Rotary International asks us to Serve to Change Lives through its Focus Areas
This month Rotary International asks us to Serve to Change Lives by promoting peace in our community. Explore the possibilities with us at our meeting Wednesday at noon at Wick Park or virtually via Zoom.
Paul Olivier, vice president of Akron Children’s Mahoning Valley, will discuss the hospital’s operations in Mahoning, Trumbull and Columbiana counties.
Prior to joining Akron Children’s in 2021, Olivier served as chief network integration officer for the Great Lakes Group of Bon Secours Mercy Health (BSMH). With Bon Secours Mercy Health Youngstown, he held roles including senior vice president of physician enterprises and business development, as well as chief network integration officer and chief quality officer.
A fellow of the American College of Healthcare Executives, he earned his bachelor’s degree in business administration from Providence College in Rhode Island, and his master’s in health services administration from the George Washington Universityin Washington, D.C. He also completed an administrative residency at Santa Rosa Memorial Hospital in California during his master’s program.
An active member in the Youngstown community, he serves as a commissioner with Mill Creek MetroParksand is a graduate of Leadership Mahoning Valley.
He and his wife, Laura, have two daughters.
Last Week’s Meeting
“We the People of the United States, in Order to form a more perfect Union, establish Justice, insure domestic Tranquility, provide for the common defence, promote the general Welfare, and secure the Blessings of Liberty to ourselves and our Posterity, do ordain and establish this Constitution for the United States of America”.
Steven McGarrity, executive director of Community Legal Aid Services in northeast Ohio, opened his talk with the preamble to the Constitution, emphasizing that establishing access to justice is core to the mission of Community Legal Aid, especially for those who cannot afford to hire a lawyer. “Access should not come with a price tag”, Steven said. Nearly 86% of legal needs for low income individuals go unmet, hence the “justice gap”.
Community Legal Aid is a non-profit law firm that serves the legal needs of low income individuals and families in northeast Ohio, as well as special and vulnerable populations. Some of the services provided include landlord / tenant issues, consumer-related issues, services to veterans seeking benefits, custody arrangements, bankruptcy, sealing of criminal records, and much more.
Steve illustrated his point with two examples of how Community Legal Aid advocates and helps those who can be easily victimized. Susan, a veteran in her 60s, was raped, ostricized, and isolated during the term of her military service, leaving her with PTSD. She couldn’t hold a job and became homeless because she was denied her VA benefits. Legal Aid took on her case, and with their involvement, the VA agreed to give her benefits. Now, instead of relying on the foodbank for her meals, she is able to support them financially.
Most recently, Vision Property Management was buying uninhabitable properties in Youngstown and renting them out to unsuspecting tenants. Vision promised them that if they made the repairs in three to four months, they would have the opportunity to purchase the home. When repairs couldn’t be made on that timeline, the tenants were evicted, losing whatever they put into the property. Legal Aid not only helped the tenants get their money back, they were able to settle all claims with Vision. Vision ended their predatory practices and is no longer doing business in the Mahoning Valley.
Community Legal Aid processes over 7,500 cases each year, however in 2021, they had 13,000 requests for assistance. Thirty-seven attorneys work for Legal Aid, and another 200 volunteer. Legal Aid has 70 staff. Their funding comes from local foundations and individual donors.
For the love of - birds
‘Want to participate in a global project that requires no traveling (except on foot to one of your favorite outdoor spaces - perhaps your own backyard), no money, and only 15 minutes of your dedicated time?
The 25th annual GBBC will be held Friday, February 18, through Monday, February 21, 2022. Please visit the official website at birdcount.org for more information and be sure to check out the latest educational and promotional resources.
The Great Backyard Bird Count (GBBC) is a free, fun, and easy event that engages bird watchers of all ages in counting birds to create a real-time snapshot of bird populations. Participants are asked to count birds for as little as 15 minutes (or as long as they wish) on one or more days of the four-day event and report their sightings online at birdcount.org.
Anyone can take part in the Great Backyard Bird Count, from beginning bird watchers to experts, and you can participate from your backyard, or anywhere in the world. Each checklist submitted during the GBBC helps researchers at the National Audubon Society, Cornell Lab of Ornithology and Birds Canada learn more about how birds are doing, and how to protect them and the environment we share. Recently, more than 300,000 participants submitted their bird observations online, creating the largest instantaneous snapshot of global bird populations ever recorded.
Call to Action
The five Rotary districts in Ohio are in a competition to provide handmade blankets to children in foster care and other youth in need. The statewide Rotary goal is to donate 1,600 blankets to My Very Own Blanket, a volunteer organization in Westerville that seeks to provide comfort and security to 30,000 foster children this year.
Rotarians have many ways to participate, as follows:
Donate a quilt or knitted/crocheted blanket, whether you work alone or with a quilt guild or knitting group. Purchase a Blanket Tag to be sewn on your blanket. Sign the Blanket Tag with your club’s name so it receives credit.
Purchase a fleece blanket kit for $10 to get all you need to make a blanket for your club project. When ordering select your district (6650) and put your club name in the Comments box. Sign the Blanket Tag with your club’s name.
Sponsor a blanket. Donate $10 or more to sponsor a blanket kit that will be made by other Rotarians.
The district that donates the most blankets per capita, based on membership of each district as of July 1, 2021, will win the contest.
See President-Elect Sharon Letson for more information.
RCY Observes Black History Month Through Little Free Libraries
Our club is observing Black History Month this February by stocking many of the Little Free Libraries located in the city of Youngstown with books that reflect greater reading diversity.
With the assistance of the Public Library of Youngstown and Mahoning County, RCY purchased a supply of new books for the Little Free Libraries. Some gently used books were also donated by the PLYMC, and other books were donated by the community at large. Several club members volunteered to stock the libraries with the books.
“PLYMC was thrilled to partner with Youngstown Rotary for the Black History Month Little Free Library project” said Aimee Fifarek, Library executive director. “Library staff selected a collection of books that recognize, celebrate, and honor the history and important contributions of African Americans as well as appeal to all ages, reading levels, and interests. We hope that these materials will provide people with inspiration and spark conversations across Youngstown and beyond.”
The locations that were stocked are:
Downtown: Wean Park and 20 Federal Place
North Side: Wick Park, Jewish Community Center, two private residences, and on Cordova Avenue across from Harding Elementary School
West Side: Calvin Center on Mahoning Avenue and Rocky Ridge Neighbors garden, 100 block of South Hazelwood Avenue
East Side: YMHA Rockford Village Give the Children a Chance Pavilion
on South Truesdale Avenue
Sourh Side: Oak Hill Collaborative South Side Academy Boys & Girls Club of Youngstown
RCY has been mounting wooden boxes that are Little Free Libraries on posts and filling them with books since 2014. Notes project chair Elayne Bozick, “RCY took on the project with the goal of creating neighborhood gathering places in order to foster relationships and support literacy.”
THIS WEEK IN ROTARY HISTORY
February 14, 1995: Rotary Club of Youngstown approved a suggestion by John Logue, and held the first Rose “Sale."
