The meeting opened with a mighty bell ringing, (at least it is assumed so. This reporter was in the little Rotarians room at the time, rushing back with a minute to spare by his watch). From Prexy Steve Ban, the week’s quotation: “It took untold generations to get you where you are. A little gratitude might be in order. If you’re going to insist on bending the world to your way, You better have your reasons.”
Guests:
Paul Grey introduced Trudy Shuravloff, Exec. Director of Whatcom Dream and her daughter Aota who works at WCC and Ward Naf is her boss.
John Dunne, introduced our speaker and long friend, Doug Gustafson with Homes Now
Sue Parsons introduced Kierin & Pearson Lund, who Shauna met at our recent Fairhaven Sea to Ski booth. They were interested in learning more about Rotary.
Visiting Rotarian: Geri Cranston from White Rock. Geri recently moved to Bellingham
Zoom Rotarians: Loch Trimingham
Club Events and Committee Announcements
Sue Parsons, got her blue badge of permanence to show that she is a full-fledged member of the club. Congratulations Sue!
Major Awards - Last call June 15th
The Executive Board is looking for nominations for the club’s Major Awards that will be presented June 30th at our Changing of the Guard. People are encouraged to consider the criteria and send nominations to Executive Secretary Sandee Lindhout or the Executive Board: Doug Cole, Steve Ban, John Moffat, Nathan Twining or Steve Gray.
We are looking for Website sponsors for the next Rotary year starting July 1st. It is a great opportunity to advertise your business and support Rotary - $350 for the year. Check out the current sponsors on our table tents and website by going to bellinghamrotary.org. Contact Sandee if interested.
Meeting Updates:
June 30
Changing of the Guard
5:30
Holiday Inn at the Airport
Evening meeting in lieu of the Regular noon meeting
Come try the venue as a potential location for future meetings. We will start at 5:30 for socializing, followed by a buffet for $30 and program. Spouses and guests will be invited. PLEASE REGISTER AHEAD AS WE NEED TO TURN MEAL NUMBERS IN BY JUNE 16TH. CLICK HERE TO REGISTER
July 28th noon meeting is cancelled and we will be holding a noon general meeting Thursday July 31st at the Bellingham Golf & Country Club. We will be served a buffet for $29 so again stay tuned for online signups.This will be another opportunity to try a potential venue for meetings, although we would have to change our meeting days to Thursday as it is not available on Mondays. After trying all the locations, we will put it to a vote to the membership. Stay tuned for sign-up information closer to the event.
Social's planned:
Monday Evening - August 25th Potluck at Bookers', 2612 Park St., B'ham 98225 from 5:30-8:00. Aaron & Kelly will provide pulled pork from Aaron's smoker as well as grilled chicken. Everything else is potluck.
We are planning to have some live music from Bellingham High School Musicians and some BHS Show Stopper choir members.
Past Prexy Paul Grey introduced a mother-daughter duo, Trudy Shuravloff and Aota, from Whatcom Dream. Whatcom Dream is a non-profit which teaches folks about financial literacy, so they can manage to climb out of debt and join the rising tide that lifts all boats. Trudy gave a short history of the program and how she came to it.
Whatcom Dream conducts 8-week free financial literacy classes several times a year. Folks learn how compound interest can help or hurt you, among other things. They are free because they get sponsors (like our club) for the program. We gave Whatcom Dream a $1000 grant to continue the great work.
Trudy no longer teaches, but Aota does. The program literally changes peoples’ lives. It changes generational poverty. Their history shows this.
Weekly Payment Reminder
VENMO:
@RCOB- Bellingham.
Give Sandee a call if you need help. 360-734-5532.
CASH / CHECK:
Yes, we still take these and saving on fees is appreciated.
Nathan Twining introduced Doug Gustafson head of Homes Now, the operator of a couple of tiny home villages in Bellingham. Homes Now is a 501 (c) 3 organization operated entirely by volunteers, so there is literally nearly no overhead. It is funded by donations, not governmental support. He noted that homelessness has many possible causes, and gave examples.
The organization operates on several principles. Among them are: Each person is an individual with their own unique challenges. Homeless and housed work together with mutual respect. Peers help peers to build transformational housing. This is a sheltering model and community until permanent housing becomes available.
Homes Now has no paid staff, it uses resident managers and major decisions are made democratically. This approach emphasizes teamwork and self-sufficiency. And it can scale up quickly to serve the community’s needs. Every resident has a say in the operation of the village. They also have a duty to the village to keep it operational, whether that is cleaning or record-keeping, or maintenance. Each village has its own bank account and vehicle.
Doug went into a short history of the program which began at the beginning (a two- house shelter called Lummi Stepping Stones Tiny Homes). Doug and Jim graduated to managing a homeless camp behind city hall, Winter Haven, Jan.-Mar 2019, this moved to Safe Haven. The covid emergency gave Homes Now breathing room as it were. The city would not shut down the havens in the emergency.
Unity Village, in Fairhaven, opened in 2019. And closed in May this year after its contract with the city ran out. Part of the contract required a board member to stay overnight in the village, to be the responsible one. The village had residents who acted as staff and became the responsible individuals. Doug made the case to allow resident-managed and the city changed the contract. In December 2020 the second village, Swift Haven, structures were bought by the county, and the city supplied the land, near Bayview Cemetery. However 80% of the residents had to have been from the protest encampment at city hall.
Both Unity Village and Swift Haven came to the end of their contracts and needed to move. Thus North Haven comes in the picture. The city purchased land on Northwest Avenue for the placement of the village. It is now under construction. Permanent kitchen, shower, toilet and laundry facilities will be available. The tiny homes will be 8’x12’, a nice improvement over the 8’x8’ models previous. The old ones are going to Skagit United Way.
Homes Now has a success rate of +/- 58%, which they define as achieving permanent housing after leaving the villages. They propose that more villages can be a big resource in solving the housing crisis. People can become the solution for their housing problem.
Closing:
This time this reporter was in the room to hear the bell.
Bob Kuenzel - Music
Sue Parsons has completed all of her membership requirements, Congratualtions!
Aaron Booker - Minister of Fun
Dave Blair had quite the fishing story today!! Glad you are OK Dave...
RCOB apparel, including polo shirts, dress shirts, vests and hats is now available. These are items that every Club member simply must have in his/her wardrobe! Besides looking great, Club members will be contributing to branding for the RCOB as well as supporting our Club's Foundation, which will receive part of the proceeds.
Click on the button below for the the clothing catalogue, with the Order Form on the last page. Fill out the order form, turn it into Vinson Latimore at a meeting or email a scanned copy to embroidery@choicesscrubs.com.
Whatcom Dream
