The May 17 Rotary meeting was held on a bright sunny day as workers at the Wakonda Club were busily preparing the golf course for the forthcoming Principal Charity Classic.
President Jamie began the meeting with official business. With the expert assistance of Judy McCoy Davis, President Jamie and the Board have been conducting a thorough review and update of the Club Constitution and By-Laws. The Board approved the suggested edits and reorganized documents on April 18. Drafts were circulated to members on May 3. Having answered many questions and concerns during the intervening comment period, the Club unanimously approved the Club Constitution and By-Laws at today’s meeting.
David Oman introduced new member Kim Heidemann. Look for more about her in the bulletin and expect her to be an excellent addition to our club!
Our speaker today was Melissa O’Neil, who has just completed her second year as CEO of Central Iowa Shelter and Services. O’Neil grew up in West Branch, Iowa where she fell in love with the game of basketball and discovered her gifts as a player extended to coaching the game as well. She played at Clarion University in Pennsylvania and coached at Syracuse University before returning to Iowa with her family.
It is because O’Neil approaches every problem with the mindset of a winning coach that many still refer to her as ‘Coach.’ And, Coach O’Neil was unsure she was the right person to lead Central Iowa Shelter and Services, but as the interview process progressed she came to embrace the idea, inspired in part by a Chris Tomlin tune that provided a kind of soundtrack for that particular moment of O’Neil’s life. Tomlin’s song, “A Good Good Father, begins with these lines; “I've heard a thousand stories of what they think you're like, But I've heard the tender whispers of love in the dead of night.”
It appeared to Rotarians that Coach O’Neil is likely a person filled with at least a thousand stories meant to inspire love.
Under O’Neil’s leadership, Central Iowa Shelter and Services is rethinking how Des Moines approaches homelessness. Just as Coach O’Neill was not interested in winning single games, CEO O’Neil is not interested in getting people off the streets for a single night. Coach O’Neil mentored players to become part of a team that won games, championships, and lifted up their communities. CEO O’Neil is inspiring the people of Central Iowa to solve homelessness forever. O'Neil is helping people to live healthy lives, gain the education they need to be independent and have access to the support mechanisms required, so no one ever has to live without shelter and other basic needs.
Thanks to a Rotary grant in 2014, Central Iowa Shelter and Services launched a program to grow fruits and vegetables to improve diets of those in need, but there is more to it than that. In its first year of the project, Central Iowa Shelter and Services grew 600 pounds of fruits and vegetables. This year the number will be 10,000 pounds. Those served by O’Neil’s operation are eating healthier and learning what it takes to practice sustainable living.
O’Neil shared many pieces of meaning information. Des Moines needs 8,300 more affordable apartments than it has. Too many jobs provide wages too low to lift families out of poverty. Too many Iowans spend more than 50% of their income on rent and housing. And, she had more. But, she did not come to dump facts and figures on Rotarians. She came to motivate us to help.
Coach O’Neil told Rotarians we each should consider contributing our ‘unique gift’ to solving problems and lifting our fellow man higher. I have to agree with President Jamie, after listening to Melissa O’Neil I wanted to yell, “put me in, coach!”
See you next Thursday at Rotary. Have a great week.