$650,000 in Private Sector Grants to Address Countywide Housing Crisis

Leveraging support to increase production, sustainability of affordable housing production

The Fairfield County Collaborative Fund for Affordable Housing was officially launched on November 14. The $650,000 fund was established to provide working capital grants from $25,000 to $150,000 to qualified nonprofit developers working to increase production and sustainability of affordable rental and ownership housing in Fairfield County. Founding Funders include:

Back row [l-r] Cathy Leather (United Way of Stamford); Susan Ross (Fairfield County Community Foundation); Charlotte Suhler (Suhler Family Fund); Anne Watkins (Greater Bridgeport Area Foundation)

Front row [l-r] Susan Bonner (Near & Far Aid Association); Diana Napier (NewAlliance Bank); Jennifer Gabriel (TD Banknorth); Karen Brown (Fairfield County Community Foundation); Marjolijn Wijsenbeek (United Way of Westport-Weston); James Crispino (United Way of Eastern Fairfield County). Missing: Ellen Tower (Citibank); Ruth Price (RBS National Bank); David Kennedy (United Way of Norwalk and Wilton)

(Fairfield County, CT – November 17, 2006) The Fairfield County Collaborative Fund for Affordable Housing, anewly formed Collaborative of private sector local and regional Funders, today announced that it has raised $650,000 to promote affordable housing across the county. Acknowledging that any solution to the pervasive housing crisis affecting Fairfield County towns and cities will require a countywide perspective and strategy, anewly formed Collaborative of private sector local and regional Funders officially got down to business this week. Kicking off the Collaborative with multi-year commitments of $650,000 in contributions to date, members of the Fairfield County Collaborative Fund for Affordable Housing Members of the fund met to discuss allocation of 2007 grants to increase the production and sustainability of suitable rental and ownership homes within reach of lower, moderate and middle-income families throughout Fairfield County.

In a region that traditionally has looked within city and town borders for solutions to community issues, the Collaborative has already broken new ground with its countywide approach. With grants that range from $25,000 to $150,000, the Collaborative will leverage funds from institutional and individual sources to maximize impact for the funders and nonprofit developers, spurring activity in the greater Bridgeport, Danbury, Norwalk and Stamford areas.

The Fairfield County Collaborative Fund for Affordable Housingfounding funders include Community Foundations: the Fairfield County Community Foundation and the Greater Bridgeport Area Foundation; United Ways: United Way of Eastern Fairfield County, United Way of Norwalk-Wilton and United Way of Stamford.; P rivate Charitable Organizations: Near & Far Aid Association; Family Foundations: the Leo Nevas Family Foundation and the Suhler Family Fund; and Banks: Citibank, RBS National Bank, and TD Banknorth. United Way of Westport-Weston donated office space for the new Collaborative.

The Collaborative identified non-profit housing developers who are committed to working in areas where the need is high but profit potential is low, as a key resource in addressing Fairfield County’s need for affordable housing. A total of approximately $500,000 in inaugural Year-One grantswill be awarded to qualified nonprofit housing developers whose core mission is the production of affordable rental and ownership in Fairfield County.

Among them, qualified developers currently have $100 million of affordable rental and ownership projects in their pipelines. Collaborative support will give them access to a predictable supply of working capital through a streamlined performance-based process and provide a foundation for developers to engage in larger scale and longer-term housing development initiatives.

“For nonprofit housing developers, having quick access to operating capital is key to building more affordable housing,” said Ellen Tower, Citibank’s Director of Community Relations in Connecticut. “At Citibank, we are committed to making communities better where we work and live, and we are proud to work with the Fairfield County Collaborative Fund for Affordable Housing on this important issue.” Citibank and RBS National Bank, joined by TD Banknorth Connecticut and New Alliance Bank, were early proponents of a Funding Collaborative for Fairfield County.

The Connecticut office of the Local Initiatives Support Collaborative (LISC) will manage the Collaborative on behalf of the Funders. The Connecticut LISC office also administers a collaborative that has successfully supported nonprofit housing developers in Hartford, CT. The Hartford model was studied by the Fairfield County Collaborative Steering Committee which established guidelines and goals for the new collaborative.

About the Founding Funders

Citibank

Citibank is a member of Citigroup (NYSE: C), the leading global financial services company, has some 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 100 countries, providing consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, securities brokerage, and wealth management. Major brand names under Citigroup's trademark red umbrella include: Citibank, CitiFinancial, Primerica, Smith Barney and Banamex. The Citigroup Foundation focuses its support in three areas: community development, financial education and educating the next generation. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com http://www.citigroup.com

Fairfield County Community Foundation

The Fairfield County Community Foundation promotes the growth of philanthropy to strengthen local communities and the region. Since 1992, individuals and organizations have established charitable funds and contributed to existing funds that support community and economic development, children and youth, education, the environment, health and human services, and the arts. With assets approaching $81 million, the Foundation awarded more than $7.5 million in grants last year. In addition, the Foundation provides philanthropic advisory services and develops initiatives to address critical community issues. The Foundation is in compliance with the Council on Foundations’ national standards for community foundations. Visit www.fccfoundation.org or call 203/834-9393.

Greater Bridgeport Area Foundation

Since 1967, the Greater Bridgeport Area Foundation has served as a partner for individuals, families, and corporations interested in addressing the diverse and dynamic needs of our community through charitable giving. With more than $40 million in assets, the Foundation is a recognized leader in providing support in the areas of education, community and economic development, health and human services, the environment and the arts.  In 2005, the Foundation distributed more than $1.6 million in grants to area agencies and scholarships to students. The Foundation also administers the Nonprofit Resource Center, the largest nonprofit library in Connecticut, training nonprofits in effective governance and best practices. For more information, visit the Foundation website at www.gbafoundation.org.

Near and Far Aid Association

The Near & Far Aid Association is an all-volunteer fund raising and fund-granting organization dedicated to meeting a broad range of critical needs programs that support thousands of needy people in Fairfield County. Near & Far Aid grants help provide aid to children, adults in crisis, the elderly, the homeless, and those in need of education, job training and community health services. Last year, Near & Far Aid raised an unprecedented $1.2 million which is currently being distributed to over 80 charitable agencies. For more information about Near & Far Aid, visit their web-site at www.nearandfar.org.

Nevas Family Foundation

The Nevas Family Foundation is a private family foundation with an interest in affordable housing.

RBS National Bank

RBS National Bank, headquartered in Bridgeport, Conn., is a nationally chartered limited purpose bank. It provides both consumer and commercial credit cards nationally. RBSNB is an agent bank for Citizens, Charter One, Peoples Bank and a joint venture partner with the Kroger Company. It manages 1.6 million U.S. customer accounts and is a subsidiary of Citizens Financial Group, Inc., a $164 billion commercial bank holding company headquartered in Providence, R.I.  Citizens’ Web site is citizensbank.com. Citizens is owned by RBS (The Royal Bank of Scotland Group plc).

Suhler Family Fund

The Suhler Family Fund is a donor-advised fund of the Fairfield County Community Foundation, established by Charlotte and John Suhler of Darien. The Fund’s emphasis thus far has been in issues concerning women, microenterprise and education.

TD Banknorth Connecticut

TD Banknorth Connecticut operates nearly 80 branches and over 40 ATMs in the state. A division of TD Banknorth, N.A., TD Banknorth Connecticut maintains the state’s eighth-largest market share and provides more than 115,000 Connecticut households with a full line of retail banking products and services including commercial and consumer products, trust and investment services, commercial and personal insurance and residential mortgages. The branches of TD Banknorth have served their customers and communities in Connecticut for more than 80 years and are recognized for a commitment to personalized service, long-term customer relationships, local decision-making, and community involvement. For more information visit www.TDBanknorth.com

About LISC

Created 25 years ago by the Ford Foundation, the Local Initiatives Support Corporation (LISC) is a national non-profit organization that brings financial and technical resources to inner city communities. Today, LISC works in 35 cities and in rural communities across the country. The Connecticut Statewide and Hartford LISC programs promote neighborhood revitalization and affordable housing production in Connecticut by providing project investment and capacity-building resources to non-profit developers. The Connecticut Statewide LISC program currently provides financing and/or technical assistance to community development organizations in Fairfield County with work in Stamford, Bridgeport, Trumbull, Danbury, Darien, and Wilton. Learn more about how LISC is helping neighbors build community at www.lisc.org.

United Way of Eastern Fairfield County

United Way of Eastern Fairfield County’s mission is to mobilize a stronger, more caring community across Bridgeport, Easton, Fairfield, Monroe, Stratford and Trumbull. Our focus is on what matters. We are bringing people together from all across the community – people from government, business, faith groups, nonprofits, and ordinary citizens – to tackle the issues that matter most. United Way is committed to the bottom line results: the lives we change and the communities we shape. Find out more at www.thewaytocare.org .

United Way of Norwalk and Wilton

United Way of Norwalk & Wilton is a leader in bringing together the human, financial, and strategic resources necessary to make a direct impact on our community’s most critical needs through measurable and sustainable solutions. For more information, visit www.uwnw.org.

United Way of Stamford

The mission of the United Way of Stamford is to improve lives by mobilizing the caring power of Stamford.  The United Way of Stamford leads the community in identifying social and human services needs and in marshalling resources to address them, making Stamford a better place to live and work. For more information, visit www.unitedwaystamford.org

United Way of Westport-Weston (office space)

Our mission is to increase the organized capacity of people to bring about lasting change in our community by encouraging community involvement and connections.   Our goal is to createlasting change by addressing problems and challenges in the following 4 critical impact areas:   Positive Youth Development , Aging Successfully, Inclusion ofPeople with Special Needs, and Family and Community Wellness and Support . For more information, visit us at www.wwunitedway.org.