Latest / Conversations with Cumberland Heights / The Power of Giving: Kyle Williams on Donor Impact | Ep. 36

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The Power of Giving: Kyle Williams on Donor Impact | Ep. 36 · Conversations with Cumberland Heights

0:00
Kyle Williams.
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Welcome to the show. Thank you.
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I am so excited to have you.
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Glad to be here.
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Not only because of our shared history.
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Shout out to corpus Christi, Texas, one of.
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But because I'm just such a fan of
0:16
your team and your work and what you get to do every day,
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and our offices are sort of on either side of the same area, holding.
0:23
Down the basement.
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Holding it down.
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And, I just have so much respect for your work and,
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What what great challenge it might be day to day.
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And and also something else I want to say about you is,
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every time I see you, you've got a smile on your face.
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You seem, from the outside, looking in, very grateful to be here.
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Sometimes I can be a grumpy cat.
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And the work that you
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do just has such a such a,
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massive impact on on what we're able to do.
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And I'm sure we'll highlight
0:56
the project, the biggest projects that we have, the biggest project ever
1:00
that's going on right now.
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But before we do any of that, introduce yourself, tell us who you are
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and what you get to do for work at Cumberland Heights.
1:08
Awesome. Well, thanks for having me.
1:10
Long time.
1:11
What viewer first time,
1:14
caller yeah, yeah.
1:16
Sorry. Yeah. My name is Kyle Williams.
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I'm the director of philanthropy with Cumberland Heights Foundation.
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Want to give a massive shout out to all my donors
1:24
watching that, make our mission possible?
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What I get to do is get to know the people that care
1:31
deeply about this place and, connect their passion,
1:37
with an opportunity to do something good in the world.
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And it's great honor.
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It's a lot of, as you know, a
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lot of people have come through this place over the years.
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And, many of them are very generous people that turn around
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and want to help the next person in line
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get here that needs to be here or stay here, that needs to stay longer.
2:00
And that's possible because of our donors.
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So that really grateful to be able to work with them. So,
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for somebody watching that
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doesn't know what major gifts means
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or director of philanthropy, like, just clue us in on the day in your life.
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What's it like when you walk in your office and you hit your spacebar?
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What do you do every day?
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I should have looked up the Latin word
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Latin definition of philanthropy is, but it is something to do
2:26
with the love of man. And so,
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you know, I'll meet with people and they'll say, I'm not a philanthropist.
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I said, well, you're you you're sponsoring people,
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you're giving to scholarships, you're a philanthropist.
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And so day in my life is,
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you know, I'm always on the phone.
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My screen time is unreal because I'm just.
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I just texting donors all the time.
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Nobody picks up their phone anymore.
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So Texas is a great way to get in touch with people.
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I'm going to coffees, going to lunches, doing tours of Cumberland Heights,
3:00
learning about people's, you know, philanthropic philosophies.
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How do they give what do they support,
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what's going on at Cumberland Heights, keeping people
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updated on what we have going on and what we're trying to do to help people
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and what the needs are.
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So right.
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And proposal is.
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And following up on meetings.
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Participate in a lot of committees here.
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You know, if anybody's ever been in,
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you know, a role where you're, you're you have lots of,
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lots of contacts and lots of, relationships.
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It's a lot of following up with people.
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People care about this place and they want to help,
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but they also have full time job, and they have a family, and they have
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other nonprofits they support.
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And so while they want to come out and see what we're doing
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and they want to help, they want to give, they have other priorities.
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So I feel like a big part of my job is just kind of being a, squeaky wheel.
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People say, hey, that was great.
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Hanging out a couple weeks ago, you mentioned you want to come out.
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Let's get that schedule. How can I help you?
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And so a lot of
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following up with well-intentioned, busy people that want to help us.
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One of the things that I feel like,
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you and your boss and your team shout out to Sydney Patterson,
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Sydney have done a really good job of,
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the past few years. Is,
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just talking at at least internally.
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Right.
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Because I'm an internal employee,
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reminding our teams that, hey,
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we're part of a nonprofit organization and that we need to do the best
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we can to make sure that we buy into this idea of,
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Culture, of philanthropy.
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That's what she says.
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Philanthropy, you know, big deal.
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So talk about what you might be most proud of in terms of that change process
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since you've been here because you've been here for five years.
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Yeah, five years this weekend.
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Congratulations. Thank you.
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Yeah, I think, I think,
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I say the most
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the thing I'm most proud of in that regard is, well, first, I have gratitude
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for the staff here who have do such amazing work for our patients.
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It's incredible.
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You know, Cumberland is our main campus
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is quite a beautiful, striking place.
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And, but it pales in comparison
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to the caliber of human beings that work here that if,
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if, if Cumberland Heights was in the 16th
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basement floor of some building, it would be an amazing place.
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Had the same people,
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so when I, bring donors here
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or I bring people that are interested in our work here,
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and I'm getting to your answer, your question is,
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I try to get them to meet
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as many people as possible,
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because they will quickly see, oh,
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this these people really care about their jobs.
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Or like, it's clear that
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so many of these people that work here are the product of this mission.
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This is very special.
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So I'm really proud that we are showcasing that.
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Whereas I think it was just kind of understood or
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but by people who know Cumberland, but for people who don't know it
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and they're interested in helping people find a new life
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in recovery, seeing that is pretty remarkable.
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Like Jay Crossan, who you've had out here like
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there's this very few nonprofit CEOs that are
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Jay Cross's our CEO.
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For those who've not watched this in the past
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that are the product of the mission,
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that is amazing.
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It speaks speaks,
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stories about who we are, what we do, and the efficacy of what we're doing.
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And, so I try to showcase Jay as a, look, this guy who's leading our organization
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is was a beneficiary of it.
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And every corner you turn and here the case, it's the case.
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And so I'm really proud that a we're showcasing
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that to the people that care our donors and be.
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I'm really proud the that the staff is on top
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of all of the work that they do helping people turn their lives around here,
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their willingness to jump in on a tour.
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And I said, hey, Nick, you know, I've pulled you in a single.
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Why do you love Cumberland Heights?
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Why is this a special place to you?
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And just try to get people two minutes really quick?
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This is what I do.
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And that's why it's important to me.
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And, it's very striking to the donors.
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They're, they're they're really amazing. And so I'm really proud of that.
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Tell me about
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explain, your perspective, your process.
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How do people
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give, what's the process to matching
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maybe their heart's desire or their capacity to,
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the actual event where they call you or they submit a form or how did
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how does all that work? Yeah.
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I mean, there's all different ways that people do it.
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You know, I have alumni that just sign up on the website,
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go on the website and give monthly and they send in ten bucks a month,
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and every dollar of that goes straight to scholarship doesn't pay me, doesn't pay.
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It goes straight to a scholarship.
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People love that.
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I have people that have.
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There's donors that have family foundations,
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you know, that have been in their family for a while, and they get
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to earmark
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dollars for different places, and they
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I go and tell them about what we're doing and what the needs are,
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and they have meetings quarterly and decide where to distribute those funds.
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There's all different ways to do it.
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And, you know, sometimes my donors will say, oh, well, I can only do this.
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And I said, can't think of it like that.
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If everybody if everyone
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that ever came through Cumberland Eyes was a donor,
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you know, we would be, you know, would be free to come here.
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We'd have so much, so many donors.
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So the people that do give are very special to us.
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They're very, not everyone can be
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generous or is is has the ability to be generous.
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And the ones that are,
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we're just so grateful
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for them because their actions provide a way
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for someone who wants to get sober.
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Can't do it, needs help.
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Want is willing to do the work,
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but has a financial barrier and allows them to come and find that.
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So there's all different ways to give people give appreciated stock.
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People give land, keep people sign up
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to do all sorts of different things.
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And my job is to sort of get to know
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them and see what do they care about.
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They'll say, you know, Kyle, I came out to Stillwater's and, you know,
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it's saved my life or saved my son's life or saved my dad's life.
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And I just so thankful for it.
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I want to give us a cool, I'll tell you about this match that we do in May.
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You know, some people are,
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love our endowment.
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And they say, you know, I like to give, but I love knowing that when I give,
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this gift is going to perpetually create scholarships forever.
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I love that, and we want to set up a fund in honor
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of our uncle or whoever that was connected to this place.
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Some people like to do that.
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So it's just it's just a matter of figuring out what are people interested
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in, what are what is their passion relative to what we're doing.
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And, lots of people have an idea
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of what they want to do and how they want to do it.
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And yeah, you know, I just kind of walk them through that.
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One of the things I love about y'all's team today is, you know, I'm a donor.
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Oh, that's not what I was searching for.
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But I appreciate that you're getting.
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A thank you.
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And my family,
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you know, we, are happy to support this place.
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Of course.
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You know, I'm a I'm also a proud alumni of Crown Heights and Stillwater, and.
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But really, what I'm getting to is just a thank you to your team, because,
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every time that we give,
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either someone pulls us aside, you know, like, I have had
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multiple relationships, I guess is where I'm getting, you know, as an employee,
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you know, I had no expectation of sure of
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what's next.
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Yeah, yeah, yeah.
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Not that we're even searching for that,
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but I always get a hand-signed letter in the mail.
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Yeah, with a special note.
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You know, in spite of kind of, quote, my role in the relationship
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and to be frank with you, like my level of giving, like,
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you know, I'm not breaking the bank here. Sure.
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In terms of, in terms of,
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of, of, of, in comparison to some of the gifts that, that,
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some wonderful families commit to in terms of Cumberland Heights.
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So I've always loved that with y'all.
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You'll say something or Cindy will say something to me, you know,
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privately spoken announcements being made and I'll always get a handwritten note.
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I'm glad you said that.
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Let's talk about gratitude, Nick, because that is
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that is the name of the game, right? Yeah.
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Like, gratitude is a powerful thing, you know, and 12 step, recovery.
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We talked about that a lot.
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Right. But,
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as a nonprofit,
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you know, if I was selling software or
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dump trucks or something else, you know, I could take people to a friend's game
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or take them out to dinner and all this stuff.
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As a nonprofit, we can't do that.
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We don't have the resources to do that kind of thing.
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So what I can do, all that I can do is make,
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is make sure that donors understand that we are grateful for them
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and be make sure that they understand that what they're doing
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is having a direct impact on someone else in need.
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And, as a donor yourself, you can attest to that.
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That that's all you really want from your donation, right?
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Am I having an impact and are they grateful for this.
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Awesome.
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So we are working really hard to do that.
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Like we, we have some amazing volunteers
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and make sure everyone that gives gets a call.
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Gets a call a shout out to Frank.
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We all cry.
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Yeah.
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Legendary phone phone calls and they tell and they and you hear it.
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You're among the community like I'm Anne Frank call me I, I give a couple
13:34
hundred bucks Frank call me so nice and there's cons not to mention.
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Oh impressed by. That.
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Those guy like this is a guy they want to send to this so I can say
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I'm saying.
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But they've been doing this.
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For a long time.
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Right.
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You know, years and years and years and years.
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And those two men in particular, just their, posture of service
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and their willingness to sit down in this basement and call people
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and do whatever is necessary to help grow the endowment
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or to help people understand the impact that they're having is, is,
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we couldn't do that without guys and gals like that.
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Let let me let me just give a, let me just give a point to our,
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viewers, whether it's Cumberland Heights or whatever it is
14:21
that you're passionate about, a lot of us don't have a lot of time
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to go and volunteer and do things relative to the things that we care about.
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An amazing, amazing thing that you can do
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for a nonprofit that you care about
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is volunteer to call their donors and thank them, say, hey, simulation.
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Ten people that gave last month.
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I'll call them and tell them how much the organization means to me and,
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that I'm grateful that they give.
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That's what we do with Frank and Rob.
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We say, hey, here's who gave to this year's, who gave you this?
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Here's their numbers.
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And they just they call and they're they're efficient with it.
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They're there, but they're heartfelt, like you said.
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And it means so much to the donors to be like, hey, I gave somebody saw it,
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somebody recognize it, they're grateful for it.
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And it's doing good work for people.
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It's you would think that's pretty low bar,
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but a lot of organizations can't do that.
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And we're lucky to have those guys that makes that possible.
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So you want to make an impact, connect with one
15:22
an organization you care about and volunteer to make some calls.
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It's people love it.
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It's actually I never thought of that.
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And any alumni watching this please call me I need I need more
15:32
alumni to help us with these calls because there's a lot of people that give
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and they love hearing from alumni who say, hey, this place changed my life.
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I saw that you gave. Thank you. Speaking of alumni,
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and to talk about maybe
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do we have policy use about who we can contact
15:49
and when we can contact people who have been touched by this place and,
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and how do we kind of maneuver through that.
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In terms of, like reaching out to alumni to, to give.
15:58
Yeah, yeah.
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You know, historically, here we've not reached out to alumni
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until a year after they've come through sort of.
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Why do we do that?
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It's my understanding that that's to,
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allow the alumni to be focused
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on their early recovery, which I know is, is a,
16:22
is a hard, hard won
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foundation and so essential.
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But many people, you know, come out in two months, three months in, and it's a man.
16:31
I just had a great experience out there.
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Came out Sunday
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service or whatever after that, after care or whatever.
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And they're like, you know, I just want to give back.
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I want to help people.
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And they start giving, and then we start the relationship from there.
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But I think the challenge that we face
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is that,
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it's a blessing that Cumberland Heights
16:54
has great relationships with,
16:58
all of these payers. Right.
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And so that, you know, people can come on their employer sponsored benefits
17:02
and they don't really think about this company.
17:04
It's a nonprofit is that's something I could give to I think sometimes.
17:08
Right.
17:09
Because they're they're focused on I get to get sober and get my life back,
17:12
you know, thinking about that.
17:14
They have a great experience and they go back out into the world.
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And so I think it's a challenge, to sort of how,
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how is that top of mind for the people that have have the amazing turnarounds
17:26
that happen here to think, oh, you know, this is an easy way for me to help
17:30
other people that are in my position
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and sign up
17:33
to be a monthly donor, or I can sponsor an event or come
17:37
do whatever to support, our work.
17:40
I think that's a challenge.
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That we that will continue to navigate. But,
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one of the things I don't know what my question
17:47
is going to be here, but one of the things,
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maybe this is a couple weeks ago.
17:51
And I was like, shouted at you from across the.
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And I said, how come I look at this stuff and we're going through the archive?
17:56
That was great.
17:57
And, Ryan was was a part of that.
18:00
And anyways, we're we're writing a new history book.
18:02
We're going through the archive, a Common Heights archive, and,
18:05
which was started way before I was an employee or a patient here.
18:09
And, one of the things that was striking to me.
18:12
So I found, like this cache of old development resources,
18:16
whether it's like printed materials or events or newspaper clippings or whatever.
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And I showed all that to you and your comment to me.
18:25
And if you remember, this was this is amazing.
18:28
Some of these names are people that are still giving today, 20, 30,
18:33
40 years later.
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Us and their commitment to this organization is really strong.
18:38
Can you talk about that just in your experience?
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Because I know you've worked in development at other organizations.
18:43
Yeah. And of course, have your pulse on what other people do.
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Is that something that's unique?
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It's something that really, I don't see that's unique.
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But it's very special.
18:54
It's very special, when, people give for that long of a time,
18:59
often in my correspondence with them, I remind them, I say, you know,
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I've been giving here for 30 years or even in 26 years,
19:07
and, you know, half the time I say that it be like,
19:12
I am, I, I owe Cumberland Heights my life.
19:16
This is the least thing that I could do. Or, we wouldn't.
19:19
I had a donor tell me one time she's like, I'm on the way
19:22
to to see my grandchild.
19:25
There's.
19:26
There was a time that I thought I would never have grandchildren because the way,
19:32
that life was going for our son.
19:35
So a lot of those people that give for such a long time,
19:38
they they do it because they their heart is just overflowing with gratitude.
19:43
For what has happened here.
19:46
And I think it's just, for those of us that work here,
19:50
you almost it's almost taken for granted that
19:53
this place has helped so many people.
19:56
I still every day
19:58
I pick up the phone and call people and thank them and I'm just like, oh my gosh,
20:02
another person that came through, I was at a tour on the street
20:05
this week and we're giving it to her.
20:07
Donor brought some friends.
20:09
I didn't know the guys.
20:10
And then one of the guys was like,
20:13
yeah, I came through Cumberland Heights in 1980
20:16
is like 1988 or 89 or something like that.
20:19
And he was like, yeah, I knew cinder Horn and all these people, like,
20:23
I got married in the chapel.
20:25
No kidding. Like what?
20:26
Yeah.
20:26
It's just it's just it's hard to conceive of the amount of people that have
20:32
helped here.
20:32
And that's a lot of people turn around and give and give and give.
20:35
And that's just part of their life as part of who they are.
20:38
And that's why I like to ask a lot of our donors, you know, that choose to give.
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I say one thing.
20:44
I ask people like, why do you why do you give?
20:48
And they'll say, well, you know, give a reason.
20:51
And then I'll also have some. What?
20:53
Who taught you to be generous?
20:55
Like where did you learn that?
20:56
Because there's a lot of people that have come through here that, you know,
21:01
frankly, are not turning around and giving.
21:04
And that's for lots of different reasons, no judgment,
21:07
but it's a special quality when somebody chooses to give.
21:11
And almost universally those people will respond
21:14
with, well, I saw my parents doing it or saw my,
21:17
my granddad feeding people, you know, or doing this or doing that.
21:22
And they and they when you ask someone that and they respond, they remember
21:27
who they are said I, I imagine myself
21:30
to be a person that gives.
21:33
And I go down this whole philosophical trail.
21:35
I think we as human beings are created to give.
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And then, you know,
21:42
as communal beings, we need to give.
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And it feels good to give.
21:49
And I think in our rugged individual as society
21:53
where we're picking ourselves up from our bootstraps and, and,
21:56
and focusing on our own lives so much, it's
21:59
often we forget and lose the idea
22:02
that so much of our humanity is wrapped up in doing unto others.
22:07
And so anyways, I'm going off on a rabbit trail here.
22:09
No, no, no, you know what I'm talking about.
22:11
I one of the things that strikes me
22:16
and if you're listening, like, maybe you don't know anything about communites
22:19
or maybe you're considering sending your, your, your loved one to treatment.
22:22
That might be this place.
22:23
That might be another place wherever you live.
22:28
And they probably have some similar program.
22:30
You know, they're probably a nonprofit.
22:32
They're probably, you know, people are donating here and there.
22:34
But as a donor myself,
22:36
one of the thing, one of the things that's unique about working here
22:40
that we talk about a lot, you know, among my teams and I talk about a lot
22:44
with my friends and my family and in my recovery, just to be blunt,
22:48
is I love being I love being able to work
22:50
for a place that,
22:53
I truly love and I'm truly passionate about.
22:56
So if you and I were working at what you described earlier
22:58
as the tractor dealership,
22:59
or that was a dump truck or tractor or whatever software,
23:03
I don't know if I would have that same passion.
23:05
Yeah.
23:05
For, for for what happens here and how lucky we are.
23:09
So when I think of myself as a donor, which I don't really identify.
23:12
Well, you are.
23:15
Well,
23:15
like one of the, one of the programs that I've given to is Stillwater's
23:19
and, and
23:22
that gives me such an immense it like internally.
23:26
Yes. Just to know like you were talking about that like,
23:29
oh somebody that is 20 years old, like I was
23:33
that is confused me, me scared.
23:39
Not knowing what this is going to be about, showing up in Globeville
23:43
at this program called Stillwater, greeted by this person called he's,
23:48
you know, being like, what am I doing here?
23:50
Yeah.
23:51
Somebody has made a mistake.
23:53
But how that how that fundamentally changed who I was.
23:59
And, you know, that $100 gives somebody an opportunity
24:03
that might not have a means to to experience something like that.
24:07
To experience similarly meaningful,
24:11
days in their life
24:13
that can help them be a dad or help them be a partner or help them
24:17
be happy, help them just be free and not have to wake up and worry.
24:23
How am I going to change the way that I feel today?
24:25
You know, in. Your gift is doing that.
24:28
Yeah, you're when you get into that match, you are directly providing them
24:33
for somebody who is writing a letter saying, please help me.
24:36
And it's I need help.
24:37
To think about, okay, this place founded in 1966,
24:40
just like many others, right, that there are so many people
24:45
who have been doing this for a long time who are making an impact.
24:50
Because sometimes dollars also go to the new
24:53
or the new
24:54
van or the new roof that has to be purchased.
24:58
So I just, you have such a unique job and unique role
25:03
at Cumberland, and you get to see it's just a whole other perspective.
25:06
Yeah. That that we don't get to see.
25:08
And that's what we're trying to do with this culture of philanthropy.
25:11
We're continuing to build here.
25:12
You know, we had the opportunity to present it to all staff.
25:15
And I did a I did a segment called meet, Meet the Donors.
25:20
And just trying to let the staff know that there's so many people
25:24
that believe in the work that they're doing
25:26
every day, you know, working with people struggling with addiction.
25:29
You know, it's tough work.
25:31
But there's there's
25:32
thousands of people out here that give believe in what's happening.
25:35
And in the in the staff need to know that, right?
25:39
They need to know that there's a cloud of people supporting them.
25:43
I think it's important for the patients to know that, like,
25:46
you know, there's
25:49
I hope that our patients, when they're here, realize
25:52
that the the they're there on sacred ground almost.
25:55
Right.
25:55
Thousands of people have come in here and, you know,
25:59
had a spiritual awakening as a result of these steps
26:03
and turned their life around, and that it's possible
26:07
that impossible thing that they're coming up against.
26:10
It's so possible.
26:11
And it has happened so many times.
26:15
And so, yeah, it's a, it's a blessing
26:18
to be able to be in this position and get to know people.
26:22
You mentioned Stillwater's shout out Stillwater in May.
26:25
We have a match.
26:25
Dollar for every dollar will be matched for, Stillwater scholarships.
26:30
So be on the look for that.
26:33
We have a big goal again.
26:35
What's the goal?
26:36
$220,000 in scholarships, which is huge.
26:42
I think four years ago, our goal was,
26:45
when I think we had $45,000 matched.
26:47
So we've really grown that
26:50
Stillwater's alum and family are super passionate
26:53
about that place, and we are continuing to grow that match.
26:58
So, so tell.
26:59
Us, shift gears on your a little bit.
27:01
Talk about some outside of some of the match.
27:03
So what are match campaign. Yeah.
27:05
What else are we raising money for these days.
27:07
So right now we're kind of, big focus of ours is, you know,
27:13
we haven't done a big announcement on the campaign just because we're still,
27:18
working on lead donors for capital campaign that we're doing.
27:22
And so been been, having a lot of strategic conversations
27:26
with our donors that,
27:29
see the value in making
27:31
sure this place has the facilities it needs to continue
27:34
to doing the great work that it has done for 60 years.
27:37
I tell you know, we're trying to set Cumberland Heights up to be
27:40
around for another 60 years.
27:44
And so we'll be working on
27:46
a new men's building that's well on its way
27:50
and, have about $2 million left
27:52
to raise, and we'll have that whipped, and then we'll.
27:56
Well, I'm positive talk about like, because and I know
27:59
Cindy might get it mad at me.
28:01
Cindy don't get mad. Sorry.
28:03
Because I know that we're still in a silent phase.
28:05
And I told, okay. We can talk about it.
28:07
We'll cut it out if we need to cut it out.
28:08
Yeah, hopefully not, but.
28:11
It's fine when.
28:11
You say we're $2 million away,
28:15
$2 million of a little goal or $2 million
28:17
in terms of having some of the project completely paid for through donations.
28:20
So it's kind of broken it up into two phases.
28:24
And each phase is an $18 million phase, to build a new, therapeutic
28:30
and residential, facility for our men's program.
28:35
It's going to be amazing.
28:37
And then one which, by the way, our.
28:40
Well, and then the second phase is,
28:43
doing the same thing for our women's program.
28:45
And so we've raised $16 million for the men's building.
28:50
And like I said, this is all coming from foundations support recovery.
28:56
This is coming from family members support recovery,
28:59
Cumberland Heights friends, family members, alumni.
29:06
That's what I wanted to highlight.
29:07
Yeah.
29:07
It's like all I mean, this is all coming from people who are like,
29:12
what?
29:13
What Cumberland is doing has helped me help my family members, help people
29:17
I care about.
29:18
And I want to make sure that it has what it needs to continue to do that forever.
29:22
And it's it's going to be an amazing,
29:26
process of change for a river, a campus, you know,
29:29
I know it's approximately 40,000ft².
29:32
You know, we're not going to
29:33
you know, I don't have any things to hold up or anything like that, but,
29:38
what a beautiful opportunity to kind of,
29:41
reinvest in some of the healing spaces.
29:44
One of the things I hear you and Jay and Cindy talking about a lot,
29:46
just by way of this project, is that the patients that choose us
29:49
deserve to stay in physical spaces that match of the quality of care
29:54
that we provide. Right?
29:56
Not to say that the quality of the
29:57
the building grounds we have today or anything but stellar and super nice, but.
30:01
Well, yeah, but it's also changed since they were
30:05
this was a farm in the 60s, you know, and we had just a handful of guys out here
30:11
and they were just treating, you know, alcoholics.
30:14
Now we have people that are struggling with all manner of things.
30:17
And we have developed these amazing programs.
30:20
And so what would it look like instead of having to figure out how
30:23
the programs can match these facilities, is like, let's build
30:26
a facility that actually matches what we're doing with these people.
30:30
So we've been working on this for a long time, in several years.
30:33
In terms of first identifying what do we need,
30:36
what do we want to prioritize on.
30:37
And everybody's been involved.
30:39
That's something I'm proud of.
30:40
I'm proud of that too, that it the.
30:42
Program directors
30:44
all the way up to sort of the C-suite and the general contract board members.
30:48
Yeah, yeah.
30:49
So how does it want to look like that?
30:51
That's unique, that collaboration of sitting in a room with board members,
30:55
architects, contractors, development staff and then frontline staff and saying,
30:59
okay, does the rooms need to be this way or this?
31:02
Should they be that way?
31:03
Should it be a hallway here, whatever that might be?
31:06
And I am so proud of you guys.
31:08
Kyle. Like, I could not do your job.
31:11
Not even not even close.
31:12
And I'm not saying
31:14
that this is probably not the way the philanthropists would talk, but,
31:17
you know, the fact that, you all have done what you have done so far
31:21
in support of this, while maintaining everything else is just a shout out
31:24
to y'all's hard work and for the willingness of our community.
31:28
Absolutely.
31:29
It's a it's a huge it's a, thank you for that. And,
31:34
it's possible like, I just keep going back to that,
31:37
you know, the opportunity here to do
31:41
this is so great because.
31:45
So many people have come through here.
31:46
So many people have come through here,
31:48
and it has helped them and it has changed their family's life.
31:52
And so it's an easy conversation to have with somebody.
31:56
You say, tell me about your impressions of Cumberland Heights.
31:59
Say, well, I came out here.
32:01
It was it helped me.
32:02
I got my family back on my job back.
32:04
I have kids now.
32:06
I said, what can I tell you about what we're doing to help people?
32:09
That were in your position? Yeah.
32:12
And tell them what we're doing is is something that you could see yourself.
32:15
Would you want to come out and see what we're doing?
32:18
And it's just such a fun conversation to have with people,
32:21
because I try to think of what what I'm doing as a,
32:24
as a service provider to my donors is like, these are good people
32:30
that want to help, and they have something.
32:34
They have things that they care deeply about.
32:37
And I'm trying to help them say, look,
32:40
you want to help and this is something you care about.
32:43
This is giving to this wood
32:46
is paving the way for thousands of people
32:50
to come to save their lives, frankly.
32:53
So it's just a very, you know, Frank, wait.
32:56
I heard him say one time.
32:56
He said, I have, you know, the amount of good this has done.
33:00
This place has done an amount of people's lives.
33:02
It has saved.
33:03
I have zero hesitancy
33:06
going and talking to someone about giving,
33:10
to make
33:12
this mission possible, and I, I, thank you for saying that.
33:16
And it's,
33:18
I feel like we've got so much more work to do.
33:20
There's so many more people. I haven't talked to you.
33:22
Can you tell me a little bit about the rest of your team, too?
33:25
Because we have a great team.
33:27
We have a team.
33:29
Diane Myers, we have Diane on here.
33:31
Diane has Diane.
33:33
It's a range of our operations.
33:35
You know, she manages our database,
33:38
helps us with our mailings.
33:40
She knows all the donors and knows, you know, it's amazing.
33:43
I'm so thankful for Diane. And,
33:46
she's been here a while, and we got Amy.
33:48
Amy writes our grants, and she partners with me.
33:51
Thank God.
33:52
You know, with all the proposals that we have
33:54
and the impact letters that we write to our donors.
33:58
Hey, you're reminding them, hey,
33:59
you are saving people's lives here when you give need to remind them of that.
34:03
And Amy helps us with all that helps us stay on top of all the deadlines
34:07
to get in front of all the foundations that care about us.
34:11
And then,
34:13
we have, of course, Leanne and Leanne is,
34:18
is amazing.
34:19
She we have three signature events here at Cumberland, Idaho.
34:23
Men's breakfast for our men's program, a women's
34:27
luncheon coming up in in April,
34:30
and we have a concert for Caroline's at the Ryman.
34:33
And she's amazing.
34:35
She's,
34:36
executes those flawlessly.
34:38
And we collaborate to make sure our donors are at those things, and it's great.
34:43
And of course, we're all led by Cindy Patterson,
34:45
who I've had the pleasure of working with for a long time.
34:49
And she,
34:51
among many great qualities, assembles a good team.
34:55
And I feel like
34:56
that's one of the Cumberland Heights great strengths, is getting good people
35:00
to come work here and worked collaboratively.
35:02
It's been really cool to see all gel over the last few years.
35:05
You've been here for five years and he's been here, I think, for five.
35:09
Leanne's been here for a few.
35:11
Diane and Amy have been here for a while longer.
35:13
And to see how, you know, celebrating the past,
35:18
relationships that other development staff.
35:21
This.
35:21
The other cool thing about Carol Heights is usually
35:23
you're not the first person in your position, right?
35:25
You know, and there are those
35:26
that have done so much work at getting us to where we are today.
35:30
And so seeing how you guys celebrate those folks, you mentioned the concert
35:35
for Cumberland Heights at the Ryman,
35:37
you know, John High and Walt Quinn and many, many others.
35:40
Martha Ferebee, board members that have made that a success for how many years?
35:46
Coming up on 30.
35:47
Know the concert.
35:48
Is pretty wild, awesome.
35:49
And, just to see how you guys are,
35:53
kind of,
35:54
meeting the demand of today is, is humbling, honestly, Carl.
35:59
And I'll tell you, you said a bunch of names there, but,
36:03
you know, you know, and I know we've mentioned Frank and Rob,
36:06
two of our board members, but we have an awesome board,
36:10
you know, so, I mean, very
36:13
few of any of my success here at Cameron Heights has,
36:18
as has been not been without the help of our board.
36:21
Yeah.
36:22
People who are very passionate about this place that are willing to open
36:26
the doors, to me, connect me with people that care
36:30
about what we're doing here,
36:34
lend their influence.
36:38
It's just a remarkable board.
36:39
It boards are tough to.
36:41
It's tough to cultivate a board of this caliber.
36:45
And, people that are that passionate
36:49
and that willing to do whatever it takes for an organization.
36:54
So, you know, that's I think we take that
36:57
for granted here is that, you know, it's tough to have a board like that.
37:00
And we've had one for a long time.
37:02
And they're very, very, very helpful to me.
37:04
Shout out to our board members.
37:05
You know, you are I hope they're watching this because I do mean them.
37:10
Well, it's a pleasure, man. I'm so glad that you came on.
37:12
It was important.
37:13
So this is our third season.
37:14
I'm not sure if I mentioned that at the beginning, but we've been doing,
37:18
these shows like this for a
37:19
while, and ultimately to try to get in front it, like,
37:23
just just tell you, like, it's not that there is a development team.
37:28
Yeah. This is what these people do.
37:29
This is kind of what that means.
37:31
I think it's important first and foremost, for those that are seeking treatment,
37:35
trying to understand, like, who are these people, you know, like
37:38
who are these people that are running this organization?
37:40
Is my loved one going to be safe there?
37:41
They going to get quality care there.
37:43
So instead of, you know, maybe worrying so much about the next brochure,
37:47
it's like, let's actually like talk to that person.
37:49
Let's talk to Kyle, let's talk to Cindy,
37:51
let's talk to Frank, let's talk to the nurse.
37:53
Let's talk to the therapist directly and have them talk about what it's like,
37:58
you know, and help people understand what the process of change
38:00
might be for their family.
38:02
So development was one of those unique,
38:05
areas of the organization that I really wanted to highlight.
38:07
Thank you.
38:08
I'm just grateful that I know you're busy, but I knew that I wanted to pull you up
38:12
really pretty. Neck. For this year.
38:14
To your your viewers,
38:16
my email is Kyle Underscore Williams at Cumberland Heights dawg.
38:20
And I would love to meet with you, talk to you about how you can help
38:24
other people find a new life, restore their lives here at Cumberland Heights.
38:31
And it doesn't matter if you
38:32
have $1 or $1 million to give, you can have an impact on somebody's life.
38:37
And I love to talk to you about that.
38:38
Thank you.
38:39
Kyle, if you're interested in hearing from Kyle talking with Kyle,
38:42
we're going to put his contacts in the episode description
38:45
and be sure to reach out to him any time.
38:47
Of course, we'll have his email there. Be sure to like,
38:49
comment, follow, subscribe, whatever you can do to support this.
38:52
We're so grateful that you watched you listen wherever you are.
38:55
Thanks again. Thank you.