Expert Feature Ron Platt, Non-Profit Social Services
At Fresh Starts, we’re proud to spotlight the incredible professionals who guide people through one of life’s most challenging transitions: divorce. Today, we’re featuring Ron Platt, a Non-Profit Social Services, whose work helps clients find clarity, strength, and a true fresh start.
Ron, can you tell us a little about yourself, what you do and what led you to this line of work?
I'm a serial entrepreneur with over 35 years of experience across insurance, real estate, and social advocacy, and I built a career defined by innovation and impact. But it’s my personal experiences as a foster parent to a than 13 year old LGBTQ+ young boy that I began to see the autrocities that plagued our foster care system. Simple services like mental health care were poorly managed and staffed due in large part to the for-profit commercialization of foster care management.
I witnessed several children in our group that were never given a voice to speak about their mistreatment, abuse or poor decisions the system and courts were making on their bahalf. Or, the amount of homeless LGBTQ+ children that were on the streets that decided being homeless was better than being abused by the system and their families.
I wanted to create an organization whose membership base was so large and our advocacy work was so well organized that those government decision makers had to listen to our words and make the changes to better our under privileged youth and society. NASDF is that outlet for change while helping families build a stronger foundation after a divorce.
What inspired you to work with people going through divorce or big life transitions?
Roughly 30 years ago I was working with my father in the product development side of the insurance industry. During one of our lunches, my dad, who was an 'idea man' mentioned he always wanted to insure child support and alimony payments if the the payor died, became disabled, involuntarily lost their job or had to declare a business bankruptcy. I thought it was brilliant and mentioned that we should create a national association that would provide an umbrella of products, services, support and resources to those individuals who were in the process of getting a divorce or had a single-family household. My dad didn't want to start the association until the insurance product was developed. It turned out, this one product was the bane of his existence as he tried every avenue to place it with an insurance company and every company said no.
Thirty years later, I realized the divorce market was still in need of a single entity that could provide the services we wanted to offer so I launched the NASDF and shortly thereafter, an underwriter reached out to me and offered to underwrite the insurance product, now called Support Insured.
What is your specialty within the divorce space, and how do you typically support your clients?
NASDF provides an umbrella of product, services, support and resources for people who are getting a divorce or have a single-family household. And we insure child support and alimony payments for up to one year if the payor dies, becomes disabled, involuntarily loses their job or has to declare a business bankruptcy called Support Insured.
Some of our membership benefits include discounts for early childhood education, diaper, formula, school supplies and computer discounts. Real estate services with 20-25% credits towards closing costs. Career services, 24-hour doctors and nurse hotlines. 3-free mental healthcare sessions with discounted sessions thereafter. Safety apps, mediation services, financial advisors, attorneys, coaches, etc. AFLAC products that previously only employers could offer, we now can offer to our members. We have discounts on apps that can file your financial statements for the courts (Verana IQ), qualify you for a mortgage (SnapLend), and help you communicate and schedule your children's activities with your spouse (Our Family Wizard). These discounts and services continue to grow everyday and as our membership base grows, so will our discounts with major retailers throughout the country.
Our growing list of providers include attorney's, mediators, coaches, therapists and various support groups throughout the country.
What makes your approach to working with clients unique?
We have no competition. NASDF is the only national association offering our members the services and resources we provide and Support Insured is the only divorce insurance product on the market that protects your child support and alimony payments for up to one year.
We have two goals, to build a stronger foundation for your family before, during and after a divorce and our advocacy, which is two fold - foster care and family court reform and the prevention of intergenerational poverty.
What’s one thing that people are often surprised to learn about you?
I'm a medium. Yep, I can communicate with dead people. I was able to see ghosts starting around 5 years old and have had some seriously scary altercations with spirits. Now, people pay me to communicate with their dead relatives. And sometimes, those relatives reach out to me to provide their loved ones with a specific message. I've learned to turn the switch on and off but sometimes they come to me when I least expect it, like during a yoga class. Given the dead have no sense of time, scheduling my conversations can be challenging at times.
Do you have a personal story or experience that helps you connect with clients on a deeper level?
I was inspired to foster a child when I was visiting my friend in Los Angeles. When he picked me up from the airport he shared that our schedule had changed. He was unexpectatly getting custody of his foster son and asked me to join him. What I witnessed in those three days helped me to understand the plight these young children were going through.
When I returned to Miami I went to an LGBTQ+ networking event and the organizer, Amy, asked if there were any single or coupled LGBTQ+ individuals who wanted to foster LGBTQ+ youths who were in the foster system. I remember looking up at G-d and saying, "really"? I stepped forward and began my journey. Six weeks worth of training and the minute I got my license as foster parent I was presented with a 13-year old boy who was homeless. Amy said to me, "here's your license, there's your kid". I asked if I could spend some time with him before he and I made the decision and I was told I had two days to decide.
That boy is now 37 years old and I adopted him as my son.
What’s your favorite way to reset after a long day?
My home is my sanctuary, especially my garden and patio. After a hot yoga class and dinner with my husband, I like to sit on our patio and enjoy the peacefulness. Afterwards, I might watch a few brain numbing housewives shows, journal a bit about my day, challenges I've had, thoughts I need to work through and a 30 minute meditation session before I go to bed.
If you could describe your work in three words, what would they be?
Providing Financial Security
What does “fresh start” mean to you personally?
It enables me to connect to individuals and resouces my members need that will help them build a stronger foundation. People need diverse resources before, during and after a divorce and trying to find those resources on a google search can be incredibly cumbersome. Especially since the first five pages of searching the word divorce leads to you to attorneys. People need quick solutions and answers and fresh start and NASDF provides that for them.
Thank you Ron for sharing your wisdom and experience with the Fresh Starts community! You can learn more about their work by checking out Ron’s profile below!
Please note that the blogpost above does not represent the thoughts or opinions of Fresh Start Registry and solely represents the original author’s perspective.
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