November 27, 2023
Minutes of the Meeting
President Jack Moynihan called the meeting to order at 7:03 PM.
Treasurer Greene reported a balance of $2212.29, which reflects no new deposits or
expenditures. Approval of the minutes of the October 23 was postponed.
LPD Sgt. Christy Delaney gave the police report and noted that the data are now being
provided via the LPD servers for the first time since the cyber attack earlier this year. The
statistics indicated a good month overall with no particular spikes in incidents reported. Of
10 car breaks, 8 of the entries were gifted by vehicle owners who left their cars unlocked.
Two of 4 burglaries resulted in arrests and the cases closed. Similarly, 5 of 6 charges of
disorderly conduct resulted in arrests. There were 12 incidents of vandalism though the
events appear to be random. Sgt. Delaney then took questions from some of the members.
Jean Yang, from the CEO of Vinfen, gave a short presentation about the
agency and its mission before introducing Executive Director Daniella Johnson. Daniella
explained that VBH Community Services, currently headquartered at 40 Church Street is in
the process of moving many of its services to a site on Varnum Ave, which will be closer to
Lowell General Hospital and improve articulation of their services. The current Church
Street facility will remain open for the time being.
Daniella outlined that VBHC provides walk-in service for both youth and adults with a
range of services including experiencing mental health or substance abuse emergencies.
The services are rendered in one on one, group or family settings. Along with walk-in or
appointments, VBHC also has a mobile crisis intervention program and maintains
partnerships with both the GLTCHS and Middlesex Community College where they provide
on-site clinicians. Vinfen accepts patients with or without health insurance and derives a
good deal of its funding from state and federal sources.
Before closing, Daniella talked about ways to support Vinfen and also mentioned that, like
many organizations, they struggle to fill positions and are actively engaged in hiring staff at
various levels.
Before adjournment, Jack Moynihan announced that after 10 years as “interim” president
of LDNA, he is planning to step down and continue to participate as member (in pretty
good standing). He spoke hopefully about LDNA’s future and offered to support its next
leader.
With no further business, at 7:48 pm, the motion to adjourn passed unanimously on a
motion and second from Laura L. Anderson and Greg Anderson.
Respectfully submitted,
Robert Casey,
Secretary