Simons Explains Twin Cities R!SE

Keith Simons of Twin Cities R!SEIt is always a pleasure to hear the introduction of the meeting by President Jennifer Bennerotte, who was articulate as usual, smiling and making all Rotarians enjoying the experience.
 
The illustrious President Jennifer thanked those who helped with the meeting: Heather Hansen at the front desk, greeters Sonja Tengdin, Renee Harberts and David Aase;  Invocation, Pledge and Four-Way Test given by Les Jones, Introduction of the Speaker by John Flynn, and Thanker (I made that word up) of the Speaker was Joe Hayes.
 
Jim Roberts acknowledged the guests, with Royce Pavelka introducing Scott Hoppe of the Minnesota Functional Neurology and Chiropractic Clinic; Josh Sprague introducing Bjorn Freudenthal of Design Build Remodeling; and Kris Maser introducing her son (and Luther Amundson’s son) Christopher Amundson, owner of Modern Valet. We also had the honor of Edina Community Foundation Executive Director Dick Crockett attending and thanking our Rotary for the support and contributions of over $7,000 to the Edina Morningside Rotary Club's endowment fund in honor of the late Patrick Kennedy, a founder of that club. Dick serves as the Edina Morningside Rotary Club's liaison to our club.
 
Ken Andersen introduced a non-turtle. (Or was that an X turtle?) We are all, in all likelihood, still trying to figure out who was in the turtle outfit. Ken mentioned bowling, a free Cadillac for the winner and going to a tavern. It was quite confusing, but entertaining. Then there was mention, again, of turtles. It may have been Michael Stanzak behind the turtle or in the turtle outfit, but we will never be sure. The point is that our Bowling Event is Jan. 30, from 6:45 to 10 p.m. at the Park Tavern in St. Louis Park. (Take Highway 7 west of Highway 100 and turn north on Louisiana Avenue. You will see it on the right.) Don’t look for the turtle. Actually, forget about the turtle, just remember the event. Good luck on the Cadillac! No, let’s stop the rumors. Just remember Ken started it.
 
Brad Hepp, Past President, introduced Raj Kumar, Consultant, who was sponsored by Josh Spague, Welcome, Raj, and thank you, Josh, for sponsoring.
 
John Flynn had the pleasure of introducing the guest speaker, Keith Simons, to the Club. Keith is the Director of the Empowerment Institute at Twin Cities R!SE, a work force development program designed to transform lives out of poverty through meaningful employment. R!SE is an acronym for Responsibility with Independence, obtaining Skills for Employment. Keith provided us with the history of the organization, and its origination through the efforts of Steve Rothschild, former CEO of General Mills and current Board chair of R!SE. The vision is to develop a community of empowered individuals, especially men of color, who achieve long-term success to support their families. The average age of participants is 36, of which 58 percent are Black American, 74 percent are people of color and 51 percent are male. R!SE’s participants are, arguably, the most difficult people to employ as evidenced by their barriers — 60 percent were formerly incarcerated, 82 percent are unemployed at the start of the program, 41 percent are chronically employed, and 65 percent have substance abuse issues. Unfortunately, these barriers are also accompanied by the fact that almost half of the people of color in the Twin Cities leave high school without a diploma and 38 percent of black residents live in poverty (this is up from 33 percent the previous year). If these staggering statistics are not enough, the median black household income in Minnesota is now ranked nationally at 45 of 50 states — behind the state of Mississippi.
 
The programs of R!SE include basic work skills training, personal empowerment training and coaching, placement services for participants in the program, and Internship programs. The programs of personal empowerment are designed to promote and sustain a long term beneficial change for the participants, and correspondingly, their families. Empowerment means growth in self-confidence, maintaining and regulating your personal emotions, and development of problem solving skills, with the opportunity to build responsibility for oneself. As Keith summed up the idea, it is cognitive restructuring or "think change."
 
Fortunately, R!SE has developed a number of partners in the hospitality industry (Hyatt, Hilton, Mystic Lake and others), with Dakota County Technical College, and has a Partnership with Metro Transit, including paid internship opportunities at $15.50 per hour. The average starting salary for 2014 graduates was $26,490, plus benefits. By defining employment retention rate as 1 continuous year of employment, then the retention rate for R!SE participants is 81 percent as opposed to a 42 percent national average for similar peer group organizations. Their success is also significant when considering the recidivism rates of those who were incarcerated. Recidivism rates of R!SE graduates is 16 percent, compared to the average recidivism rates of 61 percent among previously incarcerated people in Minnesota.
 
By the way, Keith forgot to mention he was a captain of the Minnesota Gophers Football team in 1975 (6-2 in the Big Ten that year) , playing for the late Coach Cal Stoll. 
 
Keith provided all of us with some stark and unsettling figures to remember there are others less fortunate than us. Our reality is not the same reality for everyone, regardless of gender, color or nationality. The next time we give thanks, perhaps we will think of R!SE and thank Keith Simons for his dedication to helping others above self.