President John rang the meeting into order followed by the traditional blessing and pledge; with Homer Nye encouraging all in this season of light, love, and grace to be gracious toward those who are different. Keeping in that different step, yours truly reasonably successfully led all in attendance through a brief history of coronations, ending in a “Hail to Chief Claus” semi-withdrawal from caroling, while acknowledging the efforts of Dan, Dale and Steve with Christmas Baskets; and wishes for a “day of good cheer”.
Autumn Soltysiak introduced New Member Troy Gahm, for whom the listing of accomplishments rivaled the length of time for announcements of Rotary Grant recipients; but in all seriousness from the caring focus of Troy’s resume, with passion about being able to serve the people of his community through AmeriFirst Home Mortgage, there is no doubt he will greatly contribute to our club in fine fashion.
After a few shout outs – 1) that there will be no meeting on December 26th, for which the regular lunch fee will go to our club’s Every Rotarian Every Year donation (unless you call Kathy and say no by 12/22), and 2) thanks to Susan Krause and the rest of the Social Committee for a great Christmas Party, and 3) the winning of $50 in the 50/50 by 50 something Oz – there was a standing ovation for the first time that I can recall for the introducer of a program.
The gleeful crowd stood and cheered for several minutes for Rotary Charities Board Chair Elaine Wood in congratulation of her receiving the Traverse City Area Chamber of Commerce 2017 Distinguished Service Award. Yes, your memory is serving you correctly that this makes it two in a row for a Rotarian, as Herb Lemcool won this prestigious award last year!
Once the applause abated, Elaine went on to summarize the impact of the fall grant cycle as $749,000 was awarded to 21 grants, contributing to the over $58 million dollars toward over 1,310 grants since the inception in the late 1970s; and thanked all those who participated in investigations. The grants announced were as follows:
Arts for All $ 9,000 for Art Escapes Program Expansion – providing art opportunities for special education classrooms in Leelanau County.
Blackbird Arts $12,500 for Community Arts Voice & Visibility Program – a collaborative effort with other local nonprofits using the arts to raise visibility around complex community problems.
City of Traverse City: Partners for Places – Climate Leadership in Rural Michigan $45,000. A partnership between the city and local non-profits to strengthen municipal planning around environmentally sustainable infrastructure and meet state renewable energy goals.
Communities in Schools $50,000 – Expand collaboration in rural school districts to decrease high school dropout rates.
Conservation Resource Alliance $70,000 – Support for local non-profit, state, Tribal and federal partners in a joint effort to remove the Sabin Dam.
El Grupo Norte $25,000 – Support for the Strong TC Project expanding existing programming to more neighborhoods and launching the Advocate Academy.
Father Fred Foundation $31,500 – Expansion of the Eviction Diversion program
Friends of Easling Pool $70,000 – Challenge grant to support the renovation of Easling Pool in collaboration with Grand Traverse County and other non-profit partners.
Glen Arbor Art Association $10,000 – Expand exhibition space and support for collaborative programming.
Honor Area Restoration Project $50,000 – Platte River property acquisition to provide universal access and recreation opportunities to residents and visitors.
Justice for Our Neighbors $11,000 – Expand legal services programming for immigrants in Northern Michigan.
Kalkaska DDA $75,000 – Build the Community Information Center, part of the Railroad Square revitalization project.
Youth Housing Initiative $75,000 – Collaborative effort of several non-profit housing partners to build housing for youth ages 18-21 who experiencing homelessness.
Northwest Michigan Health Services $30,000 – Collaborative effort to provide universally accessible dental service space to low-income community members.
Traverse Area Recreation Trails (TART) $75,000 – Multi-municipality joint venture to complete the Boardman Lake Loop Trail.
5 County Substance Free Coalition $30,000 – Startup funding for a five-county collaborative venture that will build the capacity of regional stakeholders involved in the prevention and treatment of substance abuse.
Great Start Collaborative Parent Learning Cohort $25,000 – Support for expansion of Parent Learning Cohort initiative throughout rural Northern Michigan, teaching parents to be better parents, and parent advocates.
Venture North $35,000 – Capacity building for expanded economic opportunity.
Village of Elberta $20,000 – Penfold Park improvements, increasing community resources and connections, as well as universal accessibility.
In addition to the single year grants listed, the Rotary Charities Board voted to approve a total of $40,000 in renewal of multiple year grants to Crosshatch and Parallel 45.
And if the number of times the word “Collaborative” was stated in the descriptions of the awarded grantees wasn’t indicative enough of the System Based path Rotary Charities is taking toward maximizing their impact; then the featured program certainly would do the trick, as the efforts to complete the Boardman Loop Trail provides the ultimate example of a complex collaboration successfully moving toward resolution. Elaine introduced Chris DeGood, more than just that friendly face who greets us each week as her serves on the Board of Rotary Camps and Services, is on the Planning and the Park and Recreation Commissions for Garfield Township, and is chair of the TART Board of Directors.
Chris, along with TART’s director Julie Clark, Garfield Township’s Chuck Korn, Traverse City’s Manager Marty Colburn, graphically led our group through the process of the preliminary design and goals to the revised version. Throughout that revision process their focus on the basic premises stayed true toward highlighting the primary reasons for such a path - to provide access to this natural resource through taking advantage of scenery via multiple overlooks and utilizing and improving existing trailway and rail right of way to facilitate completion and enhance its non-motorized use.
Several bridges will be built to cross over water versus around where necessary, such as at the south end over the Boardman River near Logan’s Landing. The project’s cost is estimated at $5.5 million, with 3.6 million available in Brownfield funds, an $800,000 commitment/endowment from Garfield Township for ongoing maintenance, $600,000 from the DNR, and $1 million out in grant requests. The private funding is set at $425,000 with $250,000 received thus far; so in essence, if all the grants come in then there will be no shortfall of funds available to complete the project. The project is expected to start in 2018 with completion in 2019.
When asked what the Rotary grant means to the effort Marty and Chris responded that it provides the catalyzation for the private fundraising effort, and a stamp of approval in the eyes of the community at large to further facilitate that effort. The collaboration is complex and unique in that it involves multiple government entities, and when the panel was asked what lessons had so far been learned during the process and what was positive about the experience the collaborative answer seemed to be “patience, and building relationships”. Challenges are to get the money for the public fundraising portion in before tax laws change making such donations less attractive for the individual.
