ABOUT GUESTS:
Madeline Garcia
Madeline Garcia serves as Development Director for the Yvonne Fund, where she leads fundraising and community engagement efforts to grow a permanent source of support for permanent supportive housing services in Washtenaw County.
Her commitment to serving neighbors experiencing homelessness began before her nonprofit career, when she volunteered for nearly three years as a hairstylist providing free monthly haircuts at the Delonis Center. She later spent eight years at United Way, gaining experience across fundraising, grant writing, volunteer engagement, marketing, events, workplace giving, and major gifts.
Today, she brings that experience—and a deeply held belief in approaching people with empathy rather than judgment—to her work building long-term support for solutions to homelessness.
Norman Herbert
"I currently serve as a director and Co-Chair (and treasurer 2018-2023) of The Treeline Conservancy Board. Have served as a director (and treasurer 2008-2022) of the Washtenaw Housing Alliance, a co-chair of the Washtenaw Healthcare Initiative from its founding in 2010 to 2020 and consultant to the Michigan Information Technology Center Foundation in Ann Arbor and the Ann Arbor Public Schools, Board of Education. Served as a director and treasurer, Washtenaw Community College Foundation 2010 to 2016, Director of United Bancorp, Inc, a Director of United Bank; Trust and Director of the United Bank; Trust – Washtenaw and a member of the Trust Committee of the United Bank Trust."
"I was a part of the financial management team for the University of Michigan for thirty- five years before retiring in 2002 as Associate Vice President; Treasurer, a position I had held starting in 1995. My university responsibilities included management of the endowment and working capital, real estate acquisitions and dispositions, external financing activities and risk management."
I am a 1964 graduate of Earlham College and was involved as a member of the Earlham College Foundation Investment Committee (1990-2001 and 2003-2013). Debbie and I have two children, six grandchildren and one great-grandson. I have long been active with a number of professional, civic and non-profit organizations. I was Board Chair of the University Musical Society, a director of the Commonfund, Board Chair and Treasurer of the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation, a trustee of the Ann Arbor Rotary Endowment Foundation, Director and Treasurer of the Washtenaw Community College Foundation, Director of the Sphinx Organization and President and Treasurer of the Ann Arbor Rotary Club."
RESOURCES:
Washtenaw Housing Alliance (WHA)
Sister Yvonne Gellise Fund for Permanent Supportive Housing Services (Yvonne Fund)
TRANSCRIPTION:
Decky Alexander: his is 89.1 WEMU, and welcome to our weekly conversation on equity and opportunity in our county and in our community. I'm your host, Decky Alexander, and I'm honored still and always to welcome you to this week's edition of Washtenaw United. The issue du jour in Washtenaw County is housing--not enough, too tall, too expensive, too much red tape, too little funding, so, so much need from individuals to families and everyone in between. Those who've had the privilege of living like myself in this resource-rich county know many of the people and organizations who have been dedicated to managing our housing crisis past and present, such as SOS Community Services, the Shelter Association, and Avalon, among others. We don't need Maslow and his hierarchy to know that if one has shelter, stable shelter, all of their other needs and necessities--school, clothing, health, and work--can be more easily met. But if you live in a more constant state of temporary, housing to many is simply too difficult to survive today. We will be talking to Sister Yvonne Gellise Fund for Permanent Supportive Housing Services and to its development director, Madeline Garcia, and Norman Herbert, the fund's cabinet chair, on why and how PSH is widely proven to be the most successful solution to chronic homelessness. It is chronically the hardest model to fund consistently because sometimes philanthropy prefers short-term crisis response over long-term capital stability. Madeline and Norman, welcome to Washtenaw United! Welcome, welcome!
Madeline Garcia: Thank you for having us here!
Decky Alexander: Sorry, a little bit of a framing here. So, the two of you are also permanent faces and fixtures in the county philanthropic and nonprofit scene. So, can you share a little bit about your own journey to the Yvonne Fund?
Madeline Garcia: Yeah, I started off with the nonprofit work at Big Brothers Big Sisters in an internship almost nine years ago and then, for the past eight years, I worked with United Way of Washtenaw County and then through the merger to United Way for Southeastern Michigan. And then, back in the spring, I started at the Yvonne Fund, and I am so happy to be here!
Decky Alexander: Thank you so much Madeline. What about you, Norman?
Norman Herbert: Having served on the board for the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation, I had the opportunity to work in the area of affordable housing and addressing the needs. In 2004 or 2005, the county adopted a blueprint to end homelessness. And I happened to be involved as part of the Affordable Housing Initiative to participate through a couple of committees and really developed a suggestion that an endowment fund would provide for a long-term solution to addressing the needs with the permanent support of services. And so, we can talk about that later, but it was an outgrowth of the work through the task force back in 2006 and 2007.
Decky Alexander: Well, both of you entered this particular fund from various spaces and places, and I think that's going to contribute to its sort of permanency, so to speak, in our community. So, last week on Washtenaw United, we actually talked with Avalon Housing about how supportive housing works on the ground. So, most nonprofits, like them, often have to scramble to raise money year after year. So why did, and you alluded to this a little bit before, the Yvonne Fund decided to take a completely different route to building a more permanent endowment, instead of yearly fundraising?
Norman Herbert: That decision was made based on, first of all, needing to undertake an advocacy and education initiative within the community to provide a better understanding of what the needs were. But from a long-term perspective, and as much as many people tend to address the current crisis and provide current contributions to provide needed services, the endowment fund represents a pool that will provide a distribution on an annual basis to provide an ongoing stream to agencies that are providing those services directly. Our ability to provide for what was at that time projected for 500 units of housing, we would estimate about $5,000 per unit in the way of annual supportive services that required. And if you multiply that, you know that you quickly need $2.5 million each and every year. And as a source of funding to provide that, building an endowment made the most sense to us. And it is a unique model, but it has already had a significant impact in the services that we're able to provide support for.
Decky Alexander: Can you explain a little bit about some of the impact that it's already had from your vantage point or yours, Madeline?
Madeline Garcia: Yeah. The past few years we've been giving out grants to Avalon Housing and to Michigan Ability Partners. And last year, we gave around $256,000 between the two of them. And this year, we're looking to give out $326,000 in grants and possibly add in a third grant partner. So, I think that has a big impact on them to not have to be fundraising for that amount of money. I was with Scott Ellis from Avalon Housing, and he said that the Yvonne Fund is one of their largest funding partners that's not a government agency. And so, we're really proud to be able to be supporting that work.
Norman Herbert: And I would add, if I can, that $325,000 that will be distributed in 2026 represents 65 units of housing units that will be provided support. And we measure, not on dollars only, but in terms of the number of housing units that we can provide support for.
Decky Alexander: You are listening to Washtenaw United on 89.1 WEMU. I'm Decky Alexander. And today, we are having a conversation with the Yvonne Fund for Permanent Supportive Housing Services and with its development director, Madeline Garcia, and Norman Herbert, the fund's cabinet chair, on how to more permanently fund permanent supportive housing. So, Norman, drawing on your extensive financial background, including managing, I believe, University of Michigan's endowment, why do you believe it is so hard to convince people to invest in long-term solutions like PSH as opposed to more visible, short-term shelters? I mean, to note, right, and just to correct me if I'm wrong, but it costs $11,300 a year for supportive housing compared to roughly $29,200 for shelter for one individual. Why do think there is that kind of disparity?
Norman Herbert: Well, the shelter, in this case, is probably the prisons, as an example, or when you think in terms of hospital care, that is much more expensive care. Facilities are being used, personnel that are providing the support, and here what we're providing is immediate direct service support to those individuals to maintain their housing. Again, we're not providing the actual housing. That's being provided through other sources, but it's the services that enable those individuals to remain housed. That's critically important.
Decky Alexander: The endowment is somewhat, as you noted, revolutionary or unique to funding, for lack of a better word, homelessness or those who are not housed properly. So, it's using something more stable, permanent, to address something that is chronic and temporary. Is this the future of funding here overall in this county, not just for housing? I mean, endowments versus annual fundraising and grants, giving both of your proximate expertise in the non-profit space?
Norman Herbert: The endowment represents a source of funds that will never go away if it's managed appropriately. And we have the benefit of it being managed through the Ann Arbor Area Community Foundation. And they've had a very good track record. The distribution on an annual basis doesn't exceed 5%. It's probably more in the area of 4% per annum over a number of quarters, so it averages a little bit less than that on an absolute basis. But state funds, federal funds, can be taken away. They're all temporary in terms of allocations. The endowment fund is there in perpetuity, and it will provide a stream of support for the needed services that we're talking about in this case. I think it's a unique solution, and it's one, unfortunately, that will go on probably forever in as much as, unfortunately, people will always at some level experience will have experiencing homelessness.
Decky Alexander: Madeline, do you have any thoughts as well?
Madeline Garcia: Yeah. Norman talked to it a little bit about how the state and federal funds can fluctuate, and we have seen that there's a potential of two to three million in HUD funding being cut. And so, that can make a huge impact, and, like he said, having the endowment just gives the security that annual fundraising doesn't always give. And when you ask if this is kind of the future of fundraising, I do know that a lot of other nonprofits do annual fundraising, but they also have an endowment. So, I think it's always been something that people have utilized, but maybe it's something that could be more of a focus in the future for that long-term stability. I know that, for the Yvonne Fund, it is a strategy that is working very well.
Decky Alexander: Well, I heard someplace, and maybe it was the development officer here at the university, was basically saying that there is not enough foundation funding to eliminate, to cover all of the federal losses, right? You just can't do it. So, there has to be really localized solutions, like an endowment fund, to really support the necessities and the safety net in our own communities. We have to take care of our own. The idea of relying on state and federal funds--still possible but not permanent, not definite.
Norman Herbert: This is a stable, ongoing source of support.
Decky Alexander: So, we talk, Norman and Madeline, to many movers and shakers of our nonprofit community, and most of them, because they are so approximate to the work, have a moment that has solidified the why of their work. Though you may have less proximity to the people being served by this particular fund, do you have a story or a moment of impact that has really stayed with you in any of this work, whether it's directly related to housing or some of your other efforts in our community?
Norman Herbert: I've had an opportunity to work on what was referred to as the Washtenaw Health Initiative which was introduced post-2010 when the Affordable Care Act was adopted. I have seen the gaps that exist in the community, and I have also listened to those that are the beneficiaries of support services, in terms of what a difference it's made in their ability to get back to a normal life. Having observed that, it is very moving, and it's what keeps me involved in wanting to continue to grow this fund. We're today at a level of about 11 million-plus, depending upon what's happening in the market. And right now, it's a little bit up and down. Our goal is to get to $60 million if we're going to provide the $2.5 million of annual support. This is quite an undertaking. It's not going to be done in my lifetime, but I think it's the right thing for this community, and I'm pleased to be a part of it.
Decky Alexander: Thank you.
Madeline Garcia: My "why," I think would just be I think it would start with the word "empathy." I think I was just born as a very empathetic person, and throughout my entire life, I've just wanted to connect with others and support others. And I've seen through my work at the United Way, and I volunteered at the Delonis shelter in the past and other community events doing free haircuts for people in the community. And I think it just shows that everybody is in a different situation. Everybody got there in a different way. But they all need support. They all need dignity. Nobody needs judgment. And we're just here to help each other. That's my focus and my purpose in life.
Decky Alexander: Well, thank you for being some of our most notable movers and shakers in this county and building a foundation, so other people have a foundation in our community for generations to come. So, loving this vibe! Two weeks in a row, we have people live in the studio, which is lovely because we can do nonverbals. And I want to thank Madeline and Norman with the Yvonne Fund for Permanent Supportive Housing Services. Thank you for your work, once again, and wisdom! Washtenaw United is produced in partnership with the United Way for Southeastern Michigan, and you can hear it right here every Monday. I'm Decky Alexander, and this is your community NPR station, 89.1 WEMU, Ypsilanti.
WEMU has partnered with the United Way for Southeastern Michigan to explore the people, organizations, and institutions creating opportunity and equity in our area. And, as part of this ongoing series, you’ll also hear from the people benefiting and growing from the investments being made in the areas of our community where there are gaps in available services. It is a community voice. It is 'Washtenaw United.'
Non-commercial, fact based reporting is made possible by your financial support. Make your donation to WEMU today to keep your community NPR station thriving.
Like 89.1 WEMU on Facebook and follow us on X (Twitter)
Contact WEMU News at 734.487.3363 or email us at studio@wemu.org
