Mark Delisi, Sr. Director of Corporate Responsibility; Christine McElhinney, Investments & Corporate Responsibility Administrator; Gauri Paydenkar, Sr. Pricing & Revenue Manager – who help facilitate the partnership between AvalonBay and Arlington Free Clinic.
AvalonBay Communities, Inc. owns, develops and manages apartment communities in major U.S. markets on the east and west coast. Their headquarters and six of their apartment communities are located right here in Arlington. As a leader in the apartment living business, AvalonBay is driven by its purpose of creating a better way to live, and its nearly 3,000 associates strive to bring this purpose to life every day for its more than 140,000 residents.
One of AvalonBay’s longstanding core values is a spirit of caring. Acting with genuine kindness and concern for others extends to giving back to the communities where AvalonBay does business. During its annual Spirit of Caring Month last year, employees gave over 3,200 volunteer hours to over 85 charities including Arlington Free Clinic. Employees spread the word about AFC at outreach events, helping us meet prospective supporters to fill our constant need for new volunteers. Another team of employees wrote auction item descriptions and tackled a long list of administrative tasks related to AFC’s annual Benefit Gala. In 2014, we held a special 20th Anniversary Gala, and AvalonBay’s CEO, Tim Naughton, and other top executives supported the event by helping us raise double the amount generated the previous year – they’ve continued to be a part of this important fundraising effort ever since.
Local AvalonBay Communities collected thousands of items during a hygiene drive in 2015.
AvalonBay leverages its tremendous local reach to help spread awareness of our mission to the residents of its apartment communities in and around Arlington. The AVA Ballston community held a barbeque and invited AFC to come and share about our mission and ways to get involved. Residents at all of AvalonBay’s local communities participated in a drive that collected over 5,000 hygiene items for our patients. Residents met a very tangible need that many of our patients have for things like shampoo, soap, floss and toothpaste.
At its highest level, the company understands the importance of investing in the culture of AvalonBay through enacting its core values. CEO Tim Naughton says that “the company’s long-term success should be viewed through not just the lens of financial performance, but also through its environmental impact and impact on the prosperity and well-being of the communities in which we do business,” and this, he says “is why we support Arlington Free Clinic.”
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