Scribe:  Peter Kinash

 

Opening: The meeting was opened promptly at 7 AM by President Chris Bailey:

 

Zoom Greeter: None noted

 

 

Oh Canada: Gary Williamson provided an orchestral version of our anthem

 

Invocation:  Chris Bailey leaped into invocation mode

 

Jeff Dworkin introduced Daniela Galindo the Community Liaison for the Community Hubs initiative. Daniela had worked in the nonprofit area for three years and prior to that for five years at the U of C in International Opportunities. Daniela has an undergraduate degree in business and a Masters program at the University of Saskatchewan. Daniela was a youth exchange student in Hungary and did “Guess Who’s Coming to Dinner” with the Heritage Rotary Club.  Her dog’s name is Pacco.

 

Daniela started her presentation by indicating that she finds Rotary meetings uplifting. Daniela asked the question “what are Community Hubs” indicating some of their activity was lost due to the pandemic. Daniela said that it is important for everyone to feel they belong and a feeling of not belonging has lots of negative consequences for health, jobs etc.

 

The purpose of Community Hubs is to provide an increase in social inclusion and activity among neighbors. The program has an objective of reducing the number of people living in poverty by 50% by 2023. Community Hubs were launched in 2016 and are a way for people to participate in different activities under one roof in each neighborhood. Community Hubs are a three-way partnership among the United Way the City of Calgary and Rotary. The four underlying features of community hubs are 1) welcoming and inclusiveness, 2) Residents plan programs, 3) Access to support and 4) sparking economic development. There are currently six Community Hubs operating in Calgary today, two in the community of Forest lawn. Community Hubs have fed 5,000 people including lunches for kids when schools shut because of the COVID pandemic. Community Hubs are designed and operated on a community development model with workshops on financial literacy, murals, women’s programs, toy lending, indigenous programs and grants to youth for anti-racism programming.

Community Hubs depend on physical spaces but these were taken away in early 2020 when the need became more important than ever for people to connect. Community Hubs were more important than ever and grassroots efforts thrived during the pandemic which had a disproportionate effect on disadvantaged communities.

 

The future of Community Hubs is to build on the success of the past, deepen partnerships, expand outreach to the disadvantaged and continue building community. It is a human trait for people to have a desire to connect, belong and feel supported. Rotary clubs join in events and provide sponsorship for Community Hubs.

 

Bob James complimented our speaker for the engaging talk and enthusiasm provided by Daniela including using younger language than Bob could keep up with.

 

We have Gary Webster to thank for getting Daniela on the agenda noting that Rotary clubs contribute to all of the Hubs. It was noted by Gary that there is a desire to create another Hub. One program of the Hubs is the “Fair Entry Program“ which helps disadvantaged people file tax returns that are required to receive certain refunds. Gary sits on the Community Hubs working group, which was started by the Downtown Rotary club. Daniela commented that the next five year model for Community Hubs sees pairing Rotary clubs with Hub sites so Rotary can see the Hubs in action. Paul and Gary toured three Hubs which they indicated was eye-opening and more tours are planned in 2022, hopefully including our whole club.

 

Miriam commented that she loved Daniela‘s connection to Rotary and recommended that Daniela‘s slide add the letter “s” to Rotary Club to make it Rotary Clubs of Calgary plural. Miriam engaged Daniela in a discussion of how we can partner better to create more value. Daniela noted that Community Hubs have partners and we need to prove and defend the partnership model to show the value we are creating, aiming to increase collaboration to 80% of Community Hub activity from the current 40%.

 

Chris noted that there is significant competition among organizations for funding especially during the pandemic. Daniela said she works on funding proposals and communicating the value of the Hub initiative which needs to show perpetual value and what the impact of today’s efforts today will be in 10 years. This is mostly done by storytelling of successes large and small The value created by Community Hubs cannot be put in dollar terms alone but rather in terms of relationships created.

 

Gary Webster thanked Daniela noting that her talk resulted in 80 children being inoculated against polio.

 

Daniela‘s email is Daniela.galindo@calgaryunitedway.com.

 

Rotary Moment: Gary Williamson gave a Rotary moment including Liz Lyles’ birthday yesterday Dave Brinsmead‘s birthday today and Kassoum‘s birthday tomorrow. Saturday Anil and Bob James are celebrating birthdays. On this day in history President Nixon uttered the famous words “I am not a crook”.

 

Adjourn: Chris noted that James Lochrie would be our speaker next week on Zoom and that we would return to the Ranchmen’s Club on December 1 at 7:30 AM.