North Notes
Spokane-North Rotary Club
Aug. 28, 2023
Calendar:
Sept. 4: No meeting; Labor Day Holiday.
Sept. 11: Meeting at Noon at Bark Speaker: TBA
Meeting Guests: We welcomed Kelsey & Otti Prestesater ,guests of Colin. Emily and Derrick from Big Brothers Big Sisters visited our Club and mentioned their mentoring initiative at Shadle Park HS this year – they are looking for adult volunteers to mentor a Shadle HS junior or senior this school year.
Announcements: If you are interested in financially supporting victims of the Maui or local Spokane County fires, Rotary District 5080 has charitable fund links on their website.
Catholic CharitiesCatholic Charities…doing so much more than you hear about in the media
On Monday August 28th, Club members heard from Robb McCann, President and CEO of Catholic Charities Eastern Washington. Founded in 1912, the Catholic Charities mission is to affirm the dignity of every person, partnering with parishes and the greater community to serve and advocate for those who are vulnerable, regardless of religious affiliation, bringing stability and hope to people throughout Eastern Washington.
Their region of service extends west and south of Spokane County to Okanogan, Lincoln, Adams, Franklin and Walla Walla counties. While you have likely heard about the Christmas Bureau and the homeless population served by the House of Charity, not much is mentioned in the media about the vast programs and services they provide within their $51 million budget.
- Childbirth and Parenting assistance – all parents, guardians or caregivers of a child aged 0-5 years are welcome
- Behavioral and mental health treatment services – serving all persons regardless of ability to pay
- Distributing locally grown produce to those in need through their Food For All program
- Own and manage 2800 housing units primarily serving seniors, veterans, disabled persons, and families who were homeless
- Rockwood Lane retirement community – a leasehold-purchase community designed for independent seniors 55 years and older
- Immigration legal services
- Ministry services for Catholic social teaching to parishes, schools and other organizations
- Family-centered drug treatment and housing program to support families in staying together while they begin to recover and rebuild their lives
- Children & Family center provides high-quality childcare and early learning opportunities regardless of faith for children 1 month through 6 years
McCann was straightforward regarding their position on the very visible homeless population in Spokane…CC’s various Havens house and support those homeless who “opt in” for their services. For the “opt in” population, CC has a very high success rate in helping those individuals in not going back to life on the street.
Every day, his staff invites homeless individuals who are still on the street to “opt in” for their services. And every day, his staff are met with vulgar, and sometimes threatening, replies. But tomorrow is a new day, and his staff tries again.
Many of the homeless individuals who do not want to be served by CC have mental illness and/or drug addiction. Many of those individuals are also breaking the law, but there are no consequences for their behavior. Even those who are arrested find that within a short time, they are back on the street. McCann told us that our community doesn’t have the proper facilities to both restrict their activities and provide treatment for their mental illness and/or addictions. Committing dollars to building such facilities is one way our community can create consequences for the homeless individuals, and in turn, reduce that activity that causes a myriad of problems in our communities.
And you know that WA law preventing evictions that was enacted during the Covid pandemic? That law change meant that CC was no longer able to evict individuals from their Havens when they break their rules or worse yet, break the law. What previously was a quick eviction for their bad behavior has become a lengthy months-long process to accomplish an eviction…an unintended consequence of the Covid law?
Bulltin Editors: Lenore Romney and Sandy Fink