A note about our upcoming meeting….

Dear Board Members,

August was a full and productive month at The Hope & Healing Place. We have moved from preparing for the Road to Hope into a true sprint toward the finish line, and I am grateful for the many hands helping to carry this work forward.

Throughout August, we:

  • Reconvened after our summer break to review the 2025 audit, financials, programs, upcoming events, and campaign priorities.

  • Completed and submitted the second phase of our $250,000 Amarillo Area Foundation discretionary grant request.

  • Hosted the Amarillo Area Foundation for a tour of the Coulter facility as part of its grant-review process.

  • Met with Tracy Selle about submitting a grant request for $250,000 to the Mary E. Bivins Foundation during its next cycle that opens 9/28.

  • Reached out to the Ware Foundation, Amarillo Business Foundation, and other prospective funding partners.

  • Continued due diligence and inspections of the Coulter property, including the plumbing, HVAC, electrical, structural, roofing.

  • Held Road to Hope training to prepare board members and campaign leaders to serve as connectors, solicitors, and advocates.

  • Increased board commitments to more than $30,000 and continued following up on remaining commitments.

  • Prepared for the fall Generations cycle and our other grief-support programs while addressing a growing waitlist.

  • Continued preparations for The Big Cheese, one of our largest annual fundraising and community-awareness events.

  • Welcomed new and returning board members who are already contributing their time, talents, relationships, and leadership to our mission.

Each grant request, introduction, inspection, meeting, and commitment represents another important step toward securing a facility that will allow us to serve more grieving children, adults, and families across the Texas Panhandle.

September will require continued momentum. One of our most important next steps is for each board Connector to make one or two introductions from their prospect list by September 18. Our goal is to schedule three to five discovery meetings for a solicitor and/or me. These introductions do not need to be complicated—a simple email connecting us with someone in your network can open an important door.

Thank you for continuing to give your time, treasure, talent, and connections to this effort. We have a significant amount of work ahead of us, but I remain confident that, together, we can make this vision a reality and create the room needed to help even more hearts heal.

‍ ‍

📈Grant Budget Update

  • We have another $31,000 that I anticipate receiving by the end of the year. Currently, we are at $182,000 of the budgeted $130,000, or 164%. We could end

    the year at $213,00/164%. Which will be a great start for 2027 as we settle in the new building!

    🔐Key Initiatives

  • Board nominations for Vice President & Secretary.

  • Board Committee breakouts in the November meeting.

  • Continue writing grants and follow-ups with introductions.

‍ Please note that the purpose of this page is to allow you to review agenda items before the meeting and submit your questions, comments, and concerns in advance, ensuring we have sufficient information prepared to address each item. You are not submitting your vote before the meeting.

In preparation for the meeting, please:

  1. Review the Proposed Meeting Agenda (* indicates a vote is needed at the meeting)

  2. Scroll down and pay close attention to each Pre-Read section (each section is no more than a 3-minute read).

  3. Review the votes we plan on taking during the Meeting.

  4. Add any thoughts or questions in advance using the comments section at the bottom of the page. Note that the team will only address the questions submitted based on your review of the materials, so it's important to share your insights beforehand.

We aim to maximize our time by thoroughly discussing each committee's business. We would greatly appreciate it if you could take the time to think through your questions beforehand.

Additional Resources:

Our Teams Channel is always available to you. This is where we generate our virtual calls and file electronic documents - such as board orientation, financials, board and staff contact lists, and meeting details. Click here to access our HHP Shared Calendar.

Thank you for your continued support, and we look forward to a lively and productive meeting!

Purpose

〰️

Purpose 〰️

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Board of Directors Meeting Agenda

September 17, 2026

  • CALL TO ORDER: Jerry Morgan

  • OPENING BLESSING:

  • *Review of August Minutes

  • Board Page Comments:

  • Mission Moment & Staff Reports:

-Program Report: Mary Margaret

-Communication & Fundraising Report: Cakki Wall

-Projects Report: Mariana Pina

-Executive Report: Candice Kirkpatrick

  • BOARD REPORTS:

-Executive Committee: Jerry Morgan

Road to Hope Updates

-Connector Script; Donor Brief; Project overview.

Any other business?

-Finance Committee: Candice Kirkpatrick

*Review August 2026 Financials

Any other business?

-Governance Committee: Hannah Jones

Any business?

-PR & Events Committee: Chad Blount

The Big Cheese

-Hospitality: Debbie Phillips

Any Business?

Moment of Hope

Heartfelt moments within our walls and Board-Led Community Engagements

Training the best! 

It is always so heartwarming to welcome so many new faces to the HHP facilitator family.  Training is hard and hits emotions in all of us at different times of the weekend.  We bond as a group as we each share personal hardships in our own lives and our own stories of grief.  Training is meant to mimic what a facilitating a small group entails.  By sharing, listening, and learning about grief, new facilitators walk out with a new sense of purpose by choosing to volunteer their time at The Hope and Healing Place.  They join us with a greater purpose of meeting families, children and individuals who are in very painful places and have the privilege to make a difference in people’s lives.   

Pre-Read | Financial Update

Financial Overview

🔗Profit & Loss 

🔗Balance Sheet

Finance Committee Remarks

Sarah completed the monthly statement review on Friday, September 11, 2026.

  • HSB Checking Account: There were no missing receipts.

    Notes from Ashlyn:

    All the entries Mariana entered from the audit are correct.

    Regarding “repayment” under payroll liabilities, these were Ashlyn’s notes:

    “I have included an entry below to help clean this up. It appears that you repaid the Rosa's & Sam's back twice. I applied some of this overpayment to clear out the Emp. Rec. account ($7.34), but it looks like HHP owes you $166.62.”

    Repayment - CC April 2026       630.59

    Reimbursement Expense                         630.59

    Repayment                                                 25.22

    Repayment - CC Rosas               25.22

    Employee Receivable (1280)                   148.74

    Repayment - CC Sams              148.74

    Employee Receivable (1280)                       7.34 

    Repayment - CC Rosas                 7.34

  • ANB CC Reconciliation was good. There is a missing receipts from Candice’s Card for $24.29 from Texas Tea purchased for Facilitator Training.

  • ANB Checking Account Reconciliation is good.

Pre-Read | Program Update

Happenings at HHP and around town......  

  • Scheduled Intakes Aug 25-Sept 3 

  • Scheduled First Steps August 31-Sept 4 

LOWLIGHTS 

We had 15 families confirm they wanted to go through program.  Only 5 families initially set their intake phone call and first steps appointments.  I called, texted, emailed, but truly struggled to get families to respond to finish their enrollment for Fall 2026 cycle.   

HIGHLIGHTS 

On a good note...... 

  • We have two counseling interns this semester.   Courntney Vanderford from TTUHC and Veronica Martinez from WT.   

  • We had 8 new volunteers go through training in August and all are so excited to be a part of the HHP team!  

 

 

KEY INITIATIVES 

🔗Program Report  

1    

We have enough interest in both SOSL and HeartPrints, so Becky and I will be reaching out to those possible participants with an expected start date within the next month.   

 

Continue to pour into facilitators and Generations participants for remainder of cycle.

Pre-Read | Development Update

HIGHLIGHTS 

  • Welcomed Veronica Martinez, Social Work Intern from WTAMU. 

  • Established a designated PR & Events Point of Contact 

LOWLIGHTS 

  • Cook team recruitment remains a challenge 

  • Significant time dedicated to event preparation and system implementation 

 

CLOSING THE GAP & HITTING THE TARGET 

Fundraising Goal: $87,500 in sponsorships across all 2026 events 
Year-to-Date Status: $30,500 raised (35%) as of August 2026 

 

STRATEGIES TO CLOSE THE GAP 

  • Focused on increasing TBC VIP table sales and sponsorship commitments. 

KEY INITIATIVE: THE BIG CHEESE: HARVEST OF HOPE 

Immediate Priorities: 

  • Increase VIP table sales 

  • Push to secure cook teams 

  • Sell NCA raffle tickets 

  • Secure 3 WMTC items 

  • Confirm volunteer assignments 

Upcoming Events: 

  • TBC Workday, Friday, October 23 

  • TBC Event, Saturday, October 24 

STRATEGIC OBJECTIVE 

  • Increase attendance, sponsorship revenue, and community awareness through a successful Big Cheese event. 

🔗Sponsorship & Grant Tracker

Pre-Read | Projects Update

Driven by curiosity and built on purpose, this is where bold thinking meets thoughtful execution. Let’s create something meaningful together.

HIGHLIGHTS  

AUGUST in Action 

  • Continued promoting our upcoming fall Generations cycle by creating and sharing content around facilitator training and opportunities to get involved. I focused on making the messaging feel welcoming and approachable while reminding our community that there are several different ways to support HHP. 

  • Began shifting my attention toward preparing for The Big Cheese and volunteer recruitment. With this being our biggest fundraiser of the year and requiring a large number of volunteers to run successfully, I started thinking through ways to get the word out earlier and reach beyond our usual group of volunteers 

 

  • Continued building out our social media content with posts surrounding back-to-school, facilitator training, Cool Connections memories, and National Nonprofit Day. I also introduced a "Moments That Made Us Smile" style of content as another way to use the candid photos we already have and show the lighter, joyful moments that happen within the HHP community. 

 

LOWLIGHTS  

Behind the Scenes 

  • Volunteer recruitment continues to be an area where I want to grow, especially as we prepare for The Big Cheese. Because this event requires so many people in different roles and shifts, I am working on finding ways to reach new volunteers while continuing to appreciate and support the dedicated people who consistently show up for HHP. 

  • Finding a consistent balance between promoting upcoming programs and events while also sharing meaningful, everyday HHP content continues to take some trial and error. I want our social media to do more than advertise what is coming up, so I have been working on finding more opportunities to show the people, moments, and personality behind HHP. 

 

KEY INITITATIVE 

In September, I’ll focus on preparing for The Big Cheese, recruiting volunteers, and creating content that highlights HHP and upcoming opportunities such as Hope for the Holidays. 

NACG training reinforced how valuable our board members’ personal networks can be. Simply sharing HHP posts helps us reach beyond our existing audience. 

This month, I’m asking each board member to share at least one HHP post each week, especially posts about The Big Cheese, volunteer opportunities, and upcoming programs. 

 

1. Increase volunteer recruitment for The Big Cheese by sharing opportunities and reaching out to past volunteers, community members, groups, and organizations that may be interested in helping. 

2. Continue preparing for The Big Cheese by organizing volunteer needs, shifts, and communication so expectations are clear. 

3. Continue developing authentic social media content that highlights everyday moments at HHP, including the people and connections that help tell our story beyond promotional graphics. 

4. Board Social Media Ask: Between now and our next board meeting, please share at least one HHP post each week to your personal page. When you see a Big Cheese volunteer post, consider making that one of your shares. This simple action can help us connect with new volunteers, supporters, and families in our community. 

🔗 Social Media Report

I'd love your feedback if you have any ideas on how to approach this obstacle. Be sure to submit your comments so I can provide sufficient responses.  

Submit your pre-read comments here

Below is a list of items we will vote on during the meeting. Please review the information provided and submit any questions you might have in addition to your pre-read comments using the form.

Questions, concerns, and comments must be submitted by 8 a.m. on the meeting day.