AM CLUB —Meets at 7:30 am on the 2nd and 4th Wednesday of each month on Zoom or in person at Northwest Arena
FALCONER — Meets on the 1st and 3rd Thursday of each month at 7 AM at the Falconer Fire Department Exempt Hall located at 1 Coleson Drive Falconer NY, 14733.
WESTFIELD / MAYVILLE — Currently meeting on the second and fourth Tuesdays of the month at 5pm via ZOOM. Contact Janese Berkhouse at 716-397-8801 for Zoom details.
FREDONIA/DUNKIRK —
Meet Thursdays at 12:00 PM - Zoom Teleconference Meetings - Effective until further notice - Fredonia, NY 14063
Committee meetings or social events can also be used as make-ups.
Rotarily Yours - February 10, 2025
President-Elect Michelle Jones opened the meeting with the Pledge of Allegiance, followed by the Star-Spangled Banner, led by Caitlin O'Reilly. Amy Rohler then gave this week’s invocation. In honor of Black History Month, she shared details on its origins and then offered a prayer by Howard Washington Thurman, from his book Meditations of the Heart, entitled "A Prayer for the New Year."
Michelle also recognized our guests, including Jennifer Lundmark from Cummins and Brandon and Matt from Doubletree by Hilton.
For announcements, Max Eimiller provided a recap of last week's Miniature Golf Pub Crawl fundraiser. He said 24 teams of 96 people participated, visiting and golfing at six different downtown business. In all, the even raised over $3000 for Rotary and all locations loved the event, ensuring it will likely return next year. He thanked all members for participating and helping out.
Also during announcement, Cheri Krull introduced Heath Bounday, who is participating in the Rotary Youth Exchange program. Heath comes from Tasmania, Australia and is currently staying with Singletons in Jamestown. He said he enjoys the city so far and looks forward to spending time here. Cheri also asked any Rotarian who drives to the meetings to consider volunteering to pick up and drop off Heath at JHS. Anyone interested in helping out should contact Cheri.
In other announcements, Club Treasurer Ruth Lundin reminded members that she and other officers would be working on the budget for the new year in the coming months. Part of that process is reviewing annual dues and anyone who wants to offer thoughts or input is welcome to do so. And Michelle announced upcoming meetings, including the Rotary Club Board Meeting on February 21 (8 a.m.) and the Literacy Committee Meeting on February 25 (noon), both taking place via zoom.
And John Felton reminded members that they are working on holding Mock Job Interviews for students at Jamestown High School on February 26-28 from 2:25 to 3 p.m. Anyone interested in helping out should first receive some training, available for free courtesy of the Southern Chautauqua Federal Credit Union. Contact John for more details.
Following the announcements, Joni Blackman announced the birthdays for February. This month’s birthdays included Patricia Graves and Jon Saff. After announcing the birthdays, everyone sang Happy Birthday.
The 50/50 was won by Deb Kathman.
Sergeant at Arms Doug Conroe was out for the day, so Mike Roberts filled in. He levied fines against the CHQ Chamber president Dan Heitzenrater for his organization being in the news for hiring a new team member. Mike also recognized Amy Rohler and her work in the United Ways of Chautauqua County, having reached the Annual Campaign goal for the new year. But instead of fining Amy, Mike instead fined all Rotary members who are involved with benefiting from our working with the United Way. Mike also paid a fine for his favorite college football team, the Ohio State Buckeyes, winning the national championship.
For Happy Bucks, Amy donated for the United Way having a successful campaign. Max donated for a successful golf fundraiser and also for a successful fundraiser in honor of his cousin who passed away in 2021. Kristin Melville also donated and expressed her appreciation for all who supported the WCA Foundation during its recent event. And Jason Sample donated to show his appreciation for being appointed the new president of the Chautauqua County Historical Society by his fellow trustees in that organization.
Tory Irgang introduced this week’s guest speaker. Osaze Ibhawa with Urban Mental Health Counseling Services here in Jamestown. Osaze is a licensed mental health counselor with years of experience collaborating with individuals in navigating through challenges and finding mental healthiness and wellbeing. Prior to establishing Urban Mental Health Counseling Services PLLC, Osaze earned a Bachelor of Science in Psychology from Enugu State University of Science and Technology, and a Master's degree in Clinical Mental Health Counseling from Canisius College. He is a Nationally Certified Counselor - NCC, Internationally Certified Alcohol and Drug Counselor - ICADC, Credentialed Alcohol and Substance Abuse Counselor Advanced level - CASCAC Advance, and EMDR (Eye Movement Desensitization and Reprocessing) for trauma treatment/therapeutic support.
Osaze has had the opportunity of working as a family-based mental health therapist, worked with adolescence and young adults experiencing first psychotic episodes such as schizophrenia, schizoaffective, and bipolar disorder. He has also worked in most behavioral health unites of the hospital UPMC, which includes the adult and children inpatient unites, the 28 days short-term, and 90 days long-term addiction rehab, as well as a crisis/evaluation counselor for the assessment of safety/risk severity for inpatient hospitalization and psychiatric treatment or support as needed.
Outside of his professional life, Osaze is passionate about studying and learning, and enjoys spending time with his family and friends.
Following the introduction, Osaze indicated that he would do his presentation on questions from the audience. The questions where where was he from and why did he choose Jamestown, and why did he choose counseling as a career. Osaze indicated the he initially wanted to study accounting and economics when he first considered college because that's what his parents did. However, he was unable to immediately get into accounting school and a friend of his urged him to consider psychology. He took a couple of courses and he immediately became interested in learning more and decided that was the career path he wanted to choose. After attending Enugu State in Nigeria, he came to the U.S. to earn a master degree at Canisius College in Buffalo. While at Canisius, he met his future wife - who was an employee with Chautauqua County and convinced him to come to Jamestown after he graduated. He said he didn't initially like Jamestown but has since grown to love it. During the past six years he has worked in the community providing counseling services and eventually opened Urban Mental Health Counseling Services.
Osaze explained that he feels privileged helping residents in the area affected by substance abuse. He learned in college that it's often times not someone's fault for having substance use issues. Instead, it is often times a result of prescribed medication that a person becomes addicted to and then is unable to stop relying on the drugs, and substance abuse takes hold. He said people fall into addiction as a way to find balance in their lives when dealing with problems or challenges. He said his goal is to work to help individuals find the balance they need without the need for drugs or alcohol.
There are various types of help and assistance that Osaze can provide. He said often times a person needs immediate help with substance abuse while waiting to be accepted for long-term care, and so he works to provide help through counseling while they are waiting. He also tries to provide them with a referral if they don't know where to go our turn when seeking long-term addiction services. And he also provides services and help to those who have relapsed because addiction is a struggle that doesn't always end neatly or immediately. Osaze said he helps these individuals by providing one-on-one mental health counseling, assisting with group counseling sessions, and also providing substance and chemical management services. And he is working on creating a new public education program to better equip others in the community with information and knowledge on how to work with those dealing with addiction. He said the main point of his work is to inform others that they are not alone. If they need help, they can get it.
Following the presentation, the meeting was adjourned.
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