The job of a reverse mortgage professional requires compassion. Every day, these people talk with seniors concerned about their financial security, helping them find solid solutions for a better retirement. It’s no surprise that the sensitivity and empathy required to do this job extends beyond the workplace. With the support of their lender and broker companies and in the spirit of giving back, many reverse professionals are actively contributing to a variety of charitable causes. Here are some of the charitable ventures supported by companies in the space.
AAG Kelsey Galaway
AAG has created a foundation to support its charitable ventures. The mission of the AAG Foundation is to engage employees, invest in strategic organizations and inspire change in our global community with the ultimate goals of helping those in need and empowering our workforce to make a difference.
The foundation focuses on three key pillars of giving: helping seniors, providing aid to victims of human trafficking and caring for our workforce through the Employee Assistance Fund. The AAG Foundation supports Meals on Wheels, the Orange Senior Center, Willow International, Dorot, the Alzheimer’s Association and the American Red Cross through the provision of volunteers and financial support.
For some time, we have focused on Willow International, an anti-trafficking organization that rescues and provide restorative aftercare services to victims of human trafficking in Uganda.
What do you and your co-workers do to support Willow International? Though videos, Skype calls, handwritten letters and monthly updates, AAG employees get to connect with those they are helping and hear personal stories about the life-change they make possible. Employees participate in office events to raise money for the cause. Most recently, the foundation hosted a sold-out chili cook-off and a Mother’s Day jewelry sale, which sold items handmade by survivors of human trafficking.
What does your involvement in the organization mean to you? I was blessed with the opportunity to work for Willow International on the ground in Uganda for three years. It was incredible to see the transformation that takes place in the lives of the girls who are rescued. In 2015, I was asked to head the AAG Foundation and work with an incredible group of employees who bring their passion and enthusiasm for helping to company-sponsored giving activities and events.
How does company-sponsored charity work boost morale? Uniting around a cause brings us together as a team. It allows employees to connect with the company and one another on a much deeper level. We consistently hear great feedback from our employees who share that the charity work of AAG gives greater purpose to their work and adds to the company culture of caring and giving.
We recently launched a volunteer time-off program that allows employees the opportunity to get paid to volunteer. This month, more than 50 AAG employees will volunteer their time to host a Father’s Day party at a local senior center, deliver Meals on Wheels and write encouraging cards to the survivors of human trafficking at Willow International and homebound seniors in America.
Giving provides much greater meaning to our workdays.
Visit willowintl.org to learn more.
HighTechLending Melanie McAllister
We participate in the OC CAMP/Irvine Meals on Wheels, whose mission is to assist homebound seniors with maintaining their independence by delivering nutritious, healthy, great-tasting meals to their homes. When HighTechLending started reverse mortgages programs for seniors, we felt it equally fitting to ensure we understood seniors and the hardships they experience. We’ve been working with Meals on Wheels since 2014.
What does your involvement in the organization mean to you? It brings an understanding of the challenges seniors face and emphasizes the fact that they are not the “lost generation.” Their contribution to society matters and we still have much to learn from them.
My colleagues and I feel that giving back brings us a sense of security and pride in our company, highlighting the fact that there is a human element to the product.
Visit occamp.accelraising.com/event/donate/450 to learn more.
Professional Mortgage Alliance Michael Banner
For the past four years, we have worked to collect donations for Backpacks for Kids. This organization supplies elementary school children who live below the poverty level with backpacks filled with school supplies for their first day of school. In its first year, Backpacks for Kids supplied 100 backpacks; in year two they donated 300; and in year three 550. This year, their goal is 900! Last year, Professional Mortgage Alliance donated 150 backpacks filled with supplies, making us the largest single contributor for the second year in a row. This year, we hope to donate 200.
What do you and your co-workers do to support the charity? Since the backpacks need to be delivered to the children’s homes the night before school, which in Florida is very early August, we start our fundraising in late June. We post numerous ads on Facebook, LinkedIn and all sorts of social media. My staff and I start to contact friends, relatives and other business owners for donations. And, of course, we start looking for sales on backpacks, crayons, pencils, rulers, paper, notebooks, folders and anything else that needs to go inside the backpack.
What does your involvement in the organization mean to you? That’s a great question. I have several deep passions in life, and underprivileged children, children in need, is the big one for me. (Of course, seniors ages 62 and above are a very close second!) 8
There are so many children out there in need that an everyday working person just can’t help, but we certainly can make a difference.
When I was informed by the charity that thousands of children in Florida are living under the poverty level and going to school with no supplies whatsoever, we had to get involved.
How does your charity work impact workplace morale? It lifts the spirits of everyone involved. I don’t care who you are, helping those less fortunate than you is an incredible feeling. It also helps put things in perspective. The fact that an appraisal came in a few thousand dollars short, or that a certain client was a no-show or didn’t qualify, suddenly seems trivial to what these children go through daily.
Visit fundly.com/backpacks-for-kids-2 to learn more.
Finance of America Reverse Tony Arnold
The Indianapolis branch of Finance of America Reverse has partnered with Gleaners Food Bank of Indiana for the past two years to help local citizens. Gleaners was founded in 1980 by concerned citizens who had a simple yet profound vision: No one in Indiana should suffer from hunger and malnutrition. Gleaners’ mission is to lead the fight against hunger in central and southeast Indiana by collecting, storing and distributing food to those in need. The organization distributes food to hungry Hoosiers through a network of more than 250 partner agencies, including emergency food pantries, soup kitchens and shelters.
What do you and your co-workers do to support the charity? Our office volunteers at Gleaners’ warehouse once or twice a year to prepare meal boxes, package food items and fulfill a variety of tasks. In addition, we will do different things throughout the year to raise money for them.
What does your involvement in the organization mean to you? A lot! I like knowing that we are helping people in my state. One in eight people in central and southeast Indiana struggle with hunger and food insecurity. This opportunity provides us a chance to be grateful for our blessings and help people in my home state.
Why do you think this is an important cause for your company—as a reverse mortgage lender—to support? Reverse Mortgage companies, and financial institutions in general, carry certain stigmas that we are working hard to shake. We truly value our employees, consumers and communities and believe that charity work reinforces our core values.
Visit gleaners.org to learn more.
