Rotary Club of Conifer Meeting, April 19, 2022

Updates and Announcements
 
285 Backpack Project: Always looking for volunteers. To sign up, go to: ​​https://www.signupgenius.com/go/9040c48afa823aa8-back. 
 
Boys and Girls Club: Roses are still for sale, they’re really beautiful and only $2 a piece. Mother’s day, thinking of someone you love, Easter, or any occasion you can think of - they’re great gifts that last forever. You can purchase anytime by going to https://bgchr.co/?page_id=76 or by asking Arana.
 
Room Setup Sergeant at Arms: We still need someone to sign up to set up the room in May. If you’re interested, you’ll just need to be at the MRC by 7:20. Let Amanda know if you can help out. 
 
Annual club goals as of April 2022: We are very close to achieving all three of our 2022 club goals! If possible, let’s see if we can push to see these through. 
  • Membership: Goal 38, Currently 37 (1)
  • Annual Fund: Goal $2250, currently $2195 ($55)
  • Polio Plus: Goal $500, currently $290 ($210)
 
Next Tuesday: Wes, Suzanne, and Tom will be presenting in person about things coming up for foundation events particularly ConiferFest. 
 
Cinco de Mayo: Thursday May 5th is our Cinco de Mayo auction at Snowpack Taproom. Mint Edition will be playing and some Mexican breweries will be featured. The auction is already online and you can start bidding by going to: https://www.32auctions.com/ConiferCdM 
 
Conifer HS Graduation: Saturday May 21st and looking for some volunteers to help with directing parking. If you’re able to volunteer, please sign up here: https://www.signupgenius.com/go/409054BABA922A13-chsgraduation 
 
Peacebuilding Committee: Stanley is coordinating with folks in Golden and Evergreen to combine efforts and he will provide updates soon. Next meeting will be sometime in May. 
 
Evening Meetings: The next evening meeting is on Wednesday April 27th  at 5:30 PM at Our Lady of the Pine Catholic Church.
 
Conifer Town Hall Meeting: At 7PM at West Jeff Middle School on April 20th. There are typically recordings available if you’re not able to attend live.

 
Upcoming Events:
 
District Conference: April 29th at the Hangar at Stanley Marketplace. 
 
Cinco de Mayo Auction: May 5th at the Snowpack Taproom
 
ConiferFest: Saturday August 13th at Our Lady of the Pine Catholic Church

 
Meeting Program: Meg Sagaria-Barritt - Colorado Refugee Services Program
  • Meg Sagaria-Barritt is the Integration Partnerships Coordinator for the Colorado Refugee Services Program (CRSP), which is part of the Colorado Department of Human Services. 
  • CRSP is the state agency designated to lead refugee resettlement in Colorado. In this role, she leads outreach efforts to educate receiving communities, trains the state’s contractors to achieve key performance outcomes, and strengthens the network of refugee service providers to learn from one another and better align their work.
  • CRSP mission, vision, and values:
 
 
  • Refugee is being used here as those who are in the Office of Refugee Resettlement eligible populations (ORR)
  • There are many different domains where individuals need support as refugees including:
    • Employment
    • Housing
    • Education
    • Health
    • Social bridges, bonds, and links
    • Language and cultural knowledge
    • Safety and stability
    • Rights and citizenship
  • Global displacement is on the rise 
  • Each year the president is allowed to set the ceiling for the number of refugees we’ll accept. 
 
 
  • The Biden admin is trying to bring the ceiling up but there is a bit of a rebuilding phase going on to pivot and meet that ceiling. 
  • In Colorado we welcomed right around 2,000 Afghans between September last year and February 
  • How do refugees get to Colorado? There are some helpful videos that can be found here
  • The refugee program is not a fast solution, there is a really lengthy process to go through and can take about 2 years on average before approval
  • The Colorado Office of New Americans website has more information about Ukrainians at the top of the page that folks may find helpful.
  • The Colorado Refugee Connect website has information about how refugees get here and who they are
  • A link to the presentation from Meg can be found here
 
Guests: Meg, our guest speaker, Trish, and Bill from PA who just moved to Conifer. Welcome!