October 11, 2008

Morrisville Rotary and Interact Clubs Go Bowling

The Morrisville Rotary Club and the Morrisville Interact Club that it sponsors got to know each other a little better at the Delmor Lanes Bowling Alley recently. The evening was arranged by Darletta Berry-Johnson, Director of Ivins House in Morrisville who is one of the volunteer adult leaders, and Rotary Club President Barry Vannauker. (More pictures in the Photo Album)

October 16, 2008

The Nature of Homelessness

Bill Burns, Director of Lower Bucks Red Cross Homeless Shelter, gave the Morrisville Rotary Club an in 

depth talk about the Nature of Homelessness. He started out by giving the definition of homelessness which means one has no fixed address. To experience homelessness is devastating to a person or family. Half of those considered homeless are families with children, half have jobs which cannot support a family here in Bucks County. And he said that veterans of the armed forces constitute 22% of the homeless population.

    How did this happen? He said first is the lack of affordable housing. Housing costs often gut a family’s budget because at least half of its income often is required to keep a roof over the family. Hand in hand, he said is the lack of the ability to budget and save.

    What does the Red Cross homeless shelter do to help? Bill said that the shelter constantly reviews its methods and responses to the problems and tries to figure out how to do better. The main emphasis is on working with the clients to teach them to budget and save. He stressed that this is mandatory. The goal is to get the clients into affordable housing upon leaving the shelter. He noted that there really are no programs “out there” once the client leaves the shelter. He summarized by saying that there is a desperate need for affordable housing and, although the shelter does what it can, you can't save people from themselves.

October 23, 2008

New Rotarian Gives Classification Talk to Morrisville Rotary

Merkle Cherry, Financial Specialist for Wachovia Bank in Morrisville, gave his classification talk to the club, telling about his background and how he got into the finance business.  His classification is “Investment Advisor”. He asked (in jest) why a club would welcome him as a member, given his background as a former convict, an arsonist, and a high school dropout. He went on to explain why he described himself as all of the above. As a youngster he accidentally set his aunt’s corn field on fire! He grew up in Mississippi during the civil rights turmoil in the 1960’s and found himself serving a day in jail for participating in a protest. He said he had good grades in school but dropped out of high school because he felt that his career path was pointing to be a truck driver and he didn’t think he needed a high school diploma for that. Subsequently he did get his high school diploma and went on to earn his college degrees. He has lived with his family (wife and two sons) in Trenton, N.J. for 30 years. Prior to going with Wachovia he had careers with the Justice Dept, other governmental entities, as well as other financial institutions. Merkle  also serves as a high school and college football referee on weekends.