Atlanta (February 1, 2016) – Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP (MMM) is taking an important step toward helping the homeless get a new start. The law firm has chosen Open Doors, an organization that helps Metro Atlanta’s homeless find apartments, as its nonprofit partner for 2016.
Open Doors works with multifamily real estate companies and nonprofit organizations to place homeless consumers in apartments. It has helped 2,750 individuals and families, including veterans, since 2012. As part of Morris, Manning & Martin’s MMMPact program, the firm will donate and raise funds, and help Open Doors reach more landlords interested in helping others.
Aaron Goldman, President of Perennial Properties, chairs the Atlanta Real Estate Collaborative (AREC) board, which is the private real estate representation in the partnership. “It’s great for the possibilities and potential of those consumers who now have a chance to say, ‘I have a home; I have an address I can put on a job application; I have hope,’” Goldman says.
Open Doors is a city-wide partnership involving the AREC; Enterprise Community Partners; Project Community Connections, Inc (PCCI); and several nonprofit service providers. Consumers are matched with vocational, financial, mental health and other services to help them toward long-term stability, and then connected to appropriate housing. The board members of AREC and donors to Open Doors include a Who’s Who of real estate.
“This marks our fourth year of dedicating ourselves to partnering with a local nonprofit,” offered Louise M. Wells, MMM’s Managing Partner. “Much like all of our previous partners, Open Doors is an excellent organization. It’s doing amazing work for the homeless within our community. We are 100% committed to helping them reduce homelessness in the Atlanta area.”
Goldman added that MMM’s endorsement has already yielded dividends. “It really put a stamp of approval for the entire real estate industry and the legal industry here in Atlanta,” he said. “MMM is a best-in-class operation - known to all the management companies, known to all the real estate players, known to all the bankers. Already the introductions to other donors and landlords has been impactful.”
MMMPact is the firm’s long-standing community outreach program. It consists of the Community Involvement committee, the Diversity Initiative, Pro Bono Program and Women’s Initiative. Each year the effort partners with a different nonprofit. Previous nonprofit partners include Reach for Excellence, CURE Childhood Cancer and Kate’s Club. MMMPact donated more than $110,000 to more than 35 organizations in 2015 alone.
About Morris, Manning & Martin, LLP
Morris, Manning & Martin (www.mmmlaw.com) is an AmLaw 200 law firm with national and international reach. We dedicate ourselves to the constant pursuit of our clients’ success. To provide our clients with optimal value, we combine market-leading legal services with a total understanding of their needs to maximize effectiveness, efficiency and opportunity. MMM enjoys national prominence for its real estate, corporate, litigation, technology, healthcare, intellectual property, energy & infrastructure, capital markets, environmental, international trade, insurance, and timberland & forest products practices. MMM has offices in and around Atlanta, Raleigh-Durham, Savannah and Washington, D.C. The firm also has a business development office in Beijing, China and a strategic alliance office in São Paulo, Brazil.
