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Here's the show. You're listening to cash talk. But the overhead thing, I mean that was a huge challenge, but it was understanding that it was going to be and then coming in and saying Sorry everybody, you are no longer allowed to buy anything or print anything and there are no more benefits of these guys. This may hurt one individual person, but that's not our mission.
Our mission is not to exist for this one person. It's just for the greater good. My name is Adrian. Hi, I'm Essie.
And we are your host at the cash talk podcast. You can find us on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram at cash talk podcast. We're here to talk about no one profits. I know you may be wondering where this fits as far as financials concerned, but you know, it's a holiday season everybody's thinking about getting right now.
So, can you fit charity in your budget? You know, how much can you give? That would make an actual impact. And which charity would you choose?
So, we have a very special guest and my best friend for two decades, because I'm the old one, the two of us here, during me and Adrian. Also, Doug. Introducing my girl Naomi, who is the executive director of United Way, a nonprofit organization serving the residents of Anderson County, Tennessee. She'll be explaining all about United Way and what kind of services they provide and what each dollar goes to.
She'll also be filling us in on nonprofits in general and how they became her life's work and so closer. Yay! So thank you for joining us today. Yes, thank you.
I'm out of your very, very busy schedule, especially this time of year. Yes, she just got, she has fresh off the Oak Ridge Christmas parade and then you like judge another parade earlier than the day. I'm fresh off two parades today. I swear to God, she probably gets about three to four, maybe five hours of sleep at night.
Full night? Not a good night. Yes. So, tell us a little bit about yourself.
Sure. So, I'm an Oak Ridge lifer. My husband and I both are from Oak Ridge. Live there still.
We are foster grants to teenagers, which is a challenge, but a lot of fun. And we have three amazing but crazy dogs. So, my non-profit stuff, when I graduated college with my bachelor's degree in music, I realized I did not want to use it. And kind of went through a ton of short-term jobs trying to figure out what I liked and what I wanted to do.
And then I got placed through a temp agency with a non-profit with CASA, who provides advocates for abuse to neglected children in court. I fell in love with the mission. I fell in love with fundraising and really wanted to learn more about the non-profit community. I spent a lot of time trying to learn everything I could.
Then the board of directors asked me if I would apply to be the executive director because our long-term director was leaving. It was kind of a mess at the time. We didn't have enough money to make ends meet. The board was really considering closing the doors.
And so, because I didn't have the experience or the education, they gave me a shot. And we really turned things around in a short amount of time and I went back to school and got my MBA. And that's when I fell in love with the business side of non-profits. And so, you will hear me say at any time I talk about non-profit, Fabulous C3 is a tax status that is not a business model.
So, if you are a charity that's operating kind of thinking, oh, well, we're a non-profit. So, business doesn't apply to us. That's probably not going to be a successful non-profit. So, yeah, I imagine.
Yeah, kind of those business skills are really where I get excited and have my passion with non-profits. So, United Way was a perfect fit when this job came open that I can use that love of business and outcome tracking and all of those kinds of things. I can use that now every day to help other organizations be as effective and efficient as possible. So, it's been really interesting.
You took their funding to another level too with the three-year funding. And so, you took new fresh ideas to it, which is basically what you're looking for when you're looking for an executive director in a non-profit. Because if one person takes over and does the same thing as the previous, what's the point? Yeah.
The individual and the innovating changes time goes on. Yeah. And it's an interesting time for non-profits right now. You know, with generational changes and most of our donors in the country are older.
And so, we really have to adjust to reaching new donors and building and cultivating new people, bringing them in and getting them excited. And a lot of younger people want to see exactly the impact that their dollars are making. And so, that's really important as the United Way that we do that, that we can show everything that we're doing with the dollars. Okay, so let's speak a little, I guess, on United Way as a whole.
What it is, what kind of non-profit it is, and what it is that your organization does. Sure. So, to really make a change in the community, we need to ensure that people have what they need to be successful. United Way, I think, nationally, has kind of moved away from being so community-based.
That's something I really wanted to bring back to United Way of Anderson County. And so, what we do is a huge community needs assessment to really figure out what are the gaps in our community, what are the real issues in our community, and who is addressing those effectively, how can we show that they're addressing those needs effectively. And then we look at what are the three major building blocks to a successful community and a successful life. So, we kind of figured out those are youth development, self-sufficiency, and senior health services.
And, Missy, what you said about us moving to three-year cycles, that's right on. I mean, we identified those three areas so that we can give stable funding in three-year blocks to organizations that are working in those three areas so that we know that we're addressing the key issues in our community. And then the other thing United Way does, outside of just providing funding for those organizations, we do technical assistance, we do training, all those things I talked about, loving the business side of non-profits, that's what we get to do every month with these agencies, help them be more effective, help them learn how to track their outcomes. And then we fill the gaps and so we look at what's happening and what are some things that we need that could make those agencies better.
So, for example, we built some community gardens over the last year and we've done some different things around that. So, we've got high school kids that are working at non-profits that are giving them soft skills and work skills that they wouldn't get anywhere else, because they're not going to get an opportunity to learn those things somewhere else. So, there are kids that may not graduate from high school, but were helping them learn some things that they otherwise wouldn't get to learn. And that's filling a gap for a lot of our agencies.
So, we're filling those gaps and trying to do some new creative things. Gotcha, okay. So, what exactly is the key demographic for your charity? So, we have really shopping statistics in Anderson County, we have pushing 60% free and reduced lunch kids in our schools.
And so, a lot of people don't know that when you think about Anderson County, you might think about Oak Ridge, but the statistics are really surprising, we have a lot of basic needs issues. And so, that's part of why we do our community needs assessment, make sure we're putting dollars where they really need to be. So, the demographics that we serve, I mean a lot of our community are really low income. We want to build self-sufficiency with people.
That means workforce development, that means drug rehab programs. It means basic needs like food and coats for our kids, internet access, those kinds of basic needs. So, there's a lot of stuff that we look at when it comes to our demographics, I'm really making sure that we are addressing what the biggest issues are. We also want to show that we can move the needle on bigger issues.
So, if you look at something like childhood obesity, graduation rates, bullying, suicide in schools, teenage pregnancy, those things, it takes more than one or two organizations. It takes eight, nine or ten organizations to affect that one issue. So, we can show how funding these programs that work together collaboratively. We can really move the needle on those issues.
Okay. So, it's really exciting. I remember, I've started on a couple of your panel distribution. It's really eye-opening because we go to different organizations and you can see the actual impact.
Like, they actually have to show physical proof that what they're doing is impacting the community and is helping them. More than just being a service that's there, if it's not helping, then you're just another service. So, I've seen personally some that work, some that maybe aren't working, some that need some improvement. But that is, I think that's what attracted me.
That attracts me even more to, you know, headway is the accountability aspect of it. And really trying to see if the demographic that you've been working towards is true and if it makes sense for that area. Yeah. Absolutely.
So, if I was to make a donation to United Way or any other charity, how would my donation be used? How can I find out how it's being used? So, that's, it's a really important question. You can always look up using GuideStar or Charity Navigator.
Some of those programs will give you some information. 990s for an organization are always online through the state charitable solicitations and gaming website, which is really good. But it's really hard to know what the impact is. Those things will tell you kind of what the overhead rate is, which is important.
That's something that you want to look at fundraising expenses, those types of things. But really to figure out the actual impact of an organization. The best thing to do is really to go there and visit, take a tour, find a way to get involved with the program, meet some clients, that kind of thing. Then you'll really get involved a little bit more.
You can really see the work that's being done, which is another reason why United Way makes it easy because we do that. So, it's not me making these funding decisions. It's people like Missy, you know, that sit on these panels that visit these organizations that meet their clients that make sure that they're doing the work they say they're doing. So, you don't necessarily have to do that work.
We're doing that already. But yeah, if you're, if you're going to give somewhere, I think it's really important to go and figure out exactly what's, what's happening with your money. Just as simple as calling up and asking for a tour. Most agencies are excited to do that.
Interesting. I didn't know that. How would somebody find a reputable charity or nonprofit to make a donation to? Well, you can call United Way.
Exactly. So, there's a lot. I mean, you can look at community based and then you can look at national, obviously. So, there's a lot of really great national organizations.
You know, if you have a family member that had Alzheimer's, for example, there's going to be a lot of places to donate to that are going to be research based, which those are more nationally focused. And then you've got issues that are local. So, just, we encourage people all the time to figure out what it is you're passionate about and get involved there. And so, my husband, I love dogs.
So, we have been to all of the animal shelters. We have volunteered at the animal shelters. That's how we figured out which one do we really feel like is making the biggest impact. Who's getting the most dogs, you know, adopted and who's the most easily accessible, those kinds of things.
It's similar, whatever your passion is. If you really want to work with a homeless, it's not hard to find an organization that will bring you into their process, teach you what that looks like so you can see whether or not it's working. Or if it's just kind of a bandaid on a problem. I agree with that entirely.
Me personally, I like to give, when I give the charities, I have a few that I give to and they're more local because I've looked into them individually just myself. And I know that the money I'm giving is going towards something. And I know you had spoken earlier about overhead. That was one of the things that I really appreciated about doing the panel visits was because I got to actually see how little the overhead actually was and how much of the money that I'm donating is actually going to people that it really needs to go to and services that we need to go to.
And getting nationally is a good idea. I think no matter who you give to, you should probably do your research. But me personally, I'm very hands-on with things. And so I feel much better knowing that the money that I work hard for is going towards to help someone else.
Yeah. And I think that's really important too. Because I mean, with so many charities that pop up and so much access you have online, you don't want to just send money away to an area that you don't live or you don't frequent, you don't quite know how it's going to be used. So honestly, getting able to actually see how the organization you're going to donate money to is going to use the money and who they're going to be affecting and what's going to change whenever they extend their services.
That's actually really kind of cool. Yeah. And being able to ask questions too. That was one of those things that I really appreciated about this is I think we asked a ton of questions.
And because we do more than just accountability, it was because we might have had some ideas about something. Or maybe we're just thinking about it from a different perspective. And when you get some clarification, then you become more inspired to give. Or really, you know, you just say, oh, okay, I didn't realize this area or whatever.
So. And if an organization can't answer those questions, I mean, I really coach a lot of our directors. If you don't have the answer right away, just say, I'm not totally sure right now, let me get back to you with an answer. But if an organization kind of hums and hums and hums and comes up with things that don't really seem legit, there might be something else happening there.
So if they can't tell you what their overhead is, I mean, we are trained to know that kind of thing off the bat. So if they don't know what that is, probably there's a reason why they don't want to talk about it. I'll be real honest when I took over United Way. I didn't want to tell anybody what the overhead was for the year before.
We have worked so hard to drop it down to below 9%, which is one of the lowest in the state, one of the lowest in the country as far as United Way goes. We've worked so hard on that because I think it's so important that we be able to go into the community and say, you know, I'm so responsible with your dollar. I'm going to stretch it as far as I possibly can because I know how hard you're working for those dollars. I know how hard I'm working for my dollars and I'm a major donor to United Way.
So I'm not going to waste my money either, y'all. So I think it's really important that that that be part of that conversation is to really figure out how to do it. And there's legitimate reasons for having overhead that if they can't tell you quickly why that's a concern. That's a problem.
Yes. So what's the most challenging part about working for a nonprofit? How does it affect you personally? Oh my gosh, stress.
I know every job is stressful. It's a different kind of stress. Especially this time of year, you know, we're nearing the end of the year, so budgets are really short and it's getting cold outside and parents and families are stressed. So child abuse goes up in December.
You start getting more utility calls because it's cold out when you have breaks from school. That puts financial stress on the family because it got to buy more food. And so you might have to sitters or think or the kind of thing. Yeah, because they're, I mean, even personally, I'm already thinking, oh my gosh, school is out on Tuesday.
I need to work until Friday. What I'm going to do is go out. I think it's closed. Yeah, I've got days that I've got her and that way together and they're just going to watch each other in a padded room with nothing breakable and good luck girls.
So yeah, that's what I do. It's a real stressful. And so it's all of that kind of thing where you know that, oh my gosh, if I don't raise this money, that means there are people on the streets in the snow. Like that's the stress level for one.
But then also, it's such a volatile political climate right now. And, you know, dollars, I mean, it's the first thing. If somebody's worried about anything, they're going to immediately. Oh, I need to, you know, put out their tight-o-molded mattress and not invest in anything.
And so it's that kind of stress level where the uncertainty causes people to hold on to their money a little bit more. But I will say at the same time, what I love about this job is the fact that I get to see how generous people are. That, you know, during the economic downturn, a few years ago, when I was first getting into nonprofit, I would go out and talk about what we were doing and why it was needed. And I saw people just giving so generously saying, I don't know that I'm going to have a job in a year.
And if I don't, I hope there are services that can help me. So I'm not going to get it as much generously now. And so, yeah. And so it's cool because you get to see the best of people as well.
But also, I mean, it's always nerve-wracking. Like, we don't know what this changes in taxes are going to be and not catastically affect how nonprofits operate starting in 2018. So it's the stress of that kind of thing, the pressure that if we, it's lives that are on the line, you know, whether I do a job or not. Right.
It's literally whether kids are going to eat tomorrow. Exactly. I mean, you've got like, you've got big stores who, you know, you have like Friday and things like that, where they're so excited that they, you know, they're, I guess, essentially the beginning of what's going to happen. I guess, essentially the beginning of Black Friday was that all the stores are being in the black and they're making money.
But that's making money for their business. When they're making money, they're not thinking about how many employees will get to be able to provide for their families. They're not thinking of things in that respect. They're thinking how much their store is going to make.
When you guys make money, that's you're thinking of individual people. And if you're getting a little less, you're thinking how many, you know, less families are going to get certain things. Right. So, I mean, that's different coming from your perspective and, you know, with respect to someone in a big, you know, box store or something like that.
Right. Yeah. So, besides the namesake, what's the difference between a nonprofit and a for-profit charity? So, because I talk so much about business skills, like I actually chose to go back and get my MBA just in business and marketing because there's not a lot as far as the way your business should operate that should be different.
But the bottom line is nobody's making money off a nonprofit. So, there's no shareholders at the end of the year if we have extra money, that extra money goes back to the clients. It's all not for profit and not, you know, when you're a business and you have a really great year, all of the people invested in that business get the proceeds. Yeah.
Our board of directors, you know, we have a really great year and they're like, awesome, we serve more people or we give out, like last year, we were able to end the year with some extra money. We put those into discretionary. Yeah, discretionary. So, we have one-time grants to organizations.
That was so great too. I love that you're able to do that. So, you kind of like just infuse a different organization with cash or something in there? Yes.
So, we have a separate, a whole separate process where we did project-based grants. So, we had $50,000 of just one-time funding. Give us your highest impact project that you think you can do in three, four months and we'll maybe we'll give you the cash. And so, it was a really cool thing.
We made those decisions real quickly again with the panel of volunteers that are from the community, read those applications and did those funding projects. I think one of those was like a car, I think. Yeah, it's one of those things where that wasn't an ongoing request. It was a, hey, we need a new vehicle.
Can we have this lump sum for this one thing? It's not something ongoing. It's just we need this lump sum for this one particular thing to allow these continued services. So, that was perfect for the discretionary.
It was perfect. Yeah, and it was a car that seniors could get into easily so they could go to the store and have outings, that kind of thing for this senior group that goes into home care. Because some of those seniors, they weren't able to ever leave the home. So, now they have a car that they can pick them up.
They can take them places so that's really sweet. I think that was really great. So, other than United Way, what are some charities or causes that you personally support? Sure.
I love our 36 organizations that we fund. And so, all of them, I go to their agencies. I believe in them all. And so, I try to find a way to at least get back to all of them.
But then she does 99% of them. She does. I try to go. She really.
I buy a ticket and then I beg somebody to go use it. And so, I'll send somebody else to their gala's or whatever they have going on if I can't be there. But, you know, I talked earlier about our dogs. We love our dogs.
And so, we also give to some animal shelters. I love the music and the arts, my bachelor's degree is in music. So, I also give to some arts organizations. We are major donors to United Way and the tour church too.
And so, we try to, we're a little bit abnormal as far as our age group because younger donors, they say, find one or two causes. We like, we love everybody and all the things. And so, we try a lot of smaller checks rather than just one big large ones. Gotcha.
Okay. So, can you give us your best example of a way you've seen in your organization's work make a difference? Absolutely. So, my favorite thing to do is to tell any time I talk about United Way, I have to tell stories.
So, sorry. But, I don't want to make me cry because I'm not really prepared for all that. I've got several, but since we're talking about kids a lot, we'll talk about Billy. We'll call him Billy.
Okay. So, I'm sorry. I'm sorry. I'm sorry.
I'm going to have to leave for that original. It's not. So, part of why I wanted to go to United Way when I was leaving CASA is because I saw how most of what we do at CASA was make referrals to other agencies, right? So, if those other agencies aren't there, we had no hope of being successful.
And so, what we, you know, when I first got to United Way, I started thinking about all these agencies that we fund, part of what had driven me to want this job so badly and to support these organizations, is really when I started thinking about the cases that we worked on and how many of them involved, you know, eight, nine, ten other organizations. And so, the first case, or one of the first cases that I saw when I first started at CASA and did some time in court, was a little boy, and we'll call him Billy for right now. But he was 12 years old when he came into the court system, which is, you know, pretty standard. And he'd already been to the Child Advocacy Center, where he had had his investigation, like he'd talked to the detective.
He had had the medical examination, all those kinds of things done in a safe and comfortable environment. He'd been to Helen Ross McNabb, where he had got a caseworker assigned and his foster family assigned. He'd been to a couple other organizations, and then within 72 hours he came to court. So, he was assigned a volunteer who sat down with him in court, so we kind of got to know him a little bit.
And so, we found out he really wanted to play sports, but hadn't been given an opportunity to do that. So, we made the recommendation that he go to Boys and Girls Club. He was changing school systems, so to take some of the pressure off of foster parents, we got him a backpack from AdVac, had everything he needed for that specific classroom that he was going to go into. We made sure that he got into a Boy Scout troop, so that he could start building some friendships and building some healthy relationships.
And so, he started doing really, really well. He was thriving in this foster home. But at the same time his parents came into court and said that they really wanted to do whatever they needed to do to regain custody of him. So, the first thing they did was send them to Ridgeview for Alcohol and Drug Assessment.
We got them some workforce development assistance, made sure that they found a safe place to live through torch, that they got utility assistance through AdVac, made sure that they had all the furniture that they needed, that hit all the requirements that the Department of Children's Services has, and so we did that through the Ecumenical Storehouse. So, we made sure that they had everything they needed. They got parenting classes from Prevent Child Abuse Healthy Families, got them budgeting assistance and several other things, so that they were really set out. And so, they were making, had what they needed, and after six months, the judge said that we'd go ahead and send Billy home on a trial home basis.
So, Billy went home. All those things that I talked about, that caseworker went with him. He stayed in Boy Scouts. We made sure that he could stay in the Boys and Girls Club, play in sports, and getting after school assistance.
All of those things went with him. And so, he was back home, but he still had all those supports. And the family still had all the supports that we had got for them as well. And so, we made sure Mom and Dad still, you know, we're doing everything they needed to do.
And six months went by, everybody was great, everybody was happy, so the judge closed the case. And we made Billy formalize back home. And so, I love that story because it's reunited this family, but it's only a good story if it works out, right? So, following up with the court system, Billy graduated last year.
Which is amazing. And it's not just amazing because he's graduated, and this is a happy story. It's amazing because if he had stayed in the foster care system, there's an 80% chance that he would have aged out of the foster care system. Because he was 12 years old, he probably would have been at least 14 or 15 before parents' rights have been terminated.
There's less than 10% chance that he would have been adopted at that point. And so, he most likely wouldn't have graduated because our kids that age out of the foster care system, they have a 92% chance of being incarcerated or homeless within a year after aging out. We recently had a 17-year-old who left on her 18th birthday who went to jail last month. These statistics are real, yeah, I'm talking about that.
Now, I do want to get up and I'm like, it's real. These are real lives, these are real kids. And to know that those parents are still working, dad just got a raise. They are volunteering for some of our agencies that we work with.
This is a family that for the first time is paying their taxes and contributing to our community. Not to mention, you can pull Billy out and say, wow, what a great success, but you've got to look at that whole family. Yeah, it's amazing. And it's not just one organization or two organizations.
So when you look at funding, you're right, which all of them work together. I mean, when you want to make a huge impact, you could give $20 here or $20 there. But to really, like, we work, United Way works to be the expert of knowing who needs this $20 today right now to hit their mission and to do what they need to do. Who needs this the most right now to make sure that everybody's doors stay open, that everybody's lights stay on and that everybody can do their piece and do it effectively.
And everyone that you all the services and places that you talked about, all of those are funded by United Way. All of them, all of them that you mentioned. That's really amazing that somebody could have given $20 and made all of that happen with $20. Yeah, so I mean, that just goes to show you got one success story there with pretty bleak statistics if they were to be on their own, if they were to not take advantage of those services and services from places that really give their heart into what they're doing.
So I think that's that right there shows you were the dollars really going to making a fantastic story for. Yeah, I mean, that $20 quite literally kept Billy out of jail and gave him a future. Yeah, gave him a family of future. So you're getting your money back through your tax through your tax savings.
But I mean, we've got stories. I mean, it's crazy. We've got domestic violence stories. I mean, there's just so many lives and there are people that call us, especially this time of year that we'll just call and say, Hey, I want to tell you my story because of United Way.
So this is the life that I've had over the last few years. So it's amazing that people can kind of see, Oh, it wasn't just this one organization or these two. It was all of these ones together and you make it possible for these organizations to all be in existence. Right.
Okay. So let's change gears just a little bit as a director and a, I like to say, a public figure of United Way. Okay. What qualities have you, what qualities do you feel have led you to be successful in your role?
It's such a vibrant personality. I think has been really helpful. Very well. Oh, my gosh.
No, it's the community. Like it's, it's unreal when I look at the support of the community for everything, like at Casa and now at United Way, I mean, it's just been awesome. Like people, like I said earlier, like I get to see the most, like the best sides of people because I get to see that generosity and that love and that excitement. The companies that we engage with, it's, it's amazing.
Like I get to go in and do this stuff where people are so excited and passionate about giving back. And so like I really do get this opportunity to just see the best in people that have helped us reach our goals. I mean, it's, it's amazing. Like our credit unions and banks and our school system, like these are, our dollars are not raised by millionaires.
Our dollars are raised by people that are on that have thousand errors. I mean, like myself. Thousand errors. Like the lower incomes.
Um, but yeah, I mean, nobody's going to accuse our police department or our teachers of making a lot of money. You know what I mean? And they're the ones that are giving the most generously because they see the need. Yes, they would.
Yeah. Like our utility districts, they know how many people are struggling to pay their utility bills. And so they give the most generously because they see the need. And that's what's beautiful is it's, it's a lot of money.
That's what's beautiful is it's, it's a lot of people's $20 that are helping us have the impact that we're making. Yeah. So what kind of actions have you done to grow in your role? And what are some of the challenges that you've been faced with?
So, um, well, I went back to school to get my MBA early on, but then outside of that, I mean, I, I do every online course I can find that does not cost a million dollars. Like I try to do some of the cheaper ones that are legit. I'll ask around to figure that out. And then I spend a huge amount of time just getting to know people and what they're really good at.
And so you've got to be creative that I'm not just going to call other nonprofit people. There's a place for that. And I definitely do that a lot. But if I'm struggling with something, I'm going to call an expert in that area.
So if I want to build the brand, if you're not away, I'm not just going to call a nonprofit that's good branding. I'm going to call a business. I think, wow, you've got really, you've got a really strong brand. How did you get there?
How did you figure that out? So I think it's sometimes it's easy when you're in one industry to only want to compare yourself to the people within that industry. And so one of the things I think that's helped me do as well in nonprofit is, is taking business practices and applying them to nonprofit. So, okay, like retention.
I read all these Harvard business studies on employee retention. And I adapted some of the things that they were talking about into volunteer retention and built a whole volunteer retention plan. And I've been using that with United Way and trying to figure out how do we make volunteers feel the most appreciated? What about employee retention for these Fortune 500 companies is applicable to our agency?
And so I think that's a really important thing is that we've constantly got to challenge what we're being told. So if you, you know, if you work at a bank, like there might be some things that you can adapt from a completely different industry that makes sense. And so that's so true for nonprofits. And just so often we don't look at ourselves as being a legitimate business.
I think we really have to. And so that's something that I've really done and tried to focus on so that I can be the best leader for this organization that I can be. Well, coming from someone who has been best friends with you for 20 years, I know so many stories. I know it was.
I remember when you were switching, you know, you were going from from COSA to this larger organization that actually, you know, actually funds COSA. So it's kind of like going from a small mom and pop to maybe a bigger. So you knew the challenges that you were going to be faced with from day one. So I remember when you were interviewing, you actually went the extra mile and went like all over Tennessee really to see the challenges in other counties and to see, you know, kind of where you were, where day one would be with you.
So I think you were trying to understand that even before day one even happened. And I think in my personal opinion, I think that's probably what made you start out with so much success here is you are trying to tackle the challenges before you're even faced with them. And I think when you're trying to work with a successful or make an organization successful, that's key. I mean, you know, understanding what you're dealing with and going head first into it.
Nobody's ever sat back down from a challenge. Which is why we've been friends for so long. You're like, I'm going to do it. I want to do it.
It's a challenge. I'm a picture life. One of these days. I wish you would be my life coach.
That's another episode in it. It's a whole other thing. You're living your best life. I might be okay in the financial aspect.
That's debatable. But personal life, I need a life coach. You're doing better. You're doing better.
So I've been investing. I've been investing on a higher level. But the overhead thing, that was a huge challenge. But it was understanding that it was going to be and then coming in and saying, sorry, everybody, you are no longer allowed to buy anything or print anything.
And there are no more benefits of these kinds. I mean, it was just making those really hard decisions. I mean, I think that's part of it too is being okay with the fact that this may hurt one individual person, but that's not our mission. Our mission is not to exist for this one person.
It's just for the greater good. And so every decision that we make on a daily basis is weighed against, is this for the greater good? Is this making the most? Are we doing the most impact with this dollar by making this decision?
And so that's hard. I mean, it's really hard when you're focused on one on one. So easily, like for me, I'm very relational. I love working with people one on one, but I constantly have to pull myself back and look at what is the best good.
So how am I going to affect have the biggest impact on the most people with this $1 continue the talking? She's making me ask all the questions. Is there anything that you wish more people knew about your organization and the issues that you're trying to solve? I mean, really, it's so much.
It comes down to the statistics. I just want people to pay attention to what's happening in their community. It's shocking that one in four of our kids in Oak Ridge in Anderson County have food insecurity. They don't know if they're going to eat dinner when they leave school.
I mean, that's crazy. There are seniors who are living terrified of physical and sexual abuse in their homes because they would rather not disclose that than go to a residential facility to be living in a home. So it's just it's crazy that people are living with the things that they're living with in our community. And it's about basic needs.
It's about human dignity. And we're not just funding sports programming and STEM initiatives. I mean, we're funding food. We're helping people meet their, you know, helping the ends meet and get through another month.
Obviously, we are a finance show. So our listeners are budget conscious and aware of their money and where things are coming and going. Is there a way or a suggestion that you'd make for somebody who wants to contribute, but maybe doesn't have hundreds of dollars to do so to do it in a way not to break the bank? Or instead of giving money, there's maybe something else they could do if money's not an option.
Yeah. So first of all, this is the first time y'all can be like, feel no guilt. Give your, give the dollars. Spend the dollars here.
Don't go mad about it. This is a good thing. But I mean, I think that's the other piece that's so cool about United Way is that peril deduction. It's before tax.
And so, you know, it's less withholding. But it's kind of a cool. It's an easy way to give. I mean, even five dollars a check most people wouldn't notice.
Especially before tax. Yeah. I mean, it's just, it's not that much. This year we've really been pushing if everybody would give $20.
So if everybody in our community would give $20, this enormous impact that we could have. And $20 is for most people, a dollar check. And so, I mean, that's such a tiny amount. That's a soda.
Yeah. Yeah. When soda per paycheck. Yeah.
And it's, I mean, so if we could all do that, it doesn't feel like $20 as much. But when you see your $20 put with everybody else's $20,000, and all of a sudden you're like, what in the world? That's $90,000. You know, look, it's a huge amount of money.
And that, you know, that's huge. But also when you think about what we can do with a dollar, $1 can provide three meals for a family of four through second harvest. Just $20 can provide 300 after school snacks for kids and one of our after school programs. The average smartphone in at purchase right now is $1.09.
So when you think about what we could do with that dollar and nine cents instead of that, you know, I mean, that's crazy. A pumpkin spice latte, which, you know, we're telling everybody not to buy the five dollar coffees. But if you do, that's $4.95 and that could provide a full change of clothes for a child that's removed from their home in the middle of the night from a meth house. Again, being a foster parent, this is legit.
Like kids are removed. They are showered down and they have nothing. They do not even have clothes. They can't have their teddy bear.
They can't have anything from that home because they've all been exposed to drugs. And so $5 can make sure that those kids have something to put on when they leave that home. Wow. And then when it does get to a little bit more, I mean, $100 is a little bit more a check, but still, you know, it's not, it's about $2 a paycheck.
So if you're paid by weekly, the average table bill right now is $103 a month. And we're talking about $100 a year, which provide a home efficiency kit, which allows a low income family to lower their utility bills by the average of $500 a year. And what that means, I mean, $500 a year means that they can pay for things that they couldn't otherwise afford. So they're not constantly worried about that utility bill.
If we can get that down a little bit, then it means they can pay for their medications. They could buy apples this week instead of just Roman noodles, which means they're going to have less problems with diabetes. They're going to have less issues with obesity or some of these other problems. I mean, it really helps a family be able to make their ends meet when we can do some of those things.
Wow. Wow. Wow. It's true.
I mean, I guess with the apple in the Roman, I mean, it makes sense. You're making healthier choices because you've been fortunate. Yeah. Absolutely.
Yeah. It's one of those things. I mean, you see it flutter on online all the time. A burger at like McDonald's or something is what a dollar or two, but a salad's five.
Exactly. Same concept, really. Oh my gosh. My kid loves apples.
And I was like, Oh, you're going to eat all these apples. I'll buy you some Oreos. Like what apples are high. They are.
You think they're red delicious? They're red delicious. Much apples. Maybe you're not in a position to give it all.
Maybe you're actually in need of service. How would somebody who wants to utilize the service of the United Way, how would they locate or find such product? Call me anytime. So there's, you can always call your local United Way office.
That's a big piece of what we do for every community that we're in. So if you find your local, local United Way, you can call. You can stop by email. Our website has got a list of all of our partner agencies with links to their websites, which have their services and what are available.
The other thing is we have a national database called 211. It's just like calling information, which back of the day, I remember calling for. Yeah, 411. Okay.
I said that was my other day. And then we're just standing. We're talking about this right now. We're not talking about 27 over here.
I know. I'll tell you what's going on. I heard that from my grandchild. Okay.
Before the Google, there was 411. And so this is the same thing. You can call it from your cell phone or from your landline. You're just called 211.
Literally taking a little landline. I know. I'm calling on like. Okay.
So you call 211 and that's a national, you know, way supported resource. Where you talk to a real person. It's not just an automated system. It's a real person that's going to talk through your issues, like what you're struggling with and figure out what are the services are available for you.
So that's a really good option as well. Okay. Is that free to use? Absolutely.
Okay. Okay. Yep. So how can our listeners connect with you?
All of the ways they can call me. They can email me. They can text me. They can tweet me.
Let me have Facebook on Facebook, on the Facebook, on the Twitter's on the IG. Are there any specific handles or anything you want to share? Sure. If I can remember them.
Our Facebook, each of you, not a way of Anderson County, make sure that it's Anderson County, Tennessee. There is an Anderson County, South Carolina. We are Anderson County, Tennessee. And then our Twitter is U.
W. A. C. T.
N. Look at you. I'll put these in the show notes also. So if Naomi said something incorrect, which I kind of feel like she's.
No, I got that Twitter right. I got that Twitter right. I'll put it in the show notes so you can locate them yourself. Yeah.
With my number with my numbers. Okay. Okay. I'm sure.
I'm sure. I'm a pager number. I'll get your page if it's 911. Yeah.
I like it. Let's throw out some old people stuff. We had Rex FX last episode. We did.
We did have Rex. I do remember calling for a one for one for one. And being like, you could get like people's phone numbers. Right?
I think you're good if they were listed if they were in the phone. Yeah. I'd be like, I'm looking for Missy Strickland and they'd be like for like 12 to read. And I'm not supposed to know what your current name is.
You change it every time. That's because I want to be like Madonna. She only has one name girl. Your name has always been Missy over on my phone.
Never change. Never change. Never change. Never change.
That's fair. That's fair. Yeah. That was the week we could bring up more.
Adrian J and Missy. You've been very, very generous with your time and I appreciate taking the opportunity to speak with you and discuss everything about your night away in charities and giving back to the community. Yeah. It's been wonderful.
I mean, you guys feel like I've been hanging out with celebs. I mean, basically. Yeah. I mean, you have people.
I really like a first egg. No, I feel real fancy tonight. Yeah. We like to give our guests some royal treatments.
No, there's going to be crap cakes afterwards at the after party. Yeah. Yeah. I feel like a real.
Yeah. I feel like I'm a real. Yeah. I feel like I'm a real.
Yeah. We like to give our guests some royal treatments. No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no but ballet has already gone for the day. Sorry about that.
I'll be putting my ear warmers back on from the parade, put my toasty toes back in the shoes. You know what? Head down to get my own car. I mean, yeah.
Well, you know, we're going to eventually get there for the all night ballet right now. Yeah, right now. We're still a little bit understood. Understood.
Understood. It is late. What's going to start to speak with you today? It's been kind of fun.
Thank you guys. You guys. Although we are self-toddled money experts, everything you hear on the show is for general education and entertainment purposes only. You shouldn't take advice from people you don't know.
So consults an industry professional before you make a good job. Any financial moves when on the clock right now. So neither of us are speaking as representative of any company or organization. Bye.