Movement Mortgage team members have rallied together to provide shelter and support to fellow employees affected by Hurricane Irma, the devastating storm that battered the Caribbean before making landfall in Florida over the weekend.

Irma, which was downgraded to a tropical storm after it moved through the Atlantic, has cut a wide swath of damage across the Sunshine State, bringing heavy rainfall, violent winds and record flooding. It's projected to keep churning through the southeast, affecting states that include Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee and the Carolinas. 

Giving shelter

Movement has 194 employees in Florida, all of whom are reportedly safe. The company last week sent out a call to employees in areas unaffected by the storm to provide housing for team members fleeing the hurricane. Within an hour, 270 beds were made available, and three families were matched with housing outside the storm's path.

Among those housed was a family of nine — a Movement loan officer in Sarasota, an elderly couple, a pregnant woman and dogs — that found refuge with an employee who lives in South Carolina, says Matt Schoolfield, Movement's southeast regional director.

"You hate for anything like this to happen — it's a lot of damage and it's going to disrupt a lot of people's lives for a long time," Schoolfield says, "but it's an opportunity to come together."

Outpour of support

Team members at the company's National Sales Support Center in Fort Mill, S.C., are assembling hygiene kits that will go to Convoy of Hope, a national faith-based organization that will distribute the goods to Irma victims.

Employees can also donate to Love Works, an internal employee-driven fund that helps fellow employees facing financial hardship.

Schoolfield isn't surprised by Movement's outpouring of support.

"I think that type of action is within all of us," he says. "At Movement, because how prominently we talk about love and value, it's much easier for that part of us to come out. It's more encouraged and more celebrated. It's expected."