CLEVELAND, June 24 /PRNewswire/ -- Rebuilding Together Cleveland will be positioned to advance from an all-volunteer to a professionally managed non-profit organization under a capacity-building grant of up to $50,000 offered by Countrywide Financial Corporation , the nation's #1 residential home loan lender.*
The grant pledge was announced by Bob Brown, Ohio-based Executive Vice President of CFC subsidiary Countrywide Home Loans, as company employees worked on renovations to the home of a low-income 76-year-old woman in the Central-Fairfax area of Cleveland. It was one of 10 home rehabilitation projects undertaken by Rebuilding Together Cleveland on its 11th annual Rebuilding Day.
"The all-volunteer board of directors of Rebuilding Together Cleveland is to be congratulated and thanked for their admirable work in developing and operating this annual program of home repairs for elderly, disabled and low-income homeowners," Brown said.
"The volunteer directors and committee members will remain the vital drivers of Rebuilding Together Cleveland's work, but they face difficulty expanding the program without full-time management. By providing support for the hiring of an executive director to professionally administer fundraising, volunteer recruitment, logistics and other functions on a full-time basis, Countrywide believes Rebuilding Together will be able to fulfill even more of the tremendous, recognized need for these services in Cleveland."
Countrywide is a prominent national sponsor of Rebuilding Together, a Washington, DC-based organization with more than 240 affiliates across the country. In 2006, Countrywide employees are scheduled to work on more than 150 company-sponsored home and non-profit center renovations in more than 100 communities the lender serves through its offices nationwide.
"Members of the board of directors of Rebuilding Together Cleveland are proud of our accomplishments, but we recognize that our efforts will be limited without full-time management," said Yolanda Vanadia, president of the local affiliate. "As a member of our community and long-time supporter of Rebuilding Together's vital work across the country, Countrywide has stepped up to provide needed funds that will help us grow in Cleveland, and we are very grateful for their offer of support."
Rebuilding Together is the nation's largest volunteer-based organization preserving and revitalizing low-income homes and communities with more than 240 affiliates serving nearly 1,900 communities across the country. In 2006, the national effort is expected to rehabilitate some 8,900 homes and non-profit facilities, producing nearly $100 million in market value.
About Countrywide Financial Corporation
Founded in 1969 and based in Calabasas, CA, Countrywide Financial Corporation is a member of the S&P 500 and Fortune 500. Through its family of companies, Countrywide provides mortgage banking and diversified financial services in domestic and international markets. Mortgage banking businesses include loan production and servicing principally through Countrywide Home Loans, Inc., which originates, purchases, securitizes, sells, and services primarily prime-quality loans. Also included in Countrywide's mortgage banking segment is the LandSafe group of companies that provide loan closing services. Diversified financial services encompass capital markets, banking, insurance, and global, largely through the activities of Countrywide Capital Markets, a mortgage-related investment banker; Countrywide Bank, a division of Treasury Bank, N.A., a banking entity offering customers CDs, money market accounts, and home loan products; Balboa Life & Casualty Group, whose companies are national providers of property, liability, and life insurance; Balboa Reinsurance, a captive mortgage reinsurance company; and Global Home Loans, a European mortgage banking joint venture in which Countrywide holds a majority interest. For more information about the Company, visit Countrywide's Web site at http://www.countrywide.com/.
* As ranked for 2005 by Inside Mortgage Finance (Jan. 27, 2006), copyright 2006.
