Brenda MacKenzie, a real estate agent in Halifax, Canada, and I were having coffee one day and talking about Heaven on Earth. I asked her what world suffering upset her the most. Her face went pale as she said, “Homelessness.” I asked her what Heaven on Earth would be for homelessness and she simply said, “A home for everyone.”
Then, she immediately went into how difficult that would be. “Martin you don’t understand. I’m a real estate agent, I work 60 hours a week and I’m also in a relationship that takes time. How am I supposed to do all that and create a home for everyone?”
I responded by saying, “Brenda, put all your very real considerations aside for the moment. Now, how are you going to get this done?” — and that’s when a light bulb went on for her.
She went back to her real estate agency, Domus Realty, and called an all-agents meeting. She told them she wanted to end homelessness, create a home for everyone, and she wanted it to be easy to do. Would they agree that every time they sold a property to have $100 taken out of their commission and put into a special Domus Fund to end homelessness? They all agreed and set up a “Home for Everyone.”
Each year, they fund innovative programs that help end homelessness, asking for submissions from registered charities. The last time I spoke with Brenda, her agency had raised over $50,000. They have six volunteer board members, one chosen by each realtor, who review the applications and choose what they feel is the best match for their criteria. Brenda chairs the board and reports back to the Domus agents. Last year, the winning charity received $22,000.
Martin Rutte
