Erin Dickerson’s Prayer
The prayer is from Embracing the Dawn: Journey of Healing Through the Darkness by Fe Anam Avis.
Merciful God, we thank you for your everlasting patience with us, which makes each day new. We confess the temptation to allow the sludge of the past to sully the pure water of this new day. With your help, we choose to leave the successes and mistakes of our yesterdays in the past. Grant us grace to live this day with renewed strength, fresh hope, and positive expectation that good things will come our way.
Amen.
Get to Know Sue Brubaker
President Sarah Umbreit interviewed Sue Brubaker for this week’s “Get to Know a Member.”
- Asked whether she has a fear of anything, Sue said spiders, and wolf spiders in particular.
- Sue’s hidden talent is scrapbooking.
- Asked for a topic she could talk about for at least ten minutes without stopping, Sue thought it over carefully and admitted she could not come up with one.
Sue Brubaker joined CNO on September 23, 2008, sponsored by Judy DeMarco.
Happy Birthday Rex Caswell
Bob Duffy led the club in singing happy birthday to Rex Caswell, who came up front for a solo serenade. Singing to a member this new seems like a risky move before he is fully acclimated, but Rex took it in stride. President Sarah Umbreit also gave him a gift she had been saving for the right moment, because he is now burned into her memory forever as T-Rex. Happy birthday, Rex!
Announcements
The Sergeants Return with a New Rule
Mike Creech announced that he and Bob Myers are happy to be back as Sergeants-at-Arms for the next two months. Reading the President’s notes, they noticed there were very few fines and happy bucks over the last month because meetings ran long, and they identified the bottleneck: committee reports. A new rule takes effect immediately. Committee reports get 60 seconds, and going over costs a dollar.
Let Grow Event with Epiphany Lutheran
Andy Higgins invited members to help host the Let Grow Capable Kids event the club is holding with Epiphany Lutheran on Thursday, September 10, 2026. The host’s job is to steer the adults away from the kids so the kids can do things on their own, and a few more helpers are needed. Please sign up using the Member Calendar.
CNO 2.0 at North Sea Brewing
Sarah Umbreit announced that the next CNO 2.0 evening meeting will be on Thursday, August 20, 2026, at 5:30 PM at North Sea Brewing (formerly Bock Family Brewing), 8150 Washington Village Drive, Centerville. Our speaker will be Tammy Obereck, a frequent traveler known as a wandering nomad who will share tales of her adventures around the world..
Putt-Putt and Pizza Club Social
Sarah Umbreit reminded members, on behalf of Connie Risch, that the next club social will be Putt-Putt and Pizza on Sunday, August 23, 2026, at 4:00 PM at Magic Castle just off Wilmington Pike. The cost is $8 per person, and you must pay online when you sign up. Food follows afterward in the Buddy room at LaRosa’s Pizza, and members who cannot make the putt-putt are welcome to join for the meal. Please sign up using the Member Calendar.
Avenue of Flags
Tom Novak announced that the second and final flag assembly party for August was held on Wednesday, August 5, 2026. Next week he will bring in some brand-new flags that were torn, and he would welcome help from members who sew to repair them.
Daybreak: Changing Lives, Creating Futures
Debe Dockins introduced Tina Rezash Rogal, the Chief Development Officer at Daybreak, the region’s only emergency shelter and enrichment program for youth experiencing homelessness. After 34 years in Dayton media, Tina wanted to spend the final years of her career serving others, especially children. She and her husband Mark have attended Southbrook Church for 25 years and spend every spare minute chasing the loves of their lives, their three grandchildren, ages 11, 10, and 2.
Mission
“Empowering youth and young adults to achieve safety, independence and thriving futures through holistic, person-centered support.”
Vision
“Stable housing and thriving futures for youth and young adults.”
The Region’s Only Youth Shelter
Daybreak, located in downtown Dayton, has been the Miami Valley’s only youth homeless shelter since 1975, and it is the only shelter of its kind between Columbus and Cincinnati. It serves about 500 young people every year between the ages of 10 and 24, with minors ages 10 to 17 in their own dedicated space, separate from the 18-to-24-year-olds. Youth arriving at the front door receive emergency shelter, food, and clothing. They typically spend three to four months in the emergency shelter, then move upstairs to transitional housing for seven to nine months while waiting for one of Daybreak’s units out in the community to open up.
On any given day, Daybreak cares for 50 kids on campus and another 60 living in apartments in the community. Because many of the youth have babies and toddlers of their own, the real number is about 120 kids a day; at Christmas, For the Love of Children (FLOC) provided gifts for the 15 children on campus who were five and under. Even so, 40 kids are on the wait list, and Tina said Daybreak could double in size and be full again in no time. The kids come from all over: Kettering, Centerville, Xenia, Troy, and Tipp City. One young lady in a domestic violence situation in Toledo searched her phone for help, found Daybreak, and rode a Greyhound bus to Dayton to reach it.
Why Turning 18 Is Not Enough
A longtime donor once told Tina he understood sheltering the 10-to-17-year-olds, but that by 18 you should be able to get a job and take care of yourself. Tina counted to ten and offered two examples. A 20-year-old young lady just rescued from two years of human trafficking will need therapy and trauma-informed care before anyone can think about sending her into the workforce. An 18-year-old boy kicked out of his foster home on his 18th birthday with nothing may need a GED, trade school, or continuing education at Sinclair Community College or Wright State. The donor got quiet, asked her to stop with the stories, and continued donating.
Tina also hears the assumption that the kids must all be on drugs. The opposite is true: fewer of Daybreak’s youth need substance use disorder help than at any point in recent history, because these kids know they cannot get involved in that lifestyle if they want a future. The bigger challenge today is behavioral health.
Hygiene Kits and a Basketball Court
Daybreak’s funding is braided from federal, state, and Human Services Levy dollars, local foundations, and local donors, including CNO, which has supported Daybreak for many years. Tina thanked the club for two recent gifts. A group of ladies led by Cris Peterson put together hygiene kits for the kids. Carol Smerz, of the Childhood Health and Wellness committee, explained that each kit holds travel-size deodorant, shampoo, toothpaste, a capped toothbrush, and a granola bar, and that a protein snack bag project is coming soon. The kits matter because youth on the wait list may be staying in Dayton’s adult shelters, large rooms where a hundred people sleep on cots. At Daybreak, every young person gets a room with a door that locks so they can sleep with a sense of safety, and outreach teams visit the adult shelters to bring waiting youth into Daybreak’s programming, including the hub, a drop-in center open from 9:00 AM to 3:00 PM every day for a meal, a shower, laundry, and hygiene supplies.
The club’s cash donation was originally granted toward rebuilding a fence around the outdoor basketball court. When the old fence came down as a safety hazard, everyone liked the open look, so with its partners’ blessing, Daybreak redirected the funds toward finishing an indoor basketball court in the basement that the kids can use 365 days a year. A little more fundraising remains, and Tina hopes to bring pictures of the finished court on her next visit. For kids who have experienced trauma, being physically fit and getting energy out in positive ways makes a real difference.
Lauren’s Story
Tina shared the story of Lauren, who tells it publicly herself. Lauren was living in Miamisburg in 2019 with a mother who moved from short-term boyfriend to short-term boyfriend, taking Lauren and her brother along each time. When Lauren turned 18, she was told to leave, and she found herself street homeless in downtown Dayton just after graduating high school. Someone told her about Daybreak. She moved through the emergency shelter and transitional housing, then out into the community, and she is now in her third year at Wright State University, majoring in Psychology. When she graduates, she wants to come back and work at Daybreak full time, to be part of the solution.
Your Future Workforce
If you wonder why Daybreak should matter to Centerville, Tina’s answer is simple: her 500 kids are our future workforce. They want to work, buy their own groceries, and pay their own rent; they just need a chance, and maybe an internship. Daybreak’s Board Chair spent much of her senior year of high school living at Daybreak after losing her mother. She is now the Vice President of Safety for a global corporation and recently moved to Yankee Trace. “She is your neighbor.”
Champions for Youth
Daybreak runs just one fundraiser a year, Champions for Youth, and this year it is on Tuesday, November 10, 2026. It is free, everyone is invited, and registration is open now. Three adults who came through Daybreak, including Lauren, will tell their stories of resilience and redemption.
Members asked who takes care of the youths’ own children. Tina described a 19-year-old mom with a five-month-old who desperately wanted to go to college; Daybreak worked to land a daycare slot at the Dayton Christian Center, and she starts classes at Sinclair Community College on August 24, 2026. Asked how young people find Daybreak, Tina said teachers, coaches, school counselors, and every social service organization in the region make referrals, and a web search for youth homeless shelters brings Daybreak right up.
Daybreak Crisis Hotline
Daybreak operates the Miami Valley’s only 24/7 crisis hotline. If you know a young person who needs help, call (937) 461-1000.
Read More About Daybreak
You can read more about Daybreak in an earlier CNOtes article from October 2022.
Thank You
Thank you, Tina Rezash Rogal, for showing us how Daybreak changes lives and creates futures for young people experiencing homelessness across the Miami Valley.
New Member Readings and Inductions
- Jon Hazelton, Third Reading, sponsored by Bob Duffy
- John Walter, Third Reading, sponsored by Larry Lynde
Happy Bucks
- Mike Creech gave a happy buck because he spent the last two weeks with most of his grandchildren in Kentucky, including meeting his brand-new grandson.
- Beth Duncan gave a happy buck after her knee replacement because her fellow members came through with a walker, a cane, and a shower chair, and she did not have to buy any of it. Keep getting old, everyone.
- Fred Polizzi gave a happy buck because his son and daughter-in-law just had their first baby, a little girl named Zoe.
- Fred Polizzi gave a happy buck welcoming Tina Rezash Rogal, the perfect person to help Daybreak move forward.
- Fred Polizzi gave a happy buck for his 21 years in the club, which has been a game changer in his life.
- Stan Fronzaglia gave a happy buck for his grandson Maxwell, who graduates from The Ohio State University on Sunday with a degree in Math and Business. Maxwell is on the autism spectrum and started college in the dorms during COVID, so the degree took real perseverance.
- Steve Rau gave a happy buck for the results of the Golf Classic, which raised about $47,000. He thanked everyone who participated, including the volunteers, the committee, and the silent auction folks.
- Ron Tinnerman gave a happy buck because the club gave him a CNO onesie about a year and a half ago for the birth of his first grandson, Jameson. A second grandson is due in October and his first granddaughter in December, so he is going to need more onesies.
- Gail Aiken gave a happy buck because her oldest grandson turned 22 on Wednesday, which makes her old but still happy.
Sergeants-at-Arms Fines: Mike Creech and Bob Myers
Mike Creech and Bob Myers returned to the Sergeants-at-Arms post and wasted no time.
- Sarah Umbreit was fined because the President’s bell was stolen on her watch.
- Beth Duncan was fined for all the free promotion her logo apparel received from the speaker. The Sergeants thanked her for her donation.
- John Walter was fined over his Indian Guides days, when he was nicknamed Chief Tanker Ray. He is not quite a member yet, but the Sergeants ruled that being fined here is a privilege.
- Bill Williams was fined because a horse barn is missing one of its blankets, and his shorts looked like they were made out of it.
- Diane Arehart, Debe Dockins, and Liz Fultz were fined a dollar apiece for huddling in front of the name tags before the meeting and blocking them from everyone else.
- Every member who picked up a name tag for someone else was fined for denying the Sergeants the opportunity to sell 50/50 tickets to those members.
- Scott Langer was fined $3 for arguing about his late fine.
- Ron Tinnerman was fined $2 for being late and for wearing a shameless self-promotion shirt.
Welcome Guests
| Guest | Guest Of |
| Bill Meredith | Stan Fronzaglia |
| John Walter | Larry Lynde |
| Jon Hazelton | Bob Duffy |
| Sue Weaver | Gail Aiken |
| Tina Rezash Rogel | Speaker |
Club Membership Anniversaries
| Member | Joined | Years |
| Fred Polizzi | August 9, 2005 | 21 |
Birthdays
| Andrew Cain | August 4 |
| Rex Caswell | August 4 |
| Andrew Nathan | August 4 |
| Katy Barker | August 7 |
| Judy DeMarco | August 10 |
| Art Hung | August 10 |
Thank You Notes Received this Week
CLICK HERE to see the Thank You Notes received this week
Links to PowerPoint and Pictures
CLICK HERE to see the PowerPoint Slide Deck from this week’s meeting