For Aaron Sheets, putting your money where your mouth is isn’t a cliché. It's simply his way of life. Sheets is the vice president and commercial lender for First Merchants Bank in South Bend. However, he still finds time to be a board member at a local nonprofit, Logan Community Resources. The common denominator between the two is the ability to build relationships.
“I’m a relationship person. I feel that it’s really important to build relationships and get closer within the community,” Sheets said.
Sheets has been a board member at Logan since 2022. The company serves adults and children with intellectual and developmental disabilities including autism services, residential services, day programs, and employment services.
“We're an organization that really focuses on serving the underserved community of developmental and medically disabled people in the community,” Sheets said.
Luckily, 20 years in banking has given Sheets plenty of experience with this.
“Being a salesperson at a bank also gives me the ability to see a number of people in the community. It's a way for me to pair up people's time, money, and expertise to help benefit and make the community at large a better place,” he said.
Logan’s vision is a community where kindness and dignity enrich the lives of everyone. That involves building soapbox derby cars for the Boy Scouts, vocational rehabilitation, and advocating that there are agencies and resources available.
“The biggest thing we're focusing on right now is making them feel like everybody can be a productive member of society,” he said.
Before joining Logan, Sheets served as the chairman of the board of Chiara Home, a nonprofit organization that provided short-term respite care to families in the community.
“We served from zero to 99 years old. That was our motto. We wouldn't turn anybody away” Sheets said.
Sheets acquired money and direction to help run the organization. His tenure as the chairman of the board included four years during the COVID pandemic. When the nuns running Chiara were ready to retire, all of their assets were donated to Logan. This helped Logan expand its services and led Sheets to continue supporting both organizations.
“Having an understanding of operating finances, making budgets, and how businesses run helped me focus on the ability to help manage the organization. It’s all about ensuring that we make good decisions and give knowledgeable advice to our partners,” he said.
Sheets has also begun to pass this wisdom down to the next generation. He teaches business courses at Southwestern Michigan College in Dowagiac.
“It’s a community college that caters to people who aren't really going away to study. There's knowledge and real-world experiences to help teach business courses there,” Sheets said.
He highly prioritizes education and finished his own undergraduate degree in Organizational Leadership from Anderson University all while working full-time. In 2019, he received his MBA at Indiana University.
Sheets is incredibly thankful for what he has and preaches the importance of spending time with family and parents because they are not going to be around forever. In his free time, Sheets enjoys spending time with his wife Hailey, and their daughter.