Note From President Casey:
We have made some changes to our meeting schedule in June that I wanted you all to be aware of. We will have our regular meeting time on June 4 and 11. We will be dark on June 18 as the Gospes offered to host my “debunking” at their house on June 19 starting at 5:30. Hope you can all make this.

We will also be dark on June 25 as many club members will be attending the International Convention in Calgary. President Julia’s first meeting will be on July 2. 

UPCOMING SOCIALS & PROJECTS & EVENTS  

More socials, projects, & events coming soon!

Rotaract Fund Raiser
If anyone would like to donate money to GRA (Global Rotaract Alumni Club) they can donate the money on the GOSC site and include a note that it is for GRA. This would help us tremendously to continue growing as a club and be able to conduct larger scale projects. Here is the donation link: Donate Now – Global Offsite Care

Opening The Meeting

“Welcome to the Rotary Club of Santa Rosa where the Magic of Rotary is alive as we continue to do good in our community while having fun doing it.”  Heather Thurber led us in the reciting of the Pledge of Allegiance and the Four/Five Way Test (she almost forgot #5). Her Reflection was a poem about youth call “A Vision’s Dawn.”

Guests:

Our guest speaker, Jeff Gilman

Sunshine:

Nobody is ailing today!

50/50 Raffle:

Matthew Henry said we had seven marbles in the bag and the pot was $120.00. Steve Marburger had the right ticket, but not the right marble.  Next week we will have six marbles and more money!

Rotarian of the Month for March:

That would be Kim Murphy! Kim deserves this honor for putting together our program for the SCARC meeting we hosted in March (Fire Preparedness) and bringing back the Fireside Chats.  Thank you, Kim!

Paul Harris Fellow Award:

Peter Holewinski has earned his first Paul Harris award.  Sounds like he earned it sometime ago, but we missed it! Our apologies, Peter! Thank you for your contributions!

Announcements:

1. Ann Gospe will be sending out SignUp Genius for the Giro Bello.  There are a lot of positions that still need to be filled. Start talking to your friends, neighbors and family.
2. Ann Gospe announced the farewell party for Saras on May 31.  Please RSVP to Julie Montgomery by May 28 if you are coming.  Where she lives has limited parking and it sounds like it is tricky to find. RSVP: [email protected]. See the flyer for additional details (it is in the bulletin, on the Facebook page and on our website).
3. Kris Anderson has sponsor packages available for the Giro Bello and will be bringing them to the meetings.  She can also email it to you or anyone who wants to be a sponsor. Remember they get two riders at $500, more if they pay more.  Such a great deal!
4. Kris Anderson also let everyone know that the May 21^st, Santa Rosa Metro Chamber Mixer is at Balletto Winery and is sponsored by the Rotary East/West Club in honor of their 60^th If you are a Chamber member it is free to go.  If not a member it is $35.00.  RSVP to the Santa Rosa Metro Chamber.
5. Steve Olson said that there is a wine event at Shone Farm on June 8^th, but at 9:00am there will be a hands-on project of picking apples (known as gleaning).  You can get some free apples out of your work.  It should be fun!
6. The Dolly Parton Imagination Library had a press release on May 19^th to announce Rotary District 5130’s participation.  The article should be in the Press Democrat any day.  Out of about 20,000 children under the age of five in Sonoma County, five thousand have signed up.  That means from birth to age five they will get an age-appropriate book every month.  We need to get more children signed up.  Does anyone know people at the local hospitals, pediatricians and doctor’s offices where we can leave the sign-up flyers?  Matthew Henry thinks he can!
7. Next week’s meeting is out annual Public Safety Awards.  We already have 60 guests!  With the club membership we will be pushing 90ish people!  Get to the meeting early!
8. No meeting on June 18^th.  We will be dark because we will all be at Casey’s debunking on June 19^th at the Gospe’s home.
9. No meeting on June 25^th because a lot of regular attending members will be in Calgary for the convention.

Recognitions:

Well, this is rather embarrassing.  At the last meeting that Craig Meltzner attended, he left his checkbook on the table.  Craig volunteered that was the only thing he left somewhere.  He was recently in Dodgeville, Wisconsin (probably dancing) and he got a call that he left his boxer shorts in the bathroom of his hotel.  We may have to talk to Elaine about this forgetfulness!

Today’s guest speaker, Jeff Gilman from the Redwood Gospel Mission

Jeff has been at our meetings before, so it was nice to hear what his organization has been up to…What!  They bought the Dream Center from Social Advocates for Youth…for $10 million dollars! Whoa! What is the story?

The Redwood Gospel Mission (RGM) has always mobilized to help the marginalize people on the streets of our community. They average about 220 people a night and serve about 30,000 people a year.  They have mobile showers in Santa Rosa, Petaluma and Ukiah. They quietly run a mobile shelter October through April at various undisclosed churches housing about 40 people a night.  They have about 1700 volunteers.  A City Kids Festival is August 2^nd where kids get backpacks and school supplies.  They will serve as many as 5000 people for Thanksgiving, with 600 volunteers helping at that event.

Since recovery, housing and job training is what they already do…they bought the Dream Center.  They were already serving that demographic.  People ages 18 – 25 coming out of foster care are not prepared for being on their own. That was what the Dream Center was for when it opened in 2017. However, their business model was unsustainable. Due to receiving money from HUD, they had to limit the number of kids to 20 a night.  When SAY closed and filed for bankruptcy, they put in the offer to buy.  It took 10 months, but they closed escrow on December 24, 2024.  However, they are not limited to foster youth.  They will also take in families and single adults (Jeff said he would like to come back next year and give us an update).

When it comes to homelessness, he said that is not the problem. It is houselessness.  Most are single adults with no family or friends they can rely on.  It is about aloneness. The reason they are alone is a very long list. You know it: addiction, mental illness, a criminal history, obsessive/compulsive behavior, abuse, neglect……..it leads to a lack of stable healthy relationships, therefore homelessness.

So, what is the plan?  RGM will take in people who will commit to one year.  During that year they will work on relationships before they can leave and join the real world. They will have 12 classes every week that they must attend. Subjects include life skills, time management, financial literacy, health, emotional health, recovery, and spiritual classes.

They will learn skills so that they can get a job. Basic things like gardening, culinary arts and janitorial skills.

Questions:

Matthew Henry asked about the cap on the number of people.  Because they do not government funds, they do not have a cap like SAY had.

John Poremba lives close to the Dream Center.  He appreciated that someone came by his home to let him know what was happening.

Craig Meltzner asked a question about their strong faith-based traditions. Jeff said, “we will always be people of faith, but we do not expect it from others.”

Steve Olson pointed out that our local Foundation has a fund that gives out about $4000 per year for battered women and children’s organizations. Would they have a program that would fit? Jeff said that they work very closely with the YWCA. They respect, admire and work closely with them.

Rick Allen asked how many people do they expect? Who will be their clients?  Total numbers will be 12 –50.  People will need to go to emergency centers first.  Do they want help? Do they want stability?

 

Additional Pictures

 

CREDITS