Ariel Re’s support of the Transformational Living Centre is helping to get families back on their feet.
What is it? The Transformational Living Centre
Who is the supporter? Ariel Re
What does Ariel Re do for TLC? Ariel Re and its employees donate to TLC and other charities through its charity clubs. Among the donations Ariel Re has made to TLC is $9,000 worth of washing machines and dryers. Ariel has also made significant donations to Beyond Rugby, Waterstart and the Coalition for the Protection of Children. Other donations have been also made to Big Brothers/Big Sisters, SCARS, the Reading Clinic, It Takes a Village Foundation and Support Public Schools Bermuda.
Why does it matter? TLC was established by the Women’s Resource Centre in 2022 to provide housing and support to single mothers and their children. It has supported 11 families by providing transitional housing, along with essential services such as case management, counselling, and life skills education. It is transitioning to be operated by home, a charity dedicated to ending homelessness in Bermuda.
Ariel Re has been operating since 2006 under a variety of owners but was bought in 2020 by Pelican Ventures and JC Flowers. With that purchase, Ariel relaunched internally as Ariel 2.0, and as part of the transition, it also refocused its charitable approach with the goal of making an impact on young people and families.
As part of that focus, it supports organisations like Beyond Rugby, WaterStart, the Coalition for the Protection of Children and the Transformational Living Centre.
“We have called Ariel in its recent ownership Ariel 2.0 for a reason, because we wanted to be more impactful in not only our underwriting approach and in being meaningful to our clients, but also as a smaller reinsurance company, we wanted to to punch above our weight,” said Veronica King, vice president for property underwriting and one of the chairs of the company’s charity committee.
“We have been told that on the underwriting side we do tend to punch above our weight,” she said. “That theme is what we wanted to carry into the charity space as well so we can have a really big impact on something. A little bit goes a long way is the theme we wanted to carry out.”
King, who chairs the committee with Carolina Medeiros, who is an assistant property underwriter, said: “To focus on Bermuda specifically, we can make a significant difference because Bermuda is so small and close knit. We also know that it boosts morale around the company and is valuable for retention.
“The theme of our selected charities is very youth-based with a focus on making a connection, creating a sustainable future and giving back to those in need.”
King said that in the wake of the Covid-19 pandemic, many families were affected, especially those with parents who could not work from home while there also appeared to be an increase in homelessness.
“Our contributions are very directed to organisations like Coalition for the Protection of Children and the Transformational Living Centre,” she said.
TLC is not Ariel’s only charity recipient, but it is a meaningful one for the company which has an outsize impact on the charity.
TLC provides accommodation to single mothers and their children by providing transitional housing, along with essential services such as case management, counselling, and life skills education.
Ariel has been supporting TLC for two years and sponsored two families in the first cohort. Staff and the company also provides a Thanksgiving lunch to the families.
King said: “At Christmastime, we took some of the MarketPlace and Gibbons Company vouchers to the moms so they can buy toys.”
The company also runs fundraising drives to facilitate therapy and resume workshops. It donated $9,000 worth of washing machines and dryers to the facility for which they received a charity discount.
The involvement with TLC ensures women are housed, secure and receive counselling and support. They have often come from abusive relationships.
“They want to the opportunity rebuild their lives and TLC gives them the chance and offers a sense of family,” said King.
Ariel is examining how it can extend its support and find other ways to give back, including through working with residents on mock job interviews.
Medeiros said Ariel’s goal in its community engagement was to empower the next generation.
This takes place with the families of the residents of TLC, but also through organisations like Beyond Rugby, which teaches the sport to high school students but also offers tutoring and homework support.
WaterStart offers outdoor education programmes which involve training in snorkelling, scuba diving, boating, conservation and marine science. They are allow students to embrace new experiences and gain skills through experiential learning.
Ariel also supports The It Takes a Village Foundation which supports young mothers and provides food vouchers to single parents. Ariel supports the charity through a voluntary payroll deduction spearheaded by CEO Ryan Mather.
The company then buys vouchers from Gibbons Company and the MarketPlace worth as much as $13,000 a year, of which the staff have donated around $8,000.
Ariel also does two community days a year, one of which was a KBB clean-up at Southlands.
King and Medeiros said the company puts employee involvement at the heart of its efforts, carrying out an annual survey to help to decide on its priorities and charities to support. The company also matches donations from staff.
