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Newsletter for December 12, 2007
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More meeting photos can be seen here Upcoming Speakers: Jan. 2..Gardner Bride...Flying through the 20th Century Jan. 9..Collette Michaud...Children's Museum of the North Bay Jan. 16..Janet Ryan..Concord Coalition Jan. 23..Mark Fanaru-Wada, author.."Game of Shadows" Jan. 31..Brian, Dian, and Ed Power..Nut Tree Rotary Fly-In Remembered Today: Forrest leads the flag pledge. Thought for the Day: Tricia-“Those who bring sunshine to others cannot help but bring sunshine to themselves.”  PVR guests:Al Kaplan. Petaluma Club, underground construction Sheila Herron Janet Clark, past president, Petaluma Club, real estate. Andy Kern Stan Lawson Paul Praetzel, Petaluma Sunrise, interior design. Jackson Garner Announcements: 12/15, 2pm, Holiday Party, Sunrise Assisted Living, joint project with Sunrise club benefitting 25 kids at COTS. Jan 6, Cinnabar Theater That’s Amore musical benefit for PVR benefiting Lend-A-Hand to Education project. Jan 11, A Day at the Races, joint Rotary Event at Golden Gate Fields. Jan 12, Rotary Foundation dinner, Friedman center, Santa Rosa. Tricia: Kiwani’s Bell Ringing for Salvation Army Challenge- needed two more volunteers. Tricia set up web site for donations. All money stays in Petaluma.  PVR Election: Officers for 2009-2010 year held- unanimous election for Joann Pozzi, president elect. Congrats Joann! Board Meeting Notes We are now a sec5013c- PVR Foundation created can accept donations now for tax deduction status. Board also approved aproved for a $2500 community project: the Water Street N. improvements of the city’s River Walk project- the money will fund a bench, an historical plaque, and some trees. Fines Happy birthday wishes to Bob Hill, Jo Thorton, Debra Matteri, Kevin Downey, Austin’s son Grayson, Julie’s hubby Kevin, and John Strong’s son. Best wishes one and all. David Johnson’s son moves into a new house in Santa Rosa, CA. Congrats on getting the kid out of your house Dave! Phil’s mom turns 91 years old! Good genes there Phil! Sunshine and Showers Chuck doing well after recent leg amputation- send cards and best wishes for quick recovery. Congrats to the Jennifer and Matt Carter who recently won the Spirit Award of Sonoma County award for small business. Way to go! Raffle: There was $114 in the pot, Kevin Downey draws but alas no luck. Speaker: Stan Lawson, CFO Sequoia Senior Solutions  Stan and his wife started the business after she, a Italian nurse whose own multi-generational family live close to one another, noticed that Americans often live far away from their parents making caring for them difficult. SSS provides in-home care for seniors, employing 250-300 caregivers who spend as little as four hours per week or up to live in status at the senior’s home. These caregivers help with the activities of daily living- cooking, companionship, shopping, transportation, housekeeping, medication help, bathing and dressing, respite care (for vacationing caregivers), etc. SSS’s clients include disabled youth, hospice patients, and seniors who need a little bit of help with their non-medical care. This lets people stay in their own home which unlike senior facitlies and their fixed schedules- lets them be the boss of their lives. SSS services cost about $22-$24 per hour which is much more cost effective than assisted living facility. The immediate benefit of SSS’s services is a lot less stress and guilt in the families they help. In general, the caregiver industry consists of three types of caregivers: family members, private caregivers (lots of Fijian ones), or an agency like SSS. Of course, having a family member provide care is the cheapest but can result in family problems. Private care is cheaper and is more one-on-one but background checks, sick time, and control issues (ie. Financial) can be problematic. An agency like SSS will do background checks (criminal/ driving/references); have a training program, conduct on-site visits and audits; have employee tax status (avoiding shady independent contractors), have substitute caregivers available, and have their employees bonded and insured. SSS’s caregivers are typically age 45-70 years and female. SSS’s policy sets up boundries that maintain a professional relationship to avoid too much care and closeness often separating caregivers and clients when those boundries are crossed. They usually set a low numbers of hours at first to habituate client and their caregivers. MinimGordonum client standards include the ability to stand by themselves as well as no clients with dementia (safety is an issue). The caregivers have medical intervention training on elder abuse issues- caregivers are legally mandated to report abuse. SSS’s services are covered with long term care insurance. In addition, the Veterans Administration often covers 1800-2000 /mo. Thanks Stan for giving us an insight on a solution to an increasingly relevant issue in our daily lives.  Adieu! Our intrepid reporter, Gordon Wong |
