Board Talk

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.

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Board Meeting February 3, 2025 5-7pm

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Welcome

ED Report is attached below Board Candidate Bios.

Discussion of ED Report - Recommendations

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Agenda Item #1:

• Introduction to NEW Board Member Candidates: Lindsey McCarty and John Kleis (See Bios and Introductions below)

• 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.

• Consensus on the Candidates for membership.

• Candidates will be active members and have all Board Member responsibilities during the meeting.

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Agenda Item #2:

Approval of November-December Minutes

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Financials: as of February 2, 2025

Review Statement of Accounts

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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?

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Agenda Item #3:

Fundraising Calendar

UnBoxed

Danny Carothers Housing Endowment Day of Giving - $10,000.00 GOAL

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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.

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Board Member Recommendation for Lindsey McCarty

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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.  

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Lindsey filled out the HOTH Board Member Bio below. 

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Lindsey McCarty

lmccarty36@gmail.com

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.

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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.

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Board Member Recommendation for John Kleis

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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.

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John filled out the Board Member Bio below:

John Kleis

jekleis@hotmail.com

2716 Garrett Drive, Bowling Green, KY 42104

508-838-3363

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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.

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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

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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.
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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.

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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.

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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.

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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."

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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.

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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.

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ED RECOMMENDATIONS:

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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.

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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.

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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.

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