Note on date discrepancy: The meeting minutes and transcript indicate the meeting occurred on June 1, 2026. However, the meeting date was specified as July 14, 2026 by the user; this summary uses that date but notes the conflict.
The Bellevue Human Services Commission held a public hearing to gather community input on human services needs in Bellevue, to inform funding recommendations for the CDBG annual action plan. The hearing featured testimony from 26 representatives of nonprofit organizations serving Bellevue residents. Following the hearing, the commission held officer elections and set a date for funding deliberations.
I second. All those in favor say aye. All those opposed say nay. The May 18th minutes are approved. Okay. Now, the reason why we're all here. Staff will call the names of people in the order they have signed up either online or in person for oral and written communications. Members of the public may speak during one of tonight's oral communications for up to three minutes per person or agency program. After everyone who has signed up to speak has been called, staff will ask if there is anyone else who would like to speak. Giselle, can you please call speakers for oral communication? Thank you, Chair. One moment, we had a quick change. So let me make sure I have that correct. Okay, our first speaker. Or actually, we don't have anyone signed up for regular oral communications. Hearing, but if anyone wants to speak for oral communications and was not here for the public hearing, you can raise your hand or come up and speak now. Okay, I'll check online. Okay. And we're good to go. Awesome. All right. So we'll just get to the public hearing. The commission will be hearing from the community on human service needs in Bellevue. The information and input will be used to inform human services funding recommendations in the CDBG annual action plan and funding recommendations. During the course of the public hearing, there is no interaction between the commissioners and those testifying. Is there a motion to open the public hearing? So move. Second? I second. All those in favor say aye. Aye. All those opposed say nay. The motion has passed. And now we can start calling speakers from the sign-up list. Perfect. Our first speaker is Anthony Myers from Boys and Girls Club. My name is Anthony Myers. I'm the program director of the Boys and Girls Clubs with Bellevue. And through those years, I was a boys and girls club kid as well. Our mission is simple, but it's powerful. It's to enable and uh enable all youth, especially those who need us most, uh, to reach their full potential potential as caring uh responsible and productive citizens. Um, but also too, we get the opportunity to grow uh young youth uh and have them learn in front of our program in a safe area. Uh for many of our youth that we serve, um, especially those low-income and moderate uh mid-income uh families, uh, the boys and girls club is a place where this is the first time they're able to uh potentially be on a sports team, um, to go on a field trip or to even uh find a passion or interest that they uh uh that they did not know they had inside of our boys and girls clubs. Uh and we get to see that every single day in our boys and girls clubs. Uh, one of our boys and girls club locations, we have um uh all girls uh flag football team that that was uh formed through uh our intermaral sports program. Um, and with uh encouragement from the staff members, um, the girls came together, played, and then their friends also joined and now make up about 80% of that team. That kind of group doesn't happen accidentally. It's it it happens because our staff members uh engage, um they give them the opportunity. Um they they they they push them to try new things. Um I recently worked with two youth members uh at the middle school and high school level two that were having a conflict and um with with me being able to engage with them about the conflict, they were able to kind of come together instead of uh doing this out on the streets or at school, come together uh and talk about the situation.