President Homer Nye called the meeting to order and following our official opening, Ramona Pleva offered a moment of reflection and gratitude. She likened our Rotarian service effort to those of the incredible synergy of the draft horse that can more than quadruple its working impact when working side by side with another draft horse it knows. This unusual but very apt analogy holds true when we look at the incredible breadth of service we bras Rotarians bring to the Traverse City community.

Al Bonney and a ‘sit-in’ mix of the Kingsley Trio led the singing for the day ‘On the Sunny Side of The Street’, and John Roddy introduced our visiting guests.

The Annual Meeting of the Corporate Membership of Rotary Charities and Rotary Camps & Services was called to order by Jeff Hickman for the purpose of electing new Trustees for the Board of Directors of each organization. Minutes of last year’s meeting were approved as written. 

There were three nominations for three positions on the Charities Board approved by acclamation: Lorraine Beers, Mark Eckhoff, John Hall

There were three nominations for three positions on the Camps & Services Board approved by acclamation: Mark Newhouse, Bob Stow, Rick Summers

Details of the motions will be part of the official minutes of the meeting which was adjourned following the elect6ion. Hickman then introduced Tory Craig, the manager of Strategic Communications of Rotary Charities who briefly reviewed the Annual Report and shared a very well-done video outlining the shift in focus of Charities and their current granting priority alignment. I am certain the annual report is available through our offices if you have not yet seen it.

Rotary Charities Video CLICK HERE 

Chris DeGood was on hand to announce the Annual Jim Vann Workbee on October 4th from 1 – 5pm on the property. Come to help, if you are able!

Tuesday, October 24th  is  Rotary International World Polio Day and Al Bonney gave us an update, this time focusing on the Good and Bad news…Good news: Only 70 new cases WORLDWIDE! Excellent…we continue to get closer. Bad News: Vaccine Derived Polio, which comes from the live polio virus in the drops we use to inoculate. In very rare cases this can morph into a real case of polio and become communicable in areas that are under-vaccinated. This a potential problem in those places that haven’t see polio for decades and where vaccinating is at issue. We must continue to vaccinate until this scourge is completely eradicated. Our work is not yet done!

COME TO THE SHIRE…

Or as our guest for the day pointed out, in this case, it’s spelled CHIR and stands for Community Health Innovation Region. Dan Buron of Goodwill Industries and Services introduced our guest speaker: Jane Sundmacher, Executive Director of the Northern Michigan chapter of CHIR.

The Northern Michigan Community Health Innovation Region (NMCHIR) is a partnership of health and community providers that serve the health needs of individuals across 10 counties in northwest Michigan: Antrim, Benzie, Charlevoix, Emmet, Grand Traverse, Kalkaska, Leelanau, Manistee, Missaukee, and Wexford. The backbone organization of NMCHIR is the Northern Michigan Public Health Alliance (NMPHA), made up of 7 local health departments covering 31 counties. NMPHA provides leadership and facilitates the development of a common agenda, shared measurement, mutually-reinforcing activities, and continuous communication.

The NMCHIR engages health care providers, insurers, community organizations, and local government agencies to come together to identify and implement strategies that address community health priorities. In addition to members of the steering committee, the backbone organization, and workgroups, there are broad-based partnerships that are being constantly fostered to establish innovative methods for delivering and paying for healthcare. 

All of the CHIRs work both locally and with the state on these new models of innovation. The primary goal is linking people with the community resources they need when they need them most in the most cost-effective way connecting clinical and community sectors to improve population health regionally. Partners utilize a web-enabled or paper screening tool to identify individuals’ basic needs, determine if they would like assistance, and document consent for a referral to Community Connections.

The NMCHIR is working hard to improve conditions where people live, work, learn, and play By focusing on reducing barriers to good health at every level, we create communities that proactively support whole-person care. It’s about improving the quality of life in our communities across northern Michigan