- Welcome to "American Black Journal!"

I'm your host, Stephen Henderson.

Since 1985, the Heat and Warmth Fund, also known as THAW, has provided energy and utility assistance to more than 335,000 Michigan households.

The nonprofit's goal is to keep families healthy, safe, and warm, but the need for assistance doesn't wait until the temperatures drop.

Financial hardship can hit at any time throughout the year.

Here to talk more about THAW's mission and its upcoming fundraiser is the organization's new CEO, Katrina McCree, along with Tanya Hill, the Executive Chair of THAW's Board of Directors.

Welcome both of you to "American Black Journal."

- Thank you.

- So I want to start with, with you, Katrina talking about the time that we're living through right now and how different it is and how hard it is for families.

I'm asking everybody who works in this sector to kind of share with people what it's like, and to really kind of highlight how real the hardship is.

- Well, I mean, things are tough, not just for our low income families, but as you indicated, just a general, just generally and just around the country.

You got the inflation is much higher.

Prices of everything have gone up, food, gas, and just the overall cost of living is extremely challenging right now.

- And so does that for you sort of manifest in more requests for help?

Are you getting more people coming to you saying, "We just can't make it? "

- Absolutely.

I mean, we do service those that have a one-time need, right?

And then there are those who just for whatever reason experience you know, something that just sets them back or they just don't meet, you know, they don't have the financial means to carry the household.

And it could be a change in, you know, the family dynamics.

Someone loses a job or they get laid off.

So, yeah.

I mean, there are many things that could happen that would cause a crisis in a family.

- Yeah, so let's talk about the need to, - Yeah, so let's talk about the need to, for people to think about THAW and think about the folks who benefit from THAW more than just in the winter.

You're really focused on a year-round approach to this.

- Oh absolutely.

Because THAW not only provides heat support, you have people, you know, that need, you know, air conditioning in the summer.

And, you know, people can't pay their water bills.

Water has become very essential for people now.

You know, we used to didn't think about paying your water bill.

Well, now a lot of people cannot pay their water bills.

- Cannot, right.

- So THAW steps in with that support as well.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

When when you are thinking about the support that you guys give I think there's a tendency for some people to think, "Well, this is just temporary and it doesn't help people get to a better place where maybe they don't need support."

But that is not really the right way to think about this kind of support.

Is that right?

- Yeah, I mean, there are many circumstances Stephen, but the goal is really to move them to longer to help them sustain their lifestyle, to reduce their recidivism, right?

And then coming back and returning.

And so we look deeper- - So what kinds of things do you have to do to try to move people to a better space?

- Wonderful.

So when we bring them in, there's a whole process.

We have an intake.

We have them speak to a case manager.

We take a look at their circumstance.

Help them get on an affordable payment plan.

We provide energy education.

We may conduct a whole-home assessment for those individuals so that they can understand their energy usage.

We want to lessen the energy burden that people are experiencing.

And so it's just not, you know, we bring them in, pay the bill.

But we're looking at it holistically.

- Yeah.

- And making sure that we implement solutions that are long term.

- Right.

What about connections with other organizations that do this kind of work, this sort of supportive work?

I mean, I would imagine that there's a lot of network, I guess, that exists.

- Absolutely.

Yeah, absolutely.

I mean, we couldn't do this work alone.

We partner with many community partners.

A lot of people come through us through those partners through our, the churches in the community.

They refer individuals.

So there's a whole referral partnership that we have.

And so some people come and we understand that they need food.

They need clothing.

There are many things that individuals need that we perhaps might not be able to provide.

And so we rely on our partners a great deal to help support our people.

- As chair of the board, I wonder what you make of the sort of current landscape, I guess, of these kind of organizations in our city.

We talked about the new burdens or the excessive burdens that exist now.

But in a longer term sense, how are we doing with providing this kind of support, not just at THAW, but at other places to make sure that people have what they need?

- Unfortunately because of the state of our country and funding and lack thereof, there are a lot of nonprofits that are struggling.

A lot of them depended heavily on federal funding.

Fortunately THAW was not in one of those foundations.

- Right, right.

- And so we are in a, I would say a much stronger position to be able to provide for the community and support the other nonprofits who quite frankly are struggling.

I know of some who have had to reduce their staff because of the federal cuts that we're seeing.

And so with, under the leadership of Katrina, the plan is to obviously expand, you know, our footprint of donors, supporters.

And fortunately, like I said, we're not as dependent on federal dollars.

So it really puts us, I think, in a really good position to be able to continue to provide what we're doing now and to expand.

- Yeah, you were talking about giving support to other organizations that might be having a tough time.

I wonder if that's financial support, is that other kinds of support?

Like how does that work for THAW?

- No, it's not financial.

Unfortunately we wish we could, but no, we're not in that position.

(laughs) - (laughs) We need your money for your- - Yeah, we need it for our clientele.

But, just being there when their funding dissipates, you know, they can reach out to us and say, you know, "We have a client that really needs emergency assistance."

We've worked with, you know, an agency like DAA, for example.

They have a lot of seniors that- - Detroit Area Agency on Aging.

- Agency on Aging.

I'm sorry.

Yes.

- That's okay!

(laughs) - Detroit Area Agency on Aging.

- Yes, (laughs) you know, that's an example of one agency that will refer us clients who, you know, may need some additional support on the energy side.

And so- - Yeah.

- We're there to provide that help.

- There is some possibility that some organizations may not make it through because of- - Yes.

Unfortunately, a lot of agencies were very heavily dependent on federal funding.

And when that was just cut off they found themselves not being able to service clients, which is another reason we fortunately are in a much better position because we're not that heavily dependent on federal dollars.

And so I think under the leadership of Katrina, which we're very grateful to have.

She's going to be able to expand our donor base beyond just, you know, government.

More in the private sector and other agencies that provide funding for foundations like ours.

So we're excited about that.

- Yeah, I mean, I think that, you know, building these strategic partnerships are important.

Tanya mentioned DAAA, and DAAA has, you know, home repair funding, right?

And so we were meeting to talk about how can we leverage the funding from both.

Like for instance, if the homeowner needed a roof and they only had money for windows, how we can leverage that relationship and be able to provide, you know, the windows and the roof for those individuals.

And so I think it's important because funders want us to leverage those relationships, right?

Because we're all competing for the same dollars.

And so we want to be able to be there for those partners and rely on each other when the time is most needed for our community.

- Yeah.

Katrina, you are somewhat new to THAW.

- I am.

- Tell us just a little about how you came to this role and some of the other things you've done.

- Well, thanks for asking.

I have over 30 years of leadership experience that span over many industries.

And so most recently, prior to coming to THAW, I was at a neighborhood service organization serving as a chief community impact officer, so raising money to help support the unhoused.

And so, you know, this journey for me is personal.

I was afforded the opportunity to throw my name in the hat and I jumped on it very quickly because THAW has been so much to so many.

They supported my family in a time of crisis.

And so to be able to come to the organization, continue to lift up that mission, I'm just proud and excited and just want to do great things to live out the mission.

- Yeah.

And I would be remiss if I didn't ask you guys about the upcoming fundraiser for THAW and kind of how important that is.

- Yeah, it's important in a number of ways because people tend to think that THAW is more activated when it's cold.

But people need support year round, you know, support paying their water bills, support keeping their houses cool.

I mean, there are people that are on medications, or taking, utilizing systems where they have to have the house at a certain temperature, so, those people need help year round.

And we have a golf outing coming up at Northville Golf Course, July 17th.

So we have a few more days left (Stephen laughs) for registration.

And if people don't want to play golf or can't play golf, they can just come to the dinner and enjoy a nice dinner and raffle prizes and you know, Katrina will be our host and she will be, you know- (Stephen laughs) - You'll be entertaining.

- Drive riding around the golf course.

- Driving around the golf course.

- Welcoming our guests.

- And thanking our donors.

I mean, that's the thing that's most important to me.

But this is an opportunity for people to come out and volunteer.

We still need volunteers to support the event.

And also it's a great networking opportunity, right?

For people to come and meet other people in different industries and who knows what might happen from there.

- Yeah.

Yeah.

Okay, well, congratulations on all the work.

And of course, I hope that things get better for everybody.

But thank you - Absolutely.

- For being here with us on "American Black Journal."

- Thank you, it's been a pleasure.

- Thank you for having us!

- Thank you.