September 11, 2023 Spokesman

Announcements:

Rick Walter announced that because he would like the induction of new club members to be done at in-person meetings, he will induct some new members at our September 18 meeting and some at our October 2 meeting based on their availability.

 
All members are invited to attend the [finally!] official ribbon-cutting for the club’s newest Legacy Project, the Rotary Central Station on the Cross Kirkland Corridor, just off Railroad Avenue.  The event will feature city of Kirkland officials and take place from 4:00 - 4:50 p.m. on September 26.

All members are reminded of the Kirkland Rotary Foundation Auction & Gala to be held on Monday, October 9, at 5:30 p.m. The location is St. John’s Church at 105 State Street South in Kirkland.  Only $10 per person gets you an evening of fun INCLUDING wine and dinner. We do need items for both the silent auction and the live auction, so clean out your closets, and think about your vacation condo, boat, game tickets, etc., that you might share.

Rich Bergdahl announced that he has discovered a great shoe repair shop in the Totem Lake area, that has a great collection of old U.S. flags. It is called Totem Lake Shoe Repair – catchy name!

Isabelle Kalisa, through President Gary, announced she will be having an International Service Committee meeting soon to decide on projects to sponsor. Jocelyn Ellison, Youth Service Committee Chair, will hold a meeting next week to decide on a project. Doug Evanson, Club Service Committee Chair, will have more information at our next meeting. Rich Bergdahl, Rotary International Foundation Chair, reminded us that November is Foundation Month. He will report on progress next month.

Scott Becker is developing programs on city topics such as the NE 85th Street and I-405 project, and the possible Park Lane closure project; it appears that a candidate forum will not be a club-sponsored activity.

Rich Bergdahl reminded us that 9-11 was the inspiration for his involvement in all aspects of Rotary.

Happy Bucks:

Rick Walter conducted a round of Happy Bucks.  Dave Aubry, Rich Bergdahl, Terry Cole, Don Dicks, John Storbeck, and Rick Walter shared happiness and bucks for a total of $120.  Thank you all for your generosity!

Program:

Our speaker was Mallory Van Abbema with the King County Regional Homelessness Authority [KCRHA]. She shared at some length facts about the development and evolution of the KCRHA. Much of her talk consisted of information about how the agency has worked at building an effective organization that includes input from both local government and from the individuals the KCRHA is attempting to assist.

Much of the work so far seems to be centered on efforts to create an agency that is actually effective in getting folks off the streets and in reducing the number of people living on the streets. They appear to have had some success with the use of housing vouchers, as she reported that the available vouchers have been 100% utilized. She stated that KCRHA has “the highest-performing emergency housing voucher program in the U.S.”

She described KCHA’s primary role as coordinating and connecting the needy with service providers. The big issue was described as fitting an individual’s issues with a service provider that can help and also cope with the issues that the individual has. [Author’s note: KCRHA’s website shows no change in the number of households accessing services in the homeless response system:  January 2016 – 10,421 families;  January 2023 – 10,481 families. Does not say much about progress or effectiveness.]

There were several questions from Rotarians in attendance.  

President Gary reminded us that Amy Mutal will be presiding next week at our meeting at Madison House.