President Andrew Cosey had a great first day as President of Rotary Club of Savannah East with one new member induction and one member going from Red to Blue Badge! Welcome to Miriam Rittmeyer and Congratulations to Trice Thornton for completing all Red Badge requirements! Bill Von Alt announced that RCSE will be the Non Profit of the Night on Thursday, January 25th at the Ghost Pirates game. More details will be forthcoming over the following months but go ahead and mark your calendar for a fun night out with your fellow RCSE Rotarians. Once all Rotary Business items were discussed, Kim Campbell introduced our speaker for the day, Shawnessey Cargile with The Front Porch.
The Front Porch is a social entity funded by grants and was formed in 2019 through the encouragement and support of the juvenile judges in Savannah. Shawnessey said that the juvenile justices in Savannah have a restorative mindset and hope that The Front Porch will help prevent children from coming into the juvenile court system. Once children are referred, The Front Porch will do an assessment with the child, make a recommendation, put the child in touch with resources, and then follow up with them 90 days later. 70% of the referrals for the program come through the school system. They are currently doing research to see how effective the program is in preventing children from entering juvenile court. So far, they believe that 85% of children who go through the program do NOT go into the system. Shawnessey said that The Front Porch has many partners that they collaborate with throughout the Savannah community. To learn more about this organization, please visit https://frontporchchatham.org/