Jason Miller opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance and Cindy Carlson offered the invocation.
Our lone guest today was Janet Ampe, a Rotarian from the Rogers club. Janet was here to promote the Rogers Rotary Veteran’s Memorial Golf Tournament, Tuesday June 13th at Fox Hollow Golf Club. Call Janet (612-760-6424) if you need more information.
Dana Rebelein announced the Disabled American Veterans Anoka County Chapter Golf Tournament. It will be held at the Refuge Golf Club on July 12th, starting at 12:30PM. Call the DAV Chapter Office at 763-245-2585 to register or get more information.
Bob Barmore distributed the monthly program and meeting assignments for the 2017-18 Rotary year. Click here to download the assignment list. If you are unable to fulfill your responsibility, feel free to swap with a Rotarian in another group. Just be sure to let Bob know that you’ve made the switch.
Jason Slama updated us on the Feed My Starving Children food packing event on Wednesday night from 8-9:30PM. Those who have already signed up should be at 401 93rd Avenue NW, Coon Rapids, MN 55433 (763-951-7308) by 7:45PM Sharp! NBMV Rotary is donating $50 for each Rotarian volunteer to cover the cost of the meals we pack. Those who are unable to attend are encouraged to contribute whatever they can to help cover the cost of the packed meals.
Cindy Carlson said that the District has approved a matching grant to cover the cost of a used van for Quincy Tree House. Many thanks to Dana Rebelein, Cindy Carlson, Garry Johnson and Geoff Hollimon, whose hard work made it possible.
The Board has approved the donation of a checkers/chess table and chairs to the Healing Gardens at Innsbruck Care Center. The donation will fill a need at the Healing Gardens and a plaque will identify our club as the donor. Sue Ager thanked the club for the generous donation.
George Winiecki (a.k.a. Hot Dog King) has agreed to head up the Stockyard Days Parade Hot Dog Feed again this year but he’s looking for a co-chair. Let’s hope someone will acknowledge George’s many years of dedication to this effort by agreeing to be his right hand man for this year’s event.
Gerry Tietz’ inauguration as 2017-18 Club President is scheduled for July 11th. Let’s honor his commitment by having a great turnout for the event, which will also honor John Risdall and Paul Fournier for their contributions as Co-Presidents for the past year.
For next week’s (May 30) meeting, members are encouraged to come prepared with ideas for club projects and membership growth in the coming Rotary Year.
Janet Ampe thanked those who sponsored her for the Parkinson’s Walk earlier this year.
Dana Rebelein couldn’t conceal her excitement about her experience at the shooting range session that she won in the live auction at the Gold Plate Dinner. She proudly displayed the target from her first close range session…all the holes were in the bull’s-eye!
Cor Wilson announced a new iPhone app (Android version is in the works) which will allow the user to watch live and archived programs. Download the free app at the Apple Store (search for CTV North Suburbs). Cor also noted that CTV North Suburbs will provide live coverage of area high school commencement ceremonies on Channels 15 (Comcast), 8015 (CenturyLink) and webcast. Cor further noted that CTV will also provide live coverage of all 50 Saints baseball games this season. Go to ctvnorthsuburbs.org for more info.
John Risdall celebrated his 72nd birthday today and the Birthday Hat was brought out of retirement just for the occasion. Nobody rocks the Birthday Hat like John does! See photo above.
Cindy’s mom’s breast cancer biopsy revealed only pre-cancerous clusters and no lymph node involvement.
Jason Miller introduced our speaker, Paul Vliem, Development Manager at Tasks Unlimited, which provides housing and mental health services for people in recovery from severe and persistent mental illness. Tasks Unlimited was organized in 1970 and currently serves over 300 individuals with mental illness. Paul revealed that 1 in 5 adults will experience some degree of mental illness in their lifetime but 1 in 20 adults live with severe persistent mental illness (SMPI). This means that 93,000 adults in the Twin Cities are dealing with SPMI. This persistent mental illness is the focus of Tasks Unlimited. There are three major categories of SMPI. Schizophrenia affects 1% of U.S. adults, Bipolar Disorder affects 2.5% and Major Depression affects nearly 7% of the adult population. The effects of SPMI on those who have it are startling. Fully 55% of adults with SPMI are unemployed, compared with 5% overall unemployment. Among the homeless population, 60% of adults suffer from SPMI. Even more startling is the fact that the life expectancy of individuals with SPMI is 25 years less than in the general population
Paul said that mental health treatment is transitioning from the previous medical treatment model toward a psychiatric rehabilitation model, and many Twin Cities organizations are participating in that transition. Tasks Unlimited is doing their part by providing employment support through their commercial cleaning service business, stable housing services support with 21 group residences in the metro area, and mental health support with 40 mental health professionals. Paul said that chemical health services are necessary for 44% of their residents and 96% of their residents have criminal records (mostly minor offences). Paul proudly outlined the positive impacts that Tasks Unlimited is having on their residents. Resident’s wages have increased seven-fold, 88% of resident report more stable housing and psychiatric hospitalizations have decreased by an astounding 92%, saving an estimated $1.3 million in hospital costs.
For more information check out:
The National Alliance on Mental Illness at nami.org, and
Tasks Unlimited at tasksunlimited.org
Contact Paul at pvliem@tasksunlimited.org
John Risdall and Paul are pictured below.
