​​On July 8, Adrienne ​Walsh, Boys Town Washington DC’s Development Coordinator, hosted a community engagement table at Industrial Bank. Walsh shared information about Boys Town’s programs with the bank’s customers. It was a scorching hot day on the east coast, so customers were happy to see that Walsh was handing out Boys Town fans! Keeping with the summer theme, she also sent them away with seed packets with the saying “Help plant the seeds of change at Boys Town” sprawled across the packaging.

Industrial Bank’s Senior Vice President and Senior Lender, Roderick Johnson, is on the Boys Town Washington DC Board of Directors. Their banking model is based on civic mindfulness. Boys Town Washington DC is thrilled to partner a bank so deeply rooted in the community.

“[They] do a lot of work within the area and with different nonprofits in the community,” Walsh said. Boys Town is fortunate to be one of those nonprofits.”

There are plans in the works to have the bank do financial literacy classes with some of the youth in the Family Home Program in order to teach them about saving money, how to use checking accounts and how to manage a credit card. Since Industrial Bank is located near the DC campus, the booth was a great way for the DC site to further their community engagement specifically within their neighborhood.

Walsh described the bank’s friendly environment as a “true sense of what […] community is.”

“The tellers knew almost every customer that walked in by name,” she said. “And the customers knew everyone from the security guard to the manager who would run out and greet whoever walked in.”

It was that community atmosphere that allowed Walsh to talk to customers and teach them about Boys Town’s efforts.

“A lot of people didn’t know we were in the neighborhood,” Walsh said. “A lot of people knew us because of the movie, but they didn’t realize that we were in DC.”

Walsh was then able to inform the community members about where Boys Town was located and teach them about the different programs. While she talked about the residential programs, she emphasized the community-based services such as Common Sense Parenting^® and In-Home Family Services.

“I think community engagement events are really important for affiliate sites to do,” she said. “We have an amazing opportunity to share Father Flanagan’s 100-year-old mission and share the science we put behind that to prove it works. It was exciting show people that we have something so unique right in their own backyard.”

The locality of the programs shows individuals that what Boys Town does is for them and the families in their area.

“Community engagement, particularly in our own neighborhood, is a way to create alliances with the people we are working with and serving every day,” Walsh said.

Thank you to Industrial Bank for their loyal partnership. Companies like them make community engagement possible!