Where Wall Street Meets Main Street: How the Housing Crisis Hits Home

The recent visit of Goucher alumnus Paul Reyes, author of the book Exiles in Eden: Life Among the Ruins of Florida’s Great Recession, got me thinking about experiences with the housing crisis on a personal and humanitarian level. With a father who works tirelessly on Wall Street for the start-up company Dreambuilder Investments, I’ve heard bits and pieces about mortgages and foreclosures for as long as I can remember. From my father’s stories to experiencing the company’s environment firsthand, I believe that through more humanitarian efforts from Wall Street, Main Street can also benefit.

According to the company’s website, Dreambuilder Investments’ is “a mortgage resolution and investment company bringing liquidity, efficiency and humanity to distressed markets.” While I may not always understand my father’s job, I do know that a lot of good can come from the company’s business plan. Basically, it’s not just about ruthless profit-making. As the website continues, “a caring approach to homeowners is at the heart of Dreambuilder Investments’ business model.  Successfully working with borrowers to achieve a mutually beneficial outcome is one of our key strengths.”

This concern for the homeowner, also captured by Reyes while helping out with his father’s Florida contracting business, shows why helping matters. It also underscores the thoughtlessness that continues to frequently wrack our nation thanks to big business. Corporations and other Wall Street companies need to start caring more for the citizens. In these tough economic times, we must strive to work together.

In the words of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr., a man whose work we celebrate during Black History month, “an individual has not started living until he can rise above the narrow confines of his individualistic concerns to the broader concerns of all humanity.”

While I’m not saying my father’s company is anywhere near perfect, I do know that its work signifies the basic sentiment to help that should be more commonplace. Wall Street needs to stop focusing on opportunistic profiteering and weave in Dr. King’s concept of “broader concerns of all humanity.” Only then can we emerge stronger as a nation and overcome these tough times.

For more on Paul Reyes, visit his personal website here.