By Connie Adair

Real estate sales reps help people find their dream homes every day, but what about those whose only dream is to have a safe and peaceful place to live without violence? The Royal LePage Shelter Foundation helps them too. Canada’s largest public foundation dedicated to supporting shelters and stopping the cycle of family violence raised a record-breaking $1.8-million in 2010.

Royal LePage underwrites the administrative costs, which means 100 per cent of the funds raised go to the more than 200 Canadian shelters the foundation supports, says Shanan Spencer-Brown, who joined the shelter foundation as executive director in mid-January 2011. The Toronto-based foundation has three full-time staff and three staff shared with Royal LePage.

The foundation was established in 1999 after agents and brokers were surveyed about what they thought were the key issues and how they could make the greatest impact, Spencer-Brown says. “That there are people (for whom) home is not a safe place touched the Realtors,” she says.

In Canada, half of all women will experience abuse during their lifetime and every year 360,000 children are exposed to their mother being abused, a company news release says. Forming a charitable foundation was seen as the best way to focus efforts and as a way to make the most meaningful contribution, Spencer-Brown says.

“The charitable foundation was also a way of demonstrating trust and accountability to donors, to show donors their contributions are being used in the best way possible and that we’re taking a long-term view to making a difference.”

Shanan Spencer-Brown

Spencer-Brown has more than 12 years of experience in program development and fundraising positions in non-profit organizations that focus on children’s mental health, family violence and child development. Her most recent position was with the Kinark Foundation, where she served as executive director responsible for fund development strategy and implementation in support of Canada’s largest community-based children’s mental health agency. Previously she was the director of program and fund development responsible for all fundraising programs at the Child Development Institute, which has a significant focus on family violence.

The 13-year-old foundation helps more than 30,000 women and children each year with funds raised through agent commission contributions and other fund-raising activities. The Royal LePage network consists of more than 14,000 real estate agents and brokers in more than 600 locations across the country and has raised $12-million since 1999.

Funds raised in a community stay in that community, while national fund-raising projects, such as the National Garage Sale for Shelter, support long-term violence prevention and education programs.

The one-day charity garage sale, hosted by more than 120 Royal LePage offices across the country, raised $120,000 in its first year, $315,000 in its second year and $420,000 this year.

Each year, 50,000 red tulip bulbs are planted through the Shelter Blooms awareness program, and in spring when the tulip bulbs bloom, people are again reminded about the cause.

Nationally, the foundation has partnered with the Canadian Women’s Foundation, taking a long-term view to preventing family violence by funding violence prevention work. Also on a national level, the foundation has partnered with Fourth R, a curriculum-based education program now offered in more than 1,000 Canadian classrooms. It teaches violence prevention to 50,000 grade 8 and 9 students each year.

In her role as the shelter foundation’s executive director, Spencer-Brown plans to continue to develop and strengthen relationships and ensure brokers and agents feel connected to the foundation’s work. They need to see that their money is really helping, that they provide a new start for women and children, and may also save a life, she says.

She also wants to engage newer agents to sign up as commission donors, the life blood of the foundation that provides ongoing funding throughout the year.

The foundation offers support to offices by providing an online fund-raising page, pledge forms and other materials to make agents’ and brokers’ fund-raising efforts more successful.

Donors are recognized through the Shelter Awards and provided with logos they can use on their marketing materials to show they support their community.

Another unique feature of the company’s culture is that every national and regional event, such as training programs and conferences, has a shelter component, such as a silent auction, to raise funds.

For more information, visit www.royallepage.ca/shelter.

Top photo: 

At the recent Garage Sale for Sheler event, from left: Ahmed Helmi, broker/manager, Royal LePage Real Estates Services, Toronto; Phil Soper, president and CEO, Royal LePage;  Shanan Spencer-Brown, executive director, Royal LePage Shelter Foundation; Beverley McAleese, executive director, Nazareth House; and Leila Brewster, sales rep, Royal LePage Real Estates Services.