Today’s meeting was called to order at 12:15 by Rachel Kerns, this year’s Program Chair, standing in for both President Dave and Vice-President Asad, who were out of town. Sandy Roeger, consummate musician and mom of Rotarian Jeff Roeger, was also a stand-in for David Dix. Sandy played God Bless America as our patriotic song. Following the invocation by Paul Organ, she challenged us to sing Take Me Out to the Ballgame replacing the final line with “It’s pass, kick, get a first down…” to honor the Browns first season-opener win in decades. Sandy received a round of applause for her contribution to today’s meeting.
There were no visiting Rotarians. Anne Moneypenny was the guest of both Amanda Senn and Roger Sidoti.
Announcements Kathy Myers reminded everyone that this year’s Right at Home Fundraiser for Coleman Health Services will be held on September 28 at Bell Tower Brewing from 6 to 9 pm. She encouraged everyone to purchase tickets for the Art Raffle (1 for $50, 3 for $100) and the Stock the Bar Raffle (1 for $25 and 5 for $100).
Bill Childers announced that the club will collect donations for victims of the massive floods in Pakistan over the next few weeks. Funds collected will be sent to Rotary International by way of Great Britain and Ireland for distribution in Pakistan.
Doug Fuller invited Rotarians to attend this month’s Tap Talks at North Water Brewing on Tuesday the 20th at 7 pm to hear Jon Secaur discuss the history of Liquid Crystals and the important role Kent State has played in the development of this technology.
Happy Bucks Several Rotarians offered Happy Bucks to celebrate recent weddings, birthdays, years of sobriety, and other family accomplishments. Howard Boyle offered a happy buck in honor of the Facebook video of Doug Fuller dancing at his niece’s wedding, noting that it’s definitely worth seeing.
Today’s Speaker Rachel Kerns introduced Ted St. John, a local innovator in the field of recovery. Ted, a lifelong Portage County resident, is Co-Owner and CEO of Hope Village Recovery Services. He has served as an Admissions Manager at Glenbeigh and Chief of Operations at New Day Recovery in Boardman, among other positions in organizations offering detox, treatment, and recovery services. He is a veteran of the U.S. Air Force, serves as the vice-president of the Windham Board of Education, and, in 1997, won the Ohio State Bench Press Championship. Ted is also in recovery himself and views his efforts to help others recover from addiction as essential to his own recovery.
His lived experience with recovery led him to seek meaning and purpose in his life by providing essential services such as housing and transportation to others seeking to recover from addiction. Hope Village and Hope Town offer housing options for men and women at different levels according to need. They support all paths to recovery including twelve-step programs and MAT, medication assisted treatment. Residents adhere to a curfew, work during the day, pay rent, attend morning meditation and assessments, and follow a treatment plan of their choice. These protocols are intended to provide the structure needed to allow the brain to change and recover from the effects of drugs such as fentanyl, which is used extensively in combination with other street drugs. Housing, transportation, employment, and recovery are the four pillars of the support Hope Town provides.
More recently, Ted and others have founded a social enterprise called Hope on Wheels to help people get to medical appointments. This is a fast growing business because of the great need, especially in more rural areas with no public transportation. After only a few months of operation, they’re already providing 150 rides per week.
Today’s Response Paul Organ thanked Ted for his inspiring story of helping others become productive members of society.
