Feb 11, 2026, at Concordia Club
MEETING:
- Past-president, Todd Aitcheson presided.
CELEBRATIONS:
- Member Birthdays – Ingrid Peters (Feb 11), Jake Thomas (Feb 12), and Jen Weishuhn, wife of Todd (Feb 15)
- Member Anniversaries – None
- Club Anniversaries – None.
ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Todd:
- Announced one Guest, Faune Lange, partner of Troy Stuebing.
- Cited numerous famous persons in history with a Feb 11th birthday.
- Cited numerous memorable events in history that happened on Feb 11th.
- Cited numerous famous songs/bands that premiered on Feb 11th.
Ray:
- Reminded about sign-ups for the Coldest Walk of the Year in support of Supportive Housing of Waterloo (SHOW), taking place on Feb 28th.
- Advised that volunteer decorating for the annual Smile Cookie at Tim Horton’s is coming up in April and he will have more details to come.
- Advised that the annual Food4Kids breakfast fundraiser is coming up in May, at the Hacienda Sereda. More details to follow.
Todd:
- Reminded about sign-ups for the KW Cluster Annual Ski Day at Beaver Valley Ski Club, taking place on Feb 19th.
50/50 for the $121. prize
- Lucky drawers: Paul Wright, Larry Masseo, and Bill Pegg.
- Lucky Winner – Nobody. On to next week when the pot grows.
GUEST SPEAKER:
John Thompson introduced our Guest Speaker and our very own member, Julie Walder who is Executive Director of Marillac Place in Kitchener.
Marillac Place began in 1987 and is currently located at 109 Young Street, Kitchener.
It is a not-for-profit registered charity service organization whose mandate is to provide transitional housing and support for women who are 16+, experiencing homelessness and, are either pregnant and/or have a child who is less that 2 years old, in their care.
During their stay at Marillac Place, mothers are provided parenting & life skills in addition to emotional, financial, transportation, food and hygiene needs for both, mother & child.
Following the 12 months stay, mothers receive Aftercare program to assist their transition back into the community.
Marillac strives for a continuum system that runs from Intake, Assessment, Treatment, Recovery, Transitional Housing, and Supportive Housing. In this process, they partner with House of Friendship, Porchlight Counselling, Family & Children’s Services, and the Region of Waterloo.
In 2025, Marillac Place took in 19 women experiencing pregnancy or early parenting, and 11 infants of which, 7 were born at Marillac Place.
Very sadly, these women count represented only 12% of the service inquiries.
Julie spoke passionately and shared some concerning facts, including:
▪ Babies and children under the age of two are not included in the City/Region’s count of homeless people. This omission represents an invisible crisis.
▪ Single parent families lead the poverty rate, at 31.3% vs. the overall Canadian poverty rate of 6.4%.
▪ Homelessness for women and their children is vastly under-reported as many are caught up in a cycle of “couch surfing” with friends, relatives, and shelters.
▪ Children who do not receive a safe, healthy and nurturing start before age 5, are most likely to become victims of poverty, addiction, crime, and despair.
▪ For every dollar spent on early childhood education, the payback to the community is from $1.50 to $2.80.
In true Rotary form, there were many good questions, and Julie answered all, very well.
Karen Voisin, for the second week in a row, thanked our speaker.
