La Porte native Allison Dent has devoted her life to helping people achieve their dreams and paying it forward to the community. She has assumed a variety of roles in the Northwest Indiana area including mortgage loan officer, philanthropist, and Court Appointed Special Advocate (CASA).
Dent has been working in the financial field since her college days at Purdue University. Upon graduating, she worked in customer service at Horizon Bank before moving to JPMorgan Chase Bank in 2001. In 2006, she became a mortgage loan officer. In 2010, she began managing the mortgage department for Northwest Indiana. In 2013, she moved to Chicago and worked for a small company called Republic Mortgage. She then began working at her current position in 2017 at First Centennial Mortgage in Valparaiso.
“What I love about my job is that I get to help people through the home-buying process,” Dent said. “I get to be there during some of these peoples’ biggest life changes, and I get to help them with that. Seeing them take that next step is satisfying.”
Dent was also a CASA through Family Advocates, whichsupports abused and neglected children in the court system and encourages others in the community to do the same. She recalls her time as a CASA as being the most rewarding thing she has ever done in her life. When she started working at JPMorgan Chase, she served on the Family Advocates Board of Directors for some years.
“This experience really taught me about another other side of life since I’ve never experienced anything like that, nor did I know anyone that had at the time,” Dent said. “It was a real eye-opener and a life-changing project for me.”
Dent currently sits on the La Porte YMCA board. She aspires to bring new programs to the community and find ways to give back to people. She states that there are plans to open a new YMCA.
“Being a part of the YMCA is such a great opportunity to be involved with the community and work towards a brighter future,” Dent said. “Working with children is a passion of mine, so this was the perfect chance to add to my philanthropy work.”
“I feel very blessed to be where I am at today,” Dent said. “I have such a great support system of family and friends. I try my best to be a positive person and always look at the optimistic side of things.”
When Dent is not working, she enjoys spending time with her daughter.