[Rotary] Subject: Notes of Meeting of 7/25/24

[biseball]

Excellent report Mister Stubbs!
Sent from my iBone


> On Jul 25, 2024, at 6:03 PM, Jeffry Stubbs via Rotary <rotary at lists.mcn.org> wrote:
> 
> 
> Hello Rotarians, 
> 
> We had an excellent meeting today, in the Sanctuary of the Presbyterian Church organized with the help of Matt Davis and Tammy. Margaret opened the meeting with the usual pleasantries, and welcomed our guests. We did the pledge, and collected happy dollars. Persons present included Board members Margaret Black, Jeff Stubbs, Brandt Stickel, Trevor Kuchar, Donna Schuler and Matt O'Halloran. Others present included Matt Davis, Ray Alarcon, Michael Brown and Susan Keller, previous members LaDonna and Rick MacDonald, prospective members Cathy Karabensh and Susan Cimmyotti, Speaker, Fort Bragg Police Chief and Rotarian Neil Cervenka, Advocate-News and Beacon reporter/photographer Mary Benjamin, and several guests.We collected $63 from happy dollars and venue fees.
> 
> Margaret introduced speaker Police Chief Neil Cervenka, who delivered an inspirational, motivational and informative talk about the Fort Bragg Police Department's Care Response Unit (CRU). He began with the Marbut Report, published in 2018, by a researcher who lived with the homeless in Fort Bragg and wrote a report with specific recommendations for action which led to the creation of the CRU. The Marbut Report had produced 14 recommendations which led to the creation of the CRU by the City of Fort Bragg and then made the Unit and the city a model for the state and the nation. Chief Cervenka said that homelessness is a multi-factor problem, not adequately dealt with by the normal government agencies and police departments with their service boundaries and barriers to communications between agencies. When working with the homeless and others with mental health issues it was necessary to build trust, help people get out of survival mode, engage in ego development, deal with drug and alcohol dependencies and ultimately help people into rehabilitation. To do this the CRU had sought persons committed to their work, with backgrounds in education, psychology and behavioral sciences, not social work. In 2023 the CRU had served 300 community members, provided 112 clients with multiple services, and helped 21 clients move into rehabilitation. The CRU worked with the police, and maintained connections with the DA's office, the Public Defender and Probation. As a result of its work, arrests of such persons had dropped from 54% in 2022 to 37% in 2023. Lives had been saved, and costs had been reduced. The CRU is funded at present by a grant which is up for renewal under Proposition 47 Cohort 4. Under the proposed renewal grant a 3rd CRU staff member would be hired and the service would be extended south to Albion and north to Westport.
> 
> A question and answer period followed during which Chief Cervenka explained that the CRU was already making contacts in Mendocino schools, in which there are problems with drug use in the Junior High and High Schools and with drug experimentation in the elementary school. Although the CRU program was regarded as highly successful and the Chief had been working to get Proposition 47 approved, its passage was not certain. On the far left people were reluctant to provide money to police departments and on the far right they were reluctant to provide money to deal with homelessness and mental health issues. In response to a question he said that people who supported Proposition 47 should make their views known at Prop47 at bscc.ca.gov. Margaret thanked Chief Cervenka after which the meeting moved on to ordinary business. 
> 
> Margaret urged members to obtain and sell Dinner Raffle tickets as time was getting short for a drawing in August. She said that our next meeting, which will be attended by the District Governor, will be a Board meeting on Wednesday July 31 in Preston Hall. Following that meeting there will be a dinner that evening with the DG at the Grove and a joint meeting with Fort Bragg Rotary the following day which will be August 1. 
> 
> We closed with the drawing which was won by Mr. Lucky Brown. 
> 
> Thanks all.       
> 
> Jeff Stubbs, Secretary
> Rotary Club of Mendocino 
> P.O. Box 102, Mendocino, CA 95460
> Home phone 707-937-6026
> I phone 707-536-6190
> Skype phone 707-397-5620
> Skype name jeffrystubbs
> 
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