The MBA Opens Doors Foundation (Opens Doors) today announced that it has received $153,634 from EPM’s (Equity Prime Mortgage) Choose Kindness campaign, including a personal donation of $26,300 from Eddy Perez, President and CEO of EPM. With this gift, Opens Doors will further deliver on its mission of providing mortgage and rental assistance to families with critically ill or injured children, allowing parents and guardians to be by a child’s side during treatment without fear of losing their home.
“We are grateful to Eddy and EPM for their generosity,” said Debra W. Still, CMB, President and CEO of Pulte Mortgage and Chairman of the MBA Opens Doors Foundation. “With the ongoing pandemic and unprecedented challenges many families are facing, it is encouraging to see that our industry continues to dedicate itself to doing so much to provide relief for families with critically ill or injured children.”
EPM launched its Choose Kindness campaign in August with a one-year goal of $120,000, based on the number of loans closed per month, and with a minimum of a $10,000-per-month donation. In early November, and in an effort to help Opens Doors better plan for the coming year, EPM estimated its total 12-month contribution and frontloaded the remaining months of contributions to donate a total of $153,634.
“Giving back to our communities and helping to empower people to live life to the fullest is not an action but a mindset,” said Perez. “I have been fortunate in my personal and professional life to be able to embrace that mindset. I am determined to make a positive difference for families with critically ill or injured children always – but especially now, as the worst public health crisis in a generation takes a hard toll on struggling families.”
Since 2012, Opens Doors has helped families in 49 states and the District of Columbia, granting more than $8.6 million in housing assistance to more than 6,000 families with critically ill or injured children to help them stay in their homes while their child was in treatment.
“The pandemic has disproportionately affected our Opens Doors families. Many have lost income, some have been unable to visit their children in the hospital for long stretches of time, and still others are unable to get the care they need to best address their child’s medical condition,” said Deborah Dubois, President of the MBA Opens Doors Foundation. “Now more than ever, we need support. The commitment and generosity of Eddy Perez and the EPM team will go a long way toward helping us to do more for the families who need it most.”
The MBA Opens Doors Foundation, through its Home Grant Program, provides relief in a time of personal crisis. The Home Grant Program has become a critical part of a family’s support structure, especially when a parent or guardian must take unpaid leave to be with a child. Grants of up to $2,500 are made monthly to families in need of mortgage or rental payment assistance. For more information on Opens Doors’ mission, please click here.