The Truman Charities Podcast
Join Jamie Truman on a transformative journey as she connects to individuals making a difference in their communities. From New York Times bestselling authors to compassionate doctors and visionary farmers, our podcast unveils untold narratives shaping our communities. Whether it's a doctor revolutionizing healthcare or a farmer transforming food systems, our guests are trailblazers, influencers, and innovators driving positive change.
Truman Charities, a charitable organization with a mission, donates $250 toward their causes for every powerful story shared on the podcast.
The Truman Charities Podcast
How Is Interfaith Works Changing The Lives Of Over 35,000 People In Montgomery County? Our Derby Party Benefiting Interfaith Works Is May 3rd; Learn About Some Of Our Amazing Prizes And Where You Can Register! | CEO Interfaith Works Courtney Hall Ep. 137
There’s no one solution to poverty, but Interfaith Works has built a comprehensive network of services to help thousands of residents rebuild their lives.
In this episode, CEO Courtney Hall shares real success stories and the programs that make them possible — from emergency housing and financial assistance to a food pantry and paid job training. We also explore how community involvement, including their partnership with Truman Charities, helps the organization grow and provide long-term support to those experiencing housing insecurity, hunger, and unemployment.
If you want to help make an impact, don’t miss the Truman Charities annual Derby Party where 100% of proceeds will go directly to Interfaith Works. Join us on May 3rd at Tommy Joe’s in Bethesda for a fun night of music, awesome prizes, and more!
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Email: info@trumancharities.com
This episode was post produced by Podcast Boutique https://podcastboutique.com/
Welcome to the Truman Charities podcast. I am Jeanne Truman, your host. If you don't know much about Truman Charities, we are a 100% volunteer-based organization. Outside of this podcast, each year we host three events for different charities. We started in 2010 and we've raised over $2 million since we started, and each year we have a derby party, we have a family fun event and we have a Halloween party. So I'm very excited to talk about our upcoming derby party on May 3rd. This will be benefiting Interfaith Works.
Speaker 1:If you guys have been listening to this podcast for years, you know Interfaith Works because I had you guys have been listening to this podcast for years. You know InterfaithWorks because I had interviewed Courtney Hall, the CEO, about four years ago when we just began. However, a lot has changed, as you know, in the past four years with different organizations, so I wanted to bring Courtney back on so you could really understand why we chose InterfaithWorks for one of our events. They have so many different services and so many different people that they're helping within Montgomery County. They have emergency shelters, they have supportive housing. They help with essential needs. They also are really big in their vocational services, which is their job training program, which is where the majority of the money raised at our Derby party will be going to their job training program, which is where the majority of the money raised at our Derby party will be going to their job training program. We are 100% volunteer-based organization, so 100% of the money raised every single dollar raised from our Derby event will go straight to Interfaith Works.
Speaker 1:When I talked to Courtney, we talk all about everything that they're doing to help people in Montgomery County, but we also talk about our great event. We have some amazing prizes. As you know, my husband, jerry, is so good at getting the best prizes. We talk about different trips that we have offered and then also, as you know, my favorite, boone Son Jewelry. Daryl Boone has been a big sponsor for so many years. I got all my jewelry from there engagement ring, wedding ring, all my earrings Everything that I get is always from Daryl. So we have a lot of things to cover.
Speaker 1:I really hope that you enjoy listening to Courtney and the updates on Interfaith Works and then, of course, if you have any questions about our upcoming Derby party, you can always email me at info at TrumaCharitiescom and you go on TrumaCharitiescom to go to the registration and then that's where you can get your tickets for the big event. So I really hope that you enjoyed this conversation with Courtney as much as I did, and I cannot wait to see you May 3rd for our Derby party. Courtney, it's so good to talk to you again. I haven't spoken to you, gosh, in a couple years, I think. So I'm sure there's a lot to catch up on some new stuff that you guys have going on, so I'm excited about that. So thanks for coming on.
Speaker 2:Certainly Nice to speak with you also, Jamie.
Speaker 1:Yeah. So I thought it would be a great idea for us to have you come back on, tell us about the updates to Interfaith work, since we'll be having our derby party together on May 3rd. That'll be at Tommy Joe's, and I want to tell everybody that's listening some great items that Jerry just got for us. So our good friend Mark Freeman, he donated a 10-person in-home Italian dinner for you and you just bring your friends to your house and then we take care of the rest, and then you have a six-person wine tasting with One Hope Vineyard. We have a MGM National Harbor one-night stay with show and dinner, and then we also have a hard rock. So that will include dinner, show, your room and then a limo up and back. So we're working on some great stuff for you guys for this Derby party. Are you excited about it, courtney?
Speaker 2:That is very exciting, Jamie. Those are amazing prizes.
Speaker 1:It's going to be really fun, so I cannot wait. So I want everybody to learn about Interfaith Works and understand why we thought it was so important to support your organization for one of our events that we have. But first, before we really get into Interfaith, I want people to learn a little bit more about you. So tell me about your background and kind of what inspired you to focus on helping nonprofits and then stay in the nonprofit world.
Speaker 2:I'm a trained social worker professional social worker. I have my bona fide master's degree in all. I started my career in child welfare and worked in that probably for the better half of more than a decade, working with families who were very, very vulnerable by the time they got to the child welfare system, and too often we had to make the decision to remove the child from the home. And that really just seeing that play out year after year after year became pretty distressing and I began to think about whether there was an opportunity for me to use my skill set to impact families further upstream that really didn't have a support network that could help to support them. So I started some work in DC and working with an affordable housing provider where we built the homes and then service the people who are living in the apartments.
Speaker 2:And then I learned about Interfaith Works and what attracted me to Interfaith Works was the comprehensive way that we approach this work. So not only do we help people who need housing which was, at that point, was not what I was familiar with we also serve people food. We also provide fresh groceries. We help people get a job if that's what they need, a more sustainable job. We help people if they run into trouble. So if they need help paying their rent or keeping their lights on, we help them with that, and then, of course, we also offer shelter and a variety of affordable housing options, and so for me, that presented a really, really unique and very comprehensive way to address this core issue of poverty that I really had been seeing throughout my career, and I've been doing this for the better part of four years now, and I'm super excited to continue doing this work and happy to partner with Truman Charities.
Speaker 1:Oh, thank you so much, and so tell me about how many people that you guys are serving within Montgomery County.
Speaker 2:We serve about 35,000 people in Montgomery County every year and that's across all of our programs.
Speaker 1:Wow, do you have any examples in your head of either an individual or families that you guys have helped?
Speaker 2:Sure, someone that I've thought of and that we served. We'll call her Melanie, right? So Melanie got into a car accident and she couldn't work because of the car accident. So, as a result, not only did she eventually lose her job, but she also lost her health insurance. The stress of just trying to recover and also not knowing how she was going to pay her bills that caused high blood pressure and eventually she had a stroke.
Speaker 2:And she tried for a long time worked with her family, stayed in a variety of folks' homes, finally got to hotels. Tried that for a long time. Worked with her family, stayed in a variety of folks' homes, finally got to hotels, tried that for a while. When all of those options no longer became viable for her, she came to one of our women's shelters. From there she worked with our team, with the case managers there.
Speaker 2:She was then able to get into our short-term housing program called Rapid Rehousing. She's able to get connected to all of the medical care she needed. She's able to get another job and has her own apartment now. And so that's an example of someone who has moved throughout our system, and that's one of the things, that's one of the reasons, again, that I love Interfaith Works because of the comprehensive way that we approach people who are experiencing poverty. So you've got Melanie, who started with shelter, went into housing, was connected to work and also has all of the medical care that she needs. That's not always the perfect example, but I think it's a pretty good example of how people are able to benefit from the services and programs that we offer.
Speaker 1:Yeah, when I first spoken with you years ago when I talked to people about Interfaith Works, I say the same thing. I say that it's such like a comprehensive way about going about helping people from not just housing but to help them getting a job. And were you at all surprised about the need here in Montgomery County when you started?
Speaker 2:Absolutely. So I can joke about it now because I consider myself part of the community. When people think about Montgomery County, they think about extreme wealth, which exists for sure they also they think about a place that doesn't need any assistance. Right, there isn't. There surely cannot be anyone in Montgomery County who is experiencing poverty. And so our internal joke is that people in Montgomery County, and often outside of Montgomery County, think that the streets here are paved with gold.
Speaker 2:But those who do this work know that that is not at all the case. There are deep pockets of poverty in Montgomery County, all around the county, and one of those ways that that shows up is certainly in homelessness, sometimes the very visible way that people are able to see that. Also, during the pandemic, I think that many people began to understand that in fact their neighbors, their actual neighbors, the people who they know may have been living one or two paychecks away from poverty, because they would come out of their car, out of their driveways, and they would see these long lines at the local faith house, the local church, the local synagogue, the local temple, where people were lining up for food, and I think that was very jarring for many people. I think it's a really good illustration of the poverty in the county.
Speaker 1:Right, I was talking to another organization and I was really shocked to find out that a third of the kids in Montgomery County Public Schools are on the free and reduced lunch program. So there is a lot of need in Montgomery County. So I really love what you guys are able to do. So let's get down to your programs that you offer. So first you have your emergency shelters. Tell me a little bit about that.
Speaker 2:Sure. So we operate four shelters in the county. Two of those shelters are the only shelters for women. Shelters vary in size Somewhere between 50 and 40 people can sleep there at night. But because homelessness and shelter is cyclical, we end up serving thousands of people every year. I'll highlight one of our site's progress plays in downtown Silver Spring and that particular site we serve hundreds of people every year who are coming because of the extreme cold outside. So it's what we call hypothermia season and at that time we really just expand our shelters. We have space for people to sleep on the floor, because our primary purpose at that moment is to get people in, out of the cold. We know that people can freeze to death and that is what we're primarily concerned about. So a progress place overflow season is ending at the end of this month, but on any given day, any given night, you can see more than 100 people sleeping because they're able to come in and have a warm and safe place to remain.
Speaker 1:Wow, and let's talk about your supportive housing.
Speaker 2:Sure, we have a variety of supportive housing programs, both shorter term and longer term programs.
Speaker 2:The shorter term program I mentioned was called Rapid Rehousing.
Speaker 2:That's the program that Melanie was able to participate in and it's really for people, designed for people who have some barriers, but the barriers are not so extensive like a long-term disability or long-term medical problems that would prevent them from earning enough money in the marketplace through employment so that they are able to afford rent.
Speaker 2:So that's a set of programs that we have. Then we have longer-term supportive housing programs called permanent supportive housing, called permanent supportive housing, and it's permanent not because someone has to live in any of these situations for the rest of their lives, but because we don't impose time limits on any of these living situations and people both live in communities. So we have actual sites where people live. We have about four of those sites and then people also live out in the community where again they could be your neighbor and you would just never know. And we designed it that way because our goal is to have people live as independently as possible and they benefit from a case manager coming to visit them at least once a month to come and check on them, make sure they're still connected to the services they need and that if they run into any trouble with anything, there's someone there to assist.
Speaker 1:Oh, so tell us a little bit about the essential needs that you offer.
Speaker 2:Sure. So our essential needs programs really cover three areas, so that we have a free distribution center where we distribute for free clothing, so we have a clothing store, and then a food pantry where we provide people with fresh groceries, so fresh produce, milk, eggs, cheese, as well as canned and dry goods. And then also the Essential Needs Center is what we call our Connections Program and through that program people are able to access emergency financial assistance. People are able to access emergency financial assistance so I mentioned earlier, if folks run into trouble paying their rent. We like for people to come to us before they have to get to court, which I think is one of the reasons why our program is unique. People don't have to wait to get to court, then become court involved, have a negative mark on their records, we can help them before they get to that. Or if folks are having trouble paying their records, we can help them before they get to that. Or if folks are having trouble paying their utility bills, we help them with that as well.
Speaker 1:All right, so tell us a little bit about so. How are you helping people get employment?
Speaker 2:Sure. So through our job placement program, we call it vocational services. I love all of our programs, but I think the vocational services program is specifically unique in that they use an individual coaching model to help get people placed in work, and we target people who have experienced homelessness. We target people who are experiencing poverty and, in many cases, have had long-term, chronic unemployment, and that one-on-one coaching model works really well because these are typically people who have not had seen any success accessing other programs, other, more mainstream job placement programs, and I'm really proud of the work that we've been doing, particularly through our paid training program, which is a part of the VSP program, and so through that program we pay people to go through training, because we've always heard from our clients that they are interested in gaining certifications or going through other forms of training that will better position them to secure a more stable job in the marketplace.
Speaker 2:But often people have said to us I'd love to do that, but I can't actually afford the time to do that. So, rather than having them make that decision between whether they're going to earn an hourly wage and be able to feed their families, or go through a training program so that they can eventually earn a higher wage, we tell them we will pay you to go through the training. So we pay folks the equivalent of $15 an hour. They can pursue whatever training they'd like, as long as it is specifically related to some sort of a career that's going to help in the future, and because of that we have an over 90% success rate of completion for that particular part of the program, which I think is really impressive.
Speaker 1:Yeah, that was the one program that my husband was really interested in. He was really impressed by that. What type of training do these individuals go through?
Speaker 2:Any sort of training literally. So we have people who will do something, go through Any sort of training literally. So we have people who will do something. So we serve many people who don't have English as a first language. So we will pay for people to go through that training and that will help them as they're navigating the workplace. We pay for people who are looking to obtain their CNA Certified Nursing Assistant certification, a commercial driver's license. So these will be your school bus drivers over the road, 18 wheel truck drivers, those sorts of things. We have people who go through IT training courses if that's their interest. So really, when I say it depends, we really do try to counsel the folks that we're serving, to help them find a path for them. That makes sense. But that individual coaching model really relies on people, as a part of their assessment, saying this is what I'm interested in. How can you help me to pursue a job, a place of employment that would work with my dream?
Speaker 1:Is there anybody that you can think of that went through your training program, your job training program that has had a successful outcome?
Speaker 2:Oh yeah, absolutely. I have some really good stories about the job training, the VSP program, the job placement program, and so the story I'll share with you is about someone who chose the entrepreneurship path. So this person actually I'm thinking about two people, two women who are supporting their families. The first person has a background in making snacks and food and things like that and selling, but she couldn't work in the traditional workplace so that was not going to work for her.
Speaker 2:That was not going to work for her, but she had this side business and needed some additional help, sort of getting her certifications like the food the safe certification, food handling and things like that and we helped her attain those certifications and we helped her to obtain, like a table and a tent and some other utensils and things like that, and she is now setting up for public events and is able to sell her goods.
Speaker 2:So that's one example. The other person I'm thinking about is someone who is a seamstress. So, similarly, she was not interested in pursuing traditional employment because of her schedule, but she did have an amazing skill as a seamstress. So as a result of working with her and helping her to get equipment, we helped her to purchase a sewing machine and things like that. Now we are now evolving that into a seamstress or a sewing program where other clients are now coming to be trained at our Essential Needs Center where we are. This is in progress. So we will have an entire thing set up with tables and sewing machines where people go through a several week course and of course they'll be paid to go through that course and at the end they will have the skill, have found the skill and then be able to obtain their own clients.
Speaker 1:Wow, that's pretty amazing.
Speaker 2:So we try to take a very creative approach to helping people get to their goal.
Speaker 1:Yeah, I love that Since you've joined Inner Faith Works. Was it four years ago? You said now?
Speaker 2:Yeah, four years?
Speaker 1:Within the four years, what's something that you've learned that surprised you?
Speaker 2:I've been surprised at the supportiveness of the community in two ways. One, just generally. Community in two ways. One, just generally our donors, our volunteers.
Speaker 2:I didn't mention that over 7,000 volunteers help us execute our work every single day, which is amazing. So over the course of a year we have about 7,000 people who help us. So that was amazing, the belief and faith that our donors have in our work. So, even as we navigated the pandemic and some really difficult times, we knew that we could always count on our donors and volunteers. And the other piece to that in terms of community involvement is our elected officials. When I came to this county, one of my colleagues who was working here already said Courtney, who had also worked in DC, said Courtney, who had also worked in DC, said Courtney, you're going to be surprised at how accessible the local elected officials are. And I have been surprised at how, first of all, how much they get it and then how willing they are to lend their expertise, to lend their support, to really support our story and the work that we're doing in the community.
Speaker 1:So how can people get involved within Interfaith Works?
Speaker 2:We would love people to donate. Of course that, especially since the Derby is coming up the Derby party we would love for people to participate fully in that event. Financial donations are always welcome. We also really want people to be able to volunteer. I mentioned already that over the course of a year, we have about 7,000 people who help us execute our mission, and we have really easy ways for people to plug in and be able to volunteer.
Speaker 2:People can come to our Essential Neat Center and they can stock our food shelves. They can also replenish the racks in our clothing store. People can prepare meals for our shelters. Most of the meals that we serve at our shelters are provided by volunteers, either people who are cooking home-cooked meals or who are purchasing a restaurant-quality meal, having it delivered, and we always love to have people come and volunteer to actually serve the food. So those are some really easy ways that people can get plumped in and we'd love to have people come and volunteer to actually serve the food. So those are some really easy ways that people can get plent in and we'd love to have some additional support from the community.
Speaker 1:So how do you see Interfaith Works in the future? What are your goals?
Speaker 2:that we've been mulling over as an organization how can we be positioned to think differently about how people access the services that we need? So, for example, we've heard quite a bit about federal workers losing work. We know that not all of those people will need help, but certainly some of them will, maybe even the contractors who were also affected. So we're thinking a little bit differently about how we can make our services available to folks who need it the most, how we can get the word out, etc. The other piece that we've been thinking about is partnerships, so really solidifying our partnerships. So we serve about 35,000 people a year I jokingly tell the team that's enough people. We don't really need to be able to serve more. But we also sadly, Jamie, know that there are many more people who are in need.
Speaker 2:One of the things that we have discovered and come to really understand is that our partners are doing really, really excellent work in the community, and my view is that it's actually unnecessary for us to try to grow our program so that we can serve, say, all 70,000 people who are experiencing poverty in Montgomery County, 100,000 people.
Speaker 2:We instead can find ways to partner with other providers, other nonprofits in the community, whether that is through financial support, whether that's through helping to elevate their message, whether that is through making connections with elected officials, or whether that's partnering with them to do some joint work. One really good example of them that I'd highlight is some work that we're doing in the Long Branch community that's just on this side of the Tacoma Park line. There's a really excellent nonprofit share that is doing really good work there, and we were looking to sort of enter the Long Branch area and we got a really good referral from one of our elected officials who said why don't you check out this organization and see what it is that you can do to come alongside them, partner with them to do good work? And that's what we did, and I'm really excited about some of the work that we're going to be able to do with them in the future.
Speaker 1:Right. So if someone is looking for your assistance, how do they get in contact with you guys?
Speaker 2:The easiest way is to go to our website. There is a get help section and we'll direct them specifically direct them to whatever it is that they need. If someone is seeking shelter, there is a number listed on there for the crisis center where they can call to seek shelter. If someone needs access to food or clothing or to our connections program, there are phone numbers on there as well. Folks can also reach out via email if they need to respond.
Speaker 1:Courtney, is there anything that we haven't talked about or we haven't mentioned that you think people should know?
Speaker 2:I think I'd just like to reiterate how much I would like people to participate in the derby party Say what's what.
Speaker 1:Yes, me too.
Speaker 2:I really would, because I mean, we are very excited about this event, jerry, and you, jamie, have been speaking and mentioning how successful it was last year and in prior years, and it's just really exciting to be able to have the opportunity to partner with Truman Charities to do something like this, because the work that you're doing helps us to reach potentially a new audience who is likely to be very interested in our story and in the work that we're doing. And not only do we hope that people will participate in the Derby party, but we hope people will also volunteer and donate otherwise into the future so that we can continue doing the good work we are in the community.
Speaker 1:Yes, that's what we love our parties for. We have an organization that we love that's helping people locally and then getting a good group of people together that are in the community looking to help their neighbors and getting to introduce them to all of these great charities, and yours being one of them. So I'm really excited about this Derby party. Again, it's May 3rd. You can email me at info at Truman Charities if you have any questions. Again, those are just some of our items that we're going to have, but we are going to have a really good prize for best dressed who comes. So please wear your best derby outfit, but you don't have to if you don't want to. So that is optional, but we do have a really great time.
Speaker 1:We'll have derby themed drinks and we really just try to have a really good time while giving back to the community, and that's what we're able to accomplish when we're there. So, courtney, I cannot wait for you and your team to be there. We are excited and look on the show notes everybody. So you can either get involved in Interfaith Works and get in contact with Courtney and his team, and then also we'll have a link for registration for the Derby Party as well. Unfortunately, space is limited and we usually fill up pretty quick, so make sure to register as soon as you can. So thanks again, courtney, for coming on. This was so fun.
Speaker 1:Thanks, jamie, it was really good seeing you and I'll see you in a couple of weeks. Thanks so much for listening to this interview with Courtney. Hasn't a lot changed in the past four years from when we first interviewed Courtney about Interfaith Works? They're doing some amazing work and that's why we chose to have Interfaith Works be the charity that we will be benefiting at our Derby party. So, again, make sure to contact me with any questions. You can go on TrumaCharitiescom and that's where you can register.
Speaker 1:And, of course, if you would like to help this podcast and we are 100% I know I say it all the time 100% volunteer-based organization so the best way for you to help me is to write a review for our podcast. So please go into your Apple app, scroll down, hit the five stars, write a short review about why you enjoy listening to this podcast and, while you're at it, go to the right hand corner and hit that subscribe button. And if you'd like to follow us on social media Instagram at Jamie, underscore Truman Charities. Facebook at Truman Charities, you can follow me on LinkedIn at Jamie Truman. And then, of course, go to TrumanCharitiescom and you can find out about all of our upcoming events and our Bethesda's Best Happy Hours. Thanks again for tuning in to another episode of the Truman Charities Podcast.
