ROTARY MEETING SCHEDULE
Monday, September 4 – no meeting Labor Day
Wednesday, September 20 – Chucks—Christine Burns DG is our speaker
Monday, October 2 – Vitos (Sue away)
Wednesday, October 18 – Chucks
Monday, November 6 – Vitos
Wednesday, November 22 – skip (day before Thanksgiving)
Monday, December 4 – Vitos
Wednesday, December 20 – Christmas Party – Sue’s
Monday January 8- Vitos
NOTE…ANY INFORMATION TO BE PUBLISHED IN THE NEWSLETTER SHOULD BE IN A WORD DOCUMENT ATTACHED TO AN E-MAIL (SUBJECT OF THE E-MAIL SHOULD BE ROTARY NEWSLETTER) TO
860.983.3029
I am learning how to do a newsletter using various techniques and do not have the ability to work with text messages… If you have any questions contact me at the above number. In the future the newsletter target publishing date will be approximately three days after the meeting. As I learn this process, remember it’s the content not the format!!!!!!
Phil Saxe
Meeting of August 23, 2023…Sue lead the pledge and Jim provided the prayer.
$53 of Happy Thoughts were collected which brought the year-to-date total to $157.
Officer Jim Barrett (Hartford Police Department’s Homeless Outreach Officer) told us about his efforts to help the homeless in Hartford. He has a truck with most of life’s day-to-day items that he is able to provide to people on the street.
Officer Barrett is a Vet and has worked as a corrections officer in addition to having 21 years on the force.
He was joined by one of the people who he helped, Tony Rivra, who is now 55 years old and started his life of crime at age 13. Tony has spent many years in jail (Gina remembers him as an inmate) and a long time on the street. Today, thanks to Tony’s desire to improve and the support of Officer Barrett he has his own apartment and a full-time job.
Officer Barrett told us that the first step in helping the homeless is gaining their trust. When a person is ready he can help them with the necessities to move forward (an address, proper identification, military documents, etc.). As a Vet one of the hardest parts of his job is seeing the numerous homeless Vets.
He cautioned us not to give cash to panhandlers or the people standing at the side of the road who have signs. If they look particularly needy we can offer to buy them a meal and if they have transportation needs it would be a nice idea for us to carry some 2 hour bus passes. This would allow them to get anywhere in the State they needed.
Tony told us that if he got around $20 panhandling or using the signs (“tagging”) he would get a cinnamon bun and a cup of coffee for food and the rest would go to drugs or booze.!!
Officer Barrett self-funds most of supplies. Our club (Gina) is going to be working on a fundraiser for his work. It should be understood that Hartford is the region’s center for homeless. Many of the people living of the streets of Hartford are from the suburbs such as Wethersfield and Rocky Hill.
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