#557, Club Bulletin, May 11, 2015
Posted by Mary Wildermuth
on May 11, 2015
Program for May 11, 2015: Voice of Muscatine with Jamie Hopkins
Invocation: Jerry Riibe
Rotary News: Mary Odell updated the club on the India Well Project that we spearheaded. She showed pictures of the coconut crushing celebration and talked about harvesting rainwater for the impactful $78,000 project. Guests were Julie Degen, guest of Diana Gradert and potential new member and Deb Dunhase from the Iowa City AM club.
Happy News: Karen Diercks was happy that her grandchildren performed in the Stringfest last Friday.
Program: Bret Olson introduced Diana Broderson to share the Family Programs at the Y. Diana stated that Family Programs have been going on since 1984. Programs were started to help Young Mother's take care of their children and was initially funded by United Way. The method used is that of a support group, where individuals learn from one another and apply the knowledge to their family situation. It can be likened to an AA meeting for parents.
There are several different parent groups intended for different purposes. Included are Parenting Support, Self Sufficiency, Respite, Family Focus and Grandparent Support. All are intended to prevent child abuse and strengthen the family bond. In addition the Y sponsors with other community partners Halloween at the Y and the Annual end of Summer Block Party. Groups are offered to Hispanic Families in their native language. Programming impacts about 400 children annually.
Diana mentioned that the Family Programs have just been accredited, which is new for this type of programming. Senator Loebsack visited the Y on Saturday to learn about the programs and applaud their success. An open house is being held to share the success in mid May!! Kudos to Diana and the Y for their positive impact on the community!!