Giving Something Back

Energetic, hardworking, happy, successful, a devoted family guy -- Teddy Coates has come a long way from his humble Baltimore beginnings, thanks to National Urban League services.
          
And he truly believes in the notion of giving back.

“I guess I follow the adage, ‘to whom much is given, much is expected,’” says Teddy, a Mortgage Loan Specialist in his hometown.  He helps families buy their first homes, assists families in stretching their resources through consolidation loans, and even helps send kids to college through home equity loans.  And then, Teddy’s off on a host of other community-building endeavors during his personal hours.

He’s a member of the Baltimore Urban League Young Professionals -- mentoring and working as an advocate to create opportunities for hardworking men and women.

He’s the president of Black Professional Men, Inc. -- a nonprofit group devoted to raising awareness of social, economic, and political issues.  The goal: to “ensure the future of the African-American male” through education, advocacy, networking, and scholarships.

He’s also on the board of “A Step Forward,” which provides transitional housing for families in crisis.

And he’s the president of Coates Unlimited . . . his family’s in-house charity to help younger family members continue their education.

Yet, with all these activities, Teddy’s primary focus is family -- he and his wife, Donna, have four children, Teddy II, Brandy, Jasmine, and Caleb.  It’s a commitment he acquired early on:  “I think I learned how and why to give from my mother,” he says, pointing out how she worked at a local community center for 34 years, where he reaped the benefits of Urban League programs.

“I practically grew up at this center,” he smiles, “which provides after-school care and learning, feeding the homeless programs, all types of sports -- the list goes on.”

The center is located in “one of Baltimore’s more challenged neighborhoods,” he says, “but my mother would embrace the kids, their parents, the employees, and the homeless, treating each with decency and respect.”

Sacrifice, he explains, is at the core of his family’s philosophy.  “She gave so much to my brother and me,” he says, “often forsaking her own needs.”
           
Seems Teddy got the message.  And by the example he sets in his own life, he’s truly an Urban League model of giving back.

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