The meeting was brought to order by President Meghan Burton at 12:30.
The pledge of allegiance was led by Ron Cassel
Inspiration
The inspiration today was Doug Brent, pinch hitting for Suzanne Boxer-Gassman. Doug reflected on the club’s legacy in our 100th year. While there are many - including creating of the charities and scholarship foundation, the resiliency our club has shown to change - Doug suggested the greatest legacy for the club is our service. The things we do and charities we fund which have ripple effects that can last generations, and create new capabilities for service. Doug ended with a challenge that all consider how they can add to the legacy of Rotary service through acts great and small.
Guests
- Richard Bobis introduced his guest. A long time Rotarian, in San Jose and now in his current home of North Carolina
- Dan Snyder introduced Ryan R. a community leader and veteran of parcel tax campaigns. He has been president of LGEF, and taken on many other community service roles.
- Karen Briones introduced her husband, Dr. Rich Briones, who came today to hear her red badge bio.
Club Business
The Rotarians in the wild this week are Donna and Skip Brewster. Their picture showed them on horseback in the beautiful Italian countryside.
There was a long list of February birthdays and Rotary anniversaries. A big congratulations to all!
Megan mentioned the upcoming Warrior Rotary night, and details will be in her weekly email for those interested in attending.
Ramon Ware thanked the many Rotarians who he interviewed for his new book, Soar to Leadership Success: Lead Your Team Like An Aviator. Among those whom Ramon thanked were Jeff Blum, Lissa Kreisler, Haryl Pascal, Marty Fishman and Eric van der Burg. Ramon told us that leadership success requires: 1) Thrust/energy 2) Lift/motivation 3) A supportive Environment.
Jeff Blum noted that we are supporting a Red Cross Blood Drive with morning Rotary on March 16, at St. Lukes from 8AM-3PM. Jeff is looking for blood donors or help in staffing the event.
Membership
David Homa, sponsored by Marlon Smith was awarded a red badge. David has been a friend of Marlon’s for 10 years, and a teacher at Los Gatos High School for 24 years. He estimates that he has taught over 6,000 students during his career. He teaches social science to seniors, courses like economics, government and social entrepreneurship. He is also an avid traveler. Welcome to the club David!
Karen Briones - Red Badge Bio
Karen grew up in SoCal, as the youngest of three children. Karen credited her parents with her passion for service, and noted her family was always involved in service. Her parents’ values were influential with family and community service being the primary touchstones. Karen earned her undergraduate degree in natural science at Loyola Marymount University(LMU), and met her future husband Rich there. After doing some teaching, she returned to LMU for a Masters in secondary education. She came to the Bay Area about 25 years ago. Karen and Rich have three daughters. Karen brings a record of community service through school programs, including inventing one. Some of her passions include photography, being with friends, and going to the beach.
Even more Crabfest fund raising
Eric Eberle’s hard work - two days pounding crab and making crab cakes - combined with John Pencer’s salesmanship raised even more money for the Crabfest, putting the net total just over $100,000 raised. Seven Rotarians paid $100 for four crab cakes and two steaks, and eleven more Rotarians bought four crab cakes for $50. A quick $1250 for the crabfest!
30-for-30
- Fearing a difficult to listen to speech from Nicholas Welzenback about the non-49er team in the Super Bowl, Andrew Howard preemptively offered a 30-for-30, hoping Nicholas would stay quiet.
- David Wells gave $100 to the scholarship fund for the opportunity to tell the club that the high school district is putting up a ballot measure to raise the parcel tax up to $128 after years.
- Greg Smith did a 30-for-30 noting that when he attended Rotary’s Tuesday social, by chance he sat with Jack Chevlin. The very next day, he was at a lunch, and again, the only seat was right next to…. Jack Chevlin!
- While all held their breath, Nicholas Welzenbach did get up to offer a 30-for-30. He noted that on Sunday, he hiked the trails with his family, saw David Wells, and was thankful to be able to do it. And, no word of you-know-who.
- Jeff Blum offered $50 in recognition for the outstanding work Lissa K did at Crabfest. The big round of applause that followed indicated strong agreement.
- Lydia Norcia then offered $100 to recognize Lisa Cheskin’s great work in helping lead the Crabfest. Another big round of applause indicating strong endorsement.
Speaker
Ramon Ware introduced Rosa Ortiz of the Santa Clara County, Behavioral Health Service Department Navigator Program. Rosa earned her BA in social work from Elizabethtown College, and her LCSW from Simmons college. She worked in non-profit social work roles for 11 years. She has been working for the county since 2017, with a behavioral health focus. Rosa brought along a colleague Diana Rosato.
The Behavioral Health Navigator (BHN) program was new in 2023, and the impetus for this service came from Supervisor Simitian and our own senior services commission in Los Gatos played a significant role. The goal for BHN is that clients should receive timely access to the services they need..
The County’s Behavioral Health team has approximately ten members, and includes clinicians and other support staff. They deal with suicide prevention and other emergencies, referrals for mental health, assisted outpatient treatment, the BHN program, and grievances and appeals.
The BHN program refers people to appropriate mental health services, and anyone is eligible to use it. If a referral is made, the service provider must respond within ten days. And, the BHN staff has the approach that they will try and answer any kind of question, because anything could relate to someone’s mental health - so they get calls for help with cats, taxis, and more. They don’t turn anyone away, and have a service goal that no one waits longer than five minutes on hold. They also assist with residential placement for drugs and alcohol.
In the second half of 2023, they handled over 7,700 calls. Wait time was less than two minutes. More than 55 calls have been urgent matters. They also do outreach through community presentations, web sites and more to generate awareness. Most clients are Spanish and Vietnamese speakers. About half of the calls are for mental health referrals, and about they have handled 800 calls for substance abuse.
They have served almost 300 people at LG Library and over 300 at West Valley College since opening in June 2023.
They can be reached at 1.800.704.0900 Option 4, email: bhnavigator@hhs.scgov.org