Larry Brooks, a Florida-area reverse mortgage originator, has been recognized by his community for his volunteer and senior advocacy efforts.
Brooks, who works with A & A Mortgage Funding in the Tampa area, was honored by the city’s Senior Connection Center with the “Salt & Pepper Outstanding Senior Award” for time and money contributions to a variety of causes, including senior-focused organizations, cancer survivors, disabled veterans, high school students, the food insecure and homeless animals.
Brooks, 76, worked at Delta Airlines for 26 years before retiring from that business in 2005. He then began working as a reverse mortgage professional in 2007.
The award, named after former U.S. Congressman and Senator Claude Pepper, is designed to recognize “the accomplishments and acts of service of older adults who live in our community,” according to Senior Connection Center VP of Marketing and Communication Patty Suarez.
Brooks was nominated for the award by a friend and colleague, and was praised by SCC upon receiving the award.
“Larry Brooks is one of those people who exemplifies what the Salt & Pepper Outstanding Senior Awards are all about,” Suarez told the Observer News. “He may have won this year’s award in the Business and Entrepreneurship category, but his nomination rose to the top because of the many causes he supports and the countless hours of time he donates to so many local charities. Our community is very lucky to have Larry as a role model and a champion for older adults.”
Brooks said he was surprised to be named for the award and wasn’t even aware he had been nominated until he attended the breakfast announcing the winners. He added that some of his activity in the reverse mortgage business — the connections with seniors in his community in particular — helped him find causes and organizations to volunteer and support.
“The thing is that while I’m a senior myself, going out into the community means you have a better understanding of what seniors are going through,” he said when reached by telephone.
Brooks is also a reverse mortgage customer, having obtained the loan through his broker in 2021. He says that the business environment has remained challenging after the increase to premiums and tightening of lending limits by the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development (HUD), which went into effect in October of 2017.
