Rümineer Spotlight: Community Manager Appreciation Day with Sarah

January 23 is Community Manager Appreciation Day. In celebration of the occasion, we want to introduce you to our Senior Advisor of Brand Marketing & Community Investment and amazing Rümineer, Sarah Urbanowski!

As Rümi prides itself on home happiness, helping people love the places they live and work, Sarah has been a champion at building partnerships with non-profit organizations, allowing team members to give back and demonstrate our company values.

Check out our recent interview with Sarah as we learn more about her as a Rümineer and the typical day of a Community Investment lead.

What does your job entail at Rümi as a Senior Advisor of Brand Marketing?

?"At Rümi, I wear many hats, which I love about my job. I am responsible for public relations, brand management, market research and community investment (CI). CI is an area that's very near and dear to my heart because there is such a significant need in our communities right now for housing, clothing, food or just basic needs. My role involves developing partnerships with non-profit organizations that have programs supporting those needs."

Why do you think it's important for Rümi to have a community initiative such as ügive?

"I think communities are strengthened when basic needs are met. That's the driving force behind, ügive, Rümi's Community Investment program. It's important for us to tap into that desire to give back, laddering our purpose statement of making people happy in the places they live and work."

How do our community partners (WINS, Habitat for Humanity Southern Alberta and HomeSpace Society) align with Rümi's values?

"There are a lot of great organizations supporting the needs of people within Calgary and Alberta, but we wanted to focus on the space of the home, making your home happier, which aligns with our purpose as an organization.

With WINS (Women In Need Society) , while they support women, they also support many diverse groups that might need help setting up a new home, including women and children escaping a domestic situation, newcomers to Canada or even single dads. They are focused on giving dignity back to people through many programs like House to Home.

With Habitat for Humanity Southern Alberta , there was a nice synergy between their work and our purpose statement of making people happier in their homes. We felt we could support by offering in-kind services as part of the Refurbishment Program. This is when Habitat buys back a home from a family to keep it in the affordable housing market – often times these houses need some work before a new family can move in, and that's where Rumi can support. We also welcome families with Blue Flame Kitchen meals and six months of free energy services through ATCOenergy to help welcome them to their new homes.

And HomeSpace Society meets a different part of the market when it comes to housing. They're finding safe and affordable housing for vulnerable Calgarians on a rental basis with specific needs, tapping into other areas of home security.

Community partnerships are important to these organizations as they look to fill growing needs in our community, but they're also important to us as we look to live our values and give back to the community. As part of building our culture, we know that volunteering and giving back are also important to employees. If these programs speak to future and existing Rümineers, then it helps support the kind of people we want to attract and retain."

Lastly, what brings you joy as a Rümineer?

"I'd have to say it's the people. I know it's a very common answer, but I think we've got a lot of great people, great attitudes, and willingness to come together to get things done, volunteer and help out an initiative!" ?

Rümi has been focused on evolving our community investment efforts in the past year. For more information about our initiative and how we're sharing home happiness with our family of brands, ATCOenergy and Blue Flame Kitchen, please visit rumi.ca.