Polio Survivors & Associates

A Rotary Action Group

Eradication to Rehabilitation

2. By Laws

3. Finance - PSA has no dues structure at this time. (See By-Laws) We have added the position of Treasurer (Dave Gallagher, PDG 5220, Modesto CA). He has received a donation from our Partner-Fellowship - Rotary Heritage and History of $500. None of this money has been dispersed at the date of this report. It is expected that on or before the Rotary Year 2008-09 a dues structure will be in place.

4. Website - www.rotarypoliosurvivors.com this site was revised during the year. It is the primary repository for information for our members through our Newsletter, "POLIO POST" as well as the Archives of PSA and any other news of general interest. All PSA business is conducted via the Internet. We expect to publish our Newsletter on a more regular basis when our Project Activity increases.

5. Community Based Rehabilitation (CBR) - This continues to be the major future project of PSA to establish a clinic of this type. Chair, Ann Lee Hussey and Vice-Chair, Joseph Serra are conducting a feasibility study for such a project. We expect to have an action proposal during the 2008-09 Rotary Year. Meanwhile, we are pursuing smaller projects, such as individual assistance for wheelchairs and/or other assistive devices.

3. PolioPlus - Polio Partners - Our Mission Statement calls for member support of the ongoing Rotary PolioPlus program in any way possible. Chair, Ann Lee Hussey and Director David Groner are outstanding examples of the support we are supplying. They have made many NID expeditions and are co-leaders in December of a team to India. We have raised funds for individual Polio Partners projects.

4. Awareness - Members are reminded to deliver the Polio message to their clubs and districts at every opportunity. We have no way to measure our success in this endeavor; however, this remains the one thing that each of our members can do. Among the specific things we have accomplished are:

a. We shared booth in 2007 at Salt Lake with the Rotary Heritage and History Fellowship. We expect to continue this program with a shared booth in Los Angeles in 2008 with RHHG.

b. Revised PSA Brochure, largely distributed at Convention Booth and thru PSA Directors. (Available by mail by request.)

c. Interviews for feature piece in ROTARIAN magazine. (Publication date not known at this time.)

d. Club and District fund-raising ventures - Example: Golfing events to raise funds for PolioPartners, at NID events.

e. Chair's memorandum to Trustees (via John Eberhard - 6/13) including memorandum outlining the results of the Rotary Action Groups meeting in Salt Lake. In general, all RAGS are working to find the way to interact with the RI Foundation and its funding programs.

f. Interaction with NID volunteers. PSA Chair Hussey is the co-leader with PSA Director David Groner of an NID team to Nigeria in February 2008.

g. Cooperation with partner/associates: Post-Polio Health International, WHO, Post-Polio Support Groups, Rotary Heritage and History Fellowship, Rotary Health and Hunger Committee, Warm Springs Smithsonian preservation efforts with District 6900.

a. Assisting PPHI in a program entitled "We're Still Here". The object of the program is to bring awareness to the public that hundreds of thousands of polio survivors are "still here", attempting to lead productive and socially viable lives. The program calls for letters from survivors to newspapers and other media telling of their own personal experiences with polio.

b. We have opened a dialogue with the Librarian at Warm Springs with the object of collecting the personal stories of polio survivors and making them available to the public.

c. We are trying to find the way to record the personal contribution that individual Rotarians and clubs have made to the eradication of polio. Central to this would be the volunteers in the NID projects.

d. We hope to find a working format to engage in Rotary Foundation Matching Grants as well as with District Designated Funds. (See 7.E. above)

SUMMARY: PSA projects and programs are evolving as are the other Rotary Action Groups and is Rotary International. Our greatest challenges are Awareness and Funding. The leadership of PSA in the persons of Ann Lee Hussey and David Groner is doing an outstanding job of polio awareness and Rotary action. NID programs are in progress in Nigeria and Benin headed by PSA leaders. Ann Lee is in great demand as a speaker. She was a part of the program at the 2006 Institute in Salt Lake. From these early beginnings we continue to believe we can find our place in the Rotary International organization and help eradicate polio and bring help to those for whom the vaccines came too late.

Note: This report was prepared by Ray Taylor 17 September 2007 and submitted to Jesse Allerton of the RI Global Networking Dept. of RI. It is subject to modification by Officers and Directors after their review.