Today’s meeting was called to order by President Roy.  We sang the national anthem and the membership, 44 in person and 10 on Zoom, then proceeded to recite the 4-way test.

For his inspirational message, Ron Slagell quoted Mother Theresa and spoke of the concept of ‘home’, where we all deserve to live in a safe and secure environment and be part of a safe community.  As we think of those who do not have access to such, he encourages us to notice those in need and to be leaders with empathy.  

Today’s musical selection was Don’t Let the Rain Come Down, led by Don Duquette.

Announcements

President Roy provided thanks to all of today’s meeting helpers – from mike runners to greeters and everyone in between.  Five birthdays were announced for Ella Dunajsky, Anne Glendon, Rick Jarzembowski, Steve Kesler and Sue Shink.  Two anniversaries this week to celebrate Ron Slagell for his 19 years and Ed Wier for his 24 years of membership.  We also welcomed several visitors to the meeting including Rotaract students, the Ann Arbor Township Manager and a prospective new member.

‘Who Is It?’ Our weekly member trivia was led by Rose Marie Rowney.  After quite a few clues of her many accomplishments, we finally guessed Linda Wallis!    

President Roy took a moment to introduce/reintroduce us to both the Golf Extravaganza Outing (GEO) Committee (11 members) and the International Humanitarian Projects Committee (16+ members). We were reminded of two upcoming events:  Fred Buetler’s 100th birthday celebration at the Michigan League and an art exhibit of Millie Danielson at the Ann Arbor Art Center in October. 

Ed Johnson provided a recap of last weekend’s Adopt-a-Highway event where a combination of Rotarians, Rotaract students and a welcomed guest joined forces to clean up a section of I-94.  Together they collected a total of 46 bags of trash!  He noted that in the past 4 years our Club has collected a total of 432 bags of trash to keep the highway clean.  Great job!

Send Hunger Packing –  Rob Shiff reminded us of this upcoming event in November which is a collaboration between 3 Rotary Clubs.  The meal packs made at this year’s event will be sent to Nepal.  Last year there were 50,000 meals packed and also $20,000 raised to support the effort.  This year, we are nearly at the halfway point and with rising costs, we need to raise at least $21,000 to keep the same level of food/meals packed.  What can you do?  You can volunteer and/or donate!  See our website for information and links to sign up or donate (or both).

Norman Herbert introduced today’s speaker:  Amanda Carlisle, the Executive Director of Washtenaw Housing Alliance (WHA).  Amanda, the Exec. Director since 2014 works to provide efficiencies, train providers and advocate for resources to many individuals in our community.

Amanda’s talk centered around solutions to homelessness and the affordable housing crisis in Washtenaw County.  The WHA, which is a large network of agencies working to provide housing and various services, believes housing is a human right and we were presented with several agency achievements in recent years, including Alpha House, Delonis Center and the Blueprint to End Homelessness.

Homelessness is on the rise both here in our own community and across the country.  Some factors driving this crisis are low wages, no affordable housing and weak safety nets.  Amanda provided a description of situations where individuals are not ‘homeless’ per se, but considered ‘under water’ meaning they are utilizing shelters or temporary housing, facing eviction or couch-surfing.  They are not living on the street (even if nearly so) and thus cannot receive services. She went on to show us what level of wages or earnings are needed to afford housing in Ann Arbor and within our state there’s a gap of nearly 200,000 needed affordable homes.

Some recent successful housing projects in our area include the Alpha House expansion on the Trinity Health Ann Arbor campus, Dunbar Towers (Kerrytown) and The Grove at Veridian.  We can’t lose sight of the fact that affordable housing, service and partnerships are the keys to success, even in the face of continued challenges such as cuts to federal funding and shifts in federal policy which creates levels of uncertainty in this space.  If you are interested in learning more, Amanda encourages you to get involved in any of the WHA member agencies at www.whalliance.org/member-agencies.

President Roy’s closing quote for the day: Alone we can do so little; together we can do so much.  – Helen Keller

Our meeting was then adjourned at 1:30pm.