For EoC business owners, the definition of an employee expands beyond expectations.
By Julie Mundell, Co-Owner, Mundell & Associates
Almost a decade ago, our company began a relationship with a new custodial company to clean our office building several times a week. They assigned a young woman named Heather to come three times a week to vacuum our carpets, perform general cleaning of the offices, conference room and kitchen, and empty waste baskets. Over the next 2 years, Heather became our dedicated housekeeper.
We were very happy with her work and with her rapport with our employees. She and I shared family stories, the ‘ups and downs’ of being a working mom. She and her family lived with her dad in a 
rented apartment to share expenses, but she was saving to move out on her own someday. Her life included many struggles – family relationships, drug use - but she didn’t complain, and I came to admire her positive attitude and sense of humor about life’s ‘hard knocks’. She was hard-working and cheerful at work, even when she became pregnant with her 3rd child. She worked into her 8th month to maximize her leave-time with this new baby.
A Door Closes and Another Opens
We told the cleaning company that employed her that we would gladly accept a temporary substitute, but that we wanted Heather back after her maternity leave - and they agreed. I sent Heather a card when the baby was born and awaited her return. After a few months, I called her about a small gift we had for her and found out that her company had terminated her employment (apparently not planning to tell us until we asked). I found out that Heather was now seeking small jobs and hoping to make a go of it on her own, so I politely ended our relationship with her previous company and asked Heather to add us as her first new client for her ‘startup’ cleaning company.
One day after several months, she came to work especially happy. She had just found a small house she knew she could afford and had already offered full price for it, certain that the owners would accept. However, there was one problem - the mortgage company began to back-pedal because of her credit history. It wasn’t bad, it was non-existent! She’d never borrowed anything before! She had always paid cash for what she needed, saving up for things when it was necessary. This is why the bank had turned her loan down. She was crushed.
Who is Our Employee?
When I shared this with my husband John, we mulled over whether to help. We couldn’t hire her on as a full-time employee, and so she was not eligible for traditional employee benefits, but we felt that she too was our employee and also our ‘neighbor’. We recalled an Economy of Communion friend’s experience with providing micro-loans and felt we could do this too, to help Heather with a significant downpayment to help herself. Unlike the mortgage company, we knew her well and felt that she was a good risk. In fact, the risk was not huge compared to the benefits we would pay her as a full-time employee. So, we followed our hearts. We set aside the money and developed a fair repayment plan and offered her a no-interest loan.
When we told her our plan, she was floored! And delighted. And she cried. We both cried. But then there was one more step. The mortgage company required our company’s bank statement, proving we were the source of this money, as well as a letter declaring that it was a gift to her with no expectation of repayment. This way, if she got behind in her payments to the bank, she would have to pay the bank back before us.
Trust, Hope and Pray
We wrote the letter to the bank with trust that this was a good investment in her and in her three children, no matter what the outcome. It’s what we would have done for our own children. It’s what we would want our neighbor to do for us. As a result, Heather received the mortgage loan, and moved her family into her new home. She came to work one day beaming with pride with photos to show everyone her ‘new house’. Over the next few years, we knew this one small step of ours in supporting Heather had made a big difference in her life and her family’s life and stability.
Of course, that is not the end of the story. One day, with no explanation, Heather did not come to work as expected. We were concerned and tried to contact her many times but were unable to make a connection. We eventually heard through a friend that she had some ongoing personal and family problems that caused her to give up her company. Although we have not been in contact with Heather for many years now, we still think about and pray for her and her family, knowing that our investment did a great deal of good for someone who has had her share of difficulties and obstacles in her life.
Our experience with living out the business lifestyle of the Economy of Communion these last three decades has given us a certain outlook, with blessings coming to us as business owners in many forms if we can manage to recognize them. The relationships we develop with each ‘employee’ and everyone we come to know are the true treasures that remain with us in our hearts. Thank you Heather for the gift you gave to us for having known you.
