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03/07/2006
National Association of REALTORS®
REALTORS® Housing Relief Fund
At 12:00pm CDT 12/17/01, the fund total was $8,308,462 |
The REALTORS® Housing Relief Fund
The REALTOR® Family’s Finest Hour
January 2, 2002
It’s often said that when tragedy strikes, people’s true beliefs come through in the way they respond. The true beliefs of REALTORS® came through loud and clear in the wake of the tragic events of September 11, 2001.
Within hours of the terrorist attacks, the NATIONAL ASSOCIATION OF REALTORS® put in place the very first relief fund by a national association to help victims of this great tragedy. The REALTORS® Housing Relief Fund lived up to, and even exceeded, the hopes of its creators. More than 1,300 families of those whose lives were lost in the World Trade Center, the Pentagon, on the four downed airliners, and the fire, law enforcement and other emergency personnel who inspired us with their heroism were assisted by the fund.
The goal was to make sure that families of victims, who had already suffered so much, would not also have to endure the pain of losing their home, as well. All of the contributions – 100 percent—went to help pay rent and mortgage payments of victims’ families. REALTORS®, REALTOR® associations and thousands of others contributed their personal and financial resources to help these families meet their mortgage and rent payments as they struggled with the loss of their loved ones and breadwinners.
NAR was one of 16 associations honored with a 2002 Associations Advance America Award for the establishment and success of the REALTORS® Housing Relief Fund. For 12 years, the American Society of Association Executives has given these awards to recognize innovative programs that contribute to society and help to better communities and quality of life.
The Beginning…
The first thing the association did was to establish the REALTORS® Relief Foundation, a 501-C3 organization that would allow all contributions to the fund to be tax deductible. At the direction of NAR’s 2001 NAR President Richard Mendenhall, the association started the fund off with a $1 million contribution. This was followed by a nationwide appeal to all 800,000-plus REALTORS®, urging them to contribute to the fund. The appeal for donations struck a responsive chord throughout our industry. In the first day alone, more than $300,000 came in. Within 10 days REALTORS®, REALTOR® associations, NAR staff, and the general public had donated another $1 million in tax-deductible gifts.
By mid-December, REALTORS® had raised and distributed more than $8.4 million to 1,303 families. NAR’s 2002 President Martin Edwards reflected: “Those three months of the fund’s existence saw the REALTOR® Family in its finest hour. Our members were guided by a spirit of compassion and willingness to help that no terrorist attack could squelch.”
The establishment of the Housing Relief Fund was monumental, but it came naturally to this organization. REALTORS®, as America’s great entrepreneurs—have been among the leading beneficiaries of our society and our free enterprise system. It was as logical as it was instinctive for REALTORS® to step up and give back to the nation that helped them to realize their own dreams.
Theodore Roosevelt once said, “Do what you can, with what you have, where you are.” That is the spirit that ignited the REALTORS® Housing Relief Fund and sustained it through its astounding success.
Contributions Came From Everywhere
Since the fund was launched, a 1-800 disaster fund phone line in NAR’s Chicago headquarters took in more than 6,000 calls and responded to nearly 2,000 e-mails. Tens of thousands of huge and tiny contributions came in from all over America. In addition, contributions came from other parts of the world--$44,000 from Canada, $10,000 from the Dutch, $10,000 from Japan and $2,500 from the Danish.
Many of the contributors, especially those outside the REALTOR® Family, said the association’s pledge that 100 percent of the contributions would go to the victims’ families appealed to them. All of the funds went to the families of those killed or missing in the tragedy who might lose their homes without outside assistance, or who may not be able to meet rental costs without help.
After NAR’s initial contribution of $1 million, Fannie Mae offered their own $1 million to the fund. State associations around the country gave generously, as did many real estate companies and individual members. The California, Illinois, New Jersey and New York Associations each contributed $100,000. Weichert REALTORS® contributed $500,000 from their corporate offices, sales people and staff. Coldwell Banker Stevens in Alexandria, Va., contributed proceeds from the sale of commemorative T-shirts it made; and eCommissions, a commission-advance provider in Austin, Texas donated 5 percent of its daily revenue.
The Ohio Department of Rehabilitation and Correction collected more than $32,000 from its prison population, staff and visitors for victims of the September 11 attacks. It donated $12,000 to the REALTORS® Housing Relief Fund.
Children sent in their allowances, Girl Scouts raised money, office parties were cancelled so the cost could redirected to the fund, day care centers took up collections and schools sent in proceeds from bake sales.
One woman said she chose to donate to the REALTORS® Housing Relief Fund because her husband was missing in action in Vietnam and she almost lost her home. Another woman donated because she will be looking for a home to purchase and doesn't want to buy one that will go on the market or has been foreclosed as a result of this tragedy. A man said he heard about the fund on his car radio in Georgia and pulled over to immediately make a donation. One individual contributed $37 – it was half of his day's pay.
In Sandusky, Ohio, members of the Firelands Association of REALTORS® raised more than $26,000 in an auction to benefit the fund. Among the 180 items they auctioned off at the mid-November event was a 1972 mint-condition Cadillac donated by a member of the community. The avocado green luxury car brought in a price of $10,000, all of which went to the Housing Relief Fund. More than 130 people attended the auction, which had to be moved inside the bodyshop of a local car dealership when high winds prevented organizers from erecting a tent and banners outside. “All 180 items in the auction, including the location, were donated, and every penny of the proceeds went to the relief fund,” said Ruth DeHenning, executive officer of the Firelands Association.
“The event drew our community together,” DeHenning said. “It was a chance for us all to feel as if we were doing something positive for the families so deeply hurt by September 11.”
Spreading the Word and Getting the Money To Those in Need
Thanks to the rapid start-up, which included helpful guidance from the Federal Emergency Management Agency and the American Red Cross, the REALTORS® Housing Relief Fund began issuing checks within two weeks of the terrorist attacks. Those funds went straight to families who lost a breadwinner and needed immediate help paying mortgages and rents. Each check was made out to both the applicant and the mortgage holder or landlord so that funds were specifically channeled for their intended purpose.
The REALTORS® Relief Foundation, managed by four past-Treasurers of NAR and the association’s chief financial officer, had oversight over the fund’s administration, both the contributions and the payouts to victims’ families. The foundation worked with the five state associations in New York, Connecticut, New Jersey, Washington D.C., Maryland, Massachusetts and Virginia to process applications for the funds.
“We couldn’t have done this without the dedication and compassion of these five associations,” said foundation board member Alan Yassky of Spring Valley, N.Y. “Volunteers and staff members at these associations literally put everything else on hold to devote 110 percent of their time and effort to this cause. They were the ones who dealt face-to-face with the most heart-breaking situations you can imagine. They made sure the funds got where they needed to go. Those folks made it happen,” he said.
Victims learned about the fund through NAR’s own publicity and through outreach by the Red Cross and FEMA. Stories about the Fund appeared in the New York Post, New York Daily News, Washington Post, Chicago Tribune, London Times, Los Angeles Times, CBS, Boston Herald and in many other media.
The word reached victims applying for help through the REALTOR® association in their state or by calling NAR. Such prompt reaction was possible due to hundreds of REALTORS® who directed their energies to the Housing Relief Fund. Many pitched in to answer donor calls. Others publicized the fund through their local media and invited service organizations to add their support.
The REALTORS® Funds Were the First for Many Families
While the association is not publicizing the names of families receiving help from the fund, many have told REALTORS® who are personally delivering the checks to victims that these funds were the first to come through.
One mother of four whose husband was killed in the World Trade Center collapse, said that while she received help from other funds, the REALTORS® Housing Relief Fund check was the first one she received. “I have four children, and the help on our house payment has been a godsend. My children don’t want me to sell the house, and I don’t want to, but I’m not sure what’s going to happen. This has been the only home my children have known.”
One of many letters of thanks from victims to the New Jersey Association of REALTORS® read: “I want to thank you from the bottom of my heart for the three checks you sent me toward my mortgage. I’m so touched by your kindness and eagerness to help all of us who are grieving and shattered and broken by this horrific tragedy…I feel the entire country, if not the whole world, grieving with us, as if we were their friends or relatives. It’s the kindness of people like you that restores my faith in humanity…”
REALTORS® Can Feel United
As President Bush noted in the wake of the attacks, “… adversity introduces us to ourselves…. In this trial, we have been reminded, and the world has seen, that our fellow Americans are generous and kind, resourceful and brave.”
REALTORS® stand united among the millions of Americans who contributed their time, their blood and their money to help ease the pain of a loss almost too much to bear. The compassion of REALTORS® was never more bountiful than in the work of the REALTORS® Housing Relief Fund. REALTORS® grieved with the rest of America, but they quickly turned their grief into something useful and helpful. With good reason, REALTORS® should be proud.
In reflecting on the fund during remarks at NAR’s convention last November, Yassky said, “We did this for the purity of the effort, not for money, or market share, or publicity or any other form of profit. We did it because it was the right thing to do.”
Mendenhall devoted much of his General Session address at the Chicago convention, to the relief fund. He gave high praise to REALTORS®, with these words:
“On September 11 across this country, REALTORS® ignited an enormous flame of freedom…You stopped what you were doing. You didn't worry about any divisions that you might have between your local and your state and your national [associations]. You did what was right and you did something really great for America. And I will tell you something. Greatness will stay with you for the rest of your life.”### Back to top
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