be re-integration into their community. We will review
this and finalize at our next meeting. Agenda Item: Next MeetingFrank suggested
meeting the last Tuesday of every month. Therefore, the next meeting will
be Tues., April 29, 2003 at 7pm. Meeting was
adjourned at 9:05pm. | ||||
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Alycea will
distribute minutes to attendees. | ||||
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