The Rotary Club Of Festival City

President:  Dianne Yundt

Minutes of the meeting of August 14, 2012

Club email:  festivalcityrotary@gmail.com

Club web blog: www.festivalcityrotary.blogspot.com

ClubRunner site: www.festivalcityrotary.ca

Guests:  Marcia Matsui, Clark Mitchell, Ellen Balmain and Geza Wordofa are from Stratford Rotary. Calum Balmain-Matthews is our outbound exchange student to France. Mark Hertzberger is a guest of Geza, and Jon MacKenzie is our guest speaker.

Draw Prize: Deb Stacey-Rivers donated the prize won by Carol Rock.

Announcements:

  1. Bingo: A reminder to all volunteers that our next bingo is Friday August 17 starting at 5 PM.
  2. Area 3 Meeting: In Mitchell at Deck Dentistry on August 30 at 7 PM. Featured speaker will be Linda Bradley past District Governor (7040), member of the Rotary Peace Centre Committee, and much more. It will be of interest to those who wish to learn about opportunities for service and a closer look at the Foundation.
  3. Grant Management Seminars: The dates are Sept 15 in Listowel at Kin Station, September 22 in Imlay City, and Sept 29 in London at Fanshawe College.  Let President Dianne know ASAP if you can attend. President Dianne or Carolyn Dingman can forward you the link to register online.  The course runs from 9 to 3 at a cost of $40, which can be paid on the day of the event.
  4. Pancake Breakfast: Saturday Sept 15 from 6 AM to 6 PM. Kent Chisholm will be circulating a signup sheet for everyone to participate in a shift. Among the jobs available are cooking pancakes and sausages, selling and serving coffee, water and other cold drinks. Pancake sales end at noon but drink sales continue to 6 PM. Parking will not be available at the site so park on a street in the neighbourhood.
  5. Board Meeting: There will not be a Board of Directors meeting in August. The next meeting will be Sept 20.
  6. Dinner of the Month Tickets: Tickets for the 2013 draws are available for sale. Get your tickets from Tyler Canal.  The price is the same as this year. $20 each or 6 for $100.

 

Guest Speaker: Brian Rivers introduced Jon MacKenzie, executive director of the Habitat For Humanity – Stratford Perth. With the aid of a slide presentation Jon outlined the history of HFH.  It began in 1976 with the Fuller family in Georgia. Jimmy Carter was an early supporter of HFH. Today there are over 35000 volunteers in Canada in 70 affiliates.  1200 homes have been built in Canada and 225 000 worldwide. There are about 1.5 million people in Canada in need of good living accommodations.  Affordability of housing is worsening. Over 1 million families spend more than 50% of their income on housing.

Through Habitat For Humanity families selected for affordable housing receive interest free and down payment free homes.  Materials to build homes is often donated, favourable mortgage financing is provided by MCAP, and mortgage payments by the homeowner are invested back into the program.

Since 1996 13 homes have been built in Stratford-Perth.  Candidates for a home must have a minimum income of $25000 and a maximum of $44500 to afford a 4 bedroom house.  They must also have a good credit rating and have been living in Perth County for at least a year.  The candidate must also provide a minimum of 500 hours of sweat equity. The new homeowner must make monthly payments from $250 to a maximum of 30% of gross income. Candidates are also mentored regarding managing finances and learning about legal and home owner responsibilities.

To help pay for the HFH program the ReStore store off Lorne Avenue pays the bills for the organization. The latest home, located at 142 Home St, will be open for viewing at the end of August.

Volunteers are always needed. Help for building, fundraising, and ReStore clerks. Volunteers receive training for safe work habits at the construction site and they learn new skills.

The next home will be built in 2013 in Stratford once land is acquired. Finding affordable land is very difficult as developers can outbid HFH.

Jon was thanked by Brian Rivers who volunteers at HFH.