Gail Mosley had a last minute commitment, so Aunt Mary was our announcer! She help Annette lead us in singing Happy Birthday to Mark Lucco and John Pribonic. The lawyers table had the winning ticket, again , but the pot continues to grow as the Joker was not pulled again . Another table HAS to get the winning ticket next week!!! Mark, was our host this week and shared his Rotary "Why". Mark is a Charter Member of our Club and is a legacy Rotarian. Both his Grandfather and Father were Rotarian's in the Cuyahoga Falls Club! He was asked to help start the Stow-Munroe Falls Club and the rest is history!! Thank you for being such a great Rotarian Mark!! Mark then introduced Jackie Hemsworth, Executive Director of Access Shelter. She has been with Access for five years and took over as Executive Director in 2019. Jackie lives in Fairlawn with her husband and 5 children. Access is an emergency shelter for women and children. It go its start in 1983 and has served over 20,000 women and children since they opened their doors 37 years ago. Most women show up with almost nothing, so the shelter is set up to help help them get back on their feet again, with the ultimate goal for these women and their families, to exit with permanent housing. Almost all who come to the shelter have jobs, sometimes more than one, but they struggle to get ahead. While in the shelter they focus on soft skills and hard skills such as how to budget, knowing their rights, and hoe to interview. They provide onsite mental health support and clinical support. About 250 children under the age of 18 are served each year. They operate on a budget of around $1.2 million and receive funding from donations, grants, and the State. Some women and families show up on their doorstep, but most of the residents come from the Homeless Hotline network. They are very excited that they will be opening a new reading room later this month! As many of you know, reading to children is so important to their growth and learning. They will need volunteers for story time and books to fill it. Thank you Jackie for sharing!!! |