The fact that we are meeting at the Country Club today is a first sign of spring! Welcome to spring, Fellow Rotarians, on this chilly but sunny day. Today’s meeting was called to order at 12:31 pm by President Darwin Brewster INVOCATION—Manny Garcia We receive this food in gratitude to all beings Who have helped to bring it to our table, And view to respond in turn to those in need With wisdom and compassion. In this festivity let us remember too those who have no festivity those who cannot share this plenty those whose lives are more affected than our own by war, oppression and exploitation those who are hungry, sick and cold. In sharing this meal let us be truly thankful for the good things we have for the warm hospitality and for this good company. PATRIOTIC SONG: My Country Tis of Thee (introduced by Ken Beachler) INTRODUCTION OF GUESTS AND VISITING ROTARIANS: Tyler Parsons Bill DuBois was the only visitor introduced today, by Susan Angel. He is looking to join our club. HEALTH OF THE CLUB: Irv Nichols Irv was sorry to report that Jim Reutter’s wife died last night. Further details will be forthcoming. ANNOUNCEMENTS: 1. Eugene ‘Gil’ Wanger received the coveted Heritage Award this week. A Rotarian since 1969, he was recognized for decades of service promoting local history about Ingham Heritage. 2. Jenn Dubey announced today’s ‘unknown author’ winner. It was Rebecca Bahar-Cook who nobody guessed was this week’s mystery Rotarian! 3. Julie Thomasma (Child and Family Charities) delivered her New Member Presentation in exchange for a blue badge. Julie was born in 1979, the oldest of four who grew up in Brighton when it was a much smaller community than now. To put this in perspective, there were six children in her 8th grade class! Julie played basketball, soft pitch softball, and figure skated. A favorite quote throughout her early years was “Don’t sweat the small stuff and it’s all small stuff!” Julie graduated from the University of Michigan with a degree in biopsychology. Considering herself a brain geek, she went on to attain a Ph.D. in clinical psychology from the Illinois Institute of Psychology, meeting her eventual husband the night before interviewing for her Ph.D. program. While Julie loved working as a rehab counselor, teaching people to find potential strength and hope in all situations, she returned to Lansing as the executive director of Child and Family Charities (CFC) two and a half years ago. This was after stints in Chicago and Boston. CFC is a large organization that has been around for more than 100 years and offers more than 20 different programs. Julie has been married for ten years and has a son, David, who is six and a daughter, Aubrey, who is three. Her favorite quote now is from Mumford and Sons: “Where you invest your love, you invest your life”. 4. March Birthdays Mike Abel There was 60% participation this month, raising a total of $900. This month’s question was about which Rock and Roll songs have most influenced this group. Trey Williams—Roll With It by Steve Linwood Hari Kern—Roll Over Beethoven Rick Guildford—Rock Around the Clock (1954) Kevin Schumacher—Sympathy for the Devil by the Rolling Stones Barb Whitney—Hard Day’s Night by the Beatles Joel Hoffman—Short People by Randy Newman SPECIAL MUSIC: Courtney Hillbrook introduced today’s guests, cellist Hong Hong and pianist Zhao Wang. Hong is the principal cellist with the Lansing Symphony Orchester. He has been with the symphony for 4 seasons and earned his Ph.D. at MSU. Hong started performing at age 13 and has played all over the world. Today’s music include Schubert’s Impromptu and a second, lovely piece by a Chinese composer. TODAY’S SPEAKER: Joan Jackson Johnson, Director of Human Relations and Community Services at the City of Lansing Topic: Homelessness & Poverty in the City Chair of the Day Bob Hoffman introduced today’s guest (who really needed no introduction). After graduating from college with a degree from Edward Waters College, Joan earned her MS and Ph.D. in clinical psychology from Michigan State University. She has received countless honors and recognition from the community, including the prestigious Athena Award in 2016. To her friends, Joan is known as Triple J. She gave up a lucrative private practice to work tirelessly on behalf of Lansing’s residents in need and is one of Lansing’s true heroes. Comments cited in Joan’s talk follow: —Coming from a large family, Joan learned early the importance of sharing—and that is something we all must do with regularity. She refers to all fellow residents as her brothers and sisters and spends many sleepless nights trying to find solutions to the problems she encounters. (The other day, I ran into Joan who was working hard to find a solution for a family who had been living without water since November.) —Kids are frequently found sleeping in cars with their parents or grandparents. Sometimes, refugees have more hope because what they have here is more than what they had before. Other residents simply give up. —As a community, we must offer a level of stability to our kids. Folks who have worked all their lives are finding themselves in food lines because they have lost their homes due to a whole host of reasons. —A mobile food pantry is proving critical to getting food where it needs to be. —Food stamps do not provide enough food for a month, and parents/grandparents are spending hours in line ahead of pantry openings to ensure their kids have enough food. —Even though eligible kids receive ten meals a week at school, on average they are still missing eight additional meals a week at home. This is why there are gap feeding programs. —As examples of desperation, diabetics have been known to steal candy bars to raise their blood sugar enough to ensure a warm night in the hospital. Others feign illness to spend time in the warm emergency department. —While Joan has a personal rule to never give cash to someone in need, she will BUY something a family needs instead. And, if she purchases something like a sandwich and drink for someone, she will make sure they take a bite of the sandwich and open their drink so as not to make the sandwich or drink things that can be sold for cash. —The city has instituted programs like FEED THE BABIES, KEEP THEM DRY. It is an attempt to keep mothers from reusing Pampers or having moms give sugar water to babies (sugar water is cheaper than formula). There is even a push to teach moms how to use reusable cloth diapers since they are much more affordable. Disposable diapers and formula are extraordinarily expensive and beyond the means of too many parents. The FEED THE BABIES program has only been successful because of its volunteers who simultaneously help to raise awareness about the challenges too many local families face. —Did you know that WIC support was only ever intended to serve as a supplement to what a family can provide on its own? —Sadly, there are many misunderstandings among parents out there. Some believe that blowing cigarette smoke into the soft spot on a baby’s head will help rid the infant of colic. Others smoke marijuana around their children, babies are raising babies, and grandparents are taking the place of parents. As a community, we must strive for our children to go to bed in the same place every night, and not all over the place. —Years ago, HUD allowed couch surfing as a subcategory of homelessness. This is no longer the case meaning that homelessness numbers are higher than they appear. —On a personal note, Joan describes herself as married to a man who puts up with her spontaneous spending habits on behalf of those in need. She has five children—two biological and three adopted. Her son Mark is responsible for 90% of the gray hairs on her head, the others are responsible for only 10%. Traditionally, her family has done things like give up meat one night a week to feed others. Her children carry on these traditions in their own lives. —Advent House feeds upwards of 300 people per meal on the weekends. It is the only place available for all day weekend shelter throughout the year. Parents can be seen dragging four children at a time, through all kinds of weather, to feed them. Often, the children will be dressed in layers of thin clothing with no coats to cover their bodies.(Schools used to supply children with things like boots and coats. While they may borrow things during the day, they now must return items before leaving school.) —Some senior citizens are eating cat food to get by. Others are forced to choose between medicine over food. —Lansing is proud of the fact that 2.5% of its annual budget ($2,660,000 this year) goes to local nonprofits to help them do their work. Nevertheless, it is not enough. —When asked by Dennis Fliehman what types of programs are best for the community, Joan unflinchingly noted the need for supportive services, especially since HUD recently eliminated so many. Agencies must continue to function, particularly with regard to substance abuse, alcohol, and mental health. —When asked how to respond to the numerous people begging at our street corners, Joan stated that she never gives them money since money will be used mostly for drugs. There are resources available that these people know about. —Unkind people, like slumlords who take advantage of the poor, are a problem in our community. Sadly, too many programs, like the one on Walnut Street that helped those with mental illness, have had to close their doors recently. There were simply insufficient funds to support the valuable work that was being done there. —In response to a question about how our homeless numbers stack up compared to other communities, Joan responded that we are right up there with Oakland County and Detroit. We are third in the state. We have 250 beds in Lansing each night for our homeless neighbors and are competing with Detroit in terms of the number we put up at local hotels. The small house concept, that is taking hold in other communities, is a much less expensive option and one we must explore more. —Joan does not know of any place in the US that has ended homelessness although some communities certainly have more beds available. For those who are not aware, it is important to note that the only place that will take a homeless mother with her teenage sons, without splitting up the family, is Haven House. Yet this facility is very small and can only accommodate a handful of families at a time. Fathers can also be there with their children. —Joan is known as ‘Mom’ or ‘Mama’ around the city. While she never buys alcohol or tobacco for those in trouble, during the flooding several weeks back, she did use some of her own money to buy alcohol, to entice a couple of men away from a quickly flooding area where they likely would have drowned. How lucky we are to have someone with such a heart of gold as Joan Jackson Johnson in our midst! In lieu of a speaker’s gift we will donate money to our Bio Sand Filter project to provide pure clean water to developing countries in the Dominican Republic. |