Perrysburg Rotary Weekly Meeting for October 19, 2023

 
Join us Friday, October 20th, as we welcome guest speaker, Tim Polakowski.  Tim is the Executive Director and Licensed Counselor at Monarch Grief Center.  
 
"Monarch Grief Center is a nonprofit organization in Northwest Ohio specializing in professional grief services. Our mission is to provide those who are grieving with a place to turn so they feel less alone in their grief journey. We offer individual counseling, specialized support groups, and community outreach and education. Through generous community support, we are able to offset the costs of our professional-level services. We value all grief services in our community and seek to collaborate with all of them to provide the most grief-friendly community possible.

Tim has wanted to be a social worker since he was 12 years old – a calling long in the making. Fast forwarding, prior to cofounding the center, Tim worked in hospice for 10 years – seven of those years were in a clinical supervisory role for 30+ social workers, chaplains, and bereavement counselors. Tim earned his Masters in Social Work (MSW) from the University of Michigan in 2011. He is a Licensed Independent Social Worker with Supervisory Designation in the State of Ohio. Tim is certified as an Advanced Hospice and Palliative Care Social Worker from the National Social Work Association. He also teaches a course, Grief, Loss, and Trauma, to graduate-level social work students at Bowling Green State University. Tim is working towards his Masters in Business Administration (MBA), which should be completed in 2024. The combination of his passion for leadership and helping those through death, dying, and grief has culminated in what is the Monarch Grief Center.

Interesting facts about Tim include that he was a Fulbright Scholar as an English Teaching Assistant in South Korea, has travelled to more than 40 countries, enjoys boating and wake surfing, has twin daughters that were born in 2017, and enjoys eating potatoes in any form."  (source)

A few meeting notes:

  • As many are aware, Marge Gallagher passed away this week and her Celebration of Life will be hosted at the Carranor starting around 12:30 on Friday.  President Ohanian has made the decision to start our program promptly at 12:00 pm.  We will skip our general housekeeping items and pass the mic to Tim.  Our goal is to provide Tim the best audience we can and adjourn early to support our members who wish to attend the Celebration of Life.  

  • As you join us for lunch this week, we respectfully ask that you silence your phones/notifications at the start of program. 

  • If you are paying for your lunch online, ​​​please click here to log into your Rotary Account.  Then click on "My Account Balance" to pay for your lunch.  Lunch is $20.00.  We will also be accepting payment at the meeting by check or exact cash.  A buffet meal will be hosted at the Carranor Club starting at 11:45am. 

A Zoom link for this hybrid meeting will be sent out October 20th at 9:30 am.