Kim Senft-Paras spoke for the New Generations program, noting that there will be six or seven Interact members from Centerville High School at the upcoming District Conference doing a presentation. She said there have been 16 applications for the club's Rotary scholarships and that interviews will be held next Thursday and Friday with the students.
HAPPY BUCKS:
Rick Terhune, standing in for Sgt.-at-Arms Erich Eggers, collected Happy Bucks for Daybreak.
Jeff Senney said his father, Walter Senney, will be 94 in May.
Ron Hollenbeck mentioned helping out at the VA gardens.
Boyd Preston said he was thankful for our guest speaker today. He recruited her to come speak.
Kim Senf-Paras said she now has a new grandson in Boston.
Mato said he had a ticket to an Ohio State game for sale.
Mato stopped in with his new host family at Bill's Donut Shop in Centerville April 23. While "mom" was getting the donuts, Mato and the two children, Alexis, 9, and Lucas, 10, stopped to let their pictures be taken for this Bulletin. After viewing it Lucas said it would have made a cooler picture had he had his thumbs out of his pockets. You be the judge.
Al Scott said The Freedom Alliance hopes to raise $50,000 this year, the 10th anniversary of the program. He said our club has always been very supportive of the program and thanked us for the club's generosity.
Brian Yeakley praised our club for getting all our members involved in the meeting activities and not having a head table with the people in charge of the meeting all sitting together. He said we had the best "best practices" he has seen in club meetings.
Lee Hieronymus gave $5 for his birthday and also $500 for the Paul Harris Foundation. He repeated his challenge to have every member of the club give $500 on their birthday and for the club to match that. He told members the club is about giving and not what you can take away from the club. It is about service above self, he said. "You are to give when you are in this club," he said.
Members gave Happy Bucks for Daybreak, $20 for a wife in the fourth stage of cancer being declared 100 percent free of cancer; another for a daughter buying a home in Washington Twp., where she will now be near her father, Dave Trout, who said he is proud of his grandchildren's accomplishments in school and beyond, and that he is hoping to be healthy enough to go fly fishing after being in the hospital last week for a heart problem. Dave gave $40 altogether for his joy.
Bob Fry said he was just glad to find his way to the clubhouse, with the street work causing a detour and only entry from the south. He said Mitch Biederman and Dave Wolfe went back home.
Jeff Senney mentioned five days of having fun, with golf, Reds game, film festival, etc...and someone shouted out: When does he work? You have to ask Jeff...
Raj Grandhi said his daughter, now a freshman at UVA, was on a team that placed second in a National Mock Trial competition in South Carolina.
Rick Terhune said his wife, who works at Normandy School, was honored with an educational award, and her name on the school sign recently.
SPEAKER: Carly Hall, (pictured below) program assistant for Homefull, a non-profit in Dayton that serves the homeless.
Boyd Preston introduced our speaker Carly Hall, noting that Homefull is a non-profit that partners with St. Vincent de Paul to help the homeless. She was born in San Diego, California, and moved here for the weather, he said. She is a UD grad and married just six months ago.
Carly said the organization's vision is to have a community where there is no homelessness. The group helps with housing, advocacy and education, she said. She asked a number of trivia questions, which the group answered correctly. The first was whether or not there are more than a half million people homeless in the U.S.A. The answer was yes. The number is 564,708 in 2016, she said.
She said 37 percent of the number are families with children, 53 percent are single people, eight percent are veterans. The homeless in Dayton number 551, with 508 of them in the homeless shelter system, she said.
Poverty and the lack of affordable housing are the two major reasons for homelessness in our area, she said. Additionally, addiction, and mental health issues often play a part in creating homelessness. Most people do not choose to be homeless, she said.
The group has a $4 million annual appropriation, with 76 employees. The organization started in 1988 as The Other Place. It was branded in 2010 as Homefull. It receives diverse funding from various sources including the Department of Housing and Urban Development, and federal, state, county, city and individual grants and donations. The program was started in the basement of Christ Episcopal Church downtown, she said.
Carly said Homefull offers services, solutions and innovations. The program provides services to nearly 600 men, women and children per day and more than 3,500 annually in the Dayton area. It served 4,000 in 2015, she said. Some 40 percent of those served on W. Apple Street are children, she said. That is where the women and families are housed. The other house on S. Gettysburg Ave. is for men. The services are for those at risk of homelessness, those currently homeless and those who have previously been homeless. Some may be living with family and/or friends, or be jobless. "We try to be pro-active and preventative," she said. They offer temporary and permanent supportive housing.
Believe it or not, the average age of a homeless person in the area is 9 years old, she said.
To help people out of poverty they work on getting them training and the skills to get a job You can call them for help in training to work in landscaping and lawn care, apartment painting, cleaning and light repairs, vending operations, and community farming.
The program works with other nonprofits and government entities across the country to provide training and technical assistance. The program offers continuing education units in various fields.
Homefull provides educational classes for its clients, such as Basic Life Skills, Housing (before, during and after), Employability, Budgeting, and Community Resources. These classes are offered on a rotating schedule. Through its community partnerships with other organizations, Homefull is able to offer additional services such as specialized employment, veterans assistance, legal assistance, and credit counseling.
It holds special events to help with fund-raising. On July 11, the 5th annual Hole in One Fore Homefull Golf Outing will be held at Heatherwoode Golf Club in Springboro. The cost is $95 per person (includes golf, cart, lunch, dinner, giveaways and prizes.) Register at www.homefull.org
Homefull also has a Community Supported Agriculture Program.
Fresh veggies, herbs and flowers are grown on the group's three-acre farm in Dayton from June 1 through the middle of November. The farm staff follows organic growing techniques and practices.
The staff is a crew of men and women who are currently or formerly homeless and are either employed through Homefull Solutions as a regular employee or trainee who receives a stipend while learning the skills, etc, to obtain positive work references to become successful in the community.
Weekly delivery is to the administrative office at 33 W. First St. on the corner of First and Ludlow in downtown Dayton on Thursday afternoons. Jimmy Ryan is farm manager. Call (937) 293-1945, ext. 545 for more information and/or to sign up for a share. Large and small half-season and full-season shares, as well as weekly shares are available, starting at $15 per weekly share.
