- (female announcer) Production funding for Behind the Headlines is made possible in part by the WKNO Production Fund, the WKNO Endowment Fund and by viewers like you, thank you.

- The new CEO of MIFA, Dorcas Young Griffin, tonight, on Behind the Headlines.

[intense orchestral music] I'm Eric Barnes with The Daily Memphian, thanks for joining us.

I am joined tonight by the new president and CEO of MIFA, Dorcas Young Griffin, thanks for being here again.

- Thank you for having me.

- Absolutely, along with Bill Dries, reporter with The Daily Memphian.

I'll note, before we get with started with talking to Dorcas, just we're still moving through a bunch of candidates and key races moving towards the November 3rd election.

We recently last week had Brent Taylor on running for U.S.

House District.

We've had Jerry Green on, Democrat for governor We have Chaz Molder coming up next week, he's running, a Democrat, running for one of the other districts, and Justin Pearson is scheduled as well in the coming weeks, and we're working with the other, Charlie Hatcher, David Kustoff, Heidi Kuhn, all them, trying to get them on as well as Marsha Blackburn, the Republican candidate for governor, so those are coming up, but we have a break from politics this week, and so, thank you very much for being here and congratulations on the new job.

- Thank you.

Thank you.

- You've been on the show, we were trying to figure out a couple times, two or three times before.

- Yes.

- You were at county government for 20 years.

For MIFA, I feel like, and this could be wrong, but I feel like MIFA is one of those things that one of the great things about MIFA in Memphis is that everybody likes or loves MIFA.

It's nonpartisan, it comes out of a faith tradition, but it's welcoming of not just all faiths, but people who are non-faith, it does the work that people wanna see done.

How is the?

You're 30 days in, how?

When you look at it, and you worked with MIFA from your seat in the county government, how has MIFA changed over time or evolved or adapted?

- So we will celebrate 60 years next year of MIFA, and when MIFA was started in 1968, of course, it was created by faith leaders who were responding to the assassination of Dr.

King, and there was this impetus to do something, to serve humanity in a different way.

MIFA has maybe evolved over the years since Dr.

King's assassination.

Of course, there have been lots of programs that have been birthed out of MIFA, Latino Memphis, the food bank, all of these programs, but MIFA has remained even in evolving in its program and committed to serving this community.

The vision remains the same, uniting the community through service.

And whatever form MIFA takes, it is continually focused on that vision of uniting this community through service.

- A tough question 30 days in, but whenever you down the road, someday you won't be at MIFA, you'll feel like you were successful as president and CEO if what has happened or not happened?

- Well, one, continuing the vision that was set years ago, that this community is more united.

I know that there are lots of things that divide us, but I do believe our love and service to each other is a uniting force.

So if I can see that on a bigger scale during my tenure, I will feel successful.

I will feel like I have contributed to the vision that was set 60 years ago.

- Yeah, Bill Dries.

- Let's talk about the last few days, because we've been recovering from this storm that knocked out power to over 120,000 people in the Light, Gas and Water service areas, should say customers.

What's that been like?

Because you have plans for what MIFA does on many fronts and this scrambles those plans.

- Right, so one of the things that I have been most impressed with in my less-than-30 days is MIFA is doing the work of the day, but the team really is thinking about what could happen tomorrow.

So going back even months ago when we had power outages, it was cold, that MIFA team was preparing shelf-ready, stable boxes for people being served by MIFA ahead of time.

I think that is the same spirit we have had during this.

Of course, there's an emergency, but the team has prepared to continue to serve the over-2,000 meals that we serve anyway well with a little bit more for those seniors that need it, but we also are an institution.

You all mentioned this, MIFA is an institution here.

It's not just an institution in itself, but it is a great institutional partner with others, so we are really leaning into supporting our other partners like the Neighborhood Christian Center, Catholic Charities, all of those places that are responding to people's immediate needs that they have during this time.

- In a city that one of our main industries is logistics.

MIFA's a different kind of logistics, really.

- It is.

It absolutely is.

To watch, it has been amazing to me as a newbie to come in and see the action that happens in our industrial kitchen every day.

When I say that there are over 2,000 fresh-hot meals that are delivered at 160 degrees to seniors in all four counties, Tipton, Fayette, Lauderdale, Shelby County, every single day, it is amazing to watch.

It takes a team of lots of people that are thinking about every piece of the process, so it is a logistical just- It's magical what happens in that kitchen each and every day.

- Well, you also have to think about things that maybe people aren't aware of, like providing meals to someone who is not housed.

They don't have a kitchen either, so you can't just say, "Hey, here's some flour, here's some rice, go ahead and make your own," it has to be ready to eat.

- So we have different- Many of our clients, we are serving to their homes, many of our seniors, but we do have community dining sites that individuals are able to sign up and be a part of their program and receive the same hot meals that are being delivered to people's homes.

I think when you think about food, MIFA, we are, we understand that it's more than a meal.

So yes, you get a hot meal, you may get a few frozen meals to put in your freezer if you have one, you may get stable ready meals, but we also are thinking about what is going on with that senior.

So when you think about people being socially isolated, there are wraparound services that we're providing through tablets, through a driver just checking on a senior to see, "How are you doing?

"Is there something happening where we need to make an additional referral?"

So I'm really proud of what happens at MIFA around our meals, it is more than a meal.

- And you noted that Meals on Wheels is 50 years old.

That's not just a local institution, that's a national institution as well.

- It is a national institution.

Meals on Wheels America is supporting over 600 agencies across the country like ours.

We are proud of our partnership with them and just proud that we've been able to leverage their support in order to do the over-26 million meals that we've done over the last 50 years.

- When an event like this happens, the storm, or an ice storm in the winter, I'm gonna segue into some of the other stuff that you all do, some of the work you do around housing and homelessness, and this, you know, for many people, the storm is legitimately frustrating and annoying, and, you know, you're without power and you're scrambling.

For other people, it can push them over the edge, right?

I mean, people who are living on the margin whose car gets hit by a limb and they don't have car insurance, or they don't have- They've left their homeowner insurance, or they're in a rental and the landlords.

I mean, these things can push people over the edge, and so, how do you all, whether it's this storm or other events, the folks you're working with, your rapid rehousing, all these kinds of things that, and you did a lot of this work for the county too.

This was I think last time you were on the show, we talked about this kind Affordable housing and these issues.

So talk about what you do in an immediate aftermath of a storm like this, and then, let's segue into the work that I think people often don't know MIFA does around housing, homelessness and so on.

- Well, of course, each and every day, we have people that are calling in that are facing an unstable housing situation, whether that is they are behind in rent or whether that is they are currently without any shelter.

We do run a homeless hotline each and every day where we're able to take calls from folks and direct them, even if it's not us, again, we're a great partner, we work with other partners that are providing housing, providing shelter and make those referrals for people.

We also, you know, we have the opportunity to get some temporary housing for people, so when you are unhoused, when you are experiencing homelessness, when the situation is unstable, you may need a payment somewhere or you may need a place to lay your head for a night.

And so, we do have temporary housing solutions that we support clients in.

But the real goal is to move from a place of, like, this temporary quick fix to long-term.

So Rapid Rehousing provides families with up to 24 months of let's get you stable, let's work with you to figure out what are the other underlying things that are happening where we can support work, where we can support your need for food, transportation, all of those things, how are the kids doing in school, so that at the end of this 24 months, you're not in that same cycle of instability.

- I'm thinking of the last time you were on, it was probably two or three, something like two years ago, and we were talking about housing and the lack of affordable housing.

That problem has probably in some ways gotten even more challenging nationally because interest rates are up, you know, inflation, costs, materials, labor shortages, all that stuff is not just a Memphis problem, it's a national challenge.

When you look at affordable housing in Memphis, what works, what doesn't and what's MIFA's role beyond some, and it may not be beyond what you just said, but just more broadly, what is the answer to the challenge of affordable housing?

- Well, I think you'll have other guests on talking about just our community's focus on the building of affordable housing.

I know that our city government is really focused on 10,000 new homes, and there's a lot of things that happen with developers and, you know, construction, all of that for that to happen.

I think housing stock matters.

I will also tell you that if we are not building up the people who are going into housing, then you just continue in a cycle of just crisis.

And so, people rarely just need a home, they need support on other things like food, like transportation, like making sure that their kids are getting to school and educated.

And so, I think MIFA does a really good job at connecting the dots.

Yes, we have resources that support getting into a house, but our case managers are trying to make sure that their family is stable on all fronts.

I think our role is to really build up the people that we are trying to get into housing.

- And is that?

Just going really in the weeds, that's figuring out do you have debt?

Do you have, you don't have a budget, your financial manager, you don't I mean, do you have a bank account or are you, you know, paying a bunch of fees to get your money, right?

I mean, it's a lot of really nitty-gritty, in-the-weeds stuff to get people financially stable and financial literacy and so on?

- It is building a relationship with them first, and I think that the team at MIFA, whether that's in our housing stability programs, our meals, our ombudsman program, we are really great at building relationships to figure out what people need.

Now, are we positioned to do all the things?

No, but again, being a good partner, understanding what other resources are for our people and making sure that they're connected to those I think makes for strong families that can support this vision of more housing stock.

- Yeah, Bill.

- One problem that has endured here for so long that we probably skip over at times is transportation.

To get folks to the help they need, they need to have transportation there.

If tomorrow, a magic wand was waved and there was a bus system that was working, serving all the needs, how much easier would what you do be?

- So I believe, of course, transportation is an issue for many of our families.

We have been very creative in trying to figure out ways to get people where they need to go.

I will leave to some of our transportation experts to make my magic wand work.

What I will tell you is that we will continue to support our families with the things that we do have available to us.

We will work with them to look at alternatives to transportation options, to Ubers, whatever it takes to get people where they need to go.

Again, is it us providing the service?

Maybe not, but there's a partnership that really can help those families overcome those transportation barriers.

- Talk about something else that's complex, and that is the network of funding that keeps MIFA going.

It's not just one pot of money, is it?

- Oh, no, it is a diverse pot of funding.

Of course, the Aging Commission of the Mid-South is a major partner for us.

When we talk about all of these 2,000-plus meals that are being prepared and delivered each day, they are a major partner.

That is federal funding that comes through the state and it comes to MIFA to do that work.

We are proud of that partnership, but that is less than 50% of the funding that we have supporting MIFA.

Much of what comes to MIFA are also donations.

We talked about uniting the community and what my vision is for MIFA, how I'll feel great when I leave MIFA.

I will feel great when I see more people investing in the work that's being done, and right now, we have committed donors, we have committed volunteers, that are able to supply much of our budget.

Of course, there are other private foundations that support our work, but it is a diversity of funding that keeps us going each year.

- And we should point out that when you talk about federal funding, that funding often comes not just from Memphis, not just Shelby County, the feds want you to cover the metropolitan area, right?

- Absolutely, absolutely, in the case of our work with the Aging Commission of the Mid-South, we expand our services not just to Shelby County, but to Tipton, Fayette and Lauderdale.

So we have paid drivers that are going out each day to deliver meals to homes in those counties.

We have about 21 community dining sites that are in those locations.

And so, yes, it's not just Shelby County, but it is the metropolitan area that's being served by MIFA and the work that we do.

- About eight minutes left in the show.

I want to come back to the long-term care ombudsman, you talked about the Aging Commission.

First question is we had the folks in the Aging Commission on, it may have been your predecessor Sally as well, on when, I don't wanna be political, but the DOGE cuts were happening at the federal level.

Was MIFA impacted somewhat or very badly by cuts at the federal level?

- So I can't speak to all of the things that may have changed when cuts happened.

Some of those things happened prior to me being here.

I do know as a community, we have had to maybe adjust to changes in funding.

I can tell you that while there have been cuts, MIFA is seeing an increase in the number of clients that we are beginning to serve.

I think that we are figuring out locally how to adjust and use other sources of funding to be able to support more and more people each year.

So, know you, yes, there have been cuts, there is uncertainty, but we are very conscious of that and really working to identify other funding sources to support the things that we're doing.

- With the long-term care ombudsman, I mean, we have an aging population.

That's not changing, right?

Poverty can ebb and flow, more houses can ostensibly be built, you know, as people come together.

This aging population, more people going into long-term care, unlike you were talking about helping to transition people out of, you know, borderline homelessness.

You know, aging just comes for all of us, right?

I mean, I know- - Hopefully, right.

- Yeah, hopefully, hopefully, yeah.

What do you look for?

What are you looking forward, your work with- Talk about what that long-term care ombudsman does, and I imagine that need and role would only get bigger over time given the demographics.

- Absolutely, so what I would say is the ombudsman program, we serve as advocates for people who are in long-term care facilities and nursing homes.

So perhaps there are issues that people are seeing where something doesn't feel right, where, you know, elder abuse is real.

Those things can be reported to our ombudsman program through the state, and we have people that go out and investigate those things, and can advocate for both that client and family.

We also have volunteers, volunteers are amazing on this program because they commit 40 hours of training to be able to do that work.

I believe that through that program and awareness of that program, one, we can address the issues that are arising, but also people know that MIFA, that the ombudsman program is an advocate, that we're there, we care and we're watching on behalf of our clients.

- Bill.

- And it's not as simple as here's someone who's gonna deliver Meals on Wheels, which is a program that's not part of MIFA, but which you supply, right?

Or is Meals on Wheels part of MIFA?

- Meals on Wheels, yes.

- Okay.

- Yes, MIFA runs a Meals on Wheels program.

- Okay, so when you train drivers, you're not telling them, "Just give them the meal and say, 'See you tomorrow.'"

- Absolutely not.

- The training is much deeper than that.

- Absolutely not, so our drivers, our volunteers that are delivering each day, they are building relationships with the people that they're serving.

So if I'm delivering to Ms.

Jones, I see her every day and I can see is she feeling okay?

Do things feel like they're on track?

We have people that we're able to report to to check on Ms.

Jones, right?

We have a phone buddy system where people can call Ms.

Jones just to say, "Ms.

Jones, how you feeling?

You need someone to talk to?"

So it's more, as I mentioned, more than a meal.

It is about really ensuring that our seniors eat, but that their souls are whole, that their spirits are whole, that they have what they need.

- Who gets involved in MIFA?

Who comes to work there every day?

- Me.

[laughs] I think- You know, I thought I was a unicorn when I started.

I thought, "Hey, I feel called to this work, I care so deeply, I want to serve," but every single person, every 87, person, all the employees, they feel the same way.

It is a calling, it is something that people do with their heart, they do it because they care about people and they care about this community.

- There's also a significant amount of training and education with people who get- This is social work on a great level.

- Absolutely, the training is robust.

I have been in bootcamp for the last 30 days.

As much as I know, I'm still learning, right?

So we are constantly training our staff, training our volunteers about, you know, technical skills, but also just humanity, right?

Like, just being reminded to see the humanity in each and every person that we serve.

- Well, it's also straightening out lives that have become a mess for various reasons, and all of us in our society are raised to think, "Okay, well, you take care of your business," you can do that and still wind up in a situation, I guess.

- Absolutely, absolutely.

I think what MIFA will show you, and, you know, shameless plug, but we are working with an author who wrote a book, he's coming here for Our City, Our Story, our biggest fundraiser, to talk about working people who are homeless.

He wrote a book and looked at families in Atlanta.

That is not just an exception, right?

That is happening more and more.

And so, there are many people that are on the margins or close to the margins.

I think what our job is is to serve and to also give people hope that there can be a different future, but even in that hope, that hope is being kind, it's being watchful, but it's also delivering resources to them like food, like helping with their rent and mortgage.

So I think MIFA does a great job of providing hope, but also providing the resources that support that.

- With just a minute left, you have a brother, I forget his name - I don't know that guy.

[laughs] - You don't know that guy?

It was Paul, we saw him at the beginning, he was He went by on the screen, yeah.

In this role, MIFA is obviously an incredibly prominent role.

I mean, how much do your brother, the mayor, and you?

You guys are very close, that's my impression.

Where are the lines in that?

I don't mean to cause trouble, but, like, there's gotta be some lines, right?

'Cause we were just talking about transportation, and data, and waving a magic wand, and, you know, some people are like, "Well, just text your brother."

- "Just text your brother," well, so I will say this, MIFA has worked with the city for years, years before I got there.

We will continue that partnership.

Now, it just so happens that I know the guy that's at the city for a time such as this, right?

I will continue in my role in MIFA to advocate for the needs of the organization and the people that it serves, and it doesn't hurt that, you know, I have nearly 50 years of, you know.

- Well, you know things about him - I know things.

- You can just say You can say, "I'll go public with them."

All right, we are out of time, Dorcas, thank you for being here.

We're hoping to get your brother on here pretty soon.

We've got more election shows coming, more candidates coming.

If you missed any of the past ones, those are at wkno.org, any of this show, wkno.org, Daily Memphian or YouTube.

Thank you, Bill, thank you for joining us.

Next week, Chaz Molder, we'll see you then, thanks.

[intense orchestral music] [acoustic guitar chords]