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Anthony Nordan gave our invocation while Kathy Austvold led us in songs, trying to tape Let Me Call You Sweetheart for Mike Wollan. Buzz Lundeen paid for the ability to pass a pledge sheet for the upcoming MS Walk, while Randy Kempfer passed around a sign-up sheet for delivering Josh the Otter books after our May 16th meeting. President Steve announced that we will be able to pick up the trees we ordered to plant for the City and at the Community Garden on April 20th, with all of us hoping we don't have to wait too long before the ground will thaw enough so that they can be planted. We had a Rotary Minute Plus quiz based upon the April Rotarian, and managed to get four of five questions correctly, all but one based on an article about service dogs. That means there is plenty more information to mine from this edition to use in subsequent quizzes. During our fines and brags segment, Anthony told us the Empty Bowl event to raise funds for the Salvation Army will be held on Thursday, April 19th, at M State's Legacy Hall, from 11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m, with the minimum contribution starting at $18.00. Mary was happy to report Rod Ebersviller was honored at the State of the City meeting. Mitzi told us she still has a job, notwithstanding the rumor The Daily Journal was closing down because it was contracting its printing operations to a company in Detroit Lakes. She also said that the newspaper is looking for nominations of 30 people under 40 that are doing good in the community for an upcoming edition. Pete threw in Dan Johnson's scooter buck and also contributed for missing a few weeks himself. Randy Kempfer introduced Diane Thorson, the County's Director of Public Health, who shared some very interesting data with us that she hoped would help change the conversation from how much we turn over to the government to how those tax dollars flow back into the community to benefit all of us. She first told us that studies indicate that only 20% of our health is attributable to clinical care services, while 40% comes from how we work, live and play, or socio-economic factors. Otter Tail County recently ranked 35th in Minnesota counties in terms of health outcomes and 32nd in health factors. In our County, 14% of children live in a household with income below the poverty guideline; for a family of four in 2017, that was $24,600, which works out to a person earning $11.82 an hour for a 40 hour work-week. Yet, if you look at a computation of what it costs to cover basic needs in our County for a family of four, that comes to $60,461, substantially more than what is considered the poverty level. The goal of the Leadership for Change effort is to have everyone thriving in our county. The average monthly food cost for a family of four in Otter Tail County ranges from $878 to $1,047, and the average assistance received through the food stamp program ("SNAP") is $185.18. Enrollment in the free and reduced school lunch program in our county ranges from 34 to 54% by community, and Diane also told us that statistics indicate students participating in that program have a reduced chance of graduating from high school. The SNAP program returned $4,128,447 to vendors in Otter Tail County in 2017, while the Women, Infant & Children program ("WIC") added another $83,212 to that. There are 1300 mothers and children enrolled in the WIC program in the County. The average fair market rate for a two bedroom apartment in Fergus Falls ion 2015 was $894. For those receiving energy assistance, the average stipend worked out to $680.86 per year, while those obtaining rental assistance on average received $314 to $344 per month. There are 33 vendors of heating resources in Otter Tail County, with 205 landlords; the latter received $1,068,423 in assistance payments in one recent year. Child care that is home based costs on average $515 a month, while if provided through a center averages $737 a month. There are 86 licensed providers in Otter Tail County, and in 2017, child care assistance paid out $405,000. The average cost of transportation in 2016 was $717 per month. Health care insurance costs for a family of four with two children and no smokers averages $1,214 a month with a $6,000 deductible and a 20% co-pay. In 2016, Medical Assistance paid to County vendors $119,482,297 for health care, while Minn Care paid an additional $5,306,110. When you add all of these together, total public assistance benefitting local providers amounted to $132,621,067 in a recent year. Based on the figures Diane shared with us, it turns out there is a $2,285 a month gap between the mandated minimum wage of $9.65 for a person working 40 hours a week and the average cost of living. Even with the public assistance available, there is still a $423 monthly gap. There is a lot of need out there that our tax dollars help (but don't fully) address while at the same time providing a significant cash infusion to local businesses. |
