Teresa joined Rotary in 2002 as a member of the Rotary Club of Delta-Waverly and served as 2006-2007 Club President.  She is the daughter of a Rotarian, and enjoys the fellowship and service opportunities provided by her club.  She and her husband David are Paul Harris Fellows.  Teresa is a member of the Paul Harris Society.

 

Teresa was born and raised in Michigan.  She graduated from Central Michigan University in 1978 with a BA in Journalism.  She worked for Itek Composition Systems in Massachusetts, McGraw-Hill in new Jersey, and NBI in Colorado before returning to Michigan and joining her family's newspaper business.  This business, of which she is co-owner, publishes community newspapers, websites, and other products here in Michigan.

 

Teresa has served as District 6360's Rotary Foundation Committee Chair, and is a current member of the District's Board of Directors.  She is also the president of the board of trustees for the Delta-Waverly Rotary Foundation.

 

She has served as an Assistant Governor, and was a trustee of the Rotary District 6360 Foundation for six years.  She has also served on the District Conference Committee and the District 6360 RYLA Committee.

 

Teresa is a member of the Michigan Press Association Board of Directors.  She is on the Pastoral Council at her church, and also serves as a wedding sacristan and a Eucharistic Minister there. 

Teresa and her husband David are parents of seven children, and have 11 grandchildren.  They also have one dog, four cats, and a foster cat.  She enjoys genealogy, Tim Horton's hot chocolate and "I Love Lucy".

 

President Darwin Brewster called today’s meeting to order at 12:25 (a few minutes early to accommodate a busy schedule).

 

Invocation: Jeff Dettloff offered a nice prayer focused on blessings.

 

Patriotic Song: America

 

Introduction of guests: 

 

Michelle Lantz introduced Rina Risper,  Vicky Hamilton-Allen introduced Julie Durham who, after three visits, will be joining our club next week Dean Sienko said a few words, announcing that he is back visiting this week from Atlanta.   Sherry Montgomery—House of Promise—will become a Rotarian next week.  Steve Lett is the father of today’s speaker. His work focuses on mediation services.  Erik Larsen of Impression 5 introduced his guest, Tom Booth, who is the owner/operator of Collegeville Textbooks in EL as well as a new employee at I-5.  Bob Hoffman introduced Diane Wilcox, director of marketing and communications at the Wharton Center.

 

 Remembrance Report: Teresa Kmetz reported that the health of the club is good.

 

 

Golf Outing—Chris Homan announced that the upcoming golf outing will take place on September 18th at the Country Club of Lansing. He reminded everyone that one non-Rotarian per team will be required. This is an old, successful recruitment tool for Rotary that is being resurrected.

 

July birthday presentation—Bob McKee told the club that 12 members have their birthdays in July and that $525 has been raised so far. More is expected. His question of the month to July birthday Rotarians is, “What would you put on your bucket list?” Dino Muzzin reported that he would love to test fast cars at the Nürburgring motorsports complex in Germany. (His wife says that is fine, as long as he waits until after the kids are done with college!)

 

Kevin Kelly of the International Rotary Foundation—Kevin repeated the announcement from the recent, international meeting in Atlanta that there are just eight cases of polio left in world, compared to 360,000 several years back. This is mostly thanks to Rotary! A colleague of Kevin’s met recently with the Gates Foundation whose 2:1 donation match for the eradication of polio has just been renewed. Bill and Melinda Gates are committed to matching up to $50 million annually to support the eradication of polio. Rotary is thrilled for this partnership to continue and needs to finish its fight against polio so that it can start on the next one! After three years of no polio whatsoever, it will be called eradicated!

 

Special Music:

 

Ken Beachler introduced today’s special music guest, Rachael Gates. Ken met Rachael a couple of Christmases ago, when she was wrapping up 20 years as the cantor at Shaarey Zedek. As talented as she is, and with an incredibly impressive resume that includes performances in Russia, Germany and Italy, and teaching at Yale, MSU and GVSU, Ken was amazed he had not run into her before.

 

Rachael performed three songs: a Puccini aria called, O Mio Babbino Caro; a song called “I’m a stranger here myself” by Kurt Weill, and a selection from Showboat. All were beautifully done.

 

 

Angela Lett, Executive Director of Helping Hands Monkey Helpers (HHMH) Angela Lett was introduced by Chair of the Day John Person and described as having a very diverse and interesting background, much of it taking place in Boston. Nevertheless, Angela was born and raised in Lansing and graduated from Sexton High School.

 

HHMH was started in 1979 to pair well-trained Capuchin monkeys to serve as the hands of individuals who have lost their ability to use their hands because of a traumatic accident or illness (most common being a spinal cord injury or multiple sclerosis). Two veterans have received monkeys, too, although post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) or traumatic brain injury (TBI) can result in a less stable environment for the monkey. HHMH is based in Boston and became a 501(c)3 in 1983.

 

A heart-warming video was shown describing Judy and Sophie’s story together. Judy was an MS patient who was immobilized in her chair. Like all HHMH monkeys, Sophie was trained to pick things up for Judy and to anticipate her needs. Judy said she did not have much in her life until the monkey came along. She loves being Sophie’s prized person. HHMH monkeys don’t see their person as disabled and this is a very important gift to someone who had so much taken away from them. In Judy’s case, she doesn’t know how long she lived without a monkey. Judy died several years ago, after which Sophie was returned to HHMH for additional training and reassignment.

 

HHMH handles 6-8 new placements each year across the US. There is 24/7 lifetime support for each placement with trainers checking in every day through Skype to work with the caregiver and help the relationship along. The agency owns the monkeys through their lifetimes, meaning that they must be returned to the agency if a client predeceases the monkey. When monkeys are returned, they go through an evaluation to determine if the monkey should be placed again. if dogs could assist the blind, could a monkey be trained to help someone who could not use.

 

In another scenario, Robert Foster and Hellion were shown to have been together for 28 years, until Robert died in 2007. Hellion was allowed to retire at that time, after so long with one client. The monkeys are all Capuchin monkeys—new world monkeys that do not have the same disease transfer as old world monkeys. Also, they are very smart and weigh only 3-5 pounds each. Their size to strength ratio is very high, making them effective helpmates. The average placement of an animal lasts 7-10 years. All HHMH monkeys are taught through positive reinforcement. This includes cues like the ding of a bell, verbal praise, or a taste of hummus or peanut butter. Certain tasks, like feeding people (that are hard to teach and not in synch with a monkey’s natural abilities), are no longer considered worthwhile to teach. The hardest tasks for a monkey to learn are turning on a light switch and opening a water bottle to insert a straw. “Teaching a monkey to flip a light switch is not hard, but getting them to flip the right switch and only one is the trick.”) Turning pages, opening filing cabinets, and scratching itches with a cloth are useful functions, too. All training takes place at what is referred to as the Monkey College in Boston and training takes 3-5 years.

 

Most of the monkeys are motivated and eager to learn, although some are just not as bright as others. Some just don’t seem to care and others are so smart that they refuse to learn. In a new environment, the monkeys are taught to place their ‘person’ at the top of the hierarchical structure that is so important to them. They are not placed in homes with small children since such an environment would make it hard to maintain the hierarchical structure within which the monkey is happiest and most effective.

 

HHMH monkeys are not allowed to fetch medicines or go near cleaning supplies. This is because the health and safety of the monkeys is considered very important to those who work at HHMH. The monkeys generally do not leave the person’s home since they tend to get nervous in public.

 

Placement criteria include nobody under the age of 12 in the home, one year post-injury or post-diagnosis, a majority of time spent at home, a strong support system, a desire for companionship, patience and a sense of humor. The application process is intensive yet effective. HHMH wants to make sure people have ample time to get ready for this big change in their lives. Monkey placement is like a dating service. Pairings are done very carefully, based on the personality of the monkey and the person to whom it will be assigned.

 

During placement week, HHMH typically spends 5-7 days in the recipient’s home. This time is spent teaching how to feed, care for, and bathe the monkey, building adaptive equipment, and monkey proofing the home. This week is followed by an intensive first year of placement, during which there are daily Skype sessions, emergency lifetime support, and even veterinary support. Over time, these Skype sessions taper to every other day.

 

Some of the psychological benefits of having a monkey helper are indicated in the following quotes from HHMH recipients:

 

“My monkey needs me as much as I need him.”

“Gives me a reason to wake up every morning”

“…Something to focus on other than my loss/injury/illness”

“My monkey doesn’t look at me like I’m different or broken.”

 

HHMH receives funding from foundations and a combined federal campaign (basically a United Way for government workers). HHMH monkeys have yearly exams, follow a strict diet, and tend to live ten years longer than monkeys in the wild. This organization can be followed on Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn and YouTube. At present, there are 11 staff members working with 125 monkeys. Six of those eleven are the trainers.

 

Michigan is a great place for monkey placement. If you know of somebody who could benefit from a monkey companion, contact Helping Hands Monkey Helpers. They are also seeking homes for foster monkeys—those who did not make it through the program but need a stable, safe place to live.

 

At the end of the talk, after thanking Angela for her time. President Brewster noted that his past week vacationing with two three-year olds was also filled with potty training and light switches!

 

Pam Miklavcic's email is:  tdppammiklavcic@gmail.com