Growing Communities

The Windermere Foundation celebrates 30 years of helping the areas it serves blossom.

BY KARIN VANDRAISS

SERVICE HAS BEEN at the heart of Windermere Real Estate since John Jacobi founded the business in 1972. But as the company expanded beyond its original nine Seattle offices to locations around the Western United States, it became clear to Jacobi that more could be accomplished with a common purpose. In the late ’80s, Jacobi presented a new approach, one that gave Windermere the potential to make an unparalleled impact on the communities it served.

The Windermere Foundation officially launched in 1989 with a clear mission: Donate a portion of every Windermere agent’s commission to projects benefitting families experiencing homelessness. Being in the business of housing, that focus—which later expanded to include low-income families and especially children—seemed like a natural fit.

“Giving back has always been a big part of who we are at Windermere,” says Christine Wood, Executive Director of the Windermere Foundation. “This was an idea that would give every agent the ability to make a difference.”

The Windermere Foundation hit its first million-dollar annual milestone in 1999, and in 2018 raised nearly $2.5 million (with less than three percent going to administrative fees). Wood notes that it takes 100 percent participation from the Windermere community to make this model a success, and that there were plenty of learning lessons along the way.

“We realized a few important things early on. One, that we’re not social workers, and two, that previously homeless families need a continuum of care and providing shelter is only part of the solution.”

Individual offices choose organizations to support in their local communities, and over the past 30 years the Windermere Foundation has funded hundreds of organizations throughout the Western U.S.—from shelters to hospitals to community centers—to ensure that continuum of care is possible.

“Their generosity funds backpacks full of food so school kids don’t go hungry on the weekends; they help stave off evictions and keep families in their homes by covering housing costs; and their donations make sure [homeless families] are getting their most basic needs met, and the dignity that goes with it,” says Wood.

She is particularly proud of the foundation’s network-wide relationship with the YMCA, which in 2006 started a first-of-its-kind partnership to provide hundreds of in-need families with safe, stimulating childcare services.

As it celebrates its 30th anniversary, the Windermere Foundation’s commitment to supporting neighbors in need and developing thriving communities is backed by big numbers—$38 million dollars raised to date, with the hope of surpassing $40 million in 2019.

But record-breaking figures aside, after two decades with the Foundation Wood is still motivated by stories of the families they’re able to reach and help. “We’re easing some of the day-to-day financial burdens for working-poor families, and that’s a powerful thing.”

Learn more about the Windermere Foundation at windermerefoundation.com.