
Board Talk
Always in Front of US
Mission Statement:
To provide affordable housing in community developments and transitional housing through The Guesthouse program, as well as access to fresh foods and groceries via The Grocery program, enhancing the quality of life for low-income individuals and families in our community.
Vision Statement:
To become a model provider of affordable housing and transitional housing, and fresh groceries in our region for low-income households, fostering sustainable communities and economic empowerment.
April BoardTalk 2025 - April Showers
Agenda:
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Financial Report
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ED Report includes Development and Committee Reports
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Governance
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Fundraising
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Calendar
1. Financial: March Financial Report - March 2025 (click to view)
Guesthouse: (2025 To-Date) Expenditures
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Highway 185 - #1 - $3000.00
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Jersey Court - C - $2794.56
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Nathans Rim - M9 - $1615.00
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Nathans Rim - M15 - $1335.89
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Nathans Rim - L2 - $1480.00
2. ED Report:
The Produce Project - We are moving forward with our Freeze-Drying food program and produce purchasing/growing program. Through an anonymous donor, we received $50,000.00 to seed this program. The initial breakdown of how this program will develop is listed in the chart below. All the produce, both fresh and freeze-dried, will be used in The Grocery/Grocery Trucks and will be provided to other partners as needed and when supplies allow us to share.
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Level 1 - $10,000 Freeze Drying Equipment + Rotary Grant Match
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Level 2 - $10,000 Garden Patch Seed/lings + Seeds Match
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Level 3 - $10,000 Produce Coolers for Grocery Truck Program + RetroFit Match
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Level 4 - $20,000 Produce Purchasing + Kroger/Aldi Match
The goal of accepting the $50,000.00 is to match up to double the amount for expanding The Grocery program through truck purchases and setting 7 mobile locations around the county and later expand into other BRADD counties with mobile locations. The hope is the mobile locations will be partners who can provide space on a parking lot and some green space to setup several raised bed gardens for growing our produce selection on site. An area next to each mobile location on the parking lot will be designated as an open-air “farmers market” and we’ll setup seasonal produce stands and/or allow local farmers to setup to provide both voucher and EBT purchasing of their produce to clients of The Grocery. These should also be open to the public for purchase encouraging farmers to participate.
The Grocery Trucks - We are currently shopping for and researching the donation of two FedEx/UPS delivery style “Step Vans” to be retrofitted with generators, coolers and grocery shelving with a checkout area with the same motif and setup as our Richardsville location of The Grocery. Trucks will initially be located in Warren County in the South, East, North, Lost River, Cumberland Trace, Central, and BG City school districts and the Housing Authority Hospitality House area. We have already begun a new inventory process as we prepare to move from Food Box delivery as our main Food Program to The Grocery/Mobile Grocery format. Food Boxes Delivery will still be available to our shut-ins and those who have absolutely no means of getting to The Grocery location in their area.
The Guesthouse - This month we have housed 3 more clients for a total of 5 Guesthouse Units. We have screened close to 20 households and interviewed 10+ for the program. Referrals have come through the schools, LifeSkills, recovery programs and through word of mouth.
The Women’s Fund Endowment - Joel has contacted Terry Daniels, working with Terry to setup a meeting with Carothers Family.
United Way - Feed the Need - UW hosted their annual Feed the Need drop off and distribution from our building and warehouse. We received boxes of food items from the event and have been told we will receive a monetary donation as well. This event did not require us to man or have responsibility for the implementation of the event other than preparing and sharing our warehouse space and use of our equipment.
RASK Hope for Hunger - RASK, the Realtors Association of Southern Kentucky, approached us about being a Diamond Level In-Kind Sponsor of this bi-annual event. As a sponsor, we will be helping to receive and distribute their food donations. We will also receive their monetary donations and will use a portion of the funds each quarter to purchase Meijer cards on Double Days as well as use other funds for purchasing food items not available to us through Meijer to be distributed to partners in the BRADD Region. We will receive a large amount of canned goods as part of this partnership. This is opening our organization to the Region. We do not plan to move any operations outside Warren County at this time other than to serve RASK and it’s Hope for Hunger partners through food item purchasing, receiving and distribution through quarterly pickup and delivery to BRADD regional partners. Dates for this event are April 12 and 14 as well as April 26 and 28 with distribution/delivery the week of April 28, 2025.
Development Report - This report is provided by Jerilyn Bristow, our Director of Development contractor. This will be a monthly addition to our ED Report. Jerilyn will also participate in our monthly Board meetings to allow for questions and discussion of our development work ongoing.
Reviewing all foundational information provided by Joel. Identifying “cold” contacts and developing introductory letters to begin relationships. To follow are the first good matches identified.
Kentucky Social Welfare Foundation - Good match. Application submitted 4/4/25 for $12,000 for a delivery truck to add to the Produce Program. Results available after mid May.
American Electric Power Foundation - Good match. Must be invited by local AEP. Rolling Deadline rolling, general operating expenses eligible. Average grant range $5,000-200,000.
Old National Bank Foundation, Inc. - Good match. Online application, deadline end of May, results available after 12 weeks. Average grant range $5,000-25,000.
Truist Foundation - Potential good match (more info needed). Deadline for application 7/31/25, results available 11/13/25. Online application. Also, local employee donation matching grant programs. Will explore this option, too. Average grant range $7,500-100,000.
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Attending Proposal Writing Bootcamp with Joel.
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Acquired bluegrass live music for the upcoming art event. More info to come.
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Acquired 1-2 artists for upcoming art event.
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Seeking wine donations for upcoming art event.
Committee Report(s) - Coming Soon
3. Governance: Beth
Governance and Fundraising Training - Joel, Beth, John, Lindsey and Jerilyn
Governance Survey Activity - Beth
Discussion of Committees - Beth/Joel
4. Fundraising:
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Questions about Development Report - Joel/Jerilyn
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The Art of Home - Gallery Show - June 2025 - Lindsey
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Board Roles for The Art of Home - Bring 10 people and yourself to the Show Opening May 29 6:00-8:00pm ($25 per ticket)
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Brainstorm Groups/Businesses to invite to a lunch date during June (different from the 10 people for Show Opening)
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Bring at least one group to a Lunch Date.
5. Calendar:
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April 12 - 7:00am- 2:00pm - Can-Struction/Hope for Hunger Event @HOTH
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April 26 - Noon-2:00pm - RASK Hope for Hunger Event @RASK Building
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May 29 - 6:00pm-8:00pm The Art of Home Gallery Opening
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June 2025 - The Art of Home Exhibits and Events - The Art of Home Invitations available at HOTH
March BoardTalk: in Like a Lion - Out Like a Lamb
Maybe the cold is gone and the warm is coming to STAY! ...for a while.
Board Meeting March 3, 2025 5-7pm - 1333 Magnolia Street Building
1. Welcome
2. Introduction of Mary Vitale - Bio at the bottom of this section - Please Read.
3. Interview Mary - Vote on Board Membership
4. Approval of February Minutes
5. Financials: For Jan./Feb. as of February 28, 2025 - Jan/Feb Statement
6. Discussion of ED Report - Please read BEFORE the meeting.
ED Report:
January and February Food programming went well. We have already provided close to 50,000 meals in 2025. Looking back to 2024 we poured over $174,000.00 into our school families through food distribution. This has, through anecdotal conversations with clients, provided households a boost at the end of the month in their budget.
Our fundraising goal for 2025 is just over $1,000,000.00. Close to $270,000.00 of this will come through corporate event sponsorship. Another $200,000.00 will come through our Annual Campaign. This represents approximately 600 household sponsors which we need to recruit/engage/maintain. This year our theme is "BUILD". The BUILD Campaign launches on Monday, March 3, 2025. Marketing materials for the BUILD Household Sponsorship campaign will be available at the meeting. These materials are going out to current and potential organization/business partners for participation. This includes our church partners, the school systems, businesses and a list of potential partners. Several smaller/private fundraisers are being planned with a goal of approx. $250,000.00
We will launch our "Unboxed" Cooking Challenge on Social Media and YouTube in March as well. We'll encourage our volunteers and clients to submit recipes made from the food items in our Food Boxes and The Grocery. Submissions will be short phone videos with them cooking the recipe and a text or email copy of the recipe. We'll post these to our social media and YouTube Channel encouraging followers to vote for their favorites. Votes will include a small (required) monetary donation. We'll also be inviting "celebrity" cooks to submit a video recipe which we will include the same way. The top vote getting cooks will be invited to our "Unboxed" Cook Challenge Final in November to be aired on our YouTube Channel and Social Media during the week of Hunger and Homelessness Awareness. The winners will be judged and their scores added to public votes. Votes will include a $5.00 monetary donation (required). The Cooks with the highest judge score combined with public votes will be crowned the Winner, Runner-Up and 3rd/4th place.
Joel is engaged in conversation with Jerilyn Bristow, whom we've discussed briefly as our new Food Program Director. Jerilyn is the former ED for Glean KY in Bowling Green. This org has recently shut it's doors in Bowling Green. Jerilyn may take the place of Crystal, who we will not be renewing our contract with after March 12, 2025. The conversation with Crystal was very professional on both sides. Ending this contract opens the door for someone else to assist us in grant writing and foundational relationship building. As well, we are discussing with Jerilyn also shopping our Sponsorship opportunities with local businesses as well as our Annual Campaign with businesses and potential community partners to raise household sponsorships. Jerilyn can also help us curate our donors and assist with events planning/implementation. Joel hopes to give a full report during the Board meeting and provide an Action Item for discussion/consideration. This role will be expected to help raise the remaining goal of approx. $280,000.00.
The Guesthouse Transitional Housing program has gotten off to it's start this year. We've housed two households in February. One single dad and his 12 year hold daughter and a single mom and her two preschool age children (boy and a girl). Both parents are in recovery. Both have been spot on in following their plans and communicating with us on a weekly basis over the last several weeks. We have some work to do and so do they but both are very positive about their plan of action and seem to be willing to follow our lead and advice. In the next two months we will house close to 6 more households and have access to our 5 emergency housing units.
Joel updated us on the Community Foundation Fund setup for us through the Women's Fund Grant. The copy from the email is included here: This information will be discussed in the "Endowment" Action Item.
"I have spoken to Jennifer Wethington at the Community Foundation regarding the fund setup for HOTH through the Women's Fund.
The amount in the fund is $10,000.00. We will match this with $10,000.00 for a total of $20,000.00. However, the $10,000 we match with is our asset. The $10,000 from the Women's Fund is endowed for us and we will benefit from its growth but it is not on our books. It will appear as a grant/donation whenever we take the annual payout of 4.5%.
We can take out our $10,000 and its earnings in the future at any time. Basically it becomes two endowments under one umbrella both earning at whatever the annual rate is. The last several years the Foundation has averaged around 15%. Annually we can choose to receive a 4.5% payout from the umbrella or allow that money to stay in the fund(s) and continue to grow.
Any questions or thoughts? This would become the Danny Carothers Housing Endowment with a goal of $5,000,000.00 through donations and growth. I suggest we have an annual "Danny Carothers Day of Giving" as an annual fundraiser for this endowment and coordinate ways for people to give back to the community on the same day through service projects to build anticipation, interest and bring attention to attainable, affordable housing in our community."
Joel left us at the last Board meeting with the Homework of reading through the HOTH Bylaws. The Bylaws are attached HERE.
Discussion and Motion on Action Items:
Action Item #1: Fundraising Calendar (Get Calendar HERE)
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Discussion of Events Calendar
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Determine Event Leadership - at least one Board Member per event to work with Joel and committee on planning, preparing and implementing the event.
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Consensus on which members will be involved in different events.
Action Item #2: Danny Carothers Housing Endowment
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Discuss the update on the Community Foundation Endowment Fund
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Elect to move forward with Joel's recommendation to discuss with Danny Carothers family naming the endowment after him and hosting an annual fundraising event to grow the endowment. Direct Donor gifts and agency gifts.
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Motion to meet with the Carothers Family and with their approval rename our fund the "Danny Carothers Housing Endowment" and host an annual fundraiser for the endowment with a goal of at least $5,000,000.00 in the endowment over time.
Action Item #3: 2025 Budget Approval (See Budget HERE)
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Discussion
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Motion to Approve
Action Item #4: Fundraising Contract with Jerilyn Bristow
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Questions/Discussion
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Motion to Approve and/or Amend/Approve Contract to offer to Jerilyn Bristow
Other NEW Business -
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Discussion/Action on Pets in HOTH Rental units when the Landlord allows pets.
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Discussion/Clarification of the Background Check Policy voted on in February.
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The Grocery Trucks
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Possible Amendment to Camper Trailers for Emergency Housing.
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Any discussion of By-Laws.
Board Member Recommendation for Mary Vitale
I'd like to introduce Mary Vitale as a nominee for the Board at House on the Hill. Mary first came on my radar in conversations with Danny and through Mary's conversations with Danny. Mary brings alot to our organization with her Marketing and Communications background. She is well connected in our community and has worked with many of our partner organizations as well as for-profit partners.
Mary filled out the HOTH Board Member Bio below.
Mary Vitale - 3/28
922 Wrenwood Drive, Bowling Green, KY 42103
270-779-2247
Business Owner - Marketing Professional
What do you see has your most important accomplishments?
I am a strong advocate for non profit organizations in Bowling Green. I work with both non profit as well as for profit organizations to improve the lives of people in our community. This city has provided my family with many blessings and each day I strive to make our city and county a better place to Live, Work and Play.
What strengths do you bring to the Board at House on the Hill?
I have a large network of people Im involved with that can help build connections and resources for this organization.
What do you feel is essential to ensure that the Board and staff are successful in attaining the goals for this organization?
This is a new organization so a lot of people don’t know about this group. Awareness of the mission and goals of the organization is essential to the success of any group.
What life experiences have given you a heart for families and individuals living in poverty?
Although I have not personally experienced poverty, my vast experience working with the non profit world, has exposed me to a variety of groups that I’ve been able to help throughout the years through my board influence.
As a Board member, what do you see as your responsibilities?
As a board member I will be an advocate by informing others about House on Hill in order to encourage people to donate time and or resources to the organization. I will help the organization accomplish their goals and objectives they have for this year.
Education:
Bowling Green High School 1989
St. Louis University - BS in Communications with a minor in Marketing 1993
Western Kentucky University - Masters of Arts in Corporate Communications 1998
Business:
Owner in New Millennium Real Estate LLC
Volunteer Organizations:
American Red Cross of South Central Kentucky - Board Member 2015 and Tiffany Circle Member 2021
Boys and Girls Club of Bowling Green - Board Member 2003 and External Committee Member
Community Foundation of South Central Kentucky - Board Member 2016, Vice Chair, Executive Committee Member and Development Committee Member
Kentucky Kids on the Block - Board Member 2017, Executive Committee, Tennis Committee, and Advisory Committee
Arts Southern Kentucky - Elm Street Society Member 2019
Kentucky Colonels - Board of Trustee Member 2020 , Kentucky Colonel, Grant Committee Member and Marketing Committee Member
Women’s Fund of South Central Kentucky - Founding Member 2012 and Lifetime Member
Western Kentucky University Sisterhood - Member 2019, Grant Selection Committee Member
Bowling Green Women’s Club - Member 2021, Executive Committee and Public Issues Committee Chair
Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce - Ambassador 2019
Planning and Zoning Commission - Commissioner 2018 and Personnel Committee
Republican Women’s Club of South Central Kentucky - Member 2021, KFRW Lincoln Legacy Circle Member, Warren County GOP Member , Precinct Co-captain and Executive Committee Member
Center for Courageous Kids - Advocacy Committee Member 2022
Rotary Club - Member 2022
American Marketing Association- Member 2022
Med Center Health Commonwealth Health Foundation Board - member 2025, Community Champion Member, Community Relations Committee Member and Hospitality House Committee Member
House on Hill - Board Member 2025
Welcome to 2025!
As we start this new year with our February Board Meeting, we face the empty seat at our table. We plan to honor Danny by renaming the Community Foundation fund which came as a part of our receipt of the Women's Fund Impact Grant. Let's plan to honor Danny during our first meeting of the year. I'll have a special presentation, we will remember Danny and pray for his family together.
Board Meeting February 3, 2025 5-7pm
Welcome
ED Report is attached below Board Candidate Bios.
Discussion of ED Report - Recommendations
Agenda Item #1:
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Introduction to NEW Board Member Candidates: Lindsey McCarty and John Kleis (See Bios and Introductions below)
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Each Candidate will introduce themselves to the group in-person. Current Board Members will have an opportunity to ask any questions of each candidate related to joining the Board, thoughts on the vision/mission of HOTH and any background question.
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Consensus on the Candidates for membership.
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Candidates will be active members and have all Board Member responsibilities during the meeting.
Agenda Item #2:
Approval of November-December Minutes
Financials: as of February 2, 2025
Discussion: Board Conversations with Crystal. How are they going? Have you developed any more clarity on your role in fundraising? What are some of the ways?
Agenda Item #3:
UnBoxed
Danny Carothers Housing Endowment Day of Giving - $10,000.00 GOAL
Other NEW Business - Anyone can submit items for discussion as NEW Business. Please send discussion topics to JOEL no less than one week before Board Meeting.
Board Member Recommendation for Lindsey McCarty
I'd like to introduce Lindsey McCarty as a nominee for the Board at House on the Hill. Lindsey is a Branch Manager for American Bank and Trust. She has been a huge support in our partnership with AB&T. She has a passion for our work and is eager to be involved in helping raise the funds to complete our mission. Lindsey sits on several committees with the Bank. She also attends many of the Chamber of Commerce events. She is interested in spreading the word about the work of HOTH and her involvement as a Board Member. Lindsey as a member of our Board would be the first corporate partner represented on the Board. This only strengthens our community ties, our partnership with AB&T and promotes our credibility with other current and potential corporate partners.
Lindsey filled out the HOTH Board Member Bio below.
Lindsey McCarty
1445 Peachtree Lane Bowling Green, Ky 42103
270-792-1417
What do you see has your most important accomplishments?
First and foremost having my beautiful children. I also am proud of my degree in Business Management and successful career in banking now for almost 14 years. I am on IALCO committee at the bank, and participated in leadership programs at the bank. I have served in many capacities over the years at Crossland Community Church. I currently serve on the board of directors for BRASS in Bowling Green. I also am very proud of the artwork I have created over the last 10 years. I am also very proud of my involvement in the Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce through the bank.
What strengths do you bring to the Board at House on the Hill?
I feel the biggest strength I can bring is my creativity and willingness to serve. When I am passionate about something and its cause I come up with endless ideas and avenues to create change. I also have a lot of networking opportunities being in banking and the Bowling Green Chamber of Commerce to help get the message of House on the Hill to the community.
What do you feel is essential to ensure that the Board and staff are successful in attaining the goals for this organization?
Clear and honest communication. Strategy and smart goals. A clear vision and drive to attain those goals. Also as a believer I feel it is essential to believe in the power of prayer to facilitate impact and direction for this organization .
What life experiences have given you a heart for families and individuals living in poverty?
Serving at Crossland first and foremost gave me that heart. Also serving on the board for BRASS has helped opened my eyes to the needs in the community. I have also helped serve the Family enrichment center, Top crops, and Boys and girls club over the years through United Way.
As a Board member, what do you see as your responsibilities?
Clearly and effectively communicate the need, mission, and goals of House on the Hill to the community. Work to connect House on the Hill with donors that can help with monetary donations to affect change. Also work to create volunteer opportunities for people who are willing to serve. Participate in annual fundraisers for House on the Hill and attend board meetings. And of course give donations to my financial capacity as a board member.
Board Member Recommendation for John Kleis
I'd like to introduce John Kleis as a nominee for the Board at House on the Hill. John is a good friend and has become a fast friend of House on the Hill since October/November. John has a varied background in Law-Enforcement, Sales and Human Resources. He was also a Navy Pilot. John has been giving of his time three days a week and was a huge asset leading up to Thanksgiving and the BIG boxing event as well as delivery of the box pallets the days after the event. John is also a driver on our new insurance. He is driving the Box Truck for pickup/deliveries of food items. His presence on the insurance lower a monthly premium by about $80. John seems to enjoy the volunteer work at HOTH and plans to continue his time volunteer while adding the responsibility of Board Member. John and his wife Kim are members at Crossland Community Church. As we place our first two residents of The Guesthouse program for 2025 in our new units this month, John will be assisting with monthly check-ins on those facilities and the progress our male resident is making on his personal development plan.
John filled out the Board Member Bio below:
John Kleis
2716 Garrett Drive, Bowling Green, KY 42104
508-838-3363
What do you see has your most important accomplishments?
As I reflect on my life’s journey and the most important accomplishments I have been blessed to experience, several come to mind: My commitment and belief in Jesus Christ; being a loyal and dedicated husband; being a loving and supportive father; serving a successful military career participating and flying in several worldwide military conflicts; having a successful professional career of 30 years in Human Resources; demonstrating values of integrity, fairness and loving others; 25 years of a successful avocation as a NCAA college baseball and basketball official…but as I think of being a Board Member with House on the Hill the one accomplishment that stands out the most is my 40+ years of serving and giving back to the community in a variety of roles, services and organizations.
What strengths do you bring to the Board at House on the Hill?
The strengths I believe I bring to the HOTH as a Board member are:
• Passion and experiences to serve communities,
• Previous experiences serving as a Board Member,
• 30 years of various industry experiences as an HR member partnering with company
Boards to help drive successful organizations,
• Strong open and candid communicator,
• Team player attributes to ensure collaboration and teamwork,
• Strong career work ethic and leading by example values.
What do you feel is essential to ensure that the Board and staff are successful in attaining the goals for this organization?
The essentials to ensure the Board and staff are successful include:
• Working together as a valued team Board member ensuring the Board and staff execute
the mission of HOTH, follow the bylaws, hold individuals accountable to their roles and
responsibilities and be recognized in the community as a nonprofit organization of
choice,
• Provide daily support to the Executive Director & staff as needed,
• Visibility at HOTH events, activities, and client interactions,
• Be an active HOTH volunteer,
• Identify potential corporate partners/sponsors and individuals to be a part of the HOTH
mission and fundraising efforts.
What life experiences have given you a heart for families and individuals living in poverty?
Numerous life experiences have prepared me and given me opportunities to build my heart to support individuals living in poverty. These experiences include:
• Traveled to over 45 countries around the world as part of my
military/professional/personal career observing how poverty impacts communities;
• Served over 20 years in various church-serving roles supporting programs focused on
low-income families and young adult development;
• Served over 40 years in a variety of roles and donated time and financial support to the
following organizations:
o Habitat for Humanity
o World Vision
o Compassion International
o United Way
o Goodwill
o Red Cross
o Salvation Army
o Boys & Girls Clubs
o Big Brothers & Big Sisters
o Feed the Children
o Houston Food Bank
o Father Flanagan’s Boys Home
o Katrina Relief
o Houston Flood Relief
o NC Flood Relief
o Bowling Green Tornado Relief
As a Board member, what do you see as your responsibilities?
As a HOTH Board Member these are what I see as my responsibilities:
• Work as a cohesive team member with the Board, Executive Director & staff,
• Support the Executive Director in the success of their role,
• Provide the Executive Director feedback on their performance in their role,
• Support the HOTH mission to ensure assets, facilities and people provide good will,
• As a Board member, provide a clear direction to the HOTH team,
• Be an active and dependable volunteer,
• Ensure the HOTH by-laws are followed and executed,
• Work to ensure HOTH financial stability,
• Review monthly financials and provide feedback,
• Work as a team to resolve conflict issues when they arise,
• Be a good communicator with other Board members, the HOTH team, clients, and the
community in all situations,
• Identify fundraising opportunities and prospects along with potential corporate partners
and individual donors,
• Be an ambassador & advocate for HOTH,
• Continue to enhance HOTH’s public image,
• Donate yearly to HOTH,
• Ensure legal & ethical integrity in all matters,
• Act as a governing body member for HOTH,
• Maintain confidentiality for all internal HOTH matters.
ED Report:
We ended 2024 on an up note. Several large donations were received at the end of the year. This has helped us start 2025. November Food Box event went well. The partnership with our Family Resource Centers in both school systems is stronger because of it. December saw a sharp decline in the number of volunteers for food box setup/distribution which was expected. Several new volunteers have come on during December and January. And the number of clients to be served has risen. In January we served 510 households with food. This does not include approximately 58 clients on the Pickup Food Box list who were no shows. These households will be reported to the FRCs as no shows and the FRC can come and pickup the boxes for delivery or we will use them for emergency food boxes and restock a portion of them. Anyone on the Pickup who did not pickup in January and whom the FRCs do not deliver to will be removed from the list for February. We did add about 25 households to the delivery list from the pickup list in January. We have 2 - 10 household lists for the Central area/region for which we do not have drivers. These will remain on the Pickup list to see if we can recruit more drivers.
Fundraising to be discussed during this month's Board Meeting are setup to raise close to $450,000.00. Added to this will be the Danny Carothers Housing Endowment goal of $10,000.00 which will be the match to the $10,000.00 set aside by the Women's Fund grant to start an endowment at the Community Foundation on our behalf. Our match has to be complete within the next two years. Our match will cover this requirement and we will discuss a commitment to making the Danny Carothers Housing Endowment Day of Giving an annual event for at least the next three 3 years. Approximately 4% of the dividends from this endowment can be used each year for housing assistance, construction, home ownership grants, utilities for housing units, etc. Dividends can also be left in the fund to continue to grow until the Board decides the endowment is large enough to begin using dividends for housing program purposes. This is a true endowment meaning the principal amount of $20,000.00 cannot be touched. This is separate from the Operational Endowment setup with Infinite Giving in 2024.
Joel had a lunch meeting with Susanne Vitale and Tessa Norris to discuss House on the Hill and how Susanne may be able to help. The conversation turned to Susanne using her influence to help raise funds for House on the Hill. Through her personal connections, we will follow-up and work on an event with Susanne as the host. We'll do a presentation and make an ask. The opportunity to make a gift will be reinforced at the event by Susanne and a follow-up with donors and those present who don't commit will happen in the two weeks after the event. Event TBD. $$ Goal for the event land acquisition.
Meetings with Crystal have gone well. There has been some strategic coaching on a couple of grants and local conversations regarding raising funds. We have not seen any actual dollars raised by Crystal as of the February Board Meeting. February conversations each Thursday are focused on grant research, writing and submission as well as Foundational relationship building on Crystal's part. We will also be discussing more immediate fundraising efforts on Crystal's part. A QR code to our 2025 Sponsorship Campaign has been created for Crystal's personal use so funds raised can be attributed to her work specifically. Awards of grants she writes will also be attributed to her but will have to include operational funds for which salaries can be used.
The Campaign is tentatively called the "Build Community Campaign: Share a Meal. Build a House."
A conversation and a Lunch and Learn has taken place with the Realtors Associations of South Central Kentucky (RASK) regarding House on the Hills involvement in the RASK Hope for Hunger event in which canned goods are collected through the WKU CANstruction event and will be distributed to HOTH and other counties in the BRADD region with the idea can goods distributed to HOTH will go to Warren County/BG households through our Food Boxes and The Grocery. Monies collected will be deposited with HOTH with up to $10,000.00 per quarter going to purchase gift cards at Meijer on the Simply GIVE Double Day each quarter. These funds will be used to multiply what each county in the BRADD region will receive through the Hope for Hunger event with any extra funds going to HOTH for food purchasing. Discussion on HOTH's involvement may not be completely determined by the February HOTH Board Meeting. HOTH did receive $7750.00 from the RASK Fall Hope for Hunger event and $7700.00 was used to purchase Simply GIVE cards on Double Day in November 2024. A report from Meijer on total cards purchased and the total dollar amount has not been received at the time of the February HOTH Board Meeting. Partnership with RASK will be ongoing, year by year.
Nathan Holaday, a new volunteer along with his wife Cheryl, began volunteering in November. Nathan is a former Vice President with Fruit of the Loom in charge of ordering and logistics. He is currently working with a POS Square Retail to develop an inventory and ordering plan for all our food items. This will allow us to inventory for locations of The Grocery, the monthly food boxes and our emergency food boxes to help us keep an inventory to order more appropriately and in a timely manner to insure all food items are available as needed. Using the POS will make manual inventory easier and digital inventory from The Grocery locations much more efficient. We will begin filling pallet stock orders for The Grocery locations for pickup by stocking volunteers or delivery via Box Truck to those locations.
ED RECOMMENDATIONS:
ED Recommendation #1
Initially, as we piloted The Grocery program, we were thinking physical, building locations around the county would allow us the best access to clients and connection to clients. This means renting or purchasing 5-6 more buildings over the next two years. What if we rethink this plan a little and consider two, Step Vans or UPS delivery type vans which can be taken to any parking lot location, setup just like The Grocery in Richardsville with a team of volunteers per location? Vans would be equipment with electrical hook-ups like a camper trailer to be plugged into an adjacent building and also equipped with a generator in case no electrical is available on site. Electrical is only needed for dairy/produce coolers on The Grocery van. Seasonally a small famers market can be setup outside the van for fresh produce under Tents or Umbrellas. Inside the van one wall is all shelving like The Grocery in Richardsville and one end of the van houses the dairy and produce coolers. A foldable ramp can be constructed and attached to each to allow disabled or wheelchair clients to access the van. Vans would be parked at the HOTH office building during the week. Volunteers during the week would stock all dry goods based on POS inventory and prepare a pallet for restocking items as well as a cooler pallet for dairy and produce items. Each Friday afternoon The Grocery team of the week would arrive early enough to load the dairy/stock and drive to the day's location for setup and shopping hours. The team would return the van to the building. On Saturday The Grocery team would restock all dry/canned goods and restock the dairy/produce and return to the weekend's location. The first weekend would host two van locations, the second weekend would host two van locations and The Grocery at Richardsville would be open, the third weekend two van locations would be open for a total of SEVEN locations. The third weekend would also provide for a small number of shut-in deliveries as all other clients would move over to The Grocery program. Vans would cost between $10,000-12,000 each with gas and regular maintenance costs. Compare this to $100,000 for per year at least for rent or purchase, utility costs, insurance on each building, transportation of food items to all these sites on the box truck and maintenance of grass, parking lots and garden beds. With The Grocery van plan, we would locate at partner churches or orgs/businesses, potentially work out a garden bed plan on site and not have grass or parking maintenance.
ED Recommendation #2:
I recommend we change the name of our Community Foundation fund to the "Danny Carothers Housing Endowment" fund. Each year we will promote and host a Day of Giving for the endowment in honor of Danny and all his work and legacy. Funds will be given directly to the endowment through a link at the Community Foundation. As funds grow, we will be able to start using the funds, as the Board decides, for specific housing needs through our Impact Housing programs. As part of this recommendation, I recommend the first house HOTH builds be named the Carothers House in honor of Danny and the family he has left behind. Both the biological family and the Community family who feels his loss. A meeting, introduction and conversation with Danny's family will follow in the weeks after his Home Going Celebration.
ED Recommendation #3
Review the Fundraising Events for 2025 and delegate the four large events to two Board Members each to lead the planning and implementation of. A group of volunteers will be recruited to help with each event. Planning should start now for the largest events which require the most sponsorship dollars. Most orgs/businesses will plan their sponsorships in the first two quarters of the year.
December Talk
Hello Board!
Our next Board Meeting on Monday December 2 at 6:00pm. We just have a few things on the agenda for the meeting following dinner and Christmas activities!
Financials:
As of 12-2-2024
Operating Account - $22,354.04
Payroll Account - $9735.94
Women's Fund - $41,850.00
ED Report:
Development Consultant - We will be talking with Crystal this week. She has sent us a proposal of $1000.00 per month for one year and 15% on funds raised. We will be discussing the Boards decision as of our last meeting and see if she wants to move forward.
Tax Filing
Our tax filing for 2023 is complete. We had gross receipts of $418,000.00. This includes close to $260,000.00 in grants and in-kind contributions. As we discuss this annual Budget for 2025 at the Board meeting it is important to keep in mind those specific grants will not be available to us this year.
Future Grants
Beth has been fostering a conversation with the Realtors Association's Community Service Committee. They are considering giving us a small grant of around $7000.00 for the end of the year for food. We are also in conversation with them about being the recepient of funds raised during their two food drives each year. We would purchase food for the participating counties and we would be included with Warren County, receiving dollars to purchase Meijer cards with to double/triple the dollars received. Since we work so closely with the school systems, this would be a centralized purchasing/distribution system. We will submit a local grant proposal to the Community Foundation grant program this year. This program may fund a small project for us but it also puts our larger projects in front of a large number of private investor, Donor Advised fund holders and other private donors who are a member of the Community Foundation in Bowling Green, KY.
Women’s Fund - We purchased our first Camper Trailer with the funds received this year ($50,000.00) from the Women's Fund Impact Grant. The other funds will be transferred as needed from our "Grants" account to our operating account for The Guesthouse program units and the other four Camper Trailers we plan to purchase in 2025. The remaining balance of $40,000.00 will be received in check form in 2025. A $10,000.00 fund is being setup at the Community Foundation in our name and will be included on the "Funds" page. Donors are able to provide Donor Advised funds to our fund at any time. The funds already received, the check in 2025 and the $10,000.00 fund equate to the total $100,000.00 amount from the Impact Grant award.
Impact Housing Application - We plan to open our Housing Application on or before January 15, 2025.
Impact Housing Community - Last month everyone received a copy of the Impact Housing White Paper. Joel will be meeting with several potential Board members over the next month. We will share the White Paper with them. We will also be meeting with one potential donor regarding the Impact Housing Community specifically. As we move closer and closer to the land purchase/acquisition, we hope to provide more and more people with the information in the White Paper. You will also notice the Capital Purchase of the land included in the 2025 Annual Budget.
The Month of December at a Glance
This month will focus on our Household Sponsorship Campaign as we will be a part of the Christian Family Radio 12 Days of Giving. The PSA created through this event will also be used on other local radio networks during drive-time on Christmas music stations. We'll use our free spots on CFR the weeks after the 12 Days of Giving event leading up to Christmas.
Media Coverage - We'll use our social media outlets to share clients story anonymously, radio spots on local radio networks playing Christmas music, possibly NPR, and we'll also use our client and volunteer network to challenge a week of sponsorships. A prize will be award to those who participate and drive friends/family/neighbors to the giving page to sponsor a household. Any person can get in on the Challenge. Anyone who gets someone to sponsor will receive a HOTH designer T-shirt.
Meeting Agenda:
Monday, December 2, 2024 6:00pm to 8:00pm
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Approve November Minutes (click the link to view)
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Old Business - Update on Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Family Movie/Silent Auction Event, Thanksgiving Food Box Event,
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New Business - Budget Discussion/Salary Scale Discussion, Continue Staffing Discussion (We will provide and discuss the Line Item Summary at the Board Meeting.
Download/View - Budget Line Items, Salary Scale
November Talk
Hello Board!
Don't forget our next Board Meeting on Monday November 4 from 5:00-7:00pm. We've got a lot going on in November with events, Thanksgiving Boxes and the visit with Crystal. We've sent out a schedule of the visit. Please check it out and mark your calendar accordingly.
Financials:
As of 11-3-2024
Operating Account - $14,562,63
Payroll Account - $9918.29
Women's Fund - $100,000.00
ED Report:
Development Consultant - Crystal Hadnott was the unanimous choice by the Board Hiring Committee. Crystal has agreed to visit with us November 14-16. Please check your email for the schedule of her visit. There are multiple opportunities to meet with her during her stay. It’s important for her to get to know us and what we do during the visit. Mark your calendar now for dinner with Crystal on Friday, November 15 at 6:00pm at Christy and Brian Schuette’s house.
Women’s Fund - WE GOT IT! We are all very excited and HOTH is blessed to have received the top honor of the Women’s Fund Impact Grant of $100,000.00 on Tuesday, October 22, 2024. These funds will be used for our transitional housing in The Guesthouse program as well as for our temporary housing in The Emergency Guesthouse program. George Vogler has come on-board as our next Guesthouse unit landlord in agreement to allow us to lease one two-bedroom/one bath unit off Hwy. 185 on Durrenberger near the site of the future Impact Housing Community.
Impact Housing Application - We are preparing our formal application for our Impact Housing programs. This application will serve as our housing application for transitional, emergency and permanent housing going forward. While we work to remove barriers to housing, we will ask every resident, in one of our housing programs, to complete the application process and provide specific information and documents to give us the best picture of their personal situation, needs and financial standing. None are used as disqualifiers but will help us determine if our programming is the best fit and what our obligations to the resident will be. The only real disqualifier for anyone being a part of our housing programs is being on a sex offender registry or having a record of crimes against women or children as all our residents will be living in proximity to both.
Impact Housing Community -White Paper - We are providing the Board with a copy of our Impact Housing Community White Paper. This will be used for potential donors and grants to share the need and plan for our housing community and its Phases of development. The packet also includes a preliminary site map and prototype homes based on home facades from the Nutwood/Magnolia neighborhood.
The Month of November at a Glance
This month is our Thanksgiving Box distribution. We will be providing 900 boxes this season in comparison to our regular 300 boxes per month. Tyson has agreed to provide 900 packages of chicken for the boxes. We are looking forward to having 80+ volunteers on Thursday November 14 from 5-7pm and a larger than normal setup crew that morning from 9-11am.
The Community-Wide Food Drive is November 11-22. Several locale schools and businesses are hosting their own drive as a part of the Community-Wide Food Drive or are hosting their own canned food drive to benefit HOTH. American Bank is partnering to allow drop-off of food items in their lobbies during regular business hours. Clark Distributing is helping us by providing their small black plastic pallets for American Bank lobbies and the schools/businesses to use to collect our food drive items. We will pick-up from these partners on Friday morning November 22. The week of December 2, 2024, staff from American Bank have volunteered to come in and help sort the donated items in our warehouse from the Community-Wide Food Drive.
Movie Night/Fundraiser - As of this report, we have not received any Design-a-House Challenge entries. We will be sending out a invite to all the local elementary schools to share via Dojo to all families about the Movie Night and fundraiser at the Capitol Theater on Friday November 22 from 5:30pm-8:30pm. The movie Home Alone (1st release) will be shown. Santa Claus will be there for pics. Our silent auction will be online via Zeffy.com and in-person at the Capitol Theater. Bidders will use the Zeffy.com website to place their bids. At the end of the event we will announce the winners on Facebook and on-stage as well as on the Zeffy site. If any entries are received for the Design-a-House Challenge, those prizes will also be awarded at the end of the event on November 22. Board Members need to get their baskets to the office by Thursday, November 7 at lunch so we can begin promoting what will be up for auction.
Board Baskets
Beth - Cozy Basket
Earl - Date Night Basket
Christy - Gourmet Basket
Bill - Sports Basket - WKU, Titans
Daniel - Golf Basket
Danny - Fitness Basket
Joel - Gift Cards Basket
Roles for the Evening: (volunteers will be asked to help on this night as well)
Beth - Host
Earl - Greeter/Info
Christy - Gourmet Hot Chocolate Booth
Bill - Greeter/Info
Daniel - Santa Pictures
Danny - Design-a-House Display Host
Joel - Host
Media Coverage - We will be doing multiple radio interviews, spots and TV appearances as a run up to the events during Hunger and Homelessness Awareness week. We are also part of the “12 Days of Giving” on CFR this year. We will have a whole day of focus during the 12 days. This will also provide a recorded radio spot we will also use on other local radio stations during December to continue our campaign for Household Sponsors and corporate sponsors. We are looking to market for end of the year giving on stations focused on playing Christmas music. Our marketing consultants, Highlights, LLC, will be placing us on several different conglomerate stations getting us out of the air on close to 15 different stations during this season as a PSA. We are also inviting media to our Thanksgiving Box packing night and Saturday distribution for coverage.
Meeting Agenda:
Monday, November 4, 2024 5:00pm-7:00pm
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Approve October Minutes (click the link to view)
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Old Business - Fundraising/Development Consultant Hire (click link for Schedule), November Event assignments/responsibilities/baskets…
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New Business - What’s one of the first questions we all ask or are asked when we meet someone for the first time, White Paper, Conversations about Impact Housing Funds, Expansion of The Grocery Pogram/Staffing
October Talk
Good Afternoon Board Team!
Don't forget our Board Meeting Monday Night September 30 from 5-7pm. We moved this month's meeting as Beth will be out on October 7. This page includes the ED Report (please read before Monday) and the agenda for Monday night.
Financials:
As of September 27, 2024
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$3553.76 in our Operating Account.
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$15,100.64 in our Payroll Account.
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Household Sponsorship Campaign to Date: $8,411.00 (includes two monthly @ $25)
Household Sponsorship Campaign - REITERATING!!
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This campaign is very important to the ongoing support of our Organization! It will allow us to not have to completely engage new supporters every year. Not working now to raise this support will mean more work in the long run. We've got to SHARE, ASK, and hit the pavement on this...HARD and NOW. This is a HUGE part of our annual budget!
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How do we promote this campaign outside of church partners and raise up individual sponsors? Businesses?
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Woodburn Baptist is the only church at this time who has committed to doing a Sunday morning campaign for us. All other partner churches will be receiving a follow-up email from us next week.
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Upcoming: Presentation at Woodburn Baptist Church on Sunday September 29. Focus on Household Sponsors
ED Report
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We continue to grow our reach with volunteers. We've hosted multiple new groups from Living Hope and Christ Church, an out of town group from Thrivent Financial Philanthropy, had several engagements at WKU to speak to students, several new volunteers from SOKY Happenings Calendar and a few groups from WKU are planning to come and serve.
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Upcoming Private Fundraiser on Tuesday October 15 from 4-6. This group is a construction/development partnership. They have the ability to provide strong financial support for our work. About 15-20 people.
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Halie has started to remove her things from the office storage.
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Women's Fund Annual Dinner, where we will present to the group The Guesthouse proposal, is Tuesday October 22, 5-9pm. Tickets are $50 per person. Tickets can be purchased here!
https://cfsky.fcsuite.com/erp/donate/create/ticket?edt_id=1827 -
We will be doing 600 Thanksgiving Boxes in November as our regular Box distribution in partnership with the two local school systems and Tyson.
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Conversations are ongoing related to our Impact Housing Community. We have met with the City and the County and will going back to the County for more conversation with Doug Gorman. We will be meeting with the Developer and General Contractor to set our Phases of Construction, develop a White Paper for the project and begin seeking grants and matching funds to start the process. As a Board, we'll need to begin thinking about a Capital Campaign and what this looks like and the best time to start the Campaign in 2025. We have momentum with this right now, including the Women's Fund opportunity, we don't want to let it die. We'll update the Board after the initial meeting with the Developer and GC as to our next steps.
October Board Agenda
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No approval of minutes from September. No actions were taken. No quorum.
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Discussion on ED Report and Financials
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Fundraising Conversation - "Call-a-Thon"?, Other Church Presentations/Partnerships - Household Sponsors (Board)
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Insurance Carrier Search
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Guesthouse Update/Decision
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Expanding Food to Barren County (3 Current Clients) - Interested Party in Glasgow
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Other Related Business
Upcoming Dates
Monday, November 4 - 5:00pm-7:00pm Board Meeting
Friday October 18 at 11:00am - HOTH Ribbon Cutting
October 12 - All Day - “Unboxed” Cooking Challenge Video Shoot - Project TEMPORARILY on HOLD
This is our food event for Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. This event is also a fundraiser for HOTH. The premise of the challenge is can you cook better than a Grandmother. There will be four contestants including a grandmother. They will prepare an appetizer, a main dish and a dessert from the food in our Food Box. There will be a segment for each and a segment for the finale to air on Facebook LIVE and YouTube LIVE the week of November 18-22. The overall winner will be awarded at our House Design Challenge Family Night on November 22. Fans can vote for their favorite chef/cook via QR Code leading up to and during the week in November. There will be four judges on the show including Joel. During on-air judging much info will be shared about HOTH and what we do. Vid Monster and Houchens Food Group are co-sponsors of the Challenge. We are working on specific times with Vid Monster. (ALL Board Members are welcome to attend and be in the audience, engage with audience members, etc.)
November 10 - Food Drive Start Date
November 22 - Food Drive End Date
November 18-21 HOTH “Unboxed” Cooking Challenge airs on Facebook and YouTube each night at 7:00pm - Project TEMPORARILY on HOLD
November 22 - 5:00pm-9:00pm HOTH House Design Challenge Family Night (event is 6:00pm-8:00pm)
This is our housing event for Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. This event is also a fundraiser for housing. It will be held at the Capitol Arts Theater. We are going to reach out to the schools including WKU and SKYCTC to recruit entries. Entries will design a floor plan and front elevation of a house for our Impact Housing Community. All winners will have their name put on a house in the community. We will also use the winners designs with our architect to design a model home based on their design. We are working on an event title sponsor. We’ll be judging House Designs from entries and then displaying the finalist for public voting at the Capitol Arts Theater. Public voting will be $5 pay per vote via the Finalist’s QR Code. Our own judging panel will decide on 4 winners and then we will crown the public vote winner. We will also announce and award the overall winner from the Unboxed Cooking Challenge from the first part of the week. https://houseonthehillbg.com/housedesign
(We will need ALL Board Members on deck for this event. We’ll have several different job opportunities for everyone as we get closer!) Invites for the Design-a-House Challenge have gone out to public schools and WKU. We will be sending invites to homeschools, private schools and others next week. Please feel free to invite people to this event and share the website above.
September Talk
Good Afternoon Board Team!
Hope your week is going well! For those who missed the Board Meeting last night, here are the highlights and assigned tasks.
Financials:
As of August 26, 2024
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$2,449.05 in our Operating Account.
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$25,374.17 in our Payroll Account.
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Household Sponsorship Campaign to Date: $8,061.00 (includes two monthly @ $25)
Household Sponsorship Campaign
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This campaign is very important to the ongoing support of our Organization! It will allow us to not have to completely engage new supporters every year. Not working now to raise this support will mean more work in the long run. We've got to SHARE, ASK, and hit the pavement on this...HARD and NOW. This is a HUGE part of our annual budget!
-
How do we promote this campaign outside of church partners and raise up individual sponsors? Businesses?
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Woodburn Baptist is the only church at this time who has committed to doing a Sunday morning campaign for us. All other partner churches will be receiving a follow-up email from us next week.
Assigned Tasks:
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Danny - Lunch Date with Matt, Justin and their wives, Meeting with other BG folks you've discussed.
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Bill - Bank lunches
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Beth - Contacting Tax Preparers with the Business Campaign.
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Joel - Reach out to the school districts with the Business Campaign.
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Everyone - We will be sending out a list of businesses to invite to the Business Fundraiser Campaign. It's simple for each business we invite, we are asking each employ to give $10. The goal is to reach businesses across the county with a focus on business with a high number of employees. The deadline for the end of the campaign is October 31. Businesses giving the most per capita will be recognized. We will provide posters to the businesses that participate and Joel will follow up once they agree to participate. Choose businesses where you know someone or feel comfortable with the ask.
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Let everyone know in our text group who your have picked. I WILL email the list of Businesses by end of Business Wednesday 8-28-2024.
Summary of Upcoming Events:
Monday, October 7 - 5:00pm-7:00pm Board Meeting
September 12 - 5:30pm-8:30pm Volunteer Night (event is 6:00pm-8:00pm)
This is a big event! We’ll celebrate our volunteers as well as inform our volunteers. If you know volunteers or potential volunteers personally, PLEASE invite them. An RSVP messages is going out this week. Beth is the POC (Point of Contact) for this event. Looks like everything is set for this event.
September 18-22 - Joel Out of Town
October 12 - All Day - “Unboxed” Cooking Challenge Video Shoot
This is our food event for Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. This event is also a fundraiser for HOTH. The premise of the challenge is can you cook better than a Grandmother. There will be four contestants including a grandmother. They will prepare an appetizer, a main dish and a dessert from the food in our Food Box. There will be a segment for each and a segment for the finale to air on Facebook LIVE and YouTube LIVE the week of November 18-22. The overall winner will be awarded at our House Design Challenge Family Night on November 22. Fans can vote for their favorite chef/cook via QR Code leading up to and during the week in November. There will be four judges on the show including Joel. During on-air judging much info will be shared about HOTH and what we do. Vid Monster and Houchens Food Group are co-sponsors of the Challenge. We are working on specific times with Vid Monster. (ALL Board Members are welcome to attend and be in the audience, engage with audience members, etc.)
November 10 - Food Drive Start Date
November 22 - Food Drive End Date
November 18-21 HOTH “Unboxed” Cooking Challenge airs on Facebook and YouTube each night at 7:00pm
November 22 - 5:00pm-9:00pm HOTH House Design Challenge Family Night (event is 6:00pm-8:00pm)
This is our housing event for Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. This event is also a fundraiser for housing. It will be held at the Capitol Arts Theater. We are going to reach out to the schools including WKU and SKYCTC to recruit entries. Entries will design a floor plan and front elevation of a house for our Impact Housing Community. All winners will have their name put on a house in the community. We will also use the winners designs with our architect to design a model home based on their design. We are working on an event title sponsor. We’ll be judging House Designs from entries and then displaying the finalist for public voting at the Capitol Arts Theater. Public voting will be $5 pay per vote via the Finalist’s QR Code. Our own judging panel will decide on 4 winners and then we will crown the public vote winner. We will also announce and award the overall winner from the Unboxed Cooking Challenge from the first part of the week. https://houseonthehillbg.com/housedesign
(We will need ALL Board Members on deck for this event. We’ll have several different job opportunities for everyone as we get closer!) Invites for the Design-a-House Challenge have gone out to public schools and WKU. We will be sending invites to homeschools, private schools and others next week. Please feel free to invite people to this event and share the website above.
August Talk
Good Afternoon Board Team!
Hope your week is going well. We did not get into discussion on the Financial Report on Monday night. The funds on the statement are current balances.
Our monthly intake of funds from monthly donors is $550. Our monthly expenses are $15,000.00 minimum.
We as an Org have never been fully funded. We have worked with what we have. We are in a very different place this year due to growth. We are to a point where we have to be fully funded or at least minimally funded. Our facility now houses our food items and operations. Our grant for the rent on the facility ends in November. Our grant for salaries ends at the end of November. We are at a point where we will only be able to purchase food items from Meijer with our gift cards. Meijer is great for some items but much more expensive on others we buy locally with budget funds.
Our Household Sponsor campaign will provide approximately $210,000 of our annual budget. However, if we get to our goal of 1400 households sponsored, it could provide close to all of our budget not including grants. $210,000 is approx. $17,500.00 per month. To be fully funded for the year we will need approx. $30,000.00 per month.
We don’t have to panic but we have to do the work to promote the Household Sponsorship campaign, meetings with Banks and businesses within the next three months and apply for the grants like the Women’s Fund to be dliigent. We have Woodburn Baptist onboard right now for hosting a Sponsorship campaign. We need Crossland, Hillvue, and Eastwood or Living Hope onboard. We have several small churches to talk with as well. Four of the larger churches could carry us on the Sponsorship Campaign. The awesome thing about the Household Sponsors is we don’t have to do that kind of campaign again because we will have all of them in our database and can easily ask for them to sponsor again next September.
At the Board Meeting we listed banks or businesses we each were going to talk with. The best way to have this conversation is by Bank or business. Lunch is a great opportunity! If you have a Bank or business on the list, please make sure we get a date on the calendar to host them.
We need to have these on the calendar by the end of next week. We need the meetings to take place by the end of October. This is our push to make sure we have our budget raised and in place by January 1, 2025.
Meetings we may have with folks regarding our Capital Campaign are very different than the meetings for our annual budget. We may have some of these before January but we don’t need to focus on those by next week.
See the Summary of Events below. What we need from Board Members is in parenthesis!
Summary of Upcoming Events:
August 9 - 11:00am-2:00pm Crocker Law Food Truck Friday
We have been invited to be the recipient of their fundraiser on Friday. Usually approx.. $500. We’ll be setting up around 10:30am. Joel is the POC (Point of Contact) for this event. (ALL Board Members are invited to come hangout at the Booth, eat and engage!)
August 15 - 11am-2:00pm Welcome Back WKU
This event is at WKU on the South Lawn. We’ll be setup in our booth to recruit student volunteers, give away some cooling towels, play a game and engage students entering WKU with HOTH! Joel is the POC for this Event. (ALL Board Members are invited to come hangout at the Booth, eat and engage! Lunch will be provided, I just need to know you’ll be there for lunch so I can order from WKU)
August 26 - 5:00pm-7:00pm Board Meeting
September 12 - 5:30pm-8:30pm Volunteer Night (event is 6:00pm-8:00pm)
This is a big event! We’ll celebrate our volunteers as well as inform our volunteers. We decided to provide pizza for dinner with really good desserts (Daniel). We will do a presentation. We agreed to have decals (Joel), checking out some sponsored shirts (Daniel), cornhole (Daniel), an ice breaker mixer (Christy), Photo/video booth (Joel). Beth is the POC (Point of Contact) for this event.
September 18-22 - Joel Out of Town
October 17 - All Day - “Unboxed” Cooking Challenge Video Shoot
This is our food event for Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. This event is also a fundraiser for HOTH. The premise of the challenge is can you cook better than a Grandmother. There will be four contestants including a grandmother. They will prepare an appetizer, a main dish and a dessert from the food in our Food Box. There will be a segment for each and a segment for the finale to air on Facebook LIVE and YouTube LIVE the week of November 18-22. The overall winner will be awarded at our House Design Challenge Family Night on November 22. Fans can vote for their favorite chef/cook via QR Code leading up to and during the week in November. There will be four judges on the show including Joel. During on-air judging much info will be shared about HOTH and what we do. Vid Monster and Houchens Food Group are co-sponsors of the Challenge. We are working on specific times with Vid Monster. (ALL Board Members are welcome to attend and be in the audience, engage with audience members, etc.)
November 10 - Food Drive Start Date
November 22 - Food Drive End Date
November 18-21 HOTH “Unboxed” Cooking Challenge airs on Facebook each night at 7:00pm
November 22 - 5:00pm-9:00pm HOTH House Design Challenge Family Night (event is 6:00pm-8:00pm)
This is our housing event for Hunger and Homelessness Awareness Week. This event is also a fundraiser for housing. It will be held at the Capitol Arts Theater. We are going to reach out to the schools including WKU and SKYCTC to recruit entries. Entries will design a floor plan and front elevation of a house for our Impact Housing Community. All winners will have their name put on a house in the community. We will also use the winners designs with our architect to design a model home based on their design. We are working on an event title sponsor. We’ll be judging House Designs from entries and then displaying the finalist for public voting at the Capitol Arts Theater. Public voting will be $5 pay per vote via the Finalist’s QR Code. Our own judging panel will decide on 4 winners and then we will crown the public vote winner. We will also announce and award the overall winner from the Unboxed Cooking Challenge from the first part of the week. https://houseonthehillbg.com/housedesign
(We will need ALL Board Members on deck for this event. We’ll have several different job opportunities for everyone as we get closer!)