Jason Holcomb is a purpose-driven leader, with a tenacious passion for mental health. Having worked many years in the community mental health and disability sector, Jason sees mental health as foundational to the success of a community.
Throughout his career, Jason has used innovative approaches to solving social problems. He has been trained in multiple collaborative approaches and bring a collaborative innovation lens to funding, project development, and community building.
Currently, Jason serves as Director for the newly formed Winnebago County Community Mental Health Board. He has a master's degree in social work (MSW) focused on leadership from Indiana University School of Social Work.
Jason will talk about some of the current mental health issues in our area and what the Mental Health Board is doing to work on these serious issues. This will be an interesting and informative program and one to invite a guest or prospective member to join us in person at Memorial Hall or via Zoom.
Stan Goral will introduce our presenter and act as Rotary Host.
Rockford Rotary Club is offering a buffet lunch before each Thursday meeting at 11:30 AM.
We will not always have the lunch menu available.
To reserve a lunch, test Elise by Monday at 3:00 PM at (815) 985-8300. Price is $15 each. If you have a guest, reserve a meal, but the guest meal is free.
Dr. Feride Rushiti is the Founder and Executive Director of the Kosovo Rehabilitation Center for Trauma (KRCT) which was established by Dr. Rushiti to provide the desperately needed help for individuals, men and women and now children, in their recovery from the 1998-99 genocide.
A leader known throughout Europe and North & South America for her effective advocacy for women across cultures.
Dr. Rushiti has received multiple awards including the US Department of State "Woman of Courage Award" and was nominated for a Nobel Peace Prize in 2025.
Dr. Rushiti will speak about the work of the KRCT and the important role they play in building a positive future for the children of Kosovo.
This will be an informative and interesting program and will serve as a prelude to the "Minds of Peace" event at the Tebala Event Center later that night. We encourage you to bring a prospective member or guest to join us in person at Memorial Hall or via zoom.
Elise Cadigan will introduce our presenter and act as Rotary Host.
Rockford Rotary and Loves Park Rotary are sponsoring the "World's Largest Polio Walk" from 10:00 AM to 12 PM on Octobr 24th at Rock Valley College. We will walk around the recreational path at Rock Valley College. If the weather doesn't cooperate, the walk will be held inside at the RVC Physical Education Center.
The flyer below gives you all of the information you need to either register if you plan to walk or to donate if you can't attend.
If you have any questions, contact Lynn Momberger - lynnmom1@icloud.com or 815-494-0994.
Bruce Hasher is the newest member of the Wesley Willows Satellite Club, havingbeen inducted this month by Lois Seijo, chair of the Satellite Club. Here is some information about Bruce.
In 2025 I moved to Wesley Willows in Rockford from Elmhurst, making the difficult decision to leave a house and neighborhood and church congregation that had been my family home since 1951. But I have several relatives and friends in Rockford and really like living here.
I have been retired for 17 years. My career had a big change soon after it started. In high school I was very good at math and physics. It was the Sputnik era and there was a huge focus on science education. I got a physics scholarship to Northwestern (class of 1964) and stayed there for graduate school. But by the time I was in line for a Ph.D. there were so many physics grad students and so few jobs for them that I made a big change.
I had been very active in church work and youth group leadership and my pastor steered me to a job with Lutheran Child and Family Services working in residential care with junior high age boys with serious emotional disturbances. In my off hours I got a more relevant degree in Counseling Psychology from George Williams College.
But I had decided that I was more cut out for social service administration than direct client work so I got a degree in Management and became the Human Services Administrator for Downers Grove Township where I developed and coordinated youth and family and senior citizen services for the Downers Grove, Hinsdale, Westmont, Darien, and Burr Ridge area for over 30 years until my retirement. I was also very involved in several county and state-wide human service networks and organizations and my church.
Now that I'm at Wesley Willows I want to find some opportunities to be involved in things and help where I can, like at the satellite Rotary group. But after my busy career and community involvement, I am more than ready to slow down to a much more relaxed pace for this stage of my life.
Now that school is back in session it is the time of year when we are looking for volunteers to read with 2nd and 3rd grade students in RPS 205. How exciting that we are now in our 25th year of Rockford Reads! This year we are going bilingual, so we are in need of bilingual volunteers as well. If you have not participated in Rockford Reads before, please consider it now. It is a very rewarding experience to help influence the lives of these students. Volunteers do not need to be Rotarians. If you know of someone who might be interested, let them know about this program.
If you are interested or know of someone, please reach out to Kathy Kwiat-Hess at kathykwiathess@gmail.com.
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