MINUTES OF FEBRUARY 20, 2008 MISSION CIRCLE BOARD

Attendees:

Tom Theisen, Don Brosnahan, Vreni Crimmons, Pete Godefroy, Laura Wagner, Pauline Marsh, Jan Nelte, Leo O’Loughlin, Maggie Hillenbrand, Christina Palmeri, Lucie Walther, Kim Ballard

Meeting opened at 7:00 pm with a prayer by Tom.

Meeting minutes of January 26, 2008 Board Meeting were approved.

Peter Godefroy is interim Treasurer in Tony’s absence.

Between various channels of support for MC, a total of ~$2,200 was received since the last Board meeting.

The next fund-raising letter will be sent in March between Newsletter editions.

Don indicated that he believed the brown van will no longer be insured after March; he will check into insurance status. Alfonso is scheduled to take the brown van to Mexicali next week.

A  parishioner, Les Werling, was identified to coordinate all the operations and maintenance issues for MC’s vehicle(s). This person is also reportedly willing to track license/registration/insurance issues.

Dale was unable to attend, therefore no update on tutoring.

There has not been any further news or developments on MC becoming incorporated.

Newsletter: There will be more pictures in the next newsletter. Information is needed for both an article on Corazon and for Laura’s program. There may be a small article on the Fish Feast event and perhaps an article on Sr. Outreach. We need to create a mechanism whereby MC captures new names/addresses once a year or two.

Corazon: The sisters are due to move in on March 25. The inside is 99% complete, additional exterior work remains. The downstairs flooring at the original house is still in progress.

Casa Eudes: The two courtyards need painting. The tank-less hot water heater is ready for installation. There are still regular projects with the girls.

The sisters are collecting walnuts and packaging them for sale. Sister Alma has asked for $2,000 for an electric walnut peeler. Several questions arose such as what are the costs related to maintaining this equipment, is $2,000 the right price, etc. Don will investigate with Sister Alma to obtain more details and with the Endowment Fund managers to see about their possible participation before MC weighs in on the request.

The Fish Feast is scheduled for Feb. 22. Vreni has numerous volunteers but could use a couple more.

Peter, Tom, and Cristina met with Sister Teresa. She reiterated her previous position that she was against handouts (similar to Epiphany). She would like to see more programs in lieu of handouts. These could include furnishing buildings, planting trees, teaching women to sew, etc.

Vocation Training Center: Sisters gave notice to the Doctor at the clinic to vacate within 30 days; the Doctor reportedly could not afford to pay rent. Therefore, clinic operations will be ceasing. The seminarians might relocate to the clinic space, however this space was never intended as a living area. MC does not believe it has any authority regarding how the building is used. It is not known if the Sisters want an English program as they terminated the previous English instructor and have not replaced him. The VTC mission is still unclear in general. Lucie will check with the Endowment Fund’s managers regarding the VTC.

A motion was passed for Peter Godefroy to open a FastTrak account for the white van.

The next meeting date with the sisters is not set, although a likely date is March 15; this needs to be verified with Fr. Howard.

Note: The January MC board meeting will be at 7:00 pm on March 19.