| Our weekly online feature, Community Good Works, never lacks for material. A roundup of all the good things our readers have accomplished, it highlights the many, many contributions the financial and real estate industries make to the communities in which we all live and work.
This holiday season, Banker & Tradesman is highlighting some of the wonderful donations, projects and support we have seen this year. As one year passes into another, we look back at the good things that happened, and hope for many more next year.
From the staff of The Warren Group, we wish all of our readers a very happy and healthy holiday and new year.
Volunteers from Boston law firm Sherin and Lodgen teamed with Heading Home to outfit an apartment for a single father and his son.
Sherin And Lodgen Helps End Homelessness
Boston law firm Sherin and Lodgen this year teamed up with Heading Home, an organization dedicated to ending homelessness, for its Up & Out program. Up & Out, Heading Home’s signature volunteer program, pairs groups of volunteers with clients who are making a milestone move from a shelter into permanent housing.
Sherin and Lodgen fully financed the furnishing and outfitting of an apartment and successfully moved a single father and his 5-year-old son from a homeless shelter to a home of their own. A team of volunteers spent a day cleaning, assembling furniture, shopping for food and home goods, and decorating and outfitting the apartment for the family.
The highlight of the day, volunteers report, was handing the keys to the apartment to the father and saying, “welcome home.”
MAR Charitable Foundation Awards Grants Locally And To Southern Flood Victims
The Massachusetts Association of Realtors (MAR) Charitable Foundation last month announced the 2016 recipients of its housing and homeless assistance grants. Four charities were nominated by local chapters and selected to receive a share of $5,500 in grants based on their initiatives to provide affordable housing, shelter and other emergency care services within Massachusetts. This year’s winners were: Habitat for Humanity North Shore; LUK Inc., a nonprofit that supports youth services and runs crisis centers in Central Massachusetts; Steppingstone Inc., a residential and support services center for substance abuse in Fall River; and Wellspring House Inc., a housing organization for families in Gloucester.
The foundation has disbursed two disaster relief grants of $5,000 each to help the residents affected by flooding in Louisiana and West Virginia.
“The tragic flooding disaster in the South really stuck a chord with Realtors in Massachusetts this year,” MAR Charitable Foundation Chairman Frank Bertolino, broker/owner of The North Shore Realty Group, said in a statement. “That’s why we provided grants to West Virginia and Louisiana to aid in disaster relief, along with our usual local charities. The MAR Charitable Foundation is committed to keeping a roof over peoples’ heads nationwide.”
Winn’s 2016 initiatives included assembling comfort kits for homeless veterans, building bicycles donated to the Boys and Girls Club of Fall River, and celebrations of Earth Day and National Night Out.
Girl Scouts of Southeastern New England members Stacy Hall, Elizabeth Dowding, and Cheyenne Figueroa meet with Citizens Bank’s Patricia DiFolco and Darlene Filosa during a recent program on the importance of financial literacy.
Citizens Bank Promotes Financial Literacy With Girl Scouts
Citizens Bank recently hosted a financial literacy program for the Girl Scouts of Southeastern New England for both junior and high school age scouts. The Providence program covered topics including earning income, managing credit, financial investing and preparing for college. Citizens Bank branch managers and assistant branch managers from Barrington were on hand to answer questions and provide feedback to the attending girls.
