The meeting started at 12:15.

 

Emily Matthews led us in the pledge.

 

Aubrey Merriman, CEO of LifeMoves, and Kimberly Mueller, Private Banker at Silicon Valley Bank

 

Sunshine was NOT delivered by Jim Shypertt. President Joe let us know that Pierre had a fall and hurt his shoulder but is on the mend.

 

Chris did breakout rooms twice, which were fun as always.

 

President Joe announced that his first Board of Directors meeting would be this afternoon. At 4:30. One of the topics on the agenda is where we’ll have our lunch meetings. It’s between GHCC and Par 3. There will be a note in the next High Gear. (NOTE: Lunch will be at Green Hills Country Club. In-person meetings are scheduled to resume at the beginning of January, assuming it is safe.)

 

President Joe also did a pitch for High Gear writers. Anyone can help! The format is totally up to the writers. Even if you do just one High Gear, it would be a huge help for us.

 

Chris Ramirez helped us with two breakout rooms. Thanks again to Jennifer Pence for introducing this feature to our meetings.

 

Fritz let us know that today is national Malted Chocolate Day.

 

Fritz then talked about how travel often does not turn out as planned. Phil was asked about his travel adventures and if he had any unexpected happenings on vacations. He told us about a trip with four tons of equipment, 16 Sherpas, that took him and his group up to 20,000 feet high on Hiunchuli, a peak situated in the Annapurna massif of the Gandaki province in north-central Nepal.

 

 

This was a climbing trip in Nepal and went on where he was partnered with four Japanese men. At about 20,000 feet, their Sherpas told them that they had to turn back, because there was a glacier in front of them that was full of crevasses. When they returned, they heard a story about six Japanese women who continued on the path that Phil’s group had taken past where they had turned around. All six of them died on the glacier. What led Phil to this adventure was the death of his father. When his father died, Phil set off on a world adventure. He did the same thing when his mother died. Phil told us that long, intense travel is a great elixir for emotional distress.

 

Phil’s words of wisdom, “Always listen to your Sherpa!”

 

 

 

Christine introduced our speaker Aubrey Merriman, CEO of LifeMoves.

 

As Aubrey says, a career is what you are paid for. A calling is what you are made for. Aubrey is made for serving the underserved. He has a compelling personal story, and he has earned a remarkable record of success in the nonprofit community.  He has held leadership positions with Special Olympics, where he rose to the position of Chief Development Officer, Executive Director of Summer Search of Silicon Valley, and came to LifeMoves from his very successful years as CEO of the Boys and Girls Club North San Mateo County.

 

Aubrey opened by sharing an allegory.

 

A CEO finds a lamp and rubs it. Of course, a genie comes out and tells the CEO to make a wish. The CEO says he loves Hawaii, but hates flying. He asked for a highway to Hawaii. Genie says, “No way. It’s just too hard.” So, the CEO makes a second wish. He tells the genie that he’d like to bring all of the homeless indoors and give them a way to live indoors in a sustainable, manageable way sustainably. The genie thinks for a minute and replies, “would you like your highway to Hawaii to be two or four lanes?”

 

Aubrey told us that LifeMoves is the largest interim housing and support services provider in Silicon Valley, with 28 sites.

 

 

LifeMoves has done remarkable work in Silicon Valley with a lot of public/private partnerships to make this happen.

 

The goal of LifeMoves is to create as many rungs on the ladder as possible to help people climb out of homelessness. The organization’s secret sauce is intensive case management, housing, and employment support. They also offer wrap-around services and support—mental health, substance abuse, and motivational interviewing as clients go through the intake process.

 

 

 

Clients come to LifeMoves from law enforcement, city, and county offices. The average stay at a LifeMoves facility is 90-150 days. The goal is to get people to permanent affordable housing. Once they leave LifeMoves, they are tracked to confirm that they are staying on track.

 

The new Mountain View facility was built with modular construction. It was craned in and put into place on site. It is Title 24 and ADA-compliant, has private, keyed doors, and has HVAC for each space. These structures can be stacked on top of and beside each other. The Mountain View facility was set up in a light industrial area. Project HomeKey helped LifeMoves get around zoning rules. The facility cost was $170K per door, including land. This is a key part of LifeMove’s mission to get people into housing.

 

 

Aubrey and Christine encouraged us to join LifeMoves for its virtual benefit event on September 23 at 8am. It will feature Steve Kerr, head coach for the Golden State Warriors. More information and registration are here.

 

Aubrey was presented with a Polio Plus certificate for five vaccinations in his name.

 

The meeting adjourned at 1:25pm.

 

Adjourn

 

 

Watch the recording of the Zoom meeting here.