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Emmaus named Champion in Action in Massachusetts
Citizens Bank and NECN provide $25,000 grant, PR and volunteer supportBOSTON (January 17, 2008) - Citizens Bank and NECN today named Emmaus a Champion in Action® in Massachusetts under the category of affordable housing. The nonprofit organization owns and manages eight affordable housing developments and two overnight shelters in the inner city area of Haverhill. As part of the award, Emmaus will receive a $25,000 unrestricted grant from the Citizens Bank Foundation and promotional support from NECN.
“Citizens Bank is proud to partner with NECN in recognizing Emmaus as a Champion in Action for providing Haverhill’s most vulnerable residents with a place to call home,” said Robert E. Smyth, president, Citizens Bank, Massachusetts. “The dedicated staff of Emmaus understand that emergency shelter is a necessity, but not a solution to ending homelessness. To that end, they work to secure affordable housing for their clients while empowering them to rebuild their lives through education and job training so they can be self-sufficient and live independently.”
Founded in 1985, Emmaus secures affordable housing and emergency shelter for formerly homeless families, disabled adults, the elderly, and men and women dealing with substance abuse and mental illness. It offers 13 programs for its clients with services ranging from housing assistance and job readiness and placement to learning to live independently, budgeting, case management, emergency shelter and meals.
Over the past two decades, it has developed 65 units of affordable housing and is now creating 20 units to address the growing demand for permanent housing within the elderly population. Emmaus has helped more than 17,000 children, women and men out of homelessness and move toward permanent housing, employment and independent living. It is credited with helping to revitalize the city while restoring community pride and optimism among its residents.
“Shelter is such a basic human necessity, and yet so many of our fellow citizens go without a roof over their head every day. It’s encouraging and inspiring to see an organization like Emmaus succeeding in not only sheltering individuals, families and the elderly, but teaching them the essential skills to make it on their own,’’ said NECN Founder and President Philip S. Balboni. “NECN is enormously proud to partner with Citizens Bank to honor this noble organization and to spotlight its successes to our viewers across New England.’’
Emmaus is being recognized for:
• Providing a family style environment in its overnight shelters where guests receive a bed, meals, medical attention and social services.
• Designing housing developments and programs targeted to meet the specific needs of its clients including single mothers, families, the disabled and mentally ill.
• Creating affordable housing opportunities for homeless elders where they can live out their lives comfortably with dignity and respect.
• Treating its clients with compassion and care while encouraging them to reach their fullest potential.
• Realizing that homelessness can happen to anyone and be the result of a devastating event or disaster that has left the person without the financial resources or support to get by.
As a Champion in Action, Emmaus receives:
• A $25,000 contribution in unrestricted funds from the Citizens Bank Foundation.
• Media coverage from NECN, including public service announcements, news stories and segments on other NECN programs such as NewsNight and New England Business Day.
• Volunteer support from Citizens and NECN employees.
• Extensive public relations support.
• Promotional support highlighting the Champion in Action in all Citizens Bank branches and on its ATMs.
• Exposure on both Citizens Bank and NECN Web sites.
“We believe that access to safe and affordable permanent housing is the right of every family and individual,” said Jeanine Murphy, executive director, Emmaus. “We treat our clients with the utmost dignity and respect as they strive to reach their fullest potential. The media exposure from NECN will help to raise awareness to our organization and the critical need for permanent and affordable housing programs. The financial support from the Citizens Bank Foundation will be used to construct additional units for homeless elders and older adults.”
Since introducing the program in 2002, Citizens has awarded 22 Massachusetts organizations $550,000.
To learn more about Emmaus, please visit emmausinc.org.
About Citizens Bank
Citizens Bank is a division of RBS Citizens, N.A., operating its seven-state branch network in Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New York, Rhode Island and Vermont. It has 263 branches and 608 ATMs in Massachusetts.
RBS Citizens, N.A. is a subsidiary of Citizens Financial Group, Inc., a $159 billion commercial bank holding company headquartered in Providence, R.I. CFG’s two bank subsidiaries are RBS Citizens, N.A. and Citizens Bank of Pennsylvania. They operate a 13-state branch network under the Citizens Bank brand in Connecticut, Delaware, Massachusetts, New Hampshire, New Jersey, New York, Pennsylvania, Rhode Island and Vermont, and the Charter One brand in Illinois, Indiana, Michigan and Ohio. CFG has non-branch retail and commercial offices in about 40 states. It is one of the 10 largest commercial banking companies in the United States ranked by assets and deposits. CFG is owned by RBS (The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc).
About NECN
NECN is the largest 24-hour regional news network in the country, with 3.7 million subscribers in more than 1,050 cities and towns in all six New England states. It is a partnership of Comcast and the Hearst Corporation. The station specializes in long-form journalism, producing documentaries and extensive local and national political coverage. For more information on NECN, go to www.necn.com.
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