From the President’s Desk
Deana Gauze, CCAR President
Stay in the know! Check out the CCAR President's Member Memo each month for valuable insights, association updates, and the latest industry news.
From The President's Desk
That's a wrap! As I come to the end of my presidency, I want to take a moment to reflect on this past year. When I wrote my first newsletter article, my goal was to "make our board even more community & member focused," and to raise volunteer efforts. |
Together, we have accomplished these. I am incredibly grateful for each of you, and for the opportunity to have served you this year. Thank you for "jumping in" to help with all the various causes/organizations we helped. I know all of them appreciated the generosity of our members with either monetary donations, or giving of your time. |
I hope you feel inspired to continue these efforts going forward. We are so blessed, and being able to bless others is the greatest gift! Remember, REALTORS® are good neighbors. Thank you from the bottom of my heart. |
I know I say it every month - how quickly it went by. But I seriously think August went by quicker than all the other months this year! I have some thoughts on "making lemonade out of lemons." I'm sure you've noticed that homes are sitting a little longer and price reductions are abundant. |
What if you use this seasonal lull to call your database and check in with them? Maybe the last kid went off to college and they're going to think about downsizing. Or perhaps they need to care for an aging parent and need to find a home with a first floor bedroom. If we all did our best to determine our clients upcoming needs, or maybe just to reignite those buyers that got tired of losing out in competition...we could really get things moving again! |
We are "Better Together" and now is the time to reinvest our energy into creating new business from those who already love & trust us 😉 For more ideas on good uses of any extra time you may have, please see the attached article. |
Another busy month is in the rearview! While it was productive, it also ended on a sad note as we said goodbye to an active member of our organization, Todd Salen. While I knew he was pretty special, I had no idea how many different organizations he was involved with or how freely he gave his time to others. The many heartfelt tributes shared across Facebook were a true testament to the impact he had on our community and our profession. |
As part of my initiative this year to volunteer and give back to organizations in need, we will honor Todd's legacy with a community blood drive on September 2—my final month as President. May we all aspire to be so deeply involved in our communities and our profession. Thank you, Todd, for everything you did for so many. |
For those wishing to further honor Todd's legacy, memorial contributions may be made to the University of Illinois Make Every Day Matter Scholarship Fund. Donations can be made at https://fsaffairs.illinois.edu/give by selecting the "Make Every Day Matter Scholarship Fund." |
Dear Member,
The official start of Summer, June...has flown by! As we prepare for a mega heat wave this week, I'm glad we were able to deliver fans to organizations in need earlier this month. We also took our Leadership Academy to Illinois REALTORS® for Communications Training - my personal favorite season! We hosted a REALTOR® Member Safety Day with help USCCA & High Caliber Training Center. Lastly, some of us attended the NAR Legislative Meetings in Washington DC. thanks again for all your support with our volunteer and fundraising efforts. You're the best! I hope you all have a wonderful Independence Day and get to enjoy some time with your families.
Stay Cool, Best!
Dear Members,
May was another productive month at CCAR! We had our mid-year Strategic Planning meeting, which was followed up by packing backpacks of food for the Feeding our Kids program at the Eastern Illinois Food Bank. Our quarterly Designated REALTOR® meeting was open to everyone for the first time, as we hosted Illinois REALTORS® President-Elect Debbie Prodehl and Illinois REALTORS® Treasurer Sarah Ware. They shared with our group the value of being a REALTOR®, what is happening in our industry currently, and how Illinois REALTORS® advocacy is there on our behalf.
Our 2026 Leadership Academy Cohort and CCAR Executive team had a fun improv session with MRED's Margaret Hicks. I think everyone learned a little something about being "quick on our feet."
May was also full of graduations and of course who can forget Mother's Day! I wanted to give a special shout out to all the mom's out there both in the real estate world and out as well as the grads. We appreciate you!
Best!
Dear Members,
April showers bring May flowers! As I write this on a stormy, gray day, I'm reminded how quickly things can change this time of year - the grass is turning green, flowers are starting to bloom, and color is popping up all around us. The market is "blooming" too, and I hope your phones are ringing with new opportunities. I also encourage you to stay connected by attending upcoming CCAR events - we have some great ones on the horizon.
April was a busy and rewarding month for our association. We hosted our 3rd Annual Trailblazers and Trendsetters event, which was a great success as always. More than 30 local agents joined near 800 REALTORS® at Lobby Day in Springfield, showing strong support for the Illinois REALTORS® affordable housing bill.
We also welcomed a new speaker at our Fair Housing Luncheon, who provided valuable insight into how homeownership contributes to building generational wealth. In addition, our members gave back to the community by volunteering at Cunningham Children's Home, helping with their annual quilt sale - one of their largest fundraisers. We were also proud to support the H.O.Y.C.E Center giveaway this month.
It's hard to believe my time as your president is entering the final four months. I've truly enjoyed serving in this role and connecting with so many of you. I look forward to continuing that connection through my volunteerism initiative in the months ahead.
Be sure to keep an eye out for upcoming events - and as always, thank you for all you do.
Happy May!
Dear Members,
Spring has sprung. I don't know about you, but things are definitely "blooming" around here. In the same way you plant seeds to grow your business, you can plant seeds of knowledge to grow your understanding of our industry.
Lobby Day is coming. I hope you can make it. It's eye opening to see the advocacy being done on your behalf first hand. If you haven't signed up yet, register here Illinois REALTORS® and hop on the bus at CCAR to get a ride there.
March is Women's History Month! We appreciate all the women in leadership around CCAR and the community. Thank you for all you do.
Stay Safe, Best
Dear Members,
Another month has passed - time really does "fly" when you're having fun! Speaking of fun, our business expo is March 4th. We have 42 vendors to meet with and as always, there will be goodies to collect and opportunities to purchase RPAC raffle tickets. Remember, RPAC helps us to better advocate for consumers- after all, that is part of our mission statement.
The Cash Bash is a free event and it will be even more exciting this year from the dueling pianos to games. Advocacy is also a form of service to our community and profession as a whole. Volunteerism is a component of that. We will have an opportunity to volunteer in March at the H.O.Y.C.E. Center...More to come.
As always, I want to thank you for your support and I look forward to seeing more of you in the coming months.
Dear Members,
I hope you had a wonderful and meaningful season filled with time spent creating great memories. I know many of us have been busier than usual, and I am hopeful that this activity is a positive sign for a strong and successful 2026 ahead.
One of my goals this year has been to bring forward more opportunities for you to make a difference in our community - and there truly are so many ways to do that. In January, we will be repacking items for the Feeding Our Kids program, which sends food home with children so they have meals over the weekend. This is just one example of how, together, we can have a meaningful impact.
REALTORS® are incredible when it comes to giving back - through your time, your talents, and your resources. This is what I love most about our REALTOR® family and the many ways we show that we are good neighbors. I look forward to seeing you sign up for the repack event and to spending time together while serving our community.
Thank you for all you do to make our communities better.
Dear Member,
Hi Member,
This is the perfect time of the year to reflect on all that we are grateful for. It's not so much what we have in our lives, but who we have. Our "people" make our lives worth living, and of course, let's not forget our fur babies 😉
I hope that you will take this Thanksgiving to truly be thankful. i am thankful for all of you. Because of your generosity, we were able to blow past my goal by providing 85 families with the meat for their Thanksgiving meal. Thank you so much!!! If you weren't able to get involved this time, we will have opportunities for you in December - stay tuned. Also, our Community & Member Involvement Committee delivered 171 blankets to 7 charities in the past week. We couldn't do this without our Business Partners and our volunteers. As always, stay in-the-know by following us on Facebooks and Instagram.
I am also thankful for the opportunity to represent our board at the NAR NXT conference in Houston this month. There were so many great topics, speakers, and awesome networking opportunities with people from around the country. I'm still compiling my notes, but I hope to have good information to share with you soon. Again, thank you for affording me the opportunity to go and for your continued support.
Happy Thanksgiving, everyone! Gobble till you wobble 😉
Hi Member,
Hello! I am both honored and excited to be your president this year. I look forward to collaborating with as many of you as possible to make our board even more community & member focused. I intend to concentrate on improving our current fundraising drives while encouraging us to all volunteer more. We have so much to be thankful for and are blessed to be in a community that is innovative and strong.
As we head into Thanksgiving, I am asking for your support to help provide 50 turkeys or hams to families in need. Pleas click here to help Give the Gift of Thanksgiving to everyone this year.
We're still looking for more members to join committees! when I joined my first committee - five years into my real estate career - it opened my eyes to how much there is to learn and how rewarding it is to get involved. i hope you'll take the opportunity to participate and grow, too!
We recently completed our strategic plan for the next three years and are excited to share what we've developed and learned with all of you really soon. We can't wait to show everyone what we have in store with our new mission and vision for the future of CCAR!
If you have any issues with the link, please feel free to call in and one of the ladies will help you with your donation, 217-356-1389.
Thanks for your trust!
