So far, 2022 has been a year for the books. With shifts in the global economy, the crisis in Ukraine, worldwide heatwaves, rising interest rates, a shortage of newly built homes and inflation here at home, it's been easy to get distracted and lose perspective on the things that matter. Thanksgiving gives us time to pause and reflect on what we appreciate in life and the people, places and things we hold most dear.

Here at Movement Mortgage, we live by a mission statement unique in home financing: to love and value people by leading a Movement of Change in our industry, corporate culture and communities. That sentiment guides everything we do. And while we, like you, are thankful for our families, health and security, we also want to consider the impact our day-to-day work has on our lives. 

So, we wanted to share with you some of the things we are most grateful for when it comes to working among a great gathering of loan officers, marketers and behind-the-scenes operation teammates, not to mention the home builder community, realtors, new homebuyers and past customers.

Here are just seven things we're expressing gratitude for this Thanksgiving.

Gratitude #1. Growth — a lot of growth. 

Last year we served over 110,000 families, added over 500 new sales jobs, provided over $33 billion in mortgages, surpassed over 5,000 teammates and grew to over 775 locations in all 50 states! As our company grows, so does the impact we're having on the communities we serve.  Interested in joining us? 

Gratitude #2. We continue to be a culture of caring.

With no investors to repay, we use our profits to support and operate Movement Foundation, a nonprofit investment arm of Movement Mortgage. Movement Foundation uses these investments to uplift communities of need in the USA and overseas. Last year alone, we invested over $100 million into schools, health clinics and housing projects. Learn more about Movement Foundation.

Gratitude #3. Reaching more kids than ever.

When 2022 started, we already had three schools in the Movement School network — tuition-free, public charter schools providing high-quality educational choices to families in areas we serve. This year, we opened Movement School Southwest, our fourth in the network, to serve students and families in Greater Charlotte, North Carolina. We're now working hard to open brand new Movement Schools in the Camp Creek area of South Atlanta, Georgia. We plan to launch our Pre-K in the fall of 2023 and our elementary school in the fall of 2024. These new campuses will create 80 jobs and serve 1000 students. Learn more about Movement School enrollment.

Gratitude #4. Lending each other a helping hand.

When Movement employees and their families face personal crises, Love Works can help alleviate the burden with financial assistance and general support. Since the Love Works fund is 100% comprised of employee contributions, it's just one small way our staff can love each other by providing a helping hand when needed. Nearly $415,000 was raised to support Movement teammates going through tough times in 2021. Plus, with our matched giving, we were able to provide $1.2 million in match donations to nonprofits that Movement teammates passionately support!

Gratitude #5. Helping U.S. veterans and military personnel.

Movement has deep roots and respect for the country's military, and we're beyond grateful to be in a position to help U.S. veterans, active duty personnel and military families become better informed about VA home buying benefits, VA loan eligibility and entitlement, borrowing limits, refinancing and more. In 2020, we created Movement Military — a mortgage experience built for military families by military families. And last year, our commitment to military families resulted in over 6000 VA loans. That helped us become the 8th biggest VA lender in the country! Check out Movement Military for yourself.

Gratitude #6. Being part of a diverse, nationwide community of loan officers, marketers, support personnel, home builders, realtors and — of course — new homeowners.

Movement is dedicated to improving diversity and equity in lending across the United States. And we've made great strides on two fronts. One is continuing to serve the black communities with our Grab The Key initiative, which aims to help bring generational wealth to underserved and marginalized communities through homeownership education and awareness. Additionally, we also focus on LatinX families with Movement Comunidad, which serves Hispanic communities and helps get more Spanish-speaking homebuyers to realize the American Dream.

To strengthen diversity and equity in home lending, Montell Watson was recently promoted to the newly created position of Director of Diversity Lending and Strategic Partnerships at Movement Mortgage.

Gratitude #7. Another year of health and happiness.

Remote working has been hard on all of us at Movement. By nature, we are a community that loves to gather, work together and celebrate each other. Still, our leaders designed terrific ways to provide a work environment that connects us, encourages us and offers unique opportunities and challenges to grow and learn. 

As such, we are immensely thankful this year and every year for each member of the Movement Mortgage team, all our business connections and especially for all the new homeowners we've met and have had the opportunity to come to know.

Happy Thanksgiving, everyone!