Pablo Picasso once said, “The meaning of life is to find your gift. The purpose of life is to give it away.” This sentiment rings true for the employees of Tidwell Group. The Firm is vested in affordable housing beyond providing value-driven professional services to its clients through acts of community service. We believe it takes a village and a consistent commitment of giving to raise healthy communities.

“Our community service efforts are meaningful to our team because beyond making financial donations, we spend time with residents of affordable housing communities on a consistent basis. We form relationships and build trust. Time is our best gift. Our hope is to be seen as mentors and friends – especially as the children of the communities we help grow up,” said Ashley Northcutt, Tidwell Group Tax Partner.

Monetary Giving is Great. Giving Your Time is Better.

Tidwell Group’s Atlanta offices adopted families at the Delowe Village housing community to help not only during the holidays but throughout the year. Tidwell Group has proudly provided necessities and time to Delowe Village in Atlanta for three years in a row. The Firm’s employees championed the gift of donating time, essential supplies, and a relationship of longevity by adopting Delowe families. This holiday season, “giving trees” were set up in Tidwell Group’s Atlanta offices with the names and ages of all the children of Delowe Village. The goal was to provide each child with:

• Something they want
• Something they need; and
• Something to read

Tidwell Group employees selected tags off the giving tree to purchase items and help fulfill the Christmas wishes of the children.

“The Delowe Village giving trees provide us with a chance to give back and bring some holiday magic into these children’s lives. Seeing the kids light up when they receive gifts with their names on them is definitely the highlight,” said Karissa Handley, Tidwell Group Senior Audit Manager.

For this holiday giving event, Tidwell Group partnered with the Atlanta Neighborhood Development Partnership (ANDP). The organization’s mission is to promote, create, and preserve mixed-income communities through direct development, lending, policy research, and advocacy. The goal is to have equitable distribution of affordable housing throughout the metropolitan Atlanta region. Employees from Tidwell Group’s Atlanta offices jumped in wholeheartedly to give to the families of Delowe Village:

• “Designated shoppers” helped collect donations and purchased gifts for the remaining kids, so that no child was left behind this holiday season.
• “Santa’s helpers” are special volunteers from the Atlanta offices that help deliver and distribute the gifts to Delowe Village in time for their holiday party.
• “Professional wrappers” helped wrap all the gifts for the children.
• All the gloves, hats, and blankets were provided to the property’s clothing bank to be passed out to the children and parents in need.

“Working with the Delowe community and their after-school program with ANDP over the past few years has been a true blessing. Watching the kids change and grow from our holiday event one year, through the summer and fall events, and then back through another holiday event the following year is very rewarding. We have such a good time with everyone there. It keeps the importance of the affordable housing program at the forefront of our minds, in a personal way. We thank Delowe for the partnership we formed with them over the past few years and look forward to many more fun events in the future,” said Adam Tretink, Tidwell Group Assurance Partner.

Give Regularly and Connect Often.

In its belief that it takes a village to raise healthy communities, Tidwell Group provides Delowe Village residents with assistance not only during the holidays but throughout the year. This past summer, the Firm organized a Summer Leadership Program, where college students packed bags full of items needed for the children of the community. Care packages were provided to the children and their families that included hygiene items, blankets, sunglasses, and sports balls, hula hoops, and board games.

We would like to encourage everyone to make it your mission to provide consistent and ongoing donations of time and resources, to those in need in your local communities.

Contact:
For more information on how to become involved in volunteering for affordable housing programs, please visit the affordable housing page of Volunteers of America.