Strengthen Communities

It’s a simple but powerful equation. When communities grow and prosper, the financial institution closely connected to those communities will grow as well. At Regions, we know that our success is linked with the success of the cities, suburban areas and small towns we reach across our 16 states.

That is why we invest in many different ways to strengthen the communities we serve. Those investments cover a diverse range – from philanthropic support for education and healthcare, to the business capital necessary to provide affordable housing, to volunteer leadership of initiatives that accelerate economic development and create good paying jobs. Trust is the essential prerequisite for our growth agenda, and the work we do to strengthen communities builds upon our reputation for leadership and service.

We know that this connection exists because leaders like Mike Warren, Chief Executive Officer of Children’s of Alabama, have told us. The relationship between Regions and Children’s, the nation’s third-largest pediatric medical facility, is multi-faceted. It encompasses an array of financial services and products, philanthropy, service on Children’s Board of Trustees, volunteerism and more. It is a partnership with a remarkable history, notes Mike. “Children’s of Alabama traces its roots back over a hundred years. Regions has been our lead financial institution for almost all of that time. So the first thing that comes to mind when I think of Regions and Children’s is the word relationship. That relationship has stood the test of time through good times and not so good times. As a not-for-profit we have fiduciary obligations, and from a financial institution we are looking for competitive pricing, we’re looking for service, and a value added partner. And we have found that in so many different ways with Regions over the years. But really, it’s a much deeper relationship than just a financial partnership.”

Before being named to lead Children’s eight years ago Mike was a senior executive and CEO of another Alabama-based company, and his perspective on Regions’ role in the community is drawn from 25 years of local business leadership. “It was over those years that I first came to appreciate how vital the role of Regions was in all things good in this community. If you have a civic or community need, businesses band together to make good things happen. And the leader of that band, consistently, year in and year out, is Regions.”

Children’s of Alabama is the state’s only comprehensive pediatric medical center, playing a unique and irreplaceable role for children and their families across the state of Alabama. Each year it serves children from 48 states and all 67 counties within the state of Alabama. And 6 million people depend on Children’s of Alabama to provide pediatric sub-specialty services within the state. It is the state’s only hospital that performs pediatric organ transplants of the heart, kidney or liver and epilepsy surgery, and it is home to all five of Alabama’s pediatric neurosurgeons. Notes Mike, “This is really a jewel for the state of Alabama. The importance of Children’s has been recognized by Regions for a long, long time.”

Bill Horton of Regions Bank serves on Children’s Board of Trustees, and was preceded in that role by Regions Chairman and CEO Grayson Hall. The bank’s philanthropic support for the medical center’s mission goes back decades. Children’s is the primary philanthropic beneficiary of the Regions Tradition golf tournament, a Senior PGA Champions Tour event. During Regions’ tenure as sponsor $1 million has been raised for Children’s by the tournament. Proceeds are directed to the medical center’s Impact Fund, which is utilized to finance needs that have significant impact on the care of children but that fall outside the normal budgeting process. Recalls Mike, the head of cardiovascular surgery came to see me and said that he needed to enhance our heart transplant capabilities by purchasing a Berlin Heart, which is a $100,000 device that’s used as a bridge to keep a child alive until we can find a suitable heart for a transplant. It was not in the budget, but we reached into the Impact Fund to buy a Berlin Heart and an additional one as a spare. A number of children are alive today because of this life-saving device. Another example is we were able to invest about $100,000 in a software program that allows our neurosurgeons to map the brain of a child having a seizure. Using that technology to identify the place where the seizure is being caused and surgically treat that area. For children that are candidates, about 80 percent are tremendously helped by this surgery, and some even cured. Those are two great examples of why the Impact Fund, and Regions’ support for it, are so important.”

One of the highlights of the holiday season at Children’s is the Sugar Plum Shop, an activity that is sponsored by Regions and staffed by its associates. It was created to bring a little bit of the holidays to kids who have to be in the hospital as well as their siblings and their families. Parents can “shop” for complimentary gifts arranged by age and gender, and associate volunteers spend time with each parent while other associates wrap the gifts. Notes Mike, “It’s done in such a thoughtful way, so those parents leave walking a little lighter, feeling a little better about the fact that they have to have a child in the hospital during the holidays. It is a reminder that when you hear Regions talk about the importance of relationships, the proof is not just in words, it is found in the actions that are taken. That’s why it is so impressive to see literally hundreds of Regions employees volunteering in any number of ways that benefit Children’s during the course of the year. It’s a whole lot more than a banking relationship. It’s even more than a philanthropic relationship. There is a connection there that is not only important to Children’s, but also, it sends a signal that is important to the entire community.”