Bank of America and HomeAid America

 Vigorously Working to Help Homeless

Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week November 16 – 24, 2013

November 22. 2013 – In honor of Hunger and Homeless Awareness Week November 16 - 24, Bank of America volunteers have been giving their time and talent to service providers throughout the country through HomeAid America, a national non-profit provider of housing for homeless families and individuals for nearly 25 years.  The volunteers have focused on three special activities - assembling and distributing thousands of HomeAid CareKits for the homeless, upgrading shelters through HomeAid’s “Painting a Better Tomorrow” program, and implementing financial education programs with clients living in HomeAid built shelters.

“HomeAid has been blessed to have the active participation of Bank of America in our volunteer activities for years now,” said Peter Simons, CEO of HomeAid America.  “They are one of our leading volunteer partners and have shown what one company committed to making a difference in their community can do. It is truly inspirational and has touched the lives of thousands.”

HomeAid has developed HomeAid CareKits with hygiene items such as shampoo, soap, and toothbrushes plus an important community resource card as a way to engage volunteers in distributing what can be a life saver for someone experiencing homelessness.  These kits provide volunteers with something to give, along with encouragement, in the hopes of engaging and helping someone in a crisis.  HomeAid operates this program primarily through its network of homelessness service providers. In addition to multiyear support from the Bank of America Charitable Foundation, bank employees have participated with chapters of HomeAid America in this program in Orange County CA, Sacramento, Houston, and Washington DC.

The Painting a Better Tomorrow program allows volunteers and members of the building industry to use their skill set to directly contribute to the maintenance of local homeless shelters.  Employees through the Bank of America Community Volunteers Program stepped up to paint, clean and perform minor repairs to shelter facilities in conjunction with HomeAid’s Houston, Seattle, and Sacramento chapters.

“HomeAid provides meaningful support to individuals and families at their point of need and helps them move forward,” said Kerry Sullivan, president of the Bank of America Charitable Foundation. “We’re proud to partner with HomeAid to help raise awareness about critical needs issues and to connect individuals to tools and resources for better money habits which ultimately lead to a brighter economic future.”

Bank of America volunteers have taught financial education classes that include such topics as budgeting, introduction to credit, bank services, keeping track of your money, savings, consumer rights and more – all part of the company’s commitment to helping people build better money habits. These volunteer driven financial education classes are opportunities to strengthen the connection between individuals’ and households’ financial knowledge and their behavior.  Most recently Bank of America teams in Northern Virginia and Detroit conducted successful financial education classes.

Hundreds of Bank of America employee volunteers have engaged in projects and programs throughout the year that have benefited more than 40 HomeAid Service Providers throughout the country. 

About HomeAid America

HomeAid is a leading national non-profit provider of housing for homeless families and individuals. Through the generosity of builders, their trades and their suppliers, HomeAid has completed over 325 housing projects nationwide at a value of more than $200 million, of which nearly fifty percent has been donated by the building industry.  Nearly 170,000 people have been sheltered by these housing projects over the past 24 years.  HomeAid currently has over 26 additional projects in development across the country through HomeAid’s network of 15 chapters in 10 states. For more information about HomeAid, call 1‑888‑3HOMEAID or visit www.homeaid.org.

6^th Annual Essentials for Young Lives Donation Drive Delivers

Orange County Campaign Collects over 1 Million Essential Items for Homeless Families

May 22, 2013 (Irvine, CA) – Today HomeAid Orange County, in partnership with the Children and Families Commission of Orange County, delivered over 1 million essential items to 17 facilities serving homeless families with children.  The 6^th Annual Essentials for Young Lives donation drive was the most successful drive in HomeAid Orange County history, almost doubling the 2012 collection of just over 500,000 items. 

“We are absolutely thrilled with the results of this year’s Essentials campaign.  It is the compassion and support of the community that continues to make this donation drive so successful.  Families represent the highest percentage of those living in shelters throughout Orange County, and being able to provide over 750,000 diapers and 250,000 other items to support them is incredible,” said Scott Larson, Executive Director of HomeAid Orange County.  “We would especially like to thank our corporate sponsors, Vons, UPS, Bank of America, the Koll Company, the Automobile Club of Southern California, and the YMCA of Orange County for their support of this campaign.  Our partners understand how important this donation drive is for homeless mothers and their infants in our community.”

The items collected through the Essentials campaign will be distributed to transitional housing facilities that were built with the assistance of HomeAid Orange County.  These diapers and other essential items that were donated enable recipient agencies to save the funds normally spent on baby supplies for use on programs that help their clients achieve self-sufficiency and lead productive, independent lives. 

“The Commission appreciates its partnership with HomeAid Orange County that has successfully increased the capacity at shelters and the support services for homeless mothers with young children,” said Sandra Barry, chair of the Children and Families Commission of Orange County. “The Essentials campaign has significantly enhanced the Commission’s investment and promotes our aspiration that all children have a safe and secure place to live.”

The Orange County Essentials for Young Lives campaign was first launched in 2008 and has collected over 2.25 million essential baby items.  The donations collected will go directly to meet the critical needs of homeless children and families in Orange County. 

“I am humbled to see that our community, once again, showed enormous generosity to meet the needs of the most vulnerable in our community,” said Orange County Sheriff Sandra Hutchens, Honorary Chair.  “It has been a privilege for the men and women of the Orange County Sheriff’s Department to participate in the Essentials for Young Lives donation drive.  We see firsthand how important transitional housing can be to so many Orange County families and know that, by joining with HomeAid and the Children and Families Commission of Orange County, we can remove some stress and anxiety that may come with a temporary living situation.”

For more information, please visit http://www.homeaidessentials.org.

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HomeAid Orange County

HomeAid Orange County is the founding chapter of a national non-profit organization with the purpose to end homelessness through their mission to build dignified housing where homeless families and individuals can rebuild their lives. Founded in 1989 by the Orange County Chapter of the Building Industry Association of Southern California, HomeAid acts as the housing developer and liaison between services providers, community volunteers, builders and specialty contractors. To date the organization has completed 49 developments that serve victims of domestic violence, pregnant homeless women, abused and abandoned children, homeless adults living with HIV/AIDS and homeless families. For more information, please visit www.homeaidoc.org.

Children and Families Commission of Orange County

The Children and Families Commission of Orange County oversees the allocation of funds from Proposition 10, which added a 50-cent tax on tobacco products sold in California. Funds help pay for education, health care and child development programs for children from birth to five and their families.  The Commission’s goal is to ensure all children are healthy and ready to learn when they enter school. For more information, please visit www.occhildrenandfamilies.com.