The March 4, 2010 Naples Sunset Rotary meeting was called to order at 6:45pm at the Collier Athletic Club by President Zillman. After dinner Rotary member Adoni Kokkinos introduced the speaker Vann R. Ellison, President/CEO of St. Matthew's House and Immokalee Freindship House. Vann discussed their mission to provide food for the hungery, housing for the homeless and an opportunity to change lives in a spiritual environment that is both compassionate and disciplined. 2000 people find shelter each year at St. Matthew's House and Immokalee Friendship House main emergency facilites, where they offer 174 beds. Residents are required to get a job, stay sober, submit to random drug testing to confirm submission to the program, case management, daily meeting attendance, do daily chores, and pay program fees associated with their stay. Their Old Firehouse Feeding Ministry provides over 160,000 prepared meals annually to homeless and working poor of our community, serving 2000 meals a day, seven days a week, which equals to over two million meals served since 1988. Their Food Pantry provides over 14,000 packages of food annually to the working poor, disabled and seniors. Their transitional housing called Wolfe Apartments offer 46 transitional, affordable housing units in Golden Gate, provide a drug and alcohol free community with counseling and structure. Fourteen of the units are designated for permanently disabled individuals. They also have three thrift stores and offer SMH Catering to our community. Additional information is available by clicking here. Vann answered a number of questions presented by Rotary members and his presentation was very well received.
