The Pulse for the Week of March 24th, 2026

This week’s Rotary meeting was full of smiles, warm memories, and a few misty eyes as we celebrated two signature programs: Rotary Youth Exchange and the Youth Incentive Program (YIP).

New member Shelby Katkic kicked things off with a thoughtful Audrey Hepburn quote about using our two hands — one to help ourselves, one to help others — while also celebrating her birthday. Happy birthday to Shelby, and to fellow Rotarians Steve Faryabi, Dennis Cook, and Ernie Johnson!

President Kerry Wood shared highlights from last week’s service day at Robert’s Family Development Center — “good people, good fellowship, good service” — followed by a heartfelt thank-you later in the meeting from Tina Roberts, the center’s COO.

Excitement built as our outgoing exchange student, Lilly Grey, took the stage to learn her destination. After a few clever clues (Saturday school, tall population, and the birthplace of the saxophone), the reveal: Belgium! We wish Lilly the best of luck—Succes, Bonne Chance, and Viel Glück! (Lilly was particularly interested to learn what language she will be speaking; Belgium has three.)

In the Get to Know Your Fellow Rotarian segment, Dee Johnson was the focus of this week’s “get to know your fellow Rotarians” segment. As told by Robyn DeLong, Dee’s story revealed a woman whose life has always prioritized creativity, connection and public service – a photographer, a musician, a jurist, and more.

As YIP co-chair, Nikki Wardlaw highlighted the YIP partnership with College Track, supporting first-generation college-bound students through mentorship and programs like “Semester Zero.”

PP Diane Woodruff deepened the theme by sharing more about the history of YIP, and honoring two Rotarians whose investment in this program have been essential: PP Frank Poelman, who founded the program nearly 30 years ago, and Eric Solis, who led it for over 15 years. Thanks to their leadership, more than 120 students have graduated college through YIP, with the ripple effects of this program extending far beyond that.

PP Frank Poelman joined Rotary in 1978 and served as president in the 1997-98 term. During his term as president, he established the idea of a youth incentive program that would support students who sought to be the first in their families to attend college. His vision and passion for this project led the club to raise $300,000 to launch the program, which, thanks to careful fund stewardship, continues to provide the corpus of funding for student scholarships today.

Eric Solis joined Rotary in 2004, became involved in YIP shortly thereafter, ultimately serving as YIP chair more than 15 years. As the YIP mentor and program chair, Eric built relationships with Cal Middle School, and later with College Track to recruit students, as well as with Rotary mentors. Eric was known for helping the students build networking skills through hosting mixers, and also for mentoring the mentors themselves. He recently passed the baton to the next generation of leadership, and the fact that two very capable people (Nikki Wardlaw and PP Diane Woodruff) are needed to fill his shoes speaks to the amazing job he did over the years. Thank you, Eric!

During giving time, many, many Rotarians stood to reflect on their time as YIP mentors, the relationships they continue to share with those students (now adults). Among them, Shirley and Bob Rosenberg made gifts in honor of their mentee, the speaker of the day; and Eric Solis gave $5,000 to the YIP fund in honor of PP Frank Poelman.

Club Announcements

Sac Century Challenge planning is underway—reach out to Sarah Hodge to get involved!
Brown Bag requests are technically closed as of yesterday…but if you missed the moment, might be worth reaching out to Tom Bacon today (Tuesday).
Golf 4 Kids needs sponsors and volunteers (plus, you can meet the beneficiaries at our April 21 meeting).
Our next Loaves & Fishes volunteer day is April 30, and slots are open for both the morning (food prep) and afternoon (meal service) shifts.

Eric Solis was proud to introduce today’s speaker: Precious Ramirez, a licensed clinical social worker at Napa State Mental Hospital – and someone who’s had a relationship with our club since 2008, when she was an 8th grade student at Cal Middle School.

Precious later told Eric that she had had mixed feelings about applying to the Youth Incentive Program, but her story is a testament to the power of the YIP experience. Today, Precious is the co-chair of the Social Work Department at Napa State Hospital, the oldest California state hospital still in operation. And, she continues to share the power of mentorship forward – helping raise her nephew, as well as serving as the hospital’s clinical internship proctor.

Precious’s talk focused on the impact of social work in mental healthcare, but she began by re-iterating some of her story and her path to social work. Specifically, her belief that, as a “challenging young woman without appropriate outlets” for her intellect, the Youth Incentive Program changed the course of Precious’s life. Mentor Shirley Rosenberg helped guide her to Christian Brothers High School, advocated for her to get a full scholarship, and then worked with Precious to build academic skills that enabled her to succeed in a rigorous college prep environment.

At Sacramento State, Precious chose to focus on social work, recognizing that this was an opportunity to give back – but it was during her clinical work for her masters’ degree that she became particularly interested that the role that mental health plays in overall wellbeing and in improved outcomes for her clients.

Napa State Hospital serves deeply ill patients who are involved in the criminal justice system – one of the programs she supports is for people found not guilty of their violent crimes by reason of insanity. Her patients need structured, long-term support, and her work reveals the gaps in our overall social health net, but she finds it deeply purposeful on a daily basis.

A few statistics she shared with us: 50% of all lifetime mental illness begins by the age of 14, and 75% begins by age 24; one in three US high school students reported poor mental health last year including stress, anxiety, and depression; and every year, one in five adults experiences some form of mental illness – this can be chronic and ongoing, or a short-term crisis.

Next year, Precious will be the chair of the social work department for the hospital; she particularly enjoys helping her interns find their own professional voice – just as the YIP program and her experiences outside the classroom with Bob and Shirley helped her find her own.

Today’s meeting was made possible by many contributors, including greeters Buddy Hubbert, Kelly Huffman and Aaron Provencal. Wine was sponsored by Dee Hartzog, Virginia Wade was the meeting photographer, and Megan Wygant served as the Pulse reporter.

It’s going to be a few weeks until we reconvene in our normal place – next week is Brown Bag, and the week after is dark for Easter – but make the best of this good weather and go out and be good Rotarians!