May Speaker: Dr. Angelo Capozzi

Rotaplast International

Dr. Angelo Capozzi is a Board Certified Plastic Surgeon and co-founder of Rotaplast International.

In 1971, Dr. Capozzi became a member of the San Francisco Rotary Club and now belongs to Tiburon/Belvedere Rotary Club. In 1992, Dr. Capozzi and PDG Peter Lagarias founded Rotaplast International in collaboration with the Rotary Club of San Francisco to facilitate a surgical program in La Serena, Chile. This initial historic mission to treat children with the cleft lip and palate anomaly, who would otherwise not receive surgical intervention, took place in January of 1993.

As a project of the Rotary Club of San Francisco, and for the first three years of its existence, Rotaplast completed one surgical mission a year. The following two years, Rotaplast completed two missions a year. In 1996, Rotaplast became a separate non-profit corporation and has since consistently expanded its number of annual missions. In December 2023, Rotaplast sent its 258th mission and to date has served over 21,000 patients. Twenty-six countries have hosted Rotaplast teams, including Vietnam, Colombia, Chile, Argentina, Mexico, Venezuela, Bolivia, Peru, Guatemala, Ecuador, El Salvador, Romania, China, Ethiopia, India, Nepal, Brazil, Bangladesh, Mali, Togo, Liberia, Dominican Republic, Egypt, Tanzania, Myanmar, and the Philippines.

Dr. Capozzi now devotes his practice to humanitarian medicine and international service. To date, he has been on 76 international surgical trips with Rotaplast, including Sylhet five times and eight trips to Bangladesh. Dr. Capozzi currently serves as Rotaplast’s Medical Director and International Committee Chair.

June Speaker: Steve Adami with Destiny Pletsch

Will it Ever End? San Francisco’s Drug and Homeless Crisis

Steve is a recovering addict and former convict whose recovery and transformation began in 2010. He is now the Executive Director of The Way Out, a recovery-focused homeless initiative of The Salvation Army.

San Francisco’s drug and homeless crisis continues to get worse and community members are sounding the alarm. As San Franciscans raise issues of safety, the city has lost 4,000 people to fatal overdose since 2020.  Although San Francisco has poured millions of dollars into proposed solutions, our public systems continue to fail the community.  Many continue to deny the link between addiction, homelessness, and crime, while others with lived experience are calling for balanced, common-sense strategies.  The Way Out’s programs are coordinated through a Recovery System of Care and include detox and withdrawal management; residential drug treatment; post treatment recovery housing, career development and life skills; independent living and an alumni support network.  The pilot project launched in FY24 with an astonishing 76% success rate.