While it was a muggy 88 degrees outside on Wednesday, 70 savvy Rotarians and guests stayed cool inside Anderson Room at the Michigan Union.  President Dawn Johnson invited the Club to stand and recite the Rotary 4-Way Test.  Sunshine-splashed pianist extraordinaire Jody Tull de Salis played My Country ’Tis of Thee while the Club sang along.   President Dawn then invited Shelley MacMillan to the podium to give our inspirational welcome.  Shelley spoke the Abigail Adams part in the 1976 Bernstein/Lerner musical, 1600 Pennsylvania Avenue:

Take care of this house.  Keep it from harm. If bandits break in Sound the alarm.
Care for this house.  Shine it by hand.  And keep it so clean the glow can be seen all over the land.
Be careful at night. Check all the doors. If someone makes off with a dream, The dream will be yours.
Take care of this house, Be always on call. For this house is the hope of us all.

Song leader and guitarist Matt Boylan led us in singing a Lennon-McCartney classic, We Can Work It Out. 

Announcements

• President Dawn welcomed 11 Zoomers and three in-person guests: Reverend Frank Martin from Rotary Flat Rock, Sarah Posa from Arbor Hospice, and David Martineau from Washtenaw Literacy.
• Thanks to today’s meeting team of Ben Bolen, Matt Boylan, Linda Kentes, Shelley MacMillan, Rob Shiff,  Leo Shedden, Mary Steffek Blaske, John Strite, Jody Tull de Salis, and John White.
• Birthday confetti to Jamie York, Betsy Hammond, Dave Keosian, Tom Millard and Dallas Dort!
• President Dawn reminded us of the upcoming Dart for Art on July 14.  Contact Dennis Burke to volunteer at this important and fun fundraiser.
• Bouquets to Dan Romanchik who has posted all the updated surveys, policies, time lines and strategic plan documents onto our website.

Rotary Youth Leadership Academy (RYLA) Recap

Collyer Smith regaled the Club with stories of the very successful May 15-18 RYLA retreat, held in Fenton, MI. There were 75 high school student participants from southeastern Michigan, Windsor, Chatham-Kent, Ontario.   Four Ann Arbor teens who attended this proven leadership program each shared a life-changing, life-enhancing moment.   Logan Merritt, son of Club Rotarian Brandy Merritt, spoke about “small actions that make big changes.”  Alex Loomis shared that “taking that first step will lead to something bigger.”  Amelia Thomas told the Club about her efforts to change mind sets, and learned that even the best advocate can’t always change those minds.  Rose Hood recounted the joy and accomplishments of working together as a team.

Rotary Youth Exchange Program

Marlena Studer asked the two Rotary exchange students and their attending Rotary host families and counselors to join her at the podium.  Studer spoke to the power of enduring connections and shared humanity from international exchange.  She then presented certificates and flowers to Sarah Maddock, Mary and Nick Avrakatos, MJ Raab, and Collyer Smith.

Jody Tull de Salis asked the Club to reflect on what we experienced by seeing the dazzling peony gardens at the Arb.  She drew the parallel to the feelings of awe and peacefulness through yoga.  She invited everyone to this Sunday’s 3rd Annual Yoga Retreat.

Ann Arbor Community Land Trust: Housing for the community

Club Member Dennis Burke introduced keynote speaker Sarah Lorenz, Executive Director of the Ann Arbor Community Land Trust (A2CLT).   She began her talk by sharing a bit of her own story.  Born in Ann Arbor’s St. Joseph Hospital, she continues to call this area home.  Fast forward in time, she earned her degrees from EMU and she and her husband purchased their first home when they were 25.  The young couple sold that house and through each succession home sale, they were able to double the value of that home and move.  During this time, she began to ask what was affordable housing for critical workers in our community.

The Ann Arbor Community Land Trust is a nonprofit developer and long-term steward of housing on behalf of the community.  It’s five-point purposes are to:  facilitate new homes at affordable prices; provide housing eligibility to critical workers essential to the life of the city; provide permanent affordability through deed restrictions with a fixed rate of appreciation; provide the homeowner with lower costs based on savings on commuting, vehicles, wifi and energy; and rely on a community board and strong social ties. A2CLT is one of 14 similar organizations in Michigan.

Lorenz shared annual salary data of civil engineers, teachers, assistant city attorneys, police officers and firefighters.  The maximum price range of homes they can afford is approximately $250,000 – $300,000.   Her next data slide showed the limited inventory of single-family homes or condos available at that price: 94.  And if a potential buyer wanted a three-bedroom home in Washtenaw County, the housing stock of $250,000 homes is down to 38 options.

A2CLT’s solution is to build small homes in clusters using community land trusts.  She recommended that zoning ordinance prescribing lot sizes be changed back to accommodate smaller-size lots, and to build attached 2-unit homes with zero lot lines.   A2CLT is seeking private mortgages to acquire land.  Their first project is breaking ground on Monday for four condos on Scio Church Road.