Meeting Notes, July 29, 2015
Posted by Tom McClellan
on Jul 30, 2015
Jim Hairston got a chance to try out his skills as acting president for this meeting, with current President Joyce Loveday operating from a secure and undisclosed location.
Special guests:
Mike Johnson and Kari Young, of the Tacoma Rescue Mission.
Clarke Thomson, of Mountain View Funeral Home
Visiting Rotarian Leon Titus of the Lakewood Club
and Master Gavin Carr, serving an early apprenticeship as a restaurateur.
Sunshine Report: Thankfully, nothing to report this week.
Future Programs:
- August 5 – Shelley McClellan and Paul Means: Guatemala Stove Project
- August 12 – Craig Kenworthy, Puget Sound Clean Air Agency
- August 19 – Ed Dopp, Habitat For Humanity’s newe Lakewoode Towne Centre store locatione
Upcoming events and/or commitments for our club:
There is a volunteering opportunity August 7-8 in conjunction with Caring For Kids, and Lochburn Middle School. CFK will be holding an event to help get kids “Ready To Learn”. Volunteers are needed:
- Friday, August 7, 7:30 AM at the Caring For Kids center (the old American Lake South), 14720 Murray Road, to load trucks bound for Lochburn
- Friday, August 7, 9:00 AM at Lochburn – Unloading/Set-Up
- Saturday, August 8, 7:30 AM at Lochburn, helping at the event
Parking at Lochburn will be pretty dear, so RSVP to Bonnie Boyle for parking instructions. Come to any or all of the parts of this event.
August 25 – Rotary Night at the Rainiers game. Look for further details in the future.
October 1 – Rotary Theater Benefit at the Lakewood Playhouse.
Rotary Facts:
Did you know that the 4-Way Test was introduced to Rotary by Herb Taylor in 1943? Herb was then a Rotary International director and a future Rotary International President. See more details at http://www.rotaryfirst100.org/presidents/1954taylor/taylor/#.Vbo9A7XDua8
Did you also know that the official Rotary colors are Royal Blue and Gold? (ed. note: the Rotary banners we hang every week should have been a substantial clue).
Fun and Fines. With General Ed operating this week from a secure and undisclosed location, Heidi Wachter filled in as Finemaster.
Bryan Christensen won the raffle last week, thanks to Tom McClellan’s expert services as proxy Ace-drawer. Tom was holding Bryan's tickets last week, because Bryan had to leave that meeting for a secure and undisclosed location. Bryan arrived to this week's meeting ready to tithe, but then it was noted that he had not yet received the raffle prize check from Treasurer Judi Maier (who was also operating this week from a separate secure and undisclosed location), and due to the standing rule against prepaying fines for events that have not happened yet, Bryan’s attempt at tithing was rebuffed. Let the record reflect that this remains on the Club’s to-do list, and that Bryan really WAS ready.
Sydna Koontz had two fineworthy events. She and Corky had just spent a large amount of time at a secure and undisclosed location (it was Maui), where they had to contend with a giant swarm of bees which had gotten into their house, and which did not appear to get the message about not coming back in once evicted. Some people spend time on the islands surfing, swimming, snorkeling, etc. Synda got to test out her caulking skills.
Sydna also completed the sale of her Oakbrook home to a family member. So twin fines of $50 for each event were collected.
Tom spent 10 days there with wife Shelley before sending her off with the Hands For Peacemaking team to install stoves in a remote village (the subject of next week’s meeting program). Along the way, Tom and Shelley survived both a near lightning strike and a volcanic eruption. 10 days, $50
Helen McGovern-Pilant attended her cousin’s son’s wedding in Spokane. They decided to take the scenic route back home, but ended up re-routed by brush fires. $10
Choi Halladay spent 5 days in Nashville, supposedly on official business, but with some time outside for recreation. No bees, fires, nor volcanoes there. $50.
Ellie Carr paid her Wachter for a past birthday, plus her family reunion trip to Oregon. $100 to Ellie’s Paul Harris.
Sheri Hodson noted that her youngest child Michael is now at the age to start checking out colleges. They went to look at Gonzaga and WSU, but were not trapped by any brush fires. $10
Fred Willis celebrated the birthday of his son, who has turned 60. $50 to Paul Harris. Fred also confessed to being late to the meeting, after having to grapple with the sudden loss of several zucchini plants to a visiting deer. Fred is all about feeding the hungry of Pierce County, regardless of what species of mammal they are.
Today’s Program: Mike Johnson is a former Army Ranger who has devoted his life to the service of others. He has previously worked at the Seattle Union Gospel Mission, and came to the Tacoma Rescue Mission after a nationwide search. He has done a great deal of work at trying to identify the root causes of homelessness, in hopes of better addressing those issues. Surprisingly, little work has been done in this area.
Mike mentioned the ACE study, identifying risk factors in several areas of “Adverse Childhood Experiences”. See http://www.theannainstitute.org/ACE%20folder%20for%20website/7IAHP.pdf
Those with a 0 ACE score have a 2% risk of ending up homeless. But those with a score of 4 or above have vastly increased likelihood of negative experiences as adults, such as:
- 1100% more likely to use IV drugs
- 460% more likely to experience clinical depression
- 1220% more likely to attempt suicide
- 600% more likely to self-describe as “alcoholic”
High ACE scores also stall the maturation process. The stress hormone cortisol coats neuroreceptors in the brain’s cortext, inhibiting learning, leading to bad school experiences, and poor life outcomes.
Mike asserts that we cannot “house” our way out of our country’s homelessness problem. We have to “heal” our way out of it. People must heal their abilities to relate to themselves and others. A relationship with God can be a very powerful aid. People need to understand the usefulness of living for something other than themselves.
Tacoma Rescue Mission’s goal is to end homelessness by ending the poverty which leads to homelessness. Heal people so that they can compete in the job market. But this takes longer than just handing out housing vouchers.
RAFFLE: Karen George had the winning ticket, but did not employ Tom McClellan’s proxy services. Accordingly she drew a 2 of Hearts, and won just $5.