Building Strong Communities Begins with a Simple Meal
Gaughan Companies has a long-standing relationship with Sharing and Caring Hands, a non-profit organization, and with the founder Mary Jo Copeland. I have been volunteering at Sharing and Caring Hands for over two decades. I now bring my children to volunteer, too.
Located in Minneapolis, Minnesota, Sharing and Caring Hands provides assistance for those in need. It was established in 1985 by Mary Jo Copeland and provides services such as meals, clothing, showers, shelter, transportation help, rent deposits, rent help, medical assistance, dental care, furniture, school expenses, and other miscellaneous needs.
Twelve employees from Gaughan Companies (and a few of my children) volunteered at Sharing and Caring Hands on Monday, November 14 by preparing and serving the lunch meal. Before every lunch meal, Mary Jo Copeland gives a sermonette and a prayer over the meal. On this day, in the midst of thanking us, she said to those in need, “[Gaughan Companies] came here and made this food for you because they love you. I love you. God loves you.” She encouraged everyone to not lose hope and to forgive those who have wronged them.
Arriving at 9 AM, the preparation team rolled up their sleeves and began rolling utensils and napkins for those partaking in meals that day. Once the breakfast crew had moved out of the cooking space to serve the first meal, our preparation team jumped in to cook the lunch meal. On the menu was tater tot hot dish, salad, fruit and cookies.
Our serving team arrived at 11 AM while the hot dish was cooking, and they also began rolling utensils. They enthusiastically filled over two large containers full of utensils. After a tour of the kitchen and a rundown of the serving team’s duties, each volunteer donned aprons and plastic gloves and were ready to give back to the community.
At noon, those there for the meal, nearly 200 people, made an orderly line in front of the serving stations to receive the food and milk. The other volunteers and I were frequently thanked and blessed by those receiving the food. Giving back to the community in a tangible way is an important mission of Gaughan Companies.
Another mission of ours is building and supporting strong communities. This process begins by helping those who don’t have the means to help themselves currently. We at Gaughan Companies hope that the meal we prepared and served was a step in the right direction for at least one of the recipients.
To learn more about Sharing and Caring Hands, visit http://www.sharingandcaringhands.org/.
-Patrick Gaughan
HOA Board of Directors: A Volunteer
If you have ever served on your HOA’s Board of Directors, you can understand the amount of time and effort that goes into preserving your neighborhood and protecting community property values. A long time House Speaker once said, “All politics is local.” With that said, what could be more local than a democracy practiced within the community you live?
Today, there are approximately 68 million Americans living in about 338,000 homeowner associations, condominiums and other planned communities. More specifically, there are about 1.5 million residents and about 7,500 associations here in Minnesota! Needless to say, the amount of volunteers needed for associations in Minnesota is about 30,000 dedicated owners.
A volunteer can be described as a person who freely offers to take part in an enterprise or undertake a task. The key to this definition is freely. For many of the volunteer board members, this is a second job that takes time from their families, evenings and/or even their weekend. Many times, if something doesn’t go as designed, fingers are first pointed at the Board of Directors, but often it can also be a lack of communication when an owner buys into a community or misinterprets the association’s governing documents. Generally, one of the great attributes of being a volunteer is reliability, so being there for owners when called upon can show a great deal of trust and commitment to your community.
A board member’s job can be full of challenges, issues and opportunities, some of which can be controversial. As a board member, the role can be both rewarding and thankless. If given the opportunity, please share a simple note of thanks to your board members. It could be at the next board meeting, annual meeting or in a simple e-mail. Chances are, as you are settling in for the evening for your favorite home remodeling show or to catch your favorite sports team in action, your board members are enduring a 60 to 90 minute board meeting, reviewing the upcoming budget, looking at additional bids, or reviewing pending architectural change applications. Most board members have a great deal of integrity as there is a big responsibility with the community’s resources, facilities and homeowner correspondence.
For more information on how to become a board member, how Gaughan Companies can help your community, or for general questions in regard to your community and/or Board of Directors, please visit us at www.gaughancompanies.com/hoa.
CAI-MN has additional resources, too.
Rent By Choice
According to the U.S. News and World Report, more and more Americans are choosing to rent instead of buy. For Millennials, young families with small kids, and Baby Boomers who have reached the retirement and empty nest stage, the idea of renting instead of buying has garnered strong appeal.
Although it would seem that the demographic groups mentioned above would be vastly different in their housing needs, they actually have a lot in common.
The first thing these groups consider is cost. Millennials are just starting out and most are just getting their career off the ground. For them, flexibility and not being assured that their first job will lead to long term stability, drives their interest away from the burden of buying a home, and then being locked in to long-term payments. In addition, a great number of them are just starting to pay back their student loans, and may not actually have the funds or credit score needed to be approved for a long term housing commitment.
For the young families with small children, they tend to be most interested in trying out different neighborhoods and checking out local schools. Several of them may be adding another child or two to their family unit, and may not really understand their long term housing needs until they reach the point where they decide that their family is complete.
If they are still in the same job that they took right after college, many may also now be eyeing promotions and even opportunities in other companies, because they have gained some work experience and want to increase their salary and benefits. Also, this demographic, along with the Millennials, may actually come out ahead financially by investing extra income that they have, instead of chunking it toward actual mortgage payments.
With the housing market prices fluctuating wildly from year to year, waiting until it shows a period of stability can pay off nicely. Also, the more desirable houses tend to go quickly in some markets, and there may not be much available that fits their budget and ideals. However, apartments, condos and townhomes are typically readily available in all areas of a major city or suburb and are generally ready for possession within a few days of weeks of making application.
By the time their kids get to elementary school, they along with some of the older Millennials tend to feel more settled, and have generally decided where they want to put down their family roots. By having rented for a season, they have had time to establish their credit, and save for a nice down payment on a home that fits their current lifestyle.
Finally, the Baby Boomers are similar to the other two groups, because they too are adjusting to a major life change. If they are experiencing the empty nest stage, then they may no longer need the large home that they lived in while raising their family. Retirement and the idea of travel tend to make them not want to be tied down by things such as maintenance and yard work, and they too may want to add to their nest egg so they can enjoy more freedom to pursue their interests.
Whatever stage of life you find yourself in, a good idea is to talk with a financial advisor and list out your personal ideas of renting versus buying. The nice thing about renting is that you can always change your mind and move up or move on, but once you sign on the dotted line of home ownership, you are committed for the long haul.
