Own Who You Are

  While many of my peers grew up with grocery store bread aisles brimming with choices, I spent my middle school years where people waited in long lines for one loaf of bread – no choice, no complaining. This was Berlin during the height of the Cold War.

Experiencing the literal and ideological divide between East and West Berlin permanently altered my world view. Here, I saw men with machine guns patrolling the Berlin Wall to keep a whole country confined. I saw bomb-ravaged buildings that were never repaired. I viewed maps that identified West Berlin as an empty white space with no borders. 

My parents took me on a tour of the concentration camps, so I would appreciate the vital importance of religious freedom and the role the American military and Allies played in securing our freedom. At the same time, I witnessed violent protests around nuclear development – a policy so unpopular with the younger generation that I was attacked on my bike one afternoon, due to my father's American military status. Through it all, I learned what it felt like to lack freedom to achieve dreams and what it must feel like to yearn for a sense of home and community.

It was these early experiences that led me to cherish the ability to pursue my dreams and appreciate how important it was to enable others to do the same – dreams like owning a home and being part of a safe community.

You see, owning a home has deep emotional resonance, especially in low-to-moderate income (LMI) communities. It's a milestone of success – part and parcel of the American dream. Yet many LMI families struggle to become first-time homeowners. And a few even overcome obstacles to start successful businesses. Banks, like TD, enable those dreams by providing financial access – through loans, credit, financial education and community funding -- helping people transform their lives as they create them.

Empowering people of all backgrounds to own who they are is part of TD's core mission to enrich the lives of our customers across the diverse communities we serve.

  In addition to helping people buy their first homes and start businesses, we also work hard to identify and assist those members of the community who need extra support. The TD Foundation developed Housing for Everyone grants that fund community non-profits to support those members of our communities who are most in need.

  These local non-profits understand the challenges their community members face and are able to make a meaningful difference. Take the Hudson River Housing project in Poughkeepsie, NY, which used TD Charitable Foundation funding to help renovate an early 19th century factory into a mixed-use space that offers affordable housing alongside a vibrant community coffeehouse and artists' studios. "We really wanted to focus on the assets of our local community, and bring those to the forefront and give them a place to thrive," Elizabeth Druback-Celaya, Hudson River Housing's Director of Organizational & Community Development explains. And its success is evident when you walk into the building and see artists and residents and others from the community sitting together over coffee. Projects like this go beyond providing homes for those struggling to get by; they create a hub that brings a community together with opportunities to interact at work and play.

"To have TD Bank come into a project like this in such a significant way shows us that TD Bank is a part of a bigger puzzle that is helping to make our communities stronger," Elizabeth says.

Housing for Everyone grants have helped people recovering from addiction rebuild their lives. They've enabled domestic abuse survivors to get a fresh start. And they've turned abandoned buildings into quality housing for low-income families. Through these community partnerships, TD is able to help people of all backgrounds take pride in their communities and own who they are.

After experiencing life in an oppressive culture, I am so grateful to help deliver the American dream – creating opportunities that enrich people's lives and enable our diverse communities to thrive.

  Watch how organizations are being impacted through the Housing for Everyone program: