Thomas has made a positive impact on countless families, passionately working to guide and assist them to safely navigate the home buying process and apply money management techniques to improve their financial footing and lives. Thomas has played an instrumental role in Solita's House becoming a Certified Community Development Financial Institution (CDFI) through the Department of Treasury. This certification has created the opportunity to provide access to affordable credit to riskier people. Additionally, Thomas created the Financially Intelligent Teen program, which ensures teenagers learn strong money management skills now to be able to deal with the financial realities of adulthood later.
The grant tonight will give Solita's House the ability to add new lending and counseling staff, thus increasing capacity to meet a growing demand for loan products and financial counselling services. Thomas has been a pillar at Solita's House, giving all who seek support the opportunity to create a bright future.
Thomas becomes the 454th Lightning Community Hero since Jeff and Penny Vinik introduced the Lightning Community Hero program in 2011-12 with a $10 million, five-season commitment to the Tampa Bay community. Through tonight's game, in total, the Lightning Foundation has granted $23.8 million to more than 750 different nonprofits in the Greater Tampa Bay area. During the summer of 2021, the Viniks announced that the community hero program will give away another $10 million over the next five seasons.
