(At THE WOODLANDS as long as Covid-19 prevalence is within a range permitted by APD Lifecare)
Samantha Davidson Green
Coordinator for CATV’s Operations. To speak about plans for revitalization
Important Reminder for In-Person Meetings:
If you did not attend our meeting at the Woodlands on August 12 or Harvest Hill on August 26th, You will need to present your Vaccination Record Card at the door,
proving that you are fully vaccinated.
Once again temperatures will be taken for all to assure that you don’t have a fever.
-A clear photograph of your Card, on paper or on your cell phone, will suffice.
-Cindy will have a list of members who attended the August 12 meeting to check off those who have already presented their vaccination card. If you aren’t on the list, you must present your verification of vaccination.
-Everyone attending the meeting will have their temperature taken.
Please plan to arrive between 11:45 and 12:00.
-If you feel unwell, in any way, please do not attend. COVID symptoms can be anything from: Runny nose is the most frequent symptom, with a sore throat and upper respiratory symptoms also common; nausea to headache to fever to loss of sense of smell.
September 16, 2021, (On Zoom)
September 23, 2021, at noon (at Harvest Hill) Speaker To be announced
September 30, 2021, FIFTH THURSDAY To be announced
Our speaker today was Craig Hendersona life-long Keene, NH native. He has been involved in the war on poverty for more than 18 years with Southwestern Community Services. As a landlord who owns more than 50 rental units and social worker, he has been provided a unique perspective on housing issues in New Hampshire.
Craig Henderson
Craig’s remarks:
Craig started is talk by sharing the he has a deep sense of humor because, "I’m a social worker; no one ever comes to me to say, 'Hey, Craig, my life is terrific'.” He shared that those who do this work see tragedy every day. He finds that humor can help him deal with the difficult situations he sees and hears about daily.
He asked us to have a look at some statistics he had placed on our tables. They showed who was homeless and how many in his area plus other demographic information from January to December 2020 for the Claremont area, the closest to Lebanon in his organization’s catchment area. He then shared that he hoped we could have a dialogue about homelessness by having our members ask him questions. It only took a moment for JoAnn Lemieux to start with by asking a question.
QUESTIONS:
JoAnn Lemieux — Do you have dry and wet shelters? JoAnn shared a story about a acquaintance who struggles with alcohol and drug addiction. She is homeless, and finding a totally dry homeless shelter is not something she has found.
Craig — We operate with the goal to provide shelter whenever possible. We don’t hold anything against people, but folks on the sex offender registry cannot be served by us. As long as individuals aren’t taking drugs or drinking alcohol on shelter grounds, we let them in. NH doesn’t haver “dry shelters” because the funding doesn’t allow it. If you are struggling for a place to sleep, we will serve you.
On average, we serve upwards of 42 people per night. Presenting problems include mental illness, substance abuse, various negative physical conditions, and persons of all ages and all genders. We hired a second-shift staff member to supervise during the “naughty hours” of 7-10 pm. These are the hours when drugs and alcohol can find their way into the shelter.
Bill Secord — Why did the percentage of females served rise so dramatically?
Craig — Our partners in spousal abuse prevention had some staffing problems. This may have contributed to a rise in female homelessness. Also, another community partner lost capacity. In general, we do see a trend that single people outweigh families, with men the highest population, though I agree the percentage of women served is rising.
Hank Clarke — You noted a large percentage of adults with zero income. What about the governmental safety nets?
Craig — This is the KEY ISSUE. We are only a band-aid not a long-term solution. We provide EMERGENCY housing. What we are learning is that there is a social breakdown on all sorts of levels. Of the 113 adults we serve 102 have a disabling condition. This is not “pulling oneself up by your bootstraps,” These are folks who don’t have bootstraps or who cannot do the pulling themselves. Most alcoholism we see is secondary to a primary disabling condition. Mental health problems are the primary conditions associated with homelessness from our perspective.
If you haven’t worked for several years, you may not qualify for social security assistance. Or, you may not want the stigma of entering a mental health facility. Sometimes, it can be almost insurmountable to apply for assistance. And then, even if you get $800 a month, you cannot rent a single bedroom in Keene for that amount. We just had a Central Square building previously housing many of our folks where the rents increased to more than $1,000/month – obviously impossible to rent on $800/month.
There used to be a state aid called “APTD” [Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled]which apparently is no longer. The SSI program has rules that make it so that you cannot ever make enough to get on your feet. SSDI (Social Security Disability Income) requires that you have done 40 quarters of work; then, you can get around $1300-1400/month.
NH Municipal Organization article, State Cuts Squeeze Local Welfare Budgets
The New Hampshire legislature made a substantial change in the eligibility requirements for APTD (Aid to the Permanently and Totally Disabled) cash benefits, the state disability assistance program, that may result in an influx of applicants for local welfare assistance over the next several months. Under RSA 167:27, no person who is receiving APTD cash assistance from the state is eligible to receive local assistance except medical and surgical assistance. (Receipt of APTD medical assistance only does not disqualify a person from local assistance. See Smith v. Franklin, 159 N.H. 585 (2010).) Included in HB 2, the "trailer bill" to the state's budget bill that passed at the end of June...read more at https://www.nhmunicipal.org/town-city-article/state-cuts-squeeze-local-welfare-budgetshttps://www.nhmunicipal.org/town-city-article/state-cuts-squeeze-local-welfare-budgets
Rudy Fedrizzi — What is the effect of the eviction moratorium going away?
Craig — It’s a double-edged sword. There is some good in having a reasonable eviction rate – evictions open apartments. With the moratorium, we’re seeing an increased length of stay. Average was 58 days in 2019, and that was “smokin’ fast”. In 2020, stays lengthened to an average of 130 days and it’s getting longer. NHPR said that NH is working up to only a <1% rental vacancy rate. With higher vacancies, competition forces landlords to lower their prices. Today, if you cannot afford a unit, you have no place to go.
We have been using the “NH Emergency Rental Program.” We’ve been paying out $100-125,000 each month, paying current and back rents. Half of Craig’s program needs the rents to keep running and the other half goes out to pay landlords.
Rudy Fedrizzi — What effect have you seen from the national Build for Zero program? Is it a pipedream to eliminate homelessness altogether?
Craig — The idea modified to become “almost zero.” The government put up a huge amount of money to help homeless veterans. Homelessness will never totally disappear. The key is to balance the number of new homeless persons entering the system with previously homeless persons becoming housed. We need enough resources to get people involved right away when they come in. Also, permanent housing programs need to be better funded.
Ernst Oidtmann — Prevention question: What’s the educational level of your clients? How many years of education have they had, and would it help to keep kids in schools?
Craig — We have no such statistics. We used to track a lot of “causes” for folks coming into the shelter, then US Department of Housing and Urban Development proclaimed a focus on “Housing First” — because it doesn’t matter what a person’s level of education or level of drunkenness is. We know that other parts of the system are failing. In the old days when we did track education, it averaged about 8th grade.
Ernst Oidmann — Vaccination rate of your clients?
Craig — More than USA – about 95%. NH did an “incredible” job, eventually. They gave us pamphlets and videos, trained us in conversations. We snuck in our staff – 10% of each release of vaccine was allotted to the “vulnerable” population, so we sent our staff to clinics.
Book for the Children's Collection at the Kilton Library in Honor of Our Speaker:
President Hank shared that the book for Craig Henderson is Fred's Big Feelings: The Life and Legacy of Mister Rogers.
An inspiring picture book biography about the inimitable Fred Rogers, beloved creator and star of Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood.
Fred Rogers was a quiet boy with big feelings. Sometimes, he felt scared or lonely; at other times, he was playful and joyous. But when Fred’s feelings felt too big, his Grandfather McFeely knew exactly what to say to make him feel better: I like you just the way you are.
Fred grew up and created Mister Rogers’ Neighborhood, the television program that would go on to warm the hearts and homes of millions of Americans. But one day, the government threatened to cut funding for public television, including Fred’s show. So, Fred stepped off the set and into a hearing on Capitol Hill to make his feelings known.
In a portrait full of warmth and feeling, Laura Renauld and award-winning illustrator Brigette Barrager tell the story of Mister Rogers: a quiet, compassionate hero whose essential message—that it is okay to have and to express feelings—still resonates today.
Marilyn Bedell and Tim Guaraldi welcomed members to the meeting. Marilyn filled in for Cindy Jearome by checking for vaccine cards for members who had not attended our first in-person meeting; and she checked everyone's temperature. She was happy to report we were a cool group.
Tim was happy to take lunch money, including Bruce Bergeron's quarters ($9 worth). Bruce no longer carries cash. He raided his stash of quarters from his car. Tim passed out Brew Fest assignment sheets, and handoust for Brew Fest that members can ask local stores to provide for their shoppers...especially stores that sell beer or serve beer.
There was the good hum of conversations in the room as we all visited before Hank called the meeting to order.
President Hank Clarke rang our Rotary bell and called the meeting to order at 12:10. Prior to going to the buffet filled with tasty Italian items, Hank welcomed our guest speaker and our members. Then there was a group recitation of Rotary’s Four-Way Test followed by the Pledge of Allegiance.
Ernst Oidtmann then played the piano as we sang the new Rotary Song, We Are Glad to be A part of Something Larger Than Life; and with help from Bruce we sang a couple of verses of Good Night, Irene, as we remembered Tropical Storm Irene that happed 20 years ago.
Our Piano Man Ernst Oidtmann
As we came to the end of the meal, Tim Guaraldi was in search of Happy Dollar and Concern Dollars. Her is what we learned:
Rudy Fedrizzi is running a half marathon on Sunday
Tim Guaraldi asked if anyone had ideas about shaving around his face mask. One of Tim’s twins, the pregnant one, tested positive for COVID but is on the road to recovery. Her due date is November 11.
Marilyn came home to a dead washing machine the other day; the new one won’t arrive until mid-September, so she and Ron are looking for volunteers to do their laundry, please.
Ron took apart a recumbent bike for recycling. In an attempt to be protective of Marilyn who has a sore shoulder, Ron decided to take the flywheel portion of the bike (about 30 to 40 pounds) down the stairs while Marilyn was at the CCBA pool. Halfway down the stairs, he took a head-over-heels tumble, leaving his right arm and various other parts of his extremities a pretty black and blue. There is now has a fist size hole in the sheet rock too. Marilyn was very happy she didn't come home to find him seriously injured. Once again, he dodged a bullet.
In anticipation of the recent tropical storm, Tim Guaraldi removed the bridge he built to replace the one previously washed away. Of course, the storm didn't live up to hype, and this was an task us unnecessary but does help Tim keep his muscle mass.
Our speaker had a brag: Craig Henderson is super-excited to be Covid-free. He bragged that his son was selected to be in the New England football (soccer) Club which requires a 2.5 hour drive to practices, giving them lots of father-son time.
Hank Clarke traveled to an orchard in Walpole, https://alysonsorchard.com/ and brought home a wonderful peach pie which was shared with the Secord's. His ride home was an adventure as NH-12A had a large section closed due to flooding taking him an extra hour to get home as he didn't want to drive up I-91. He had an adventure traveling on back country road. It was an adventure that turned tedious.
Our Raffle
Pull-the-Queen of Hearts Raffle – John Yacavone’s ticket was drawn but he pulled the 9 of clubs, a loser.
The 1st free car wash was won by Bill Babineau (for this week). The 2nd free car wash was won by Rudy Fedrizzi (for last week's Zoom meeting). Bruce Bergeron will email the codes
We then heard from our speaker, Craig Henderson (see above) and this was followed by announcement (see below).
Club Business and Announcements
Brew Fest
Things you need to know:
We are almost readt for Brew Fest. SEE VOLUNTEER ASSIGNMENT LIST AT THE BOTTOM OF THE NEWSLETTER UNDER ROTARY INTERNATIONAL NEWS.
New Announcements
Hank Clarke: sponsors and advertisers are all in; the program is at the printer. There remain more details to wrap up. At next week’s meeting, we’ll go through all the details.
Bruce Bergeron: If your name isn’t on the list of volunteers at the door today, please call Bruce.VOLUNTEER LIST AT THE BOTTOM OF THE NEWSLETTER UNDER ROTARY INTERNATIONAL NEWS. Everyone will be assigned to a task group. On Monday, details for pourers will be sent with specific brewer assignments.
Wherever you shop, ask places you shop to hand out sheets available at the front of the Dwinell Room today.
All beers being poured at the Brew Fest will be available for purchase at Jake’s Market or Mike’s store and deli.
Bruce P: Are there leaders for each task group. Bruce B appointed Bruce Pacht for Registration and Marilyn Bedell for security.
Non-vaxxed volunteers should be masked. If anyone feels more comfortable in a mask, feel free to wear one.
From last weeks Zoom Meeting
Set-up will start on Friday, September 3, 2021, from 3 to 5 PM
We need a fire Extinguisher for under the tent. If you have one we can borrow, let Hank know.
Additional set up will be done on Saturday morning starting at 9:00 AM.
We will establish the start time for Pourer at our meeting on Monday. They will need to arrive early to receive pourer education.
Red wrist bands will need to be worn by all Rotarian volunteers and other workers (food vendors and entertainers) at the event — No one working at the event can drink beer. Green wristbands will be worn by our patrons, and indicates that they have paid to drink beer. Everyone on the site should have a wristband on if not they should be reported to John or Hank. Without a wristband you can not be at the Brew Fest. Designated drivers must have on red wristbands.
Don’t forget to wear your yellow Rotary tee shirt. Bruce Bergeron will bring more shirts to the event in case you don't have one already.
Drinking Rules for Volunteers — No volunteers in any capacity can drink from 12 (noon) to 4 PM. When participants are herded away at 4 PM, our volunteers are permitted to sample the leftover beer.
Assignments were distributed at the meeting. Let Bruce know if you have any questions about them. Assignments can be found at the bottom of this newsletter.
Brewers – We are up to 34 according to Bruce Bergeron.
Food Vendors – Salt hill Pub and 110 Grill no longer a food vendor...John looking for a replacement or two.
Entertainer — ChrisPalluttoDuo will be our entertainers. They have played at both Salt hill and 110 Grill and at the Shed at Killington. John says “they are very good.”
Share the information for Brew Fest from the Rotary Facebook page on your own Facebook page. Rich Wallace is doing a boost to our target demographic. We provided info to the UV Business Alliance. The color ad appeared again in today’s Valley News.
You will see Brew Fest signs around the City and at Colburn Park on the fence. Radio ads start up the last week in August. We’ll have ONE spot during the 9/3 Red Sox game.
Mascoma River Clean-up
From Ernst Oidtmann - Chair for River Clean-up
The Rotary Club and Lebanon Conservation Commission are planning another Mascoma River Clean-up. VOLUNTEERS ARE NEEDED
When: September 25, 2021
Time: 9:30 to Noon
Where: Meet behind the CCBA at the picnic pavilion
Details: At the pavilion you will register and get instructions. You will be given garbage bags, and an assignment of a section of the river. We will clean from Exit 17 to the Connecticut River in West Lebanon. The river is divided into 12 segments of about a half mile each. Each section requires 4-6 volunteers and some assignments may involve two sections.
Bring: Your cell phone (protected from water) so you can call for trash pickup. You will be given a phone number when you register.
PREREGISTRATION preferred. Call Ernst Oidtmann a 603-448-5115
Reward: A cleaner river and refreshments at noon.
Hybrid Meetings
Nothing new this week, but this was announced on our Zoom meeting. Dartmouth-Hitchcock Health is planning renovations to the Dwinell Room's AV capabilities which should allow us to begin experimenting with hybrid meetings. September 30 is the expected date of the the equipment installation completion, but Cindy reminded us that this is not a firm date for implementation of the new system. Cindy has been assured that we will be able to use the equipment to do hybrid meeting. We will wait for this to happen before doing hybrid meetings.
Listen Community Dinners
Our next dinner is September 14, 2021. HELP WANTED. Please sign-up to help if you can. We need 3-4 more volunteers.
No updates this week. This was announced by Dave Crandall at our Zoom meeting last week.
Our Committee has narrowed the list to 3 projects which we’ll present shortly to the Club. We are gathering cost estimates. Next meeting is 9/13 and hope that after that, we’ll prepare a presentation to the club. Ernst confirmed that he and Dave would walk the trail again, meeting at the Lebanon Cinema 8/25 at 2:30 PM. Feel free to join them to see the site being explored for a pavilion.
Other Club Business
Ron: Nominations are open for District Governor — to apply you must have been a president for a year. +7 years in Rotary by 2024 and the endorsement of the club. Contact Ron, if you want more info about this adventure in Rotary.
Meeting adjourned with the ringing of the bell and our Rotary motto:
One Profits Most Who Serves Best
Members at the meeting:
Bill Babineau
Marilyn Bedell
Ron Bedell
Bruce Bergeron
Dean Cashman
Hank Clarke
Jim Damren
Rudy Fedrizzi
Ed Friedman
Tim Guaraldi
Ahmad Haidari
Rudy Fedrizzi
Willie Koppenheffer
JoAnn Lemieux
Ernst Oidtmann
Bruce Pacht
Phil Rentz
Bill Secord
Marion Steiner
Cal Wolfe
John Yacavone
Upcoming Service Projects and Fund Raisers
Listen Community Dinners Second Tuesday of Each Month.
We can resume preparing meals for the Listen Community Dinners our next dinner will be September 14, 2021. Start time 2:30 PM. At least two people need to arrive at 2:30. Others can then arrive between 2:30 and 3:15 PM.
Use Doodle to sign-up for the dinners in September, October, November and December.
Brew Fest 2021 — September 4, 2021 (Saturday of Labor Day Weekend)
SEE VOLUNTEER ASSIGNMENT AT BOTTOM OF NEWSLETTER AFTE ROTARY NEWS
Mascoma River Clean-up — September 25, 2021
Ernst Oidtmann announce that Mascoma River Clean-up will be on September 25 is the date of the biennial Mascoma River Clean-up which will take place in concert with the Connecticut River Clean-up. See info above about the plans to-date.
ROTARY INTERNATIONAL NEWS
An update on PolioPlus in Afghanistan
Michael McGovern, Rotary International PolioPlus Committee Chair
Eradicating Polio in Afghanistan
As the sun rose on 1 January 2021, we all worried about what this new year would bring. For those of us who closely follow polio eradication progress, it was an especially worrisome time. 2020 and 2019 had seen an uptick in wild polio virus cases and in circulating vaccine derived cases. Polio vaccinations had had to be suspended for a while in 2020 due to the coronavirus and vaccines for Covid-19 were just starting to receive early use approvals.
The polio news was especially bad in Afghanistan. On the very first day of 2021, a wild polio virus case was reported. In the next week, the national health minister was fired due to hints of corruption on non-polio matters. Before month’s end, the government of Afghanistan ordered the UNICEF polio lead to leave the country relating to a verbal spat that had occurred in the President’s office. Then in March and June there were coordinated attacks on polio workers and their security teams leaving eight families having lost loved ones. The Taliban denied responsibility for the attacks, and it appeared the attacks were tied to elements who supported ISIS or ISIL as they are also known. We also noted that some areas of the country had been subject to over 30 months of a ban on house-to-house polio vaccinations.
While all this was going on other activities were occurring which have been mostly unreported. On January 17th, the Regional Directors of WHO and UNICEF met at the Taliban office in Doha, Qatar to discuss polio vaccinations and covid response in the areas controlled by the Taliban. While house to house polio vaccinations were not agreed to, the seven senior members of Taliban leadership indicated support for other measures to provide vaccination activities. In all areas of the country, health screenings continued unabated which showed no new wild polio cases and no positive identification of polio viruses in the environment. In a zoom call of polio partnership leaders the week of 17 August, Aidan O’Leary, the global WHO polio director, noted that Afghanistan has one of the best programs for polio surveillance in the world and it was not finding polio anywhere.
After the fall of the Afghanistan government in mid-August, the new leadership has agreed to keep on the acting health minister who has been effective in righting the program since February.
Taliban leaders have visited the national and regional polio offices and pledged their support for the polio eradication program. On 23 August, a Rotary sponsored roadside vaccination hut provided vaccinations to children under five with local Taliban providing the needed security. For security reasons, I will not share the photos I received but it was good to see the Rotary logo doing good in the world.
Rotary has just 35 members in Afghanistan. They inspire me daily with their courage and perseverance. The polio program has always been politically neutral in every country. Rotary and our partners work with the leaders who are in charge. We now work with new leaders in Afghanistan. Rotary funds WHO and UNICEF. We do not send any funds to the governments nor to groups other than WHO and UNICEF. We monitor the spending they do on our behalf very closely. We have never been closer to eradicating polio in Afghanistan. We will continue to work with the Afghani people and our partners to finish what we began over 35 years ago.
Statement credit: Scott Boucher's FB post in Rotary District 7790 page
Rotary International Convention in Houston Texas 2022
RI Convention June 4-8, 2022 in Houston TX
Ron again announce that the Rotary International Convention will be in Houston. Read more by clicking here Registration fee until 15 December will be $475.
VOLUNTEER ASSIGNMENTS FOR BREW FEST
3-Sep
4-Sep
Affeldt
Dan
1
Registration
Mason
Jane
1
Registration
Nelson
Angela
1
Registration
Pacht
Bruce
1
Registration
Bedell
Marilyn
1
1
Security
Bedell
Ron
1
1
Security
Wolfe
Caleb
1
Security
Lemieux
JoAnn
1
Security
3-Sep
4-Sep
Bergeron
Bruce
1
1
Tent Coordinator
Clarke
Hank
1
1
Pouring/Tent Help
Crandall
David
1
Pouring/Tent Help
Damren
Jim
1
Pouring/Tent Help
Fedrizzi
Rudy
1
Pouring/Tent Help
Gobin
Joy
1
Pouring/Tent Help
Guaraldi
Tim
1
1
Pouring/Tent Help
Guaraldi
Anna
1
Pouring/Tent Help
Jerome
Cindy
1
Pouring/Tent Help
Koppenheffer
Will
1
1
Pouring/Tent Help
Mulholland
Shaun
1
Pouring/Tent Help
Rentz
Phil
1
1
Pouring/Tent Help
Secord
Bill
1
Pouring/Tent Help
Yacavone
John
1
1
Pouring/Tent Help
14
3-Sep
4-Sep
Ford
Cameron
1
Set Up Only
Niroula
Dipak
1
Set Up Only
Wallace
Richard
1
1
Set Up Only
2
2
Not Avail
Babineau
Bill
1
Buck
Michelle
1
Cashman
Dean
1
Clements
Karen
1
Friedman
Ed
1
Hoskin
Garlan
1
Steiner
Marion
1
Wallace
Rich
1
Whitman
Steve
1
9
No Reply
Flaherty-Wolpern
Jean
Gasser
Bob
Horowitz
Ariel
Michaud
Ron
Nash
Dan
Niroula
Sharmila
Oidtmann
Ernst
Vaughn
Janet
We are now meeting every Thursday.
The First and Third Thursday at 12 Noon via Zoom
&
The Second and Forth Thursday at Noon in the Dwinell Room at Harvest Hill or at the Woodlands on the Campus of Alice Peck Day Hospital.
For in person meetings we ask that you only come if you have been fully vaccinated for COVID-19
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