Co-Worker Foundation helps employees in financial distress

Avril Toppin, 60, a co-worker at Ecumenical Retirement Community, can sleep at night again. She is thankful for the Country Meadows and Ecumenical Retirement Community Co-Worker Foundation and its’ donors for giving her peace of mind.

Shortly after moving into a new apartment with her 89-year-old mother, Toppin noticed noise coming from the apartment above them. The floors creaked beneath the feet of a boisterous teenager who was on the move late into the night. Their neighbors smoked heavily through the day, and the fumes seeped through the vents, sickening Toppin’s mother.

When Toppin raised her concerns to the apartment complex managers, they suggested that she write a letter to her neighbor. Toppin wrote three different letters, but nothing changed. She asked the managers if she could move to a different apartment, and she could for an additional $100 a month in rent. Toppin couldn’t afford that, but she wasn’t sure she and her mother could afford to stay where they were, either.

“We couldn’t get our sleep at night, and I was concerned for my mom during the day. Now that my neighbors knew I was complaining, I was concerned for her safety,” she says. “I told her not to answer the door. To avoid the smoke, she had stay in her room all day.”

When Toppin found another apartment to rent, the apartment managers told her it would cost $2,000 to break her lease. “I didn’t have $2,000, and I had no idea how to get it, and also pay my security deposit and rent at a new place.”

Toppin’s sister, who also works at Ecumenical Retirement Community, reminded her about the Co-Worker Foundation, which provides grants for co-workers experiencing a financial emergency. Funded by donations from the Leader family, residents and their family members, grants have been awarded to co-workers to avoid eviction, maintain utility service, recover from fires and floods, and cope with many other unexpected emergencies. The Co-Worker Foundation has provided more than $256 thousand to help more than 160 co-workers since its creation in 2010.

“The Leader family established the foundation to help co-workers so they don’t have to worry about their home life when they are taking care of our residents,” says Brandi Levenduski, executive director of employee relations and chair of the foundation. “Emergencies happen sometimes and when co-workers know they have somewhere to turn, they can keep their focus on taking great care of our residents.”

“I want other co-workers, who may find themselves in a position like me, to know there’s help and they don’t have to feel ashamed to ask. We all come up short sometimes, but this is something good [Country Meadows and Ecumenical Retirement Community] does for co-workers, and I’m so thankful,” says Toppin.

When a co-worker is facing a financial emergency, he/she submits a grant application which is reviewed by the Co-Worker Foundation’s board of directors who receive the application without knowing the applicant’s identity. Co-workers may apply to the Foundation for up to $2,000 a year, and a total of $10,000 during his/her employment lifetime. If approved, financial support comes in the form of a grant, meaning co-workers don’t have to repay the funds which are paid directly to the creditor—whether it is a utility company, landlord or other entity.

Since its beginning, Levenduski has seen the Foundation help co-workers who felt there was nowhere else to turn, or even feared for their lives. “We ask some tough questions to assure the funds are given to co-workers who have a true emergency need,” explains Levenduski. “Grant recipients also are encouraged to take advantage of our employee assistance program (EAP). They can receive up to six free sessions for financial counseling and planning. We don’t want the grant to be a band-aid. We want to help our co-workers through whatever issue they’re facing, whether it’s having their electricity turned off or losing their car or their home, and we want them to gain skills that will keep them from finding themselves in that situation again.”

Toppin worked with the Rev. Norma Llewellyn, chaplain-Ecumenical Retirement Community, to develop a plan to get out of her lease. The Co-Worker Foundation paid her security deposit and first month’s rent at the new apartment she shares with her mother. In addition to providing relief, the support made Toppin feel valued.

“I know Ecumenical appreciates the hard work I do. I’m a good worker, and I love my job; I treat our residents the same way I would want others to treat my mother,” she says. “I can tell you that first night in our new home I had such a good sleep. We are truly comfortable now, and Mommy is so happy.”