LINTHICUM, MD, January 4, 2021- NFM Lending is pleased to honor Lieutenant Denetra Hampton, USN, Retired, RN as the NFM Salute for January 2021.

Hampton came upon her military career by chance. When she was in junior college, one conversation with Navy recruiters ended with Hampton wanting to join as soon as possible. In 1986, Hampton officially enlisted in the U.S. Navy, working in Information Warfare with the Office of Naval Intelligence. One of her fondest memories of serving was being stationed on the USS Frank Cable, where she travelled to Japan, Guam, and other places around the world. Living and working on a ship was a unique adventure Hampton says strengthened her character. She reminisces, "I find it one of the best learning experiences for me. I was much younger, and I think all of the lessons that I learned aboard ship hemorrhaged over to who I am today."

When Hampton was 15 years into her service, she decided to take the required steps to become an officer. After earning her degree from the Hampton University School of Nursing, she was commissioned as an Ensign with the U.S. Navy Nurses Corps. Hampton then worked as the Clinic Manager on the Fifth Fleet stationed out of Bahrain. She recalls how that assignment reinforced her decision to work in healthcare and made her feel like she had truly become a nurse. In 2010 after 22 years of service, Hampton retired as a Lieutenant.

Following the end of her military career, Hampton delved even deeper into the nursing field. For Hampton, nursing was not simply a profession; it was her passion. She created a digital curriculum and started a workshop to help nurses with their certification exams. Hampton's healthcare experiences helped her realize the importance of promoting health and nursing science to young nurses, as well as highlighting the need for diversity within the industry.

Hampton believes having a diverse network of nurses is crucial to being able to care for patients. "Nurses serve frontlines in all levels of healthcare. And when you talk about the society that we live in, demographics are changing dramatically," she explains. "And so the role of the nurse scientist, because they are frontline healthcare providers, they are the first voice that most communities see. Having that role more diverse is going to help bridge all gaps, and not just health inequities. We're talking about cultural competence, cultural literacy; all of that leads back to the nurse."

Hampton later took her love of nursing into documentary filmmaking, although she did not set out to become a producer. After seeing a museum event on Facebook, she was compelled to create a film that would tell the story of 300 courageous black nurses in the 1940s. She released her first min-documentary, "Black Angels: A Nurse's Story", in 2018. It chronicles the untold story of African American nurses who treated tuberculosis patients during the mid-20th

century when white nurses refused to do so and there was no cure for the disease. In 2019, Hampton founded her own film production company, For Nurses By Nurses Productions (FNBNP), in order to showcase African American nurses throughout history. Her most recent film, "Year of the Nurse and Midwife", documents the contributions of African American nurses and midwives to the field of healthcare in honor of Florence Nightingale's 200th birthday. The film can be found on the FNBNP website.

Hampton resides in Suffolk, VA with her family. She continues to create content to educate and empower nurses.

NFM Salute is an initiative in which one military member or Veteran is chosen each month to be honored as the "Salute of the Month." Salutes are chosen from nominations on the NFM Salute website, www.nfmsalute.com. The "Salute of the Month" will be featured on the website with a biography and information about his or her service, and NFM Lending will donate to a non-profit selected by the Salute in his or her name.

NFM Lending is proud to donate $2,500 to Virginia Peninsula Food Bank on behalf of Hampton. NFM looks forward to the opportunity to continue to honor military and Veterans through the NFM Salute initiative.

About NFM Lending

NFM Lending is a mortgage lending company currently licensed in 41 states in the U.S. The company was founded in Baltimore, Maryland in 1998. NFM Lending and its family of companies includes Main Street Home Loans, BluPrint Home Loans, and Freedmont Mortgage Group. They attribute their success in the mortgage industry to their steadfast commitment to customers and the community. NFM Lending has firmly planted itself in the home loan marketplace as "America's Common Sense Residential Mortgage Lender.™" For more information about NFM Lending, visit www.nfmlending.com, like our Facebook page, or follow us on Instagram.