Transformation In Action
Alan Long
words by Robert Burnside, photo by Robert Todd Williamson
“I have some good news, and I have some great news,” Alan Long, the founder of DBL Realtors in L.A. and now the current Southern California President of Sotheby’s International Realty told Adlai Wertman. At the time Adlai was the CEO and head of Chrysalis, the organization that helps homeless people actually find work and get off the streets, radically transforming their lives. “The good news is that I have just sold my company (DBL Realtors) to Sotheby’s. The great news is I can help you acquire the Santa Monica property for you.” Wertman didn’t realize that Alan meant writing a check for the whole $1.6 million needed to buy (what would become) the Scott Building in Santa Monica. The Scott Building is named in memory of a long term friend of Alan’s.
Helping others build a firm foundation and helping them acquire the tools needed to succeed, I would discover in the course of interviewing people for this article, is a central defining theme of Mr. Long’s endeavors and life. Who could ask for more? And he’s rather low key and modest about it too, which is a refreshing change in Hollywood.
When I sat down with Alan to do this profile, I truthfully didn’t know exactly what to expect or how deep and on how many levels Alan has utilized his innate business acumen. His genuine concern for the human condition has helped him build both DBL Realtors along, with two important socially responsible organizations (Chrysalis and Learning Links Centers). And in the process, he has really moved and transformed thousands of lives.
“Have you ever noticed that there really aren’t homeless cats and dogs in this neighborhood?” Alan asked me rhetorically from offices overlooking the Sunset Strip on the edge of leafy Beverly Hills. “A friend of mine and I realized that years ago that we often take better care of our pets than our fellow human.”
I had never exactly thought of this fact and it made me realize all the implications regarding how we truly have come to stigmatize and push out of our thoughts that we have not thousands—but millions of homeless people in this land of plenty. Los Angeles County has well over a 100,000 alone. The implications of how we treat each other, our fellow human, and how we have the wealth to feed, pamper, and even supply extraordinary medical attention to our pets while ignoring those who belong to the human tribe.
With my background in psychology and to offer a historical perspective, I know that we had over 600,000 institutionalized in mental health facilities in the 1960’s and that we now have less than 200,000, even though the country’s population has doubled. Many could no doubt be treated, however large numbers were dispersed onto our streets beginning in the early 1980’s and where unable to find stable employment and affordable housing. The affordable housing shortage in America also dovetails with the homelessness dramatic increase over the last 25 years. Thus, hundreds of thousands of people have since slipped through the social safety net in the wealthiest country on Earth, and sadly the American prison system, with over 2 million inmates, has since become the largest mental health institution in the country (if not the world).
The idea moment of Alan Long’s involvement with Chrysalis occurred one night when he was out with a friend and they started talking about the homeless situation in Los Angeles. “We didn’t really know how to go about helping these people.” Alan told me. “We had all of this enthusiasm. We thought of just driving around and picking them up in vans and just various ways we could get our agents involved. However, after a few days we realized that we needed a more organized, thoughtful approach. After a few months my friend called me up and said he had found it—Chrysalis, since they offered more than just a bed and a soup kitchen. They offered a way out.” Chrysalis offers job training and coaching, helping people who have been out of the mainstream for years prepare to reenter the work force.
“The first time we went out with the CEO of Chrysalis, Adlai Wertman, who is now the professor of social responsibility at USC’s Marshall School of Business, Aldai asked me how much? How much was I going to write a check for?” Alan responded that he wanted to think about it, and think about how to get the agents at the then several DBL offices involved too.
He decided that every agent could voluntarily donate by giving a certain percentage from every home sale. Thus, both the individual agents and the brokerage firm together would share in the cost and responsibility. This would turn out to create an amount of synergy that nobody, including Alan, fully foresaw and that resulted in hundreds of checks being paid out every month.
“It was like Christmas every day. The staff at Chrysalis would go to the mail box and there would be all these checks from title and escrow companies. They would never know how much would be in the mail. It created a lot of excitement. I was really surprised by how the agents responded. But most of them are sort of workaholics, so helping others get back to work was great. They loved it.” It must have been since hundreds of thousands did come pouring in.
The other social cause that many people have responded to including myself is Learning Links Centers which is a socially responsible for profit company that buys large apartment buildings in moderate and distressed areas, rehabs them, retrains the maintenance workers and then with the help of their non-profit affiliate Learning Advantage—permit school teachers to move in rent free if they tutor children in the building. This has resulted in the buildings operating at a greater profit margin, with lower maintenance cost, and most importantly creating a positive spiral upwards with the children, families, and community being impacted on many levels. This is a good example of social entrepreneurism, and the power of an idea.
Joe Killinger, who heads up and founded Learning Links Centers, told me that Alan had approached him several years ago to head up a new commercial division at DBL Realtors. However, Joe had the idea and the dream of doing Learning Links Centers and one day in a conversation he told Alan that was his dream but he didn’t have the money. Alan said, “Yes, yes, you do.” With that everything changed according to Joe and that is the spirit that makes a true transformer in L.A.
For those that would like to become more involved, please feel free to contact Chrysalis in L.A. or Learning Links Centers (Learninglinkscenters.com).
Your comments and suggestions are welcome in our ongoing Transformation L.A. Remember be the Change that You Seek in The World. Robert Burnside is an agent at Sotheby’s International Realty on Sunset Blvd and is a writer on urbanism, art, psychology and metaphysics. He loves Los Angeles.
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