Under Leadership of Shawn Seals, Ashley HomeStore Creates Heartship Fund for Associates in Need

HOUSTON, June 25, 2018 /PRNewswire/ -- When the management team of Ashley HomeStore in Houston, Austin, San Antonio and the Rio Grande Valley established a fund in the summer of 2017 for associates to help co-workers in need, little did they know how quickly those contributions would be put to use.

Just three months after New Braunfels, Texas-based Hill Country Holdings created its Disaster Relief and Associate Heartship Fund, the operator of 14 Houston-area Ashley HomeStore locations was helping employees flooded from their homes by Hurricane Harvey.             

"Even though our Heartship Fund had been in place for only a couple of months, we collected enough to ensure our associates and their families impacted by Harvey had a roof over their heads and food on the table," says Shawn Seals, chief revenue officer for Ashley HomeStore in Houston, San Antonio and the Rio Grande Valley. "Our associates are family to us."

Seals explains Ashley HomeStore associates voluntarily contribute to the fund through payroll deductions, employee-only fundraisers and cash donations.

"All of us give at some level," he adds. "Because we never know when we'll be the one going through tough times."

The Heartship Fund is available for any Ashley HomeStore associate in Houston, Austin, San Antonio and the Rio Grande Valley facing costly home repairs caused by a local disaster in excess of insurance; the funeral of an immediate family member; emergency travel or care for a critically ill family member; medical treatment not covered by insurance; or a loss of income due to an medical condition.

"It's about 'heartship,' not hardship," says Seals.

Applications to the Heartship Fund are submitted to and reviewed by the New Braunfels Area Community Foundation, a 501(c)(3) public charity established in 2009.  Hill Country Holdings has no part in the application process, thereby ensuring an objective, third-party review of all inquiries.

Applications can be completed by the associate in need or by a co-worker who knows a colleague facing financial challenges.

Hill Country Holdings employs more than 1,000 workers at its Ashley HomeStore retail locations and distribution centers in Houston, San Antonio and the Rio Grande Valley as well as its corporate office in New Braunfels.

SOURCE Ashley HomeStore