From Left to Right (Jordan Altenholf, Tyler Saldutti, Justin O’Brien, Sarah O’Brien, John Rutherford, Eric Yi) Not shown (Matthew Clark, Eric Bumgarner, Austin Kay)
Making Jax happen is a top priority in the Prime Realty office. There are many goals with in this company, but seeing Jacksonville grow and thrive is a top priority. Our #makeJAXhappen marketing campaign is focused on national market awareness and hometown pride for Jacksonville. We love seeing local businesses meet their goals and enjoy success. But growing Jacksonville cannot only be about the present, we need to invest in our future. “We believe that children and their well-being contribute heavily to the future of Jacksonville”, says Jordan Altenholf, Brokerage Coordinator at Prime Realty.
A lot of work went into selecting a group to work with and raise funds for. There are so many great non-profit organizations in the area, at the end of our research we found that not only do we live in an entrepreneurial city, we live in a very charitable and giving city. Once we started learning more about Daniel Kids, their history within Jacksonville and how many lives are positively touched through their many programs, we had to get involved.
Jordan headed our philanthropic efforts and worked with with the Donor Relations coordinator from Daniel Kids to construct an engagement program that includes volunteering, fund raising, and community awareness. We learned about their many programs available, which include but are not limited to; Residential services, community-based services, foster care, & independent living.
Residential Services: Daniel’s Statewide In-Patient Psychiatric program (SIPP) provides children exhibiting the most severe symptoms of mental and emotional distress with intensive residential treatment over four- to six-month periods.
Community Based Services: Journey to Success Program, Outpatient Mental Health, School-Based Behavioral Services, & Strengthening Ties & Empowering Parents
Foster Care: In an ideal world, all children would be able to live with their original families. Unfortunately, due to abuse or neglect some children must be temporarily removed from their homes. Other kids suffer from such severe emotional or behavioral problems that their families are not equipped to care for them in their present state. In both of these cases, Daniel is there to provide children with safe environments where they can heal and grow.
Independent Living: helps approximately 60 homeless youth each year by providing temporary residence in our twelve unit efficiency apartment complex or helping them secure other low-cost housing. Once these critical needs are met, the Daniel team teaches program participants enduring life skills including personal health and hygiene, how to obtain and maintain safe housing, how to comparative shop, how to make transportation arrangements, social skills, basic finance skills, banking and budgeting, job search skills, and employment stabilization.
The most important step was getting involved, this is where team Prime got the opportunity to spend the day with these great kids! Our team spent a Friday afternoon playing hockey, dodgeball, and basketball with the kids under the Daniel pavilion. It was a great team experience. “To say we had fun would be an understatement.” Says John Rutherford, Sales Associate at Prime Realty. We learned so much from the program, but getting to be a kid with these kids for the day was the real value. Prime looks forward to more community involvement in the future.
We look forward to fundraising for this wonderful local program and seeing it further improve our city.
