Annual United Way Real Estate Breakfast Program Raises $3M

BOSTON—A crowd exceeding 1,100 corporate and community leaders battled the early morning cold and rain Thursday to support the United Way’s 18th Annual Real Estate and Building Industry Leadership Breakfast at the John B. Hynes Veterans Memorial Convention Center—and the United Way was the big winner, collecting an estimated $3 million.

The United Way and the CRE industry honored Robert Beal, president of the Beal Companies, for his work with Adoption & Foster Care Mentoring (AFC), a non-profit group serving the needs of youth in the foster care system, and the inspiration for the just-announced United Way initiative, Fostering Opportunity, which assists youths who “age out” of foster care at 18 without having reached financial stability.

Beal was presented with the Norman B. Leventhal /Edwin N. Sidman Real Estate and Building Industry Leadership Award, which is given to individuals who have made a contribution to the CRE community both professionally and philanthropically. Beal joked with the crowd that the United Way had told him—over his protestations—that he would receive the award, “You must accept the award, or we will fire you,” recounted Beal, who had selected the winner in previous years.

Former Massachusetts Governor Michael Dukakis, who grew up in the same neighborhood with Beal and said he “taught him how to ride a bike,” praised Beal for his work and stressed the importance of being part of a community.

The multifaceted breakfast was augmented by a discussion led by economist Edward Glaeser of Harvard University, and Northeastern University dean and public policy expert Barry Bluestone. The two reviewed the current success of the resilient Massachusetts economy with the caveat that the state must be careful not to become complacent. “While it’s remarkable how well we’re doing in terms of rents and vacancy rates, that’s not something that’s automatic,” said Glaeser. “Boston has seen what can happen, if we look back to that age in the 1970’s. We have to remember that we’re always on the edge of the precipice, that we have managed to re-invent ourselves on our wits, by being smart, and by the actions of the people in this room coming together through things like the United Way to build Boston.”

Bluestone also recalled the blight Boston had endured in the 1970’s, and lauded the state for its affordable housing initiatives. “We now have 31 cities and towns in the Commonwealth that have become 40R communities—where housing can be built as a right, with good, affordable and transit-oriented housing,” Bluestone stated, while exhorting to the gathering, “How we deal with (the problem of) affordable housing in an era of great inequality is going to take some innovation from your industry in order to ensure that we can stay at the top of our game.”

Michael Durkin, President of United Way of Boston and Merrimack Valley, praised the leadership of the local real estate industry, which contributed an estimated $3 million to the cause yesterday. “This (event) has been able to keep its momentum, largely because of the leadership we’ve had from the real estate community,” said Durkin. “For the last four years, they’ve put their focus on the issue of homelessness, which is a big theme for the United Way, and they’ve really been the lead horses on this (issue).”

Among those marveling at the efforts of the breakfast committee—a group that began work on the event last January—is William F. McCall Jr., the Leventhal /Sidman Award winner in 2004, “It’s phenomenal. How can you raise $3 million bucks?” said an obviously enthused McCall afterwards, terming the event “absolutely a home run” that will do much to help local charities. “The guys that do it should be commended,” McCall stressed.