Veterans Charity Offers Personal Outlet for Some ARM Professionals

“I just want to do my part,” says Susan Namm, Director of Operations at Arrow Financial Services, a debt buyer and collection agency based in Niles, Ill. “I’m very proud of my children and what they’ve done and I’m proud of the men and women who are out there. It’s not an easy thing and if I can give back in the someway and help support them, we should do that.” 

Namm is part of a growing number of ARM industry professionals coming out in support of ARMing Heroes, anon-profit charity founded in March 2009 committed to helping U.S. military veterans reenter civilian life. The organization’s mission is to assist former service men and women with job opportunities, training and mentoring, debt-reduction services and monetary donations — all through the support of businesses and individuals in the accounts receivable management industry who recognize the rewarding potential in this niche relationship.

With two of three children having served in the army and over 25 years of experience in the ARM industry, Namm stands in the unique position to offer her support as a mother, spokeswoman and mentor.

“We have started talking about it here in the office,” she says of the charity’s increased visibility over the past year, “but I also talked to my son about it" in the hope of spreading the message. Namm’s middle son, Alexander, 21, served for two years before coming home in November, while her eldest, Ryan, 22, served in Afghanistan for one and a half years before returning in August. He is stationed at Fort Bragg and scheduled for re-deployment training this Fall.

Namm took care of Alexander’s bills while he was deployed and was immediately struck by the positive impact and heartfelt appreciation. Of course, she was happy to oblige with many trips to the post office with care packages — “love in a box,” she jokes — but notes how many young soldiers didn’t have the same support system.

“He just recounted some stories about people that have been taken advantage of while they’ve been deployed, because they just didn’t know how to handle their money.”

Although the army has mandatory financial classes and counseling, the young age and extra income for many soldiers doesn’t always result in financial wherewithal upon their return home.

“The young guys get deployed and they don’t think about letting their creditors know that they’re serving and take advantage of the SCRA and the benefits that that provides to them,” Namm says, letting her years of experience shine through. “They don’t realize the importance and then when they come home they want to buy a car, they have financial situations that come up because things weren’t taken care of.”

This is just one way ARMing Heroes aims to assist veterans and their families who find themselves in similar situations. The charity also has the unique position to offer professional support in the wake of troop downscaling and a lack of improvement in domestic unemployment. However, the larger social responsibility embodied by an organization like ARMing Heroes appeals across the industry and is certainly not lost on Namm and her involvement with the New Jersey based non-profit.

In an industry often plagued by negative publicity and stigmas, ARMing Heroes and its supporters are shifting the public perception of accounts receivable management, using outreach and action over the smoke and mirrors of a public relations campaign.

“We don’t get to tell that story enough,” Namm says of the community outreach that goes on across the ARM industry, noting in particular Arrow’s contributions to hospitals and breast cancer research, shelters and food banks. “I think this is just one more thing that we do.”

“It’s hard because we do provide a service for our clients and for ourselves,” she says. “We’re here to collect something that is legally owed, but we do a lot of community work and there’s a lot of charity work that goes on across the industry.”

For example, ARMing Heroes is already well on its way to raising $10,000 by Veteran’s Day — November 11 — as part of the First Annual Veteran’s Day Charity Fundraising Drive.

“We’re a small group,” she says, almost apologetically. “We have big hearts and I think that gets lost in a lot of negative publicity in the industry. I’ve been doing this for over 25 years and there are some great people.” The same can be said of Namm’s second family as a mother of two men serving in the armed forces.

"It makes you very aware when you travel a lot when you see the other service members in the airport," she says. "They’re someone’s child. I always acknowledge them and let them know that we do think about them and that we’re very proud of them." The experience also gave Namm the professional opportunity to re-evaluate her own training within the industry.

“It was very interesting for me as somebody being in the industry to see how various creditors handle the situation,” she says of the time spent managing her son’s finances. “For the most part I’ve had really great experiences when I would send a copy of the power of attorney and his deployment orders and prove that I had the authority to act on his behalf and he was truly deployed."

"I got some really nice acknowledgement letters,” she says. And for the instances that needed to say, in effect, “here’s what the law says, and here’s what you need to do” Namm recognized the experience as reason enough to brush up.

“I do know ACA International has training, the members of the industry do train, but it doesn’t hurt to do a reminder for your staff if you’re not training,” she says. “Remember to ask those financial questions: were you in the service? Are you in the service? It could be one of the reasons why somebody is delinquent.” It’s one of those fact finding things, she says. “Make sure you’re scrubbing your files for people that are in service.” 

Above all Namm says the personal contribution she made to ARMing Heroes is part of the unconditional support and acceptance of her sons’ chosen paths. “We have an opportunity to give back and it doesn’t take a lot of time and it doesn’t take a lot of money,” she says.

“You just have to be supportive just like any other career your child would decide they want to do," she says. "I had to put my own fears aside and just encourage them to do what they felt was important and really rely on their training." It seems those prophetic words can apply to the ARM industry at large and ARMing Heroes is positioning itself to be great place to start.