Local Look: MBA Opens Doors Chairman Debra W. Still Reflects on Colorado Partnership, Foundation History
(Image courtesy of family of Matthew Baiyee Cady)
Since its founding by the Mortgage Bankers Association in 2011, the MBA Opens Doors Foundation has helped 17,000 families with sick or injured children, provided more than $26 million in housing assistance and partnered with 13 children’s hospitals in eight states and the District of Columbia.
The grants provide rental payment or mortgage assistance, helping families with critically ill or injured children to remain in their homes.
In 2015, the second-ever Opens Doors Foundation hospital partnership was in the same state that will host this year’s Annual Convention and Expo–Children’s Hospital Colorado, in Aurora.
Debra W. Still, CMB, Vice Chairman of Pulte Financial Services and MBA Opens Doors Foundation Chairman, took some time with NewsLink to reflect on the history of the Opens Doors Foundation in the Centennial State and nationwide.
Still, who served as MBA Chairman in 2013, has been involved in Opens Doors since its inception. She was an officer of MBA when it was founded by then-MBA President and CEO Dave Stevens, his wife Mary Stevens and Dan Arrigoni, former president of U.S. Bank Home Mortgage and a member of the board of directors for MGIC.
After serving as MBA Chairman, Still became Chairman of the MBA Opens Doors Foundation, a role she has held for 11 years.
Still recalled launching the partnership with Children’s Hospital Colorado, following a successful relationship with Children’s National Medical System, in Washington, D.C.
“We knew we wanted to grow and expand, and we also knew that Children’s Hospital Colorado is one of the nation’s highest ranked hospitals in children’s care,” Still recalled. “Since I was located in Denver, it seemed to be a very natural place for us to replicate what we were doing in D.C.”
That partnership–launched in 2015–was also very successful, Still said, pointing to the social work team at Children’s Hospital Colorado as a key element.
And, the partnership gave Opens Doors a blueprint for moving forward with further hospital relationships. As of 2021, partner hospitals now number 13.
“We learned a lot from them operationally about how efficient we needed to be, what our turn times needed to be and how to make the application easy for the families and the social workers to complete,” Still recalled about Children’s Hospital Colorado. “It gave us a lot of insight in running an efficient operation to go along with our fundraising.”
Still said she has been very moved by her experience in Opens Doors’ journey.
“These families are overcoming the emotional stress of having a sick child. Most of them, if not all of them, are under [extreme] financial burden from medical bills and lost wages,” Still noted. “Some folks have even lost their jobs while they are sitting next to their sick child in a hospital room.”
“Being able to be there for families in the communities where we’ve been lending all across the country is as meaningful as the support we provide these families in our regular day-to-day business” continued Still, who has spent more than four decades in the industry.
Still noted that in the time she’s been working with Opens Doors, the demand has grown. What started out as about 30 grant applications a month is now in the hundreds.
During the pandemic, with several large donations coming from the industry, Opens Doors was able to double the number of monthly grants it provided, topping out at nearly 500 a month. Today, roughly 200 grants per month are awarded, with $260,000 in housing support distributed monthly.
Still has seen firsthand the effects some of the grants have had on families. She recalled the story of a family that was aided by an approximately $1,600 grant; when they were on better financial footing, they donated $6,000 to “pay it forward.”
As the foundation has grown, there’s been a big team effort from those at MBA. Still wanted to recognize the work of Deborah Dubois, President of the MBA Opens Doors Foundation, MBA President and CEO Bob Broeksmit, CMB, and Chief Operating Officer Marcia Davies, and the entire Opens Doors’ board of directors.
Industry members have been a vital part of the effort, too. Still noted that many companies have held creative fundraisers and gotten their employees very engaged in the foundation’s mission. More than 1,500 corporate and individual donors contribute annually.
And for companies that don’t know how to get started? Still recommends reaching out to Dubois, or anyone else at MBA, for inspiration and support.
“The camaraderie and the generosity of my peers and colleagues in the real estate finance industry has been so humbling. It continues to make me proud of all the fine-charactered individuals that work in real estate finance,” Still said. “There’s no way we would have been able to do what we did without the kindness and the generosity of the leadership in the real estate finance industry.”
To support the mission of the MBA Opens Doors Foundation, please scan the QR code or reach out to Deb Dubois at ddubois@mba.org.
