Many of our residents, employees and neighbors faced financial difficulties in 2009. As might be expected in tough times, ABHOW’s charitable care and community benefits increased to  $14.1 million, up more than $1 million dollars from 2008. The company helped residents who have outlived their assets remain in their homes, covered the difference between Medicaid reimbursement and the actual cost of health care services, gave scholarships to employees, and contributed meeting space and expertise to the communities in which we operate. 

Providing these and other benefits and services is nothing new. It is, quite simply, what we are supposed to do. ABHOW was founded in 1949 as a charitable ministry dedicated to providing housing, health care and supportive services to older adults, and the company has from the beginning offered services the government would otherwise have to supply. 

Recognizing that fact, the federal government and the states in which the company operates exempt ABHOW from real estate taxes. In turn, we believe we have the responsibility to make our charitable activities transparent. We have adopted a practice called social accountability through which we document the value of the services we contribute each year. The 2009 report shows that while the community benefits ABHOW supplied surpassed $14 million, the tax benefits we received came to about $4.6 million. 

Some states now require nonprofit organizations that offer care and services to seniors to demonstrate that the value of their charitable activities exceeds the amount they save in taxes. Although ABHOW operates in states that don’t require it, we report these figures voluntarily because we recognize that we are accountable both to those we serve and to the general public. 

Tracking our charitable activities helps us verify that we are in fact doing what we were created to do; namely, meeting the needs of seniors and their families, our employees and the broader community. The process alerts us when those needs increase, as they did in 2009, and it helps us understand exactly how those we serve have been affected by the economic downturn. Furthermore, the information in our reports sharpens our planning for the future and enables us to evaluate whether we are being good stewards of our charitable resources.  

Our social accountability reports also demonstrate that those who live and work in ABHOW communities share the belief that giving is the essence of what we do. Our employees and residents donated volunteer services worth nearly a quarter million dollars in 2009. We salute this spirit of giving and honor all those who made the lives of those around them a little better last year.