Help Is Around The Corner

Seattle’s Capitol Hill team goes the extra mile to contribute to local charitable causes.

BY CORINNE WHITING

FOR THE PAST THREE DECADES, A PORTION of every Windermere agent’s commission has been donated to the Windermere Foundation. Over the years, this has cumulatively led to over $43 million raised and 500-plus organizations supported. When folks join Windermere’s Capitol Hill team in Seattle, which currently includes 60 active agents, they agree to donate an additional .03 percent of gross commission from every closing.

Erin Porter, marketing coordinator for Windermere Real Estate Capitol Hill, emphasizes that her team tries to keep the focus local. Last year, they donated to 22 organizations, with contributions ranging from $600 to $4,000, for a total of $45,350. The real estate entity, perhaps naturally, chooses to support a great number of housing organizations. “Everyone deserves a house, no matter what,” Porter says. She deems it “a basic human right.” A percentage of these agents’ donations supports a few local elementary schools, too.

Porter expresses disappointment that, due to the pandemic, the hands-on portion of Windermere’s company-wide Community Service Day had to be canceled in 2020. It is “one of the best days of the year,” she says.

During this normally annual event, all Windermere offices shut down, and staff and agents dedicate the day of work to those in need—helping out at local senior centers, playgrounds, food banks, or other community-based organizations. A couple years back, Porter and her colleagues provided dressers and beds for a Mary’s Place house, located a block from their Capitol Hill office. (Since 1999, Mary’s Place has helped hundreds of women and families transition out of homelessness and into more safe, stable living situations.) Later on, the Windermere Capitol Hill employees returned to help landscape the home’s yard and to build a fence. Community Service Day always proves both fun and productive. “We can get a lot done with 50 people in one day,” Porter says.

Porter feels fortunate that donating money and chipping in with projects is “never even a question” among her colleagues. “When you’re successful,” she says, “you want to bring people up with you.” Learn more about the Windermere Foundation at windermerefoundation.com.