Meet The Howard Team -- Walter and Emily Howard -- of Fairway Independent Mortgage Corporation. This incredible couple has 32 years of combined mortgage experience. Walter has 26 years, and Emily has 6. Prior to doing mortgages, Emily was a special education teacher for the Kent School District for 15 years. The Howard Team offers all residential housing mortgage loan products, and they serve 26 U.S. states and most of Washington State.

"We love helping families buy their dream homes and build generational wealth through investing in real estate," Walter and Emily said.
 
Here are just a few ways The Howard Team differentiates themselves:

• They’re FAST!
• They stay in touch with their clients for years after their first loan closes, because they truly care.
• They work for the five-star review, not the paycheck.
• Walter and Emily are “Married with Mortgages” and they have doubled their business almost every year since 2017, until 2022. Look for them on social media!

 
Walter and Emily are very involved in the communities they serve, giving back and helping make their communities better. The organizations they support include Auburn Humane Society, Covington Storehouse, Vine Maple Place, Metro Animal Services, Treehouse, St. Jude’s Children’s Research Hospital, Autism Society of Washington, Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors (TAPS), and Cell Phones for Soldiers, just to name a few.
 
On the personal side, if you’ve ever met Walter or Emily, you know they live full lives, making the most of each day, and their positive attitudes are contagious. Married for 11 years, the couple loves animals and critters of all kinds including contact companion Yorkie Frank, tropical fish, frogs, and a chameleon that showed up mysteriously in their yard on Halloween two years ago. Walter and Emily love to be outside, gardening, doing yardwork, traveling, or playing volleyball and disc golf.
 
“We love animals and gardening,” Emily said. “We enjoy creating relationships with all kinds of people and learning about other cultures.”
 
Fun facts:

• Favorite meal: macaroni and cheese
• Ideal vacation: Tahiti or anywhere tropical with lots of animals
• Before becoming a special education teacher, Emily worked at Microsoft.
• Walter LOVES yardwork and would love to be either a barber or a landscaper.

 
If you haven’t met Walter or Emily, look for them around the community or at a Covington Chamber event. Their outlook on life and their hard work and professionalism are inspiring!
 
Learn more about them here: WalterHowardLoans.com 

​In today’s Member Spotlight is Vine Maple Place, a Christian nonprofit that transforms lives by preventing and ending homelessness. Though it is a multi-step process, they break their work down into three key areas:

- Offering safety (stable housing and temporary rent assistance, basic needs and counseling)
- Providing stability (employment and wage development, budgeting and family healing)
- Equipping clients for self-sufficiency (livable wage jobs, life skills and family bonding)

Key statistics from fiscal year 2020:

- Served 524 families and 1,603 individuals
- 91% of families were successfully housed 1 year later
- Average cost per family is $5,716 for 5 ½ months in the Stable Families Program
- They provided 12,267 meals through their Hot Meals Pilot Program.
- The nonprofit received 2,435 desperate calls for help in 2020.
- For every 1 family they can help, 4 families are turned away.
- 40 new families with 80 children enter the program every month.
- 7 out of 10 individuals have experienced or witnessed domestic violence.
- 100% live below the federal poverty level or are severely low income when they enter the program.
- 86% of parents leave the program employed and with greater financial stability.

To learn more about Vine Maple Place, which primarily serves clients in Maple Valley, Covington, Kent, Renton and Auburn, visit VineMaplePlace.org online.