Community Support • Donate • Windermere Bellevue Commons News | Tagged homeless • winter • November 6, 2019

We’ve Got You Covered Winter Drive 2019

by Oleg Doukhnevitch

We’re in the final week of our winter drive. Please help keep families warm during the cold winter months by dropping off your donations at our office: 110 116th Avenue SE in Bellevue. The Windermere Foundation’s “We’ve Got You Covered” winter drive, part of the #tacklehomelessness campaign ends this Friday, November 8th. Our office is still collecting new hats, scarves, gloves/mittens, and warm socks for all genders and sizes. We are donating to our non-profit partner, Mary’s Place, an organization that provides safe, inclusive shelter and services to women, children and families on their journey out of homelessness.

First posted on windermere-bellevue.com

Donate • Windermere Bellevue Commons News • September 12, 2018

Windermere Foundation: Providing Scholarships and Supplies to Students in Need

by Oleg Doukhnevitch

by Marilou Ubungen originally posted on the Windermere blog

Education First Scholarship Program

It’s that time of year again! As families prepare to send their kids back to school, Windermere agents have been out in their communities raising money to support programs that provide school supplies and scholarships to students in need.

These are a just a few examples of how Windermere agents are making a difference.

Seattle, WA: For the second year in a row, agents with the Windermere Wall Street Group offices have pooled their local Windermere Foundation funds to sponsor college scholarships for low-income youth who strive to improve their lives. Through a partnership with Education First, students receive tuition assistance along with access to college coaching services to stay on track.

The Windermere Wall Street, Magnolia, and Queen Anne offices used their funds to sponsor Yosef Yirdaw, who plans to study computer science at Eastern Washington University. Originally an orphan from Ethiopia, he shined in high school with both academics and cross country.

The Windermere office in West Seattle sponsored Brandon Olivera, a Chief Sealth High School graduate heading to the University of Washington, who is setting an example for his younger brothers to follow. During high school, Brandon spent many hours working in his father’s restaurant while making sure to help his siblings with their homework.

Both scholars will be the first in their families to attend college. The Windermere Wall Street Group offices have generously donated a total of $12,000 to Education First’s scholarship program since 2016.

Equipped 4 Success School Supply Drive

Alameda, CA: Through the Windermere Foundation, Windermere Bay Area Properties offices donated $1,000 to the Alameda Education Foundation (AEF) to purchase new backpacks and supplies for their Equipped 4 Success School Supply Drive. Contributions to the drive provide homeless, formerly homeless, and low-income students with the materials they need to be ready to learn on the first day of school.

The mission of the Alameda Education Foundation is to engage the community, raise funds, and coordinate programs to support and enhance the quality of K-12 public education in Alameda.

Make The “Change” For Lewis County

Centralia, WA: On August 21, the Windermere Centralia office teamed up with KELA/KMNT Radio to host the Make The “Change” For Lewis County fundraising event. A school bus was parked next to the Windermere office to collect school supplies, checks, cash or change, and KELA/KMNT Radio was on site broadcasting live from the event. Over $2,000 worth of school supplies were collected for Lewis County schoolkids in need.

High Point Healthy Families Celebration

Seattle, WA: Approximately 830 community members attended this annual event on August 15 hosted by Neighborhood House, whose mission is to partner with diverse individuals and families to build community and achieve their goals for health, education, and self-sufficiency. With the help of a $3,000 donation from the Windermere Foundation, Neighborhood House was able to purchase enough school supplies to stuff 500 backpacks and serve 100 more school-aged youth than last year. Seattle Mayor Jenny Durkan was also on hand at the event to help distribute backpacks.

Thanks to the generous donations and support of Windermere owners, agents, staff, and the public, the Windermere Foundation has been able to raise over $36 million since 1989 to support local non-profit organizations that provide services to low-income and homeless families in our communities. If you’d like to help support programs in your community, please click on the Donate button.

To learn more about the Windermere Foundation, please visit WindermereFoundation.com.

First posted at windermere-bellevue.com

Community Support • Windermere Bellevue Commons News • August 16, 2018

Windermere Foundation Donates Nearly $1 Million in the first half of 2018

by Oleg Doukhnevitch

Thanks to the generosity of Windermere agents, staff, franchise owners, and the community, the Windermere Foundation has proudly donated a total of $920,351 so far this year to non-profit organizations that provide services to low-income and homeless families. This brings the total amount of money that the Windermere Foundation has raised since 1989 to over $36 million.

Each Windermere office has its own Windermere Foundation fund account that they use to make donations to organizations in their local communities. One such organization in Boise, Idaho is CATCH (Charitable Assistance to Community’s Homeless), whose vision is to end homelessness for families by providing programs that work with local resources to provide stable housing, inspire financial independence, and build on a family’s strength and resilience.

The Windermere Caldwell and Boise Valley offices have worked with CATCH for over six years, with funding support from the Windermere Foundation. These donations help pay for programs that provide hope and support to many families in Idaho’s Treasure Valley…families like Andrea’s. *

Before CATCH, Andrea had come out of an abusive relationship, leaving her to raise her three young children on her own. When they became homeless, they spent six months living out of her car, waiting until a more stable living situation became available. Finally, the call came from Andrea’s case manager that they had been accepted into the CATCH program. Through the program, Andrea had access to resources to help her find housing. After about a month, she was able to find the perfect home for her family.

During her few months in the CATCH program, Andrea said she not only gained housing, but also so much more. “I’ve gained a bigger support system, more love, and knowledge. I’ve gained more strength and responsibility. I learned how to budget, worked at bettering my career, and I didn’t feel alone anymore. But most of all, CATCH has allowed me to put my pride away at times I didn’t need it and accept what I do need, and that is LOVE. I thank the CATCH program for helping me and my family grow stronger.”

Generous donations to the Windermere Foundation over the years have enabled Windermere offices to continue to support local non-profits like CATCH.

If you’d like to help support programs in your community, please click on the Donate button. To learn more about the Windermere Foundation, visit windermerefoundation.com

First posted on windermere-bellevue.com

Community Support • Donate • Events • June 20, 2018

Community Service Day 2018 – Windermere Bellevue Commons

by Oleg Doukhnevitch

Community-Service-Day-_-for-Blog-800x600-1-1024x608.jpg

Windermere Community Service Day – June 8th, 2018

Every year since 1984, Windermere managers, brokers and staff have dedicated a day of work to complete neighborhood improvement projects as part of Windermere’s Community Service Day. Creating vibrant communities is one of the things that inspire all of us at Windermere as it gives us an opportunity to give back to the communities where we live and work. After all, real estate is rooted in our communities. And an investment in our neighborhoods gives us all a better place to call home.

This year Windermere Community Service Day is on June 8th, 2018. On this day, our brokers and staff at Bellevue Commons will be doing a variety of projects at Little Bit Therapeutic Riding Center; we’ve been volunteering at this great organization for the past 18 years. We will be cleaning, gardening and painting to help out this awesome group of people.

Last year we helped Little Bit get ready for their auction, whacked the weeds, and washed windows, and planted new plants. The brokers also washed the horses’ paddock fencing and arena fencing.

Volunteering at Little Bit – June 2017

Little Bit Therapeutic Riding Center improves the bodies, minds, and spirits of children and adults with disabilities through equine-assisted therapies and activities, and to be an inspiration and educational resource to the therapeutic riding profession, both regionally and nationally.

Watch this video to learn more about Little Bit.

First posted on windermere-bellevue.com.

Community Support • December 28, 2017

“We’ve Got You Covered” Winter Drive was a success!

by Oleg Doukhnevitch

Weve-got-you-covered-donation-box-11-10-2017-960x1280-225x300.jpg

Windermere’s Winter Drive Report

Windermere Bellevue Commons collects nearly 60 items for homeless youth!

We would like to take a moment and thank all of our agents and staff who participated in Windermere’s Winter Drive: “We’ve Got You Covered” benefiting YouthCare! Our office collected 58 items including new hats, scarves, gloves/mittens and warm socks for homeless youth.

As part of Windermere’s #tacklehomelessness campaign with the Seattle Seahawks, 37 Windermere offices* in King and Snohomish Counties participated in Windermere’s “We’ve Got You Covered” winter drive. The recipient of these donations was YouthCare, a Seattle-based non-profit that provides critical services and support to homeless youth throughout the Puget Sound area.

Over 3,000 items were collected during the four-week drive, which included some 737 pairs of socks, 391 hats, 467 pairs of gloves/mittens, 111 scarves, and an assortment of other accessories and cash donations.

The folks at YouthCare were all very thankful to receive the delivery of eight bins full of donated items. And to make the day even more exciting, Blitz, the Seahawks mascot, was on site to oversee the delivery of the items to YouthCare!

content_wreSeahawks_HZ_Color

How to make a donation?

Originally posted at http://windermere-bellevue.com