Rocket Mortgage partners with Detroit PAL to provide mentorship, job training

The Detroit Police Athletic League is tapping into a 17,000-member workforce in Detroit to boost career development and job training activities for thousands of Detroit youth through a new five-year partnership with Quicken Loans Inc.’s online mortgage service, Rocket Mortgage.

Under the agreement formed between Rocket Mortgage and Detroit PAL, the mortgage service is committing financial support and thousands of team members across the entire Rock Family of Companies to boost the nonprofit’s education programs, which include robotics, financial literacy, job shadowing as well as other mentorship programs, according to a Wednesday news release.

Volunteer opportunities will be made available to any interested team members across the Rock Family of Companies, which sees about a 70 percent volunteer participation rate on average among its Detroit workforce, according to Laura Grannemann, vice president of strategic investments for the Quicken Loans Community Fund. The family of companies has logged 350,000 volunteer hours in Detroit, and a little over half a million nationally.

Rocket Mortgage’s investment is “significant,” Grannemann said, though neither party is disclosing exact figures.

The partnership will allow Detroit PAL to tap Rock’s event programming expertise to help activate The Corner Ball Park in Corktown, where Detroit PAL is headquartered, the nonprofit’s interim CEO Robert Jamerson said.

The nonprofit is looking to activate the space through community events, fundraisers, and potentially through festivals or concerts that can bring people and dollars to that part of the city, Jamerson said.

“If you’re not talking about, and doing things for the youth, you’re not truly planning for the future,” Jamerson said. “It takes a true village to make a difference.”

The partnership will also provide training and job opportunities to the parents of Detroit PAL program participants, helping equip them for future opportunities, Jamerson said.

Detroit PAL, which is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, provides athletic, academic and leadership development programs tailored to help build character among at-risk, low-income, disadvantaged youth populations, according to its website. The nonprofit serves more than 15,000 youth each year and has 2,600 volunteers.

The partnership will assist the nonprofit’s Girls Changing the Game initiative, which aims to increase quality programming for girls in Detroit PAL programs and recruit more girls, the nonprofit’s website says.

Through the agreement, internships will be available within Rocket Mortgage, Quicken Loans and its corporate partners, and Rocket Mortgage will work to broaden the nonprofit’s engagement and involvement in the Rocket Mortgage Classic, which has a four-year agreement with the PGA Tour at the Detroit Golf Club.

The company will also provide support to Detroit PAL’s Team UP program, a collaboration between the nonprofit and the Detroit Police Department, the release said.

Rocket Mortgage’s philanthropic unit, Quicken Loans Community Fund, has poured more than $200 million into Detroit-based organizations and programs, and has spent more than 350,000 volunteer hours in the city, the release said.

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