Dedham Savings: Banking on Community

From left: Charles Sittig, Senior Assistant Branch Manager; Keisha Shirley, Branch Manager; Yohanna Roa, Branch Supervisor; and Kendell Solis, Universal Banker.

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Longtime Street Fest sponsor invests in South Boston

For over a decade, Dedham Savings has been more than a sponsor of the South Boston Street Fest — it has been a familiar and enthusiastic presence at one of the neighborhood’s biggest celebrations.

As the Street Fest prepares to return to East Broadway on Saturday, Sept. 19, Dedham Savings is continuing its tradition of supporting an event that brings thousands of residents and visitors together to celebrate South Boston’s businesses, families, and community.

For Keisha Shirley, Branch Manager, and Charles Sittig, Senior Assistant Branch Manager, who both work at Dedham Savings’ South Boston branch, the Street Fest is a natural extension of what the bank strives to do every day.

“We like to support the community all year round, so we want to be part of that,” Keisha said.

That commitment is at the heart of Dedham Savings’ identity as a community bank. Unlike a large national institution, the bank’s employees say their focus is on building relationships with the people and businesses around them — and making sure the community benefits from the bank’s presence.

“We're run by our depositors,” Charles said. “We're working for you, not the other way around.”

He added that every decision the bank makes ultimately benefits the community.

That philosophy can be seen throughout South Boston. Dedham Savings supports organizations and initiatives including the South Boston Neighborhood House, South Boston Moms Club, the Laboure, senior centers, the South Boston branch of the library, and other community programs. “We support anything that makes the community better,” Keisha said.

Being a community bank is about seeing customers as people rather than account numbers, she said.

“We want people to grow. We want people to succeed. We want to be part of that journey with them,” she said. “But we look at people as actual human beings. They're not just a number to us.”

That personal approach is evident at the South Boston branch, where Keisha and Charles have built relationships with customers over many years. Keisha has been with Dedham Savings for 32 years, having started at the bank when she was just 16. Charles has been with the bank for 22 years, starting at 17.

Their long history with the bank mirrors Dedham Savings’ long-standing connection to the communities it serves. And at the Street Fest, that connection comes to life.

“It just shows me how much the community actually cares [about] one another, and they actually come out for these events,” Charles said. “This festival definitely changes perspective on how the community has grown over the years and how close-knit it really is.”

The growth of the Street Fest has been particularly noticeable. Keisha has watched the crowds grow larger over the years, with more people coming from outside the immediate neighborhood to experience the event. Last year, an estimated 10,000 people attended.

She believes the growing popularity is fueled in part by word of mouth — people have a great time, tell their friends and family about it, and bring even more people the following year.

For Charles, one of the best parts of the event is discovering the businesses, vendors, restaurants, and artists that make up South Boston.

That opportunity to discover and support local businesses is one of the reasons Dedham Savings sees the Street Fest as such a valuable community event. Keisha noted that supporting events like the Street Fest means supporting neighbors and helping local businesses thrive.

The Dedham Savings team doesn't stay at its booth during the event. Employees make a point of taking turns walking through the festival, talking with vendors, meeting residents, and seeing what is happening throughout the event.

For Keisha and Charles, they love to hear the music, see the kids perform, and enjoy the food.

The Street Fest also provides an opportunity for Dedham Savings to share information about programs designed to support local families, including its All-Star Savers program for children. The program encourages children to begin developing good saving habits, with incentives for making deposits and financial literacy education along the way.

For Keisha, the program is particularly meaningful because she used it with her own children when they were young. “It just always encouraged them to actually save,” she said.

Having that information available at the Street Fest makes sense, she said, because the event brings together so many families and children in one place.

Ultimately, though, Dedham Savings’ presence at the Street Fest is about much more than banking. It is about being part of the neighborhood.

“We want to be part of whatever we can to help elevate any business, any family, anyone within the community,” Keisha said. “We strive really hard to make it better for everyone.”

As Charles put it, being a longtime sponsor is an accomplishment — and a reflection of the bank’s ongoing effort to live up to its promise of being there for the community.

“It shows that we're doing our part to be part of the community and stand by our word,” he said.