Northwind January 14, 2016

Call to order: President-elect Dale Holt led us in the pledge of allegiance and Jim Blaney provided the invocation. Dale then reminded us to use the Four Way Test in all the things we think, say and do: Is it the Truth, is it Fair to all concerned, will our actions build Goodwill and better Friendships and will they be Beneficial to all concerned.

Visiting Rotarians:  Loren Vander Yacht from Mt Baker RC and Bill Gorman (ADG) from Bellingham Bay RC.
Guests of Rotarians:  Eric Battles attended as a guest of Tim Villhauer (in his absence) for the last time as a guest. Eric will be inducted into the club next week.

 

Members attending today:  Jill Iwasaki,  Dale Holt,  Ken Richardson, Jim Blaney,  Deb Wiggs, Julie Johansen, Bill Grace, Stan Brunner Laurie Lloyd and Jake Smith; 10/25.  Let’s work on getting that ratio up!
Birthdays and anniversaries: Bill Grace on 1/18 and Eric Battles was on 1/6. Happy birthday to both of them. There were no anniversaries this week.

 

Announcements:  We need Duck Race sponsors. All members are strongly encouraged to bring in at least one sponsor.  We need $21,000 to cover the costs of the race and the winning tickets. We have $4,000 pledged to date and we need the sponsors before printing the tickets, time is of the essence!
The Career Fair is slated for 3/31 and will be held at BTC.  Dale is still seeking a key note speaker and other details are falling into place.  A huge thank you to Dale for his coordination of this event.
Important dates:  Saturday 1/23 membership seminar at Burlington Library- Dale needs people to attend with him; please consider going. Membership is a concern for all Rotary clubs but especially for us as we need to grow in our Ferndale location. Saturday 1/30 RLI (Rotary Leadership Institute) held in Mt. Vernon. This is a four part series and every Rotarian should go through this program. If you have not attended yet or need additional sections, please attend on the 30th. It only takes a few hours out of your Saturday and is well worth it to increase your understanding and participation in Rotary International. Saturday 2/6, District Grant seminar in Mt. Vernon and 2/26-28 Dale will be attending the Presidents Elect Seminar (PETS) - beginning his training to be our leader next July.

Happy Bucks:   Dale paid happy bucks to invite us all to an open house this Friday at First Federal Bank from 3-6 PM; food and adult beverages will be served. Bill Grace paid $72 birthday bucks and Jill paid for her happiness in sitting down for lunch for the first time in her 29 years with the School district. Deb prepaid for an upcoming half marathon in Disneyland and to sing the “birthday” song to Bill and Eric. Loren Vander Yacht generously paid visiting Rotarian bucks to give back for the many happy bucks that Jake Smith contributes to the Mt. Baker RC. Jake was happy for a relatively pain free dental appointment and not spilling his soup with his anesthetized mouth. Ken was just happy and Laurie Lloyd is happy about her knee surgery next Wednesday. She will be out of commission for a couple of weeks but happy to be getting a new knee.  Stan was sad for Dick Tucker’s recent death and Dale was happy for all the thank you letters we received for the club’s contributions over the holidays (Lighthouse Mission and Salvation Army) plus thank you’s for the scholarships funded at BTC and WCC last year.

 

Fine Master: Ken extracted fines for not wearing your Rotary pin, added another $2 to Rocky’s IOU (we miss you), Tim, Pati and Sharon were fined for broadcasting their vacation on FB, anyone wearing a neck tie was fined $1 and another $1 if you have not brought in a Duck Race sponsor or a new member or still have your red badge. Jake earned the “Jake” fine for being last to arrive and for missing his S @ A duty (Bill graciously covered for him). 

 

Banners: Super bowl teams; easily identified by those who follow football and a fine for those of us who do not follow.

Program:  Lydia Place (LP) executive director Emily O’Connor and LP development and outreach director, Shultzie Willows, brought us a most interesting update on homelessness in Whatcom County and the organizations that are providing housing for homeless people. Their purpose in bringing this information to us and other organizations like us is to raise the awareness of the faces and causes of homelessness. Lydia Place has been in our community for 26 years and provides transitional housing (which can extend up to three years) and support services to primarily women with children but is now extended to all homeless individuals regardless of circumstance.   The LP goal is to help homeless people transition through homelessness to independence with a full spectrum of support services; education, advocacy, training and case management tailored to the individual. 
For an overview of the problem go to www.whatcomhsc.org/homeless-in-bellingham-film-project. There are many reasons for homelessness with economic hardship representing 41% mental illness 28%, domestic violence 23% and other issues representing the balance. The ages range from under age 10 (19%) to over 65 with 31% of the population in the 35-54 age range. Housing is the most urgent need. Bellingham and Whatcom County does not have sufficient housing available for high risk tenants and the gap is widening. 32% of homeless people sleep outdoors. Another 30% sleep in shelters, 10% in cars and abandoned buildings and 28% are in transitional housing like Lydia Place. The people in our homeless community are primarily local community members rather than a transient population.
Bellingham has launched a new program to help the homeless community through the Opportunity Council called Whatcom Homeless Service Center which coordinates all of the local service providers (partner agencies) and is a central screening service. There are many local partner agencies that are working to create pathways out of homelessness to independence; bringing the homeless back into the community as self sustaining households. There are endless opportunities to volunteer and\or financially support these programs.
Lydia Place and DVSAS recently purchased a property in the Birchwood neighborhood that has two houses and a seven unit apartment building. The apartment building will be used for LP transitional housing but needs considerable work on renovations to make it habitable. LP intends to use these apartments for longer term older and medically fragile women residents. They need a riding lawn mower for the 1.5 acres if lawn and someone to drive it. If you like mowing lawns, they could use your help.
They also accept donations to their Thrift shop “Wise Buys” on State St. and invite us to attend their Gala “Hearts for Housing” on 2/6/16. They have a donor (Ben Kinney, Keller Williams’s realtor) who is matching every dollar raised that evening.

 

Raffle:  Ken Richardson won the day prize (candles) and Julie drew for the 50/50 raffle. She did not pick the ace of spades so the pot grows.  Winners take next week is $314.