Today’s meeting was called to order at 12:30pm by Mark Ouimet with the Ringing of the Bell, and Tom Strode led us in the National Anthem.
Our inspirational message of the day was from Sara Maddock who noted that February is African American History Month and with that in mind read a moving passage from Audre Lorde, an American writer, feminist, professor, and civil rights activist.
Today’s musical selection from Joanne Pierson offered a very creative and original call/response song honoring member Millie Danielson, whose birthday we will celebrate next week. Her milestone birthday deserves celebrating for a week!
We recognized visiting Rotarians from two different clubs in Michigan, Ann Arbor West and Chelsea, and we recognized several birthdays during this coming week.
Club Announcements this week:
Jim Egerdal provided an update on Rotary readers and tutors who volunteer at Ann Arbor Public Schools. This group is actively recruiting volunteers and classroom support and Jim spoke to the value and benefits of volunteering in this capacity. If you are interested, sign up at a2schools.org/volunteer.
Collyer Smith introduced another visitor today – Assistant District Governor, Bruce Dunbar.
We were introduced to and welcomed 7 new members!
- Anna Byberg (Sponsors: Dallas Dort and Collyer Smith)
- Edward Johnson (Sponsors: Leo Shedden and Cyril White)
- Wendy Zielen (Sponsors: Don Deatrick and Rosemary Rowney)
- Cheryl Zwyer (Sponsor: Michael Field)
- Shirlee Kipp (Sponsors: Agnes Reading and Don Deatrick)
- Nancy Harrison (Sponsor: Carolyn Hiatt)
- Rick Jarzembowski – Transfer (Sponsor: Barbara Eichmuller)
Norm Herbert provided the introduction for today’s speaker, Jimena Loveluck, MSW, Health Officer for the Washtenaw County Health Department. Ms. Loveluck joined the department just prior to the COVID 19 pandemic and she spearheaded efforts for the COVID response team and also vaccination in the county.
Ms. Loveluck’s presentation was titled ‘Promoting Health Equity in Washtenaw County’, and she began by discussing 10 essential public health services divided between the areas of assurance, assessment and policy development, all of which are centered around equity. Washtenaw County has a sizeable health department, with a budget of 17 million, 113 staff, and 3 divisions. Who do they serve? Residents, local governments, school districts, colleges/universities and restaurants. Some recent emerging issues/outbreaks: COVID 19, opioid epidemic, mental health services, and the discovery of PFAS (‘the forever chemical’) in our county to name a few.
What does health equity mean? That everyone has a fair and just opportunity to be as healthy as possible, which requires us to remove barriers and to also address living conditions, social and institutional
inequities.
How is Washtenaw County doing? We are the 5th healthiest in Michigan, 1st in clinic care and 2nd in health behaviors. But we continue to have social/racial/economic disparities as demonstrated on the Washtenaw Opportunity Index. Some examples: 10 yr difference in life expectancy between African American residents and white residents; Black and Latinx are less likely to have health insurance than white residents. In addition, some areas (Whitmore Lake) have difficulty accessing care due to lack of health care providers in their community.
Recent Health Department data shows the impact of COVID 19: 35% residents have friends or family that have died from it, a number of residents not able to work from home, and 64% Latinx residents who were worried about running out of food.
Moving forward the Department will continue to make data-informed decisions concerning the health and wellness of our community. One effort they will continue is community engagement work. It’s clear that the Washtenaw County Health Department has a long history of successful work to not only understand the impact but to implement solutions to address such health disparities in our community.
President Ouimet reminded us that next week’s meeting (Feb 8) is going to very special as we celebrate the 100th birthday of our beloved member Millie Danielson. Don’t miss it!
Quote for the Day: “An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of cure.” – Benjamin Franklin
Meeting ends with Ringing the Bell at 1:30pm.
Respectfully submitted, Pattie Katcher
