Guest Speaker: Chris Beaton, Executive Director, Nanaimo Aboriginal Centre

Chris began with acknowledging that we are on the Snuneymuxw First Nation territory. He also thanked Rotary for their support in the community, across the province, country and around the world.

The Nanaimo Aboriginal Centre offers community based learning and the program Paddling Beyond has been around for 3 years. There are 90 students in the program takes young people out of their comfort zones.

For the Paddling Beyond program they had two main criteria for choosing a location for the participating students to travel to:

1. It needed to be somewhere relatively far

2. It had to have the opportunity to connect with other Indigenous cultures.

Based on the criteria, they chose New Zealand as the inaugural trip for the program which, up until that time, students had only travelled to other towns.

Of the 11 students that ended up going on the trip, 8 had never flown before. Several had never been off the island or outside of BC.

Chris shared that New Zealand has three official languages: English, Maori and sign language. By comparison, there are 51 First Nations on Vancouver Island, 256 in BC, 600+ in Canada and 222 First Nation languages which makes it very difficult to choose which you would focus on. As a result of Maori being the common language spoken among the Indigenous peoples of New Zealand, it is much easier to connect.

A total of 22 people travelled to New Zealand. To help pay for the trip, they had support from many groups and the youth that travelled raised funds through bottle drives,hot dog sales, dinners etc. Fundraising gave them another opportunity to learn. They took the time and effort to earn the trip and built up their public speaking skills by speaking to potential funders and through interviews with the media. The youngest person to travel was 16 years old.

The trip was 10 days and during that time they got to spend a few nights at a Maori "marae" or meeting place. While there they stayed in a "wharenui" which is a communal space which serves many functions including spiritual. As a result, they were immersed in the Maori culture right away including traditional foods which included pumpkin in almost every meal.

They also went to Rotorua, Hobbiton, Bay of Islands and other locations. There were a number of Maori cultural centres which were owned and run by Maoris.

Through the programs, and especially Paddling Beyond, the students are encouraged to share and be proud of who they are and where they come from. They saw this in action with the Maori which reinforced what they spoke about back home in Nanaimo. They were role models for the students. Over the course of the trip, the students took on more leadership and responsibility.

These trips will be annual and next year they are going to Albuquerque, New Mexico to the largest Pow Wow in the world and then onto Arizona.

Chris then invited Trent Warren Jack up to speak. Trent is with the Stz'uminus First Nation and has been on the Youth Advisory Council for the past few years and is a youth mentor. The trip to New Zealand was his first time flying. He said that the Maori have a similar spirituality and ancient teachings to what is on Vancouver Island. He admires their tourist attraction program and feels it is something for them to work towards.

He had an opportunity to skip a "waka" which is a Maori canoe and snapped a few paddles in the process. He joked that their paddles are much stronger. He also go to participate in a "Haka" which is the Maori's traditional ceremonial dance. They also got to present their own dances and languages to the Maori and many of the students came out of their comfort zone as the trip progressed. Some who had never sung alongside their families are now more confident and performing and school and gatherings.

Trent then passed the speaking back to Chris. Chris is taking Trent to the World Indigenous Housing Conference in Australia as he feels it is a great opportunity for him to continue to grow and learn. He then shared a story: Three Maori came to Vancouver Island via traditional canoe many years ago and stayed in Hesquiat. They married Nuu-chah-nulth women. In 1990 the Commonwealth Games were held in New Zealand. Tim Paul from Hesquiat was commissioned to carve a totem pole for the games. During the trip, Chris purposely found the location of the totem pole but didn't say anything to the students about its history. Two of the students recognized the style of the art and said it looked like it came from their area. Chris then shared the story of the totem pole.

Parents of the students who went were saying how happy they were with the trip as they came home wanting to learn about their traditions. For some though, they felt disconnected after travelling as a group. Some are in group homes and were missing the camaraderie and support. They have met back up to support the youth and continue building that bond and desire to learn.

David Drakeford, President of the Board of Directors of the Nanaimo Aboriginal Centre was invited up to say a few words as he was also on the trip and joked that as he was invited along as he is British and so can drive on the left side of the road. He spoke highly of the trip, the organizers and especially of the students who went on the trip. He shared that among visiting guests, a Chief is chosen and Trent was chosen. There was a gathering at the end of each day and everyone got more comfortable each day sharing with each other. Both the youth and the adults grew from the experience and in the final circle every youth said that they want to learn about their culture.

Chris concluded with sharing that the vision of the Nanaimo Aboriginal Centre is to support the realization of a 100% high school graduation rate for Aboriginal students in Nanaimo/Ladysmith.

Speaker Notes March 22

Dave Hammond introduced Dawn and John Hankins, our newest Rotarians, who gave their joint classification talk.

Dawn is a Feng Shui expert and published Author, and a skin care specialist. John is now working in business development for the MIBI (Mid-Island Business Initiative) group, as well as in commercial real estate here in Nanaimo

Dawn and John are adventurous couple who have lived in their native England, as well as Calgary and the Nanaimo area. With three daughters and two grandchildren, they seem to always be on the lookout for the latest challenge! We’re grateful to Dave Hammond for introducing them to Rotary.

John spent a large chunk of his career working for Nortel. His enthusiasm for working with people is evident! (That should make him a great Rotarian!) He’s originally from the part of the UK near the spiritual home of England, Glastonbury. What a beautiful place, the “home” of King Arthur and the holy grail legends, the chalice well, as well as Joseph of Aramathea. (Yup - he proved it - he showed a young pic of himself,with hair!)

Meanwhile, Dawn is from the area of Northampton, in the East Midlands. This is the same area where Princess Diana was from, and where Cromwell is reputed to have hatched his famous anti-monarchy plots! It’s wonderful to hear them talk with such pride about where they are from.

Dawn started out as an office junior in a law firm, and worked her way up to a court clerk’s position, where she even worked for Queen’s council in open court. She took a break when they had their three daughters, and was a stay-at-home mom for a number of years, which was a challenge with 3 daughters! Meanwhile, the family moved to Somerset, where John took his MBA at Bath University.

When they left the UK in 2000, they made a major leap of faith! But clearly it has paid off, as they first settled in Calgary, which is where Dawn first became interested in Feng Shui (pronounced “fang shway”). She took a starter course there, and in 30 minutes, knew she was hooked for life. After a time, her teacher and mentor stepped down, and asked Dawn to take over the course, suggesting that by that time, because of her enthusiasm, Dawn probably knew more about the subject than she did, anyway! Dawn decided to take the reins, and loved teaching.

She needed a mentor, and was thrilled when the Grandmaster Holiness Professor Lin Yum offered a workshop in the Calgary area. She told him about her work, and he offered to write the introduction for her book. Eventually, a series of events culminated in her being offered a TV show, and there are still 17 episodes available on YouTube, called “Feng Shui with Dawn Hankins”.

Then John was offered the role of manager of the Nanaimo Economic Development Corporation (NEDC), so they moved to the island on January 2nd 2016 to experience their next chapter. And we’re so glad they did!

The Hankins LOVE Nanaimo, partly because it has a similar climate and reminds them of home in the UK. Dawn's business is Rodan+Fields Independent Consultant with skincare, because she believes if you feel good on the inside, you look good on the outside! It obviously plays to her strengths, as it gives her a great opportunity to work with new people, in a way that’s still strongly aligned with the core values of Feng Shui.

Back to John, who as a youth spend time at the National Youth Theatre. As he got older, he, left Somerset and went to the University of South Wales for his first degree. He enjoyed a fun early career, and ended up working for a large animal feeds company for over 12 years. It was when “mad cow” disease hit the agricultural industry that his company broke up, and caused a series of events that ended up with the opportunity to move abroad. In their typical adventure-loving style, they took it as an opportunity for a fantastic new journey. They wanted to go to Canada from the start, and overcame a couple of stumbling blocks to get here.

Everything happens for a reason, as they say, and John had fun working for Nortel and then Calgary Economic Development, and even a major project with Richard Branson regarding climate change prevention, before eventually coming to Vancouver Island. Now with MIBI, they have raised over $60k to do a promo campaign for mid-Vancouver Island, with no government funding! Their core mission is all about raising the profile of Nanaimo, and attracting new business, residents, and investors to the area.

The Hankins wanted to join Rotary to do something together and make a difference. I’m sure they’ve found the right place.

Doug Wortley - Classification Speech

Doug Wortley shared with the audience his story of community service. He also noted he is proud to be a new Rotarian. His involvement in community service began in earnest when he was in high school as there was a requirement to complete 200 hours of volunteer work before graduation. 

For those able to afford the travel costs, they could complete service abroad. Doug spent 1 month at Murton Nature Reserve in Scotland. A reclaimed industrial site. He was able to help put in ponds.

Fast forward to his move to Nanaimo. Being an avid mountain biker, he was quick to get out on the trails at Doumont but was dismayed by the amount of garbage he saw. Wanting to make a difference for the environment and trail users alike, he coordinated a garbage pick up and worked in partnership with the Regional District of Nanaimo who agreed to take the trash away.

Doug was a geography student at VIU and one of the projects he did during that time was "Stories from the Mt. Arrowsmith Biosphere Region". This project is what got him into creating videos and it was shown at the VIU Theatre and on Shaw.

He also initiated a project at Cappy Yates Park. He engaged the Young Professional Network, of which he is a member, businesses in the Old City Quarter, artists, architects and others. The goal was to clean up the park, add some art and make it a more welcoming park. It continues to be a work in progress.

He has also helped the Mid-Island Community Development Co-Op create a food forest in south Nanaimo which is now an official park.  

He is an Assistant Planner for Lantzville and has created a map of all the trails in the area.

With all his work and volunteer activities, he discovered a niche where he could focus his efforts in a crowded photography market - aerial photography. He started with real estate and has since branched out into many areas working with companies such as Harbour Sea Planes and VIU. His two businesses are Arrowsmith Aerial Photography and Arrowsmith Media.

He is currently working on his Masters of Community Planning at VIU and greatly appreciates the support of his partner Carolina and his cat, Princess Peach.

He concluded that he became a Rotarian as he likes to help people. And it was through Ian asking him to help with some photography that he was introduced to Rotary.

Book Sale Update from Janeane Coutu 

Janeane provided print outs at each table of the different duties available at the upcoming book sale and provided an overview of the duties as a refresher for those who have volunteered before and orientation for those who have not. 

Table Workers

Will focus on general sorting  the first few days and making sure the tables are full. 

After that, the focus will be on sorting by author's name and putting duplicate copies together.

Cashiers

Request was made to have samples of non-pocket book sized books at the cash desk for each cashier.

Purchase is by cash only. A few ATMs in the mall

Dealers buy in book and resell. They do not get discounts.

Schools get one, $50 coupon. It is for one-time use only. They cannot get cash back or use the balance at another date if they don't spend $50.

Foreman

Is the go-to person for any issues, especially if there are any difficult customers

Greeters

New role, they will greet people at the sale, provide directions to the different book areas etc.

Banker

Oversees all financial activities and cashiers

Book Sale is April 4th to 14th and runs during mall hours. You can direct people to the mall website for those hours. You can sign up online or you can contact Ian and he can sign you up on your behalf.

Set up is the Thursday prior. The plan is to go out after the set up for refreshments.

Posters are available from Janeane if you are able to put some up at your workplace, community bulletin board etc.

Jake Rudolf was the speaker for this week. He works as the Chief Administrative Officer for the City of Nanaimo. He stepped into this role during a difficult period for council where these was a variety of issues to deal with including a dysfunctional council, a lack of leadership, a number of broken relationships between the City and other stakeholders, and reputational issues. Mr. Rudolf described some of the challenges the City’s administration faced with continuing to operate and run services provided by the City during this period. The role of the CAO is not be involved in the City politics but instead to serve the needs of council.

The CAO is the only employee of the council and the City’s administration is meant to communicate to council through the CAO. In turn, the CAO is meant to communicate with council through the Mayor. Council generally views issues from a policy perspective and the overarching goals it has for the City. In contrast, the CAO and administrative staff often will be seeking clarification from council on how those goals through action plans and then will seek to implement those actions plans.

The City is in the business of providing a variety of services including utilities, protective services, quality of life services (e.g. parks and recreation), planning and development services (growth management), and information services. Regardless of issues that may arise for council the City’s administration has to continue to ensure those services can be provided. The City is responsible for approximately 3 billion in assets to help provide the services to a growing population.

One of the strengths that Mr. Rudolf has noticed with Nanaimo’s City administration is the tremendous resiliency of is senior managers. In 2018, the city’s administration implemented a new waste collection service for 28,000 properties, it handled discontent city, it continued to operate during a difficult council year and it handled a record year for development in Nanaimo.

In 2019, the key issues that Mr. Rudolf expects will face council and the City’s administration include the continued homelessness and housing issues, a new official community plan, replacement of Fire Hall #1, updating the business systems, updating the organization structure, and repairing broken relationships. The City hopes to have a draft strategic plan on its website on Monday which should show the strategic priorities of council. The next step in this process will be to create action plans associated with those priorities.

Brent Stetar was interest to know how behind Mr. Rudolf thinks Nanaimo is compared to some of the other cities he worked with. Brent indicated that it was his understanding that in the past Nanaimo was considered a leader in municipal administration and was wondering how much that has changed. Mr. Rudolf indicated that one of the main ways in which Nanaimo is considered a behind the times is in its records management which is greatly outdated and which will be one of the goals for this year. As well, the decentralization of decision making that has happened needs to be fixed and again this is a goal for the coming year. Mr. Rudolf indicated that the Lenorad Krog has communicated to council that a key goal for the council will be to leave a legacy of good governance that will build a strong foundation for future councils. Mr. Rudolf emphasized the importance of proper planning and implementation of goals to avoid quick decisions that may later be regretted.

Dave Connolly thanked Mr. Rudolf for coming to speak with us and presented a hand made pen to Mr. Rudolf. Dave indicated he was happy to hear of the positive direction that council appears to be taking and he hopes this will bring many Nanaimo residents closer to feeling proud of Nanaimo again.

President Charles opened the meeting by asking Ian Williams to lead us in O’ Canada. Brent Barootes provided us with inspiration reminding us a Rotarians that we should be mindful of our community.

Brent Stetar requested that visiting Rotarians and guests be introduced. David Woodward introduced Harshan Srinivasan (left) who is a visiting Rotarian currently enrolled as an MBA student at VIU. The exchange students include Julia Molta (center) from Columbia and Dorien Abberkirk (right) from the Netherlands introduced themselves.

Birthdays and Anniversaries

Charles announced that, Carmon Henderson had a birthday on February 27, 2019 and Denise Wittkofski had a birthday on February 26, 2019. Norman Myden celebrated his club anniversary of 9 years on March 1, 2019.

Club Business

On February 28^th, 2019, a 5 club presidents meeting was held. The presidents reached a general agreement that all 5 clubs would join the Silly Boat Regatta. The presidents also discussed some of the new youth protection guidelines, which have caused discontent with many of the clubs due to the stricter guidelines. These new guidelines were presented at the district level and are not yet at the club level. As a result of the concerns voiced regarding these new guidelines, they have been sent back to the district level for review.

February 28, 2019, was also the night of drinks and appetizers at Dave Hammond’s house. This event was enjoyed by all who attended.

Upcoming and Current Events

Janeane Coutu announced that the book sale shift sign-up is now available. Rotarians will notice that the shift schedule differs from prior years. Shifts have been changed to allow for shorter shifts because many members indicated they preferred shorter shifts and also to allow for the addition of a new greeter role. Members are encouraged to sign up to shifts. If anyone has difficulties signing up for shifts, they are to email Ian Williams for help with this. If anyone signs up for a shift but is unable to make it, they are also asked to contact Ian Williams.

Joan Ryan circulated the bowling sign up. Right now, there are 28 people signed up to attend the bowling night on March 15, 2019 at 6:00 p.m. at Brechin Lanes. Contact Joan Ryan if you would like to attend but have not yet signed up.

Wayne Anderson announced that the Lantzville Rotary is sponsoring adventures in citizenship. As you will recall, our club voted to provide financial support to the Lantzville Rotary for this sponsorship. Wayne indicated that one of the purposes of the 5-club meeting is to allow a means for the different rotary clubs to support each other and this is one example of the ability of clubs to work together.

Wayne encouraged members to attend the Rotary District Training Assembly/Conference in May. The club will provide support of $200 each for each club member that attends.

Wayne also indicated that on April 11, 2019 there will be an all-Rotary BBQ and cash bar at the Rotary located on 3^rd street where Penny Dixon from ETTA Projects will be the speaker. Penny used to attend each Rotary to speak but this all-Rotary meeting will allow her to speak to all the clubs at one time about her worthwhile fundraiser. Although this meeting will take place during the book sale, members that are able to attend are encouraged to do so.

Earth day is being organized by Doug Wortley of our club and will be held at Barsby on April 27, 2019.

Members that are interested in helping with the set up of the book sale signs are informed by Charles that their help will be appreciated. Normally the signs are set up by Charles, John Hankens and Doug Cowling but anyone else is welcome to help.

Sgt at Arms

Brent Barootes as the Sgt at Arms this week was under the mistaken impression that he had 30 minutes to collect fines from members. He made use of his time by collecting fines from Jason Bradley (picture), Egon Holzwarth, David Woodward, Doug Cowling, Umesh Lal (picture), Wayne Anderson and a variety of other members for various creative reasons and what sometimes may appear to be arbitrary reasons.

Happy and Sad Bucks

Dave Hammond paid a $1.00 inquiry dollar to find out whether Doug Cowling’s beard is an undercover disguise instead of just a sign that he is currently on vacation. David Hammond paid another $1.00 happy dollar for the addition of the greeter position at the book sale, which will allow him to fulfill his retirement goal of being a greeter since Walmart will be discontinuing their greeter positions.

Brent Stetar received a happy ten bucks from Doug Cowling who had a great vacation.

Ace of Spades and Table Stakes

Dorien Abberkirk won the table stakes. John Shillabeer was unsuccessful in finding the Ace of Spades.

Rotary Club of Nanaimo

Meeting Notes for Friday 22 February 2019

By John Shillabeer

Susie Stephens gave the inspiration after President Charles Ramos opened the meeting and the members singing  O Canada. Susie spoke of being members of the “sandwich generation”, caring for generations before and after ourselves , all of which is line with Rotary’s ethos. 

Guests

Dave Hammond introduced Craig Gillis, our district governor who lives in Campbell River. Mikel Knuttson introduced his guest,  Lt Dave Ruel of the Canadian cadet force. 

Presentations 

Wendy Pratt presented a cheque for $1,500 to Lt Ruel as a contribution from the Club towards the cost of thirteen local cadets’ planned visit to Holland and France for the seventy-fifth anniversary of the D–Day landings.  Lt Ruel said that our grant will help the cadets make a ten day visit to first and Second World War sites in and around Amsterdam and Normandy. The itinerary will include the National Holocaust Museum, the Vimy memorial, Ypres, other memorials and Juno Beach. It will be an educational experience learning about Canada’s role in both World Wars. The cadets are paying for themselves and raising funds as much as they can from the community. The cost is about $4,000 per cadet.

District Governor Craig Gillis dropped by to make a short presentation to advocate attending the District Training Conference which will take place 9 to11 May in Victoria. This will be a great venue to share project ideas, be inspired, network and have fun.  For more information see the video on the District website. Note that the Club will reimburse a member’s expenses up to $200.

Craig asked the members to write a short note about a person who inspired them. These would then be taken to the District Conference and placed on the talbes for attendees to read.

Announcements 

On behalf of the Fellowship Committee, Dave Hammond invited all members and spouses to his house on Thursday from 5:00 pm onwards for appies and drinks.  Members should bring a plate of appetizers to share and BYOB.

The fellowship committee has tentatively booked bowling for the evening of 15 March; details to follow.

On behalf of the Community Grants Committee, John Shillabeer gave notice of a motion to be voted on in two weeks to donate $4,000 to Brechin Elementary School for extracurricular activities to enhance the life-skills, activities, opportunities and health of the students. Brechin serves one of the most economically disadvantaged areas of the School District.

Sgt-At-Arms 

Sgt Dave Hammond and Brent Stetar kicked off the proceedings by each confessing to still getting the words wrong when singing O Canada. 

Happy and Sad Bucks

Peggy Richardson was happy to boast that it was warmer today in Nanaimo than Las Vegas where husband Geoff is freezing.

Craig Gillis was happy to have visited with the exchange students at their retreat in Comox and was also happy to report that Jason Bradley managed to behave himself!

Douglas Anderson was happy that the piano accompaniment in the O Canada recording reminded him of the late past president Bob Pulleyblank. 

Wendy Pratt was happy and   looking  forward to going to the District Training Conference , which will be her first.

The Draw

Ed Borisenko won the table stakes and Lynne Pankratz just missed the Ace of Spades. 

PROGRAM NOTES – ROTARY - FEBRUARY 8, 2019

This week Jeanine Coutu, introduced Jason Bradley, Justin Molander and Doug Wortley as members who have joined Rotary but not yet given their introductory speech to their other Rotarians.

Jason Bradley

Jason was born and raised in Nanaimo. Jason is married and met his wife in 1995. They were married in 1998 and have two children. Jason’s son is almost 20 years old and his daughter is in grade 12. His wife runs her own yoga studio and also works with her father at Frank Allen Financial Group Inc.

Jason originally obtained a culinary arts degree from VIU (when it used to be known as Malaspina College). Jason discovered during obtaining this degree that the culinary arts did not appeal to him. He did not pursue a career in this area. Instead, Jason began working in the trucking industry where he learned the value of customer service and hard work from his mentor and first boss in this industry. Jason first began working in this industry in the shipping department but eventually worked his way into the part department and then on to customer service and sales. Jason worked for a range of local trucking businesses. Throughout this time, Jason’s first boss remained a key mentor for him. Jason achieved success in this field being named the top sales person for Volvo Trucks in 2000.

Although Jason enjoyed working in the trucking industry, he had a dream of becoming a firefighter. In 2002, Jason attained his dream when he joined the Nanaimo Fire and Rescue Department. Jason has worked a variety of positions in the fire department. In 2005, Jason was named Mr. April in a Firefighters Calendar. He claims that the position of “Mr. April” was forced upon as the Rookie of the department. Jason engaged in a wide variety of volunteer activities and programs through the Firefighters union and particularly enjoyed his involvement in the Fire Safety House. The goal of the Fire Safety House is to teach grade 3 students that attend this program how to escape a burning building. Jason was for many years been responsible for organizing the Departure Bay Christmas Tree set up every Christmas.

In 2014, Jason’s career and life took changed once more when he was diagnosed with PTSD causing him to re-evaluate his career. Jason now works for the fire department as a Captain of informatics and Communications. This year Jason received a service medal for his 25 years of service to the City.

Jason and his wife enjoy many activities together including hiking and snow shoeing. Jason also enjoys a range of sports both playing and coaching. Jason has a particular love of coaching girls’ soccer. Jason believes that soccer has been a form of therapy for him and has helped him with his PTSD.

Jason’s daughter is the reason that Jason joined Rotary. His daughter participated in a youth exchange and as a result of this he became aware of Rotary’s youth exchange program and had the opportunity to meet key figures of the Rotary. Jason loves his involvement with the Rotary’s youth exchange program. Although Jason only joined Rotary in December 2017, he has already held a number of positions in the youth exchange program. He has found that the youth exchange program is an important part of his life that he finds immensely fulfilling and looks forward to his continued involvement in this program.

Justin Molander

Justin was raised in Cranbrook, British Columbia. Justin’s family were originally from Manitoba but his grandmother, who was Cree, moved the family to British Columbia to avoid the residential school system that was being implemented there. Justin’s grandmother to protect herself and her family was forced to hide her Cree heritage. She worked for the government and if her Cree heritage had been known she would likely have lost her job. Justin’s father is Metis and Justin finds himself increasingly drawn to his Metis background.

Justin was not a motivated high-school student which means that Justin needed to upgrade his high-school grades prior to pursuing post-secondary education. He took college courses for 2 years to upgrade his high-school marks so that he could attend university. Justin attended UBC where he studied marketing. After graduating, Justin was not certain where to apply his knowledge and a close family friend suggested that he Justin should work in politics. Justin took this advice and became a legislative research officer. During 2010, the political winds shifted and the premier that Justin worked for (Gordon Campbell) was forced out of office. This shift in leadership meant that Justin lost his job with many other people hired by the Campbell government to make way for the new government’s employees.

After this, Justin was then hired by Teck Resources Ltd. to conduct commodity analysis. The position Justin was hired for is often held by individuals with an accounting designation. Although Justin is not a designated accountant Teck Resources Ltd. believed Justin would be well suited to this position. It granted Justin a great deal of freedom and responsibility in this position. For example, Justin was responsibile for pricing major sales for the Company that could often be valued in the billions of dollars. This position was a demanding one and gave Justin a great deal of experience for someone his age.

Eventually, Justin’s father who owned his own successful company, asked Justin to begin working for him in order to help him retire. Justin agreed and began working for his father. They sold all the assets of the business and Justin’s father retired. After this sale, Justin found that many of the contacts, friends and family members of his Dad would contact Justin to ask his advice regarding investing.

These requests inspired, Justin to create his own company that would research investment opportunities for companies and individuals. Justin owns and operates Trading Post Investments which looks into investments on behalf of its clients, who do not have the time and may not have the interest in conducting that research.

Justin has a strong desire to help indigenous communities. He is interest in using his skills to help local indigenous communities and has been involved already with various Bands in researching economic development opportunities and pipeline negotiations.

Justin became interested in Rotary after a conversation with Denise. Justin is interested in learning more about Rotary and in trying to help through Rotary.

Doug Wortley

Due to time constraints, Doug Wortley’s speech was postponed. President Charles expressed regret that the members were not able to hear from Doug this week. Doug’s speech was postponed to allow him sufficient time to properly introduce himself to his fellow Rotarians. We look forward to hearing from Doug in the future.

Violet Hayes, Executive Director of Island Crisis Care, established in 1989, provided a thought provoking presentation on the extensive services provided by ICCS whose vision (and mission) is to provide shelter and care for those in need on Vancouver. Their programs cover not only our own community but that of Parksville/Qualicum and surrounding areas. In Nanaimo they provide oversight and support for the newly established 250 Newcastle project to house 78 homeless on Terminal Avenue as well as at Samaritan House where a capital campaign to double the capacity has been ongoing for the past year and a half.

Right now ICCS has 90 Front-line and Support workers, the majority of which are volunteers who work closely with 4 Program Managers, 5 Executives, and 3 Office Support Staff. In Nanaimo, we have all been made very aware of how important, and how under resourced, this work is.

Here are just some of the ways ICCS helps: In 2003, 6 crisis stabilization beds were opened at Hirst House; Oceanside Outreach provides housing for 50 individuals; An extreme weather shelter, is now a winter shelter that offers 8 beds in Parksville through out the entire winter season; Safe Harbour House opened in 2005 with 5 crisis stabilization beds; The Bridge that provides 6 supportive recovery beds and is the next step after Safe Harbour House; Crescent House providing similar programs for both crisis and shelter and more. These programs have the capacity to provide 18,440 bed/days and it is only with a lot of ingenuity and caring and squeezing people in that they provided 20,911 (113% over capacity) in 2017.

Needless to say the need has dramatically grown as witnessed in Nanaimo when 400 homeless individuals gathered in Discontent City. BC Housing responded and ICCS was asked to provide support at to create individualize support plans. It’s a start, but as Violet so clearly stated, everything to do with this project was rushed in response to a court injunction – it’s not perfect, but they are working every day, as hard as they can, to improve the situation not only for the 78 individuals being served but also for the surrounding neighbourhood.

In addition to all of the above, Samaritan House in Nanaimo offers 14 emergency shelter beds for women, 6 supportive units (Martha’s place) 6 Transitional units (Mary’s Place) and 5 rent subsidies. Samaritan House has been in continual operation since 1989. Women receive shelter, 3 meals per day, clothing and emotional support. To give a glimpse into the need for the shelter beds, in January 2018 103 women were turned away, and 86, 43,64,24,24,24,72,69,49,43, and 49 were turned away in each of the remaining months of the year. It is heart breaking for the staff to have to turn people away and they do their best to squeeze in extra beds and/or refer these women to other safe locations…. but often there is nowhere for them to go.

Violet provided so many stats that we could fill pages, but one of the most touching parts of her presentation was a video of a woman in her late 50’s who would never, in her wildest dreams, have imagined herself homeless, who got help after running out of all other resources, from Samaritan House. She says she was desperate and despondent and credits the people at Samaritan House with saving her life. Today she gives back in every way she can.

The Campaign for Samaritan House expansion to increase capacity will include space for families; meeting spaces for support staff, nurses, and others to meet with clients privately, a commercial teaching kitchen, better “common area” spaces, and more supportive beds.

One of the ways that others can help with the campaign is to join with others to put together teams and walk in the ICCS Coldest Night of the Year event to be held this year on February 23. You can walk a short way or a long way and at the end enjoy a bowl of hot soup and coffee, to give the smallest of glimpses into what someone might experience being out in the cold and having access to shelter and warmth, however temporary. Of course we can never truly understand the impact on people suffering on the street with no resources but I’m sure there wasn’t one person in the room listening to that video and listening to Violet’s presentation that didn’t understand the wide divide between our own good fortune and the misfortune of so many in our community.

People can register individually or in teams at cnoy.org and then get sponsorship and donations from friends and family to donate. The ICCS goal this year is to raise $40,000 in Nanaimo and $40,000 in Oceanside.

Joan Ryan thanked  Violet Hayes for this thought provoking presentation and presented her with a hand made Rotary pen.