NMP - December 2016 - 54
t is not unusual for mortgage professionals to be actively involved in non-profit organizations and charitable campaigns, but few have gone as far as Robert Scheer in running a non-profit full-time while maintaining a parallel full-time position within the mortgage industry. To his mortgage world peers, Robert Scheer is known as the chief strategy officer for Landmark Network Inc. To a wider public, he is the founder and head of Comfort Cases, which provides children in foster care with a backpack or suitcase filled with personal care items including toiletries, underwear, socks, pajamas and toys. "We are one of the few 100 percent nonprofit charities left in Maryland," said Scheer, who puts 25 to 30 hours per week into Comfort Cases. "Every penny that comes into our charity goes to our charity. We have 19 people who volunteer to work with us-we have no paid staff ... even our board is all volunteer." Scheer has firsthand knowledge of the foster care system, having spent his childhood therein. In his adulthood, he adopted four children from foster care. In focusing on this subject and the youngsters within the system, Scheer acknowledged that he is breaking a taboo by giving attention to a subject that is aggressively ignored by the mainstream media and the parenting-focused media. "I feel that foster care and 'The Invisible Children' have been rejected because if we talk about it, then we will realize we have a problem," he said, adding that he was uncertain how his colleagues in the mortgage field would react to this endeavor. "I never wanted to bring attention to myself-and I was worried by I DECEMBER 2016 n National Mortgage Professional Magazine n NationalMortgageProfessional.com 54 what people in the industry might think about me. But I was amazed by the overwhelming support that people in the industry gave me." Comfort Cases began operations in 2003 by distributing 300 kits to children in foster care in the Maryland market. As of this year, it has distributed approximately 23,000 cases in seven states and the District of Columbia. And while he was not looking for any special recognition for his work, within two years of beginning operations Scheer received the Dunkin' Donuts Community Hero Award while he and his daughter Amaya were profiled in a cover story for American Girl Magazine. However, the latter honor created an unexpected backlash: The magazine also profiled the full family, including Scheer's husband Reece. An advocacy group called One Million Moms objected to the presence of a same-sex couple as parents and called for a boycott of the American Girl company- which, of course, focused even more attention on Comfort Cases and Scheer. Looking back on the controversy, Scheer saw the silver lining to the negativity directed at him and his family. "It truly has made our family stronger and more out spoken," Scheer commented. "And we realized it is not okay to stand on the sidelines and complain, but to get into the game!" The outpouring of support for Scheer, his family and Comfort Cases culminated this year another magazine profile, this time in celebrityfocused weekly People. As someone who was initially uncomfortable about being in the spotlight, Scheer was happily surprised at the support he received. Shedding Lig Robert Scheer of Landmark N By By Phil Phil Hall Hall "It is very humbling when I have people stop my family and say thank you," he said. "It makes it worth all of the backlash. But, you see, this is not about pounding your chest, but about doing what is our responsibility-and that is giving back." Scheer's goal for Comfort Cases is to bring its distribution network nationwide. He added that Landmark Network had graciously offered financial support for Comfort Cases, it was not looking for publicity mileage from its association with Scheer's prominent non-profit work.
For optimal viewing of this digital publication, please enable JavaScript and then refresh the page. If you would like to try to load the digital publication without using Flash Player detection, please click here.