PROFILE - Lending a helping hand

Continuing Genworth Financial’s good work in the corporate social responsibility area, the organisation’s staff got their hands dirty for the Forsight Foundation earlier in the year

STAFF AT Genworth spent a day repainting the home of four residents, each of whom has a range of sensory disabilities, who are being assisted by the Forsight Foundation.

The Foundation works with its disabled residents and their families, and currently operates eight homes for 34 disabled adults in the western and north western areas of Sydney.

The four residents of the house, as well as their carers, were delighted with the fresh, brighter living environment.

Among those who helped out was Genworth HR director Miles Burge, who told The Adviser about the importance of corporate social responsibility initiatives.

“We partner with a number of organisations,” Mr Burge says, “but our underlying theme is that we want our charity work to be broadly aligned with our business.”

“The real theme is ‘How can we help people live more independently?’ – which is really what we do as a business in terms of providing mortgage insurance.

“It’s very difficult to save, say, a 20 per cent deposit for a house, so mortgage insurance allows people to get into their homes sooner.”

A major part of Genworth’s philosophy is the promotion of independent living, which includes keeping people in their homes, Mr Burge says.

“The Forsight Foundation is one of the organisations we partner with that allows us to do that.”

BUILDING BRIDGES BETWEEN TEAMS

The day proved beneficial not only for the home’s residents but also for the Genworth team’s members, who had the chance to forge new relationships with employees from different parts of the company.

The chance to give back to the community was warmly received and brought out some healthy competition in the process.

“We interact all the time across the business,” Mr Burge says, “but we’re a reasonably sized organisation so there are people you don’t get to interact with on a day to-day basis. So it was a real opportunity to get a diverse group of people together.

“When we had a lunch break there was some really good banter flying around the backyard between the different departments,” he adds.

The 20 volunteers were divided into teams, with each taking responsibility for a different room.

Working in a team of three, Mr Burge enjoyed spending time with his colleagues while working towards a common goal.

By the end of the day, three bedrooms and two living rooms had been repainted sucessfully.

For Mr Burge, the highlight of the day was seeing the joy the Genworth team’s efforts had brought to Coral, a disabled resident with cerebral palsy.

Coral was unable to speak due to her condition, but Mr Burge could see the delight in her face as she entered her freshly painted bedroom.

“When she walked into the room her face just lit up,” he says.

“We had all been having fun throughout the day, but it was that moment that brought it all home as to why we were there.

“It’s very powerful when you can help people who are much less fortunate than yourself,” Mr Burge says.

“It’s an implicitly rewarding thing.”