August 2nd (Rosie's, buffet breakfast)—Historian David Stameskin will speak on local figure W. Storrs Lee and his impact on Middlebury & the College over the 20th century.
August 9th (Rosie's, a la carte)—Karl Lindholm, Midd College emeritus dean and Am. Studies prof., Addy Indy (mostly) sports columnist, and baseball aficionado extraordinaire. He will, no surprise, speak on baseball!
Drop off fans, generators, shop vacs, dehumidifiers and other cleaning suppliesat Lyric Theatre's warehousein South Burlington - 10am - 6pm, through Thursday, July 20.
Join the Facebook Group for VT Flooding 2023 Response and Recovery Mutual Aid - If you use Facebook, this group is full of people offering help and requesting help. A great place to find ways to help out.
David was happy and thanked Geoff, John Bartstow, and John Metcalfe for their help with the Cemetery Cleaning project
Buzz apologized to David for bringing water to the wrong cemetery
Maureen was happy she found her name tag and $5 at the bottom of her purse
Spence was excited about Berry Season, which is BENEFICIAL to all
CLUB ANNOUNCEMENTS:
Budget:
The budget was brought to vote with the club members. There were concerns/conversations about costs of dues related to breakfasts costs and it was mentioned that the breakfast is part of the social and fellowship aspect of Rotary. The goal with the 2 full breakfasts & 1 a la carte breakfast will help keep down the costs.
VOTE: Heather made a motion to approve the budget which includes dues at $600. Shawn seconded the motion and it was unanimously approved by the club.
Club Updates:
Spence - Window Dressers
During last year's project, about 200 interior storm windows were built, but about 230 were needed. Therefore, there were about 6-8 households wanting inserts (12-20 inserts). Good news, the Charlotte Rotary Club is happy to help make more, and is looking for support from our club to help with their Window Dressers Project. If you are interested, please email Spence.
Geoff - District Grant HOPE
July 27th will be the first remote HOPE Food Shelf in Shoreham. Geoff is looking for 5 volunteers to help with this from 12-4 p.m.
(Fran, Nancy, Katie, John B, and Jason L - thank you!)
Jason - MALT Kissing Gates
Saturday, July 22nd from 8-12 a.m. (thank you to everyone who helped!)
John M - San Jose Monteverde project to support and ambulance to increase access to healthcare services
John’s estimated cost for the ambulance is $80,000 plus another $10,000 for necessary equipment and supplies. John also made a very rough estimate of $18,000 for annual operating expenses, including training, maintenance, fuel, and restocking supplies. If you are interested in helping John with this project, please email metcalfe@myfairpoint.net
Guest Speaker: Andrea Galiano
John introduced Andrea, a resident from Middlebury who was interested in helping address homelessness. Starting in 2018, Andrea met with several folks working in the housing field to help find a solution for the housing crisis and create affordable housing. Andrea, along with Ingrid and Mary teamed together and developed a 501(c)3 as part of the Tiny House Association. They traveled around the country to see different models and tiny home villages that could be brought back and tailored to Middlebury.
Andrea mentioned that the only way to fix the housing situation is to remove housing from the market, create debt-free housing, volunteer time, and help neighbors. Currently, the housing wage is showing that in order to work AND live in Middlebury, you need to make about $18/hour for a 1 bedroom apartment and about $20/hour for a 2 bedroom apartment. This is unrealistic for many and the reason many individuals who work in Middlebury do not live in the area.
Single occupancy unites is the #1 need in the community and there are grants available to convert “Accessory Dwelling Units (ADUs)” into apartments. Those grants are available for up to $50,000 to help renovate and have those apartments on the market. Those need to remain at market rate for 5 years. Tiny homes would be similar to this concept.
Affordable housing is beneficial to all in the community and creates a healthy economic flow. More than 50% of renters have a housing cost burden and it is not sustainable.
It costs about $50,000 - $70,000 to build a tiny home and help house community members in need of shelter. However, some of the barriers include Zoning, Permitting, Town Water & Sewer, land availability, etc.
Thank you, Andrea, for your work on the housing crisis! There was a lot of further conversation on mental health services, connecting with other organizations to provide this support, and support for tiny houses in general.
.png)
