Press Releases

Cleveland – Providence House today announced a generous commitment from Ohio Savings Bank, a division of New York Community Bank, for $250,000 to their “Protect the Promise” campaign that will help complete the first phase of the largest campus expansion in the Crisis Nursery’s history. Providence House has been successfully raising money to support the campus expansion, but the Ohio Savings Bank gift allows them to meet their fundraising goal for construction to open their new state-of-the-art facility this fall.

“Ohio Savings Bank has been a longtime partner and friend of Providence House,” said Natalie Leek-Nelson, President and CEO of Providence House. “Without the generosity of Ohio Savings Bank, we would not be able to complete our campus expansion and serve more children and families in crisis.”

This is Ohio Savings Bank’s second substantial grant to Providence House. The first grant allowed Providence House to purchase and renovate a large Victorian home to serve more children on West 32nd Street, back in 1989. It was named “Leo’s House” in honor of Leo Goldberg, founding father of Ohio Savings Bank, and Leo Greener, Providence House Founder Sr. Hope Greener’s father. The Providence House campus, which included an original House on the east side of West 32nd Street and the new Leo’s House on the West side, was then named “The Ohio Saving’s Children’s Village” in celebration of the bank’s generous centennial gift.

This year, as part of the NYCB Family of Banks, Ohio Savings Bank renewed its commitment to the Ohio Savings Children’s Village at Providence House with a gift of $250,000 to help the organization reach their goal for its current expansion efforts.

“As part of our commitment to the Greater Cleveland community, Ohio Savings Bank and New York Community Bank are proud to provide this special gift to enable Providence House to care for and protect more at-risk children and families,” said Cindy Flynn, Chief Administrative Officer of New York Community Bank. “This exciting collaboration is the extension of a long-standing partnership with Providence House and more than 100 years of service to the Ohio City neighborhood. It is an honor for Ohio Savings Bank to play such an active role in supporting the future of this community.”

Providence House launched the “Protect the Promise” campaign in spring 2011. Recent changes in state facility policies severely impaired the organization’s ability to serve more children at a time when the numbers of children facing abuse and neglect in Cuyahoga County were substantially increasing. Leo’s House is currently the site of a $2.3 Million expansion project that is scheduled for completion by late November, 2012. The expanded crisis nursery will allow Providence House to care for 20 children at a time and increase the ages of children served from newborn to six up to the age of 10. As a result of this expansion, Providence House will be able to serve an additional 125 at-risk children each year.

Supporting our neighbors is an important part of our community involvement philosophy, which focuses on those who need it most,” Flynn added.

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About Providence House:
Providence House is one of the nation’s first crisis nurseries offering emergency shelter and care to children at risk for abuse and neglect. More than a children’s shelter, we provide families a free, voluntary option to safely remove their children from crisis and a safe, loving haven with quality early childcare services. Our holistic services include education, mentoring, case management and aftercare focused on family preservation. The primary goals of our services are to protect children from abuse and neglect, empower and strengthen fragile families, and build safer communities for every child. Providence House serves nearly 200 infants and children each year and partners with nearly 30 community organizations who help us stabilize families in crisis. Our results are noteworthy: last year 98% of our children were reunified with their parent(s) following an average length of stay of 28 days and only 30% have any engagement with the public child welfare system. For more information, visit provhouse.org.

Contact:
Emily Perry
216-651-5982 x 226
emilyp@provhouse.org

About New York Community Bank and its Ohio Savings Bank Division:
Ohio Savings Bank is a member of The NYCB Family of Banks and a division of New York Community Bank, a New York State-chartered savings bank serving customers throughout Metro New York, New Jersey, Florida, Ohio, and Arizona.

The Ohio Savings Bank Division has had a presence in Ohio for over 120 years and accounts for 28 of the New York Community Bank’s 275 branches.

Our branches operate with an emphasis on service and convenience, many of our branches feature 24-hour ATM banking, and are open at least six days a week. We also offer our customers 24-hour access to their accounts with online banking, and the ability to bank 24/7 by phone.

Ohio Savings Bank is proud to be part of an organization that has been known for strength, stability and service for over 150 years. New York Community Bancorp, Inc., (NYSE:NYB) the holding company for New York Community Bank, and New York Commercial Bank is the 21st largest bank holding company in the nation with assets of over $43 billion.

Additional information about the Company and its bank subsidiaries is available at www.OhioSavings.com.

Providence House, Dr. Pepper Snapple Group and KaBOOM! Team up to build new playground in just one day for Cleveland children

WHAT: More than 200 volunteers from Dr Pepper Snapple Group and Providence House, organizers from KaBOOM!, and residents of the local community will join forces on Friday, July 20 to build a new playground at Providence House. The new playground’s design is based on drawings created by children in the community who participated in a Design Day event in June.

WHY: The project is part of Let’s Play, a community partnership led by Dr Pepper Snapple Group to get kids and families active nationwide. The first Let’s Play initiative is a $15 million, three-year commitment to KaBOOM! to build or fix up 2,000 playgrounds by the end of 2013, benefiting an estimated five million children across North America. Via Let’s Play grants and projects in 2011, Dr Pepper Snapple Group and KaBOOM! built or improved 528 playgrounds, benefitting an estimated 1.3 million children during the lifetime of the playgrounds. Dr Pepper Snapple Group is also a member of the leadership circle within the KaBOOM! National Partner Program.

Providence House is one of the nation’s longest operating crisis nurseries offering emergency safe haven and services to children at risk of abuse or neglect, but the children served by the organization do not currently have a playground to enjoy. Providence House is committed to protecting children, empowering families, and building safer communities. The new playground will provide more than 200 at-risk children in the Cleveland community with a safe place to play each year.

Today’s kids spend less time playing outside than any previous generation in part because only 1-in-5 children live within walking distance of a park or playground. This play deficit is having profound consequences for kids physically, socially and cognitively. Children need a place to play every day in order to be active and healthy and Providence House is proud to Partner with KaBOOM! to provide a safe and fun place for children in the community to play.

WHEN: Friday, July 20

8:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m. Kick off ceremony and volunteer deployment
11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m. Best viewing of playground construction
1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m. Final construction phase and adjustments
2:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. Ribbon-cutting ceremony to dedicate new play area

(Note: all times approximate)

WHERE: Providence House

2050 West 32nd Street
Cleveland, OH 44113

WHO: Hundreds of volunteers from the community

VISUALS: Before and after shots of the site Volunteers assembling brightly colored playground equipment Ribbon-cutting ceremony to dedicate the playground.

# # #

About Providence House
Providence House is one of the nation’s first crisis nurseries offering emergency shelter and care to children at risk for abuse and neglect. More than a children’s shelter, we provide families a free, voluntary option to safely remove their children from crisis and a safe, loving haven with quality early childcare services. Our holistic services include education, mentoring, case management and aftercare focused on family preservation. The primary goals of our services are to protect children from abuse and neglect, empower and strengthen fragile families, and build safer communities for every child. Providence House serves nearly 200 infants and children each year and partners with nearly 30 community organizations who help us stabilize families in crisis. Our results are noteworthy: last year 98% of our children were reunified with their parent(s) following an average length of stay of 28 days and only 30% have any engagement with the public child welfare system. For more information, visit provhouse.org.

Emily Perry, Providence House
216-651-5982 x226
emilyp@provhouse.org

About Dr Pepper Snapple Group
Dr Pepper Snapple Group (NYSE: DPS) is the leading producer of flavored beverages in North America and the Caribbean. Our success is fueled by more than 50 brands that are synonymous with refreshment, fun and flavor. We have 6 of the top 10 non-cola soft drinks, and 9 of our 12 leading brands are No. 1 in their flavor categories. In addition to our flagship Dr Pepper and Snapple brands, our portfolio includes Sunkist soda, 7UP, A&W, Canada Dry, Crush, Mott’s, Squirt, Hawaiian Punch, Penafiel, Clamato, Schweppes, Venom Energy, Rose’s and Mr & Mrs T mixers. To learn more about our iconic brands and Plano, Texas-based company, please visit www.drpeppersnapple.com.

Alexandra Rogers, Ketchum on behalf of Dr Pepper Snapple Group
646-935-3921
alexandra.rogers@ketchum.com

About Let’s Play
Let’s Play is a community partnership led by Dr Pepper Snapple Group (NYSE: DPS) to get kids and families active nationwide. The first Let’s Play initiative is a $15 million, three-year commitment to KaBOOM!, the national non-profit that’s saving play. Together, through Let’s Play, DPS and KaBOOM! will build or fix up 2,000 playgrounds by the end of 2013, benefiting an estimated five million children across North America. For more information, visit LetsPlay.com or Facebook.com/LetsPlay.

About KaBOOM!
KaBOOM! is the national non-profit dedicated to saving play. Children today spend less time playing outdoors than any previous generation, a fact that is having disastrous consequences on their health, achievement levels, and overall well-being. To fight this play deficit, social entrepreneur Darell Hammond founded non-profit KaBOOM! in 1996 in Washington, D.C. with a vision of creating a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America. Since then, KaBOOM! has mapped over 89,000 places to play, built more than 2,000 playgrounds, and successfully advocated for play policies in hundreds of cities across the country. KaBOOM! also provides communities with online tools to self-organize and take action to support play on both a local and national level. Hammond chronicles the founding of the organization and the importance of the cause of play in his The New York Times Best Seller About KaBOOM! KaBOOM!: How One Man Built a Movement to Save Play. The book details how businesses and communities can work together to save play for children across the country. All author proceeds support KaBOOM!. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., KaBOOM! also has offices in Chicago and San Mateo, Calif. For more information, visit www.kaboom.org.

Mike Vietti, KaBOOM!
785-320-2137
mvietti@kaboom.org

Local Agency Recognized for Program, Legislation and Documentary

Cleveland, Ohio – Providence House was honored last week with three awards at the 2009 National Respite and Crisis Nurseries Conference in Burbank, CA.. Providence House was named winner in each of the following categories:

• Best Documentary: Providence House: Promises Kept, produced by Glazen Creative
• Studios Best Innovative Program Design: Providence House “Days of Care” Crisis Nursery Program
• Respitograhy Award: honoring State Representative Matt Dolan for visionary public policy in his work as legislative sponsor for the passage of Ohio’s new Crisis Nursery Law SB242.

“It is such an honor for our agency to be recognized on a national level. We’re absolutely thrilled with the acknowledgment of our programs and services and could not be more grateful to the ARCH National Respite Network and Lifespan Respite Coalition for all of their initiative and advocacy to support lifespan respite providers and crisis nurseries across the US,” said Natalie Leek-Nelson, CEO and President of Providence House.

Leek-Nelson also presented two sessions at the national conference: Risk and Response in Crisis Respite: Evaluating Risk and Opportunity while Implementing Service Design Changes and Crises Averted: The Crisis Nursery Model and Family Outcomes. Each session was filled to capacity.

Providence House is Ohio’s first and one of the nation’s longest operating crisis nurseries. Today, Ohio remains one of only 13 states with formal crisis nursery legislation which supports 28-year old Providence House and the recently founded Blessing House in Lorain County.

# # #

Contact: Meghan Moroney, Ph: 216-651-5982, ext. 226
Email: meghan@provhouse.org

2037 West 32nd Street
Cleveland, OH 44113

Ph: 216.651.5982
Fax: 216.651.0112

www.provhouse.org

Cleveland, Ohio –Providence House, Ohio’s first and one of the nation’s longest operating crisis nurseries, has been selected as the award recipient of Nuebert Painting’s 2nd Annual Charity Paint Giveaway. Neubert Painting, in partnership with Sherwin-Williams Company, founded the Charity Paint Giveaway in an effort to provide paint services and support to individuals or organizations who are unable to afford the paint and labor on their own.

Sherwin-Williams is generously donating the paint and supplies; Nuebert Painting will cease its business operations to provide the manpower to paint Leo’s House, which shelters infants up to 2 years of age on the Providence House campus.

“We truly could not have picked a more deserving organization – or a more interesting project! This house will be a challenge for us but we are all really excited about it,” said John Neubert, Owner of Neubert Painting. “We’re happy to get involved with such a worthy cause. Now they’ll have an even more beautiful house to shelter at-risk infants and children.” Providence House was selected from 10 other nominations for this Charity Paint Giveaway.

A group of over 70 volunteers, including both professional painters from Neubert Painting and staff from SherwinWilliams, will be onsite Tuesday, August 4th to paint Leo’s House. Their goal? Finish the entire house in just one day! Einstein Brothers Bagels and Chipotle Mexican Grill will generously support the project by providing muchneeded food and beverages for the volunteers and staff that day.

“We are truly honored to have been chosen as the recipient of the Neubert Painting Charity Paint Giveaway. We could not be more grateful to Neubert Painting and Sherwin-Williams for their ongoing support of our mission,” said Natalie Leek-Nelson, CEO and President of Providence House. “We’ve got 26 little people to feed, shelter and clothe and given the current state of the economy, it is highly unlikely that we would have been able to afford this paint project ourselves.”

# # #

Providence House is a national model in providing safe and loving care for the area’s most vulnerable children: newborns through age five. More than an emergency shelter to protect against and help prevent child abuse, the organization promises to support families in crisis through innovative, intensive programs and family education. Our mission is to protect at-risk children, prevent child abuse and neglect and preserve fragile families. As a private, non-profit agency, Providence House is 98% privately funded.

Contact: Meghan Moroney, Ph: 216-651-5982, ext. 226
Email: meghan@provhouse.org

2037 West 32nd Street
Cleveland, OH 44113

Ph: 216.651.5982
Fax: 216.651.0112

www.provhouse.org

Cleveland, Ohio – Providence House, Ohio’s first and one of the nation’s longest operating crisis nurseries has been selected as the American Jewish Committee’s (AJC) 2009 Isaiah Award recipient. Established in 1963, this prestigious award has recognized over 40 different Cleveland-area agencies dedicated to improving the human condition. The award annually recognizes an organization with long-standing, measurable success with a program or initiative focused on the betterment of society.

“Providence House is a remarkable organization, which provides a safe, loving environment for at-risk infants and children who have parents in crisis that are temporarily unable to care for them, but who want to keep their children and learn how to become better parents,” said AJC Isaiah Award Selection Committee Chair Robert Fuerst. “AJC is honored to recognize this truly deserving recipient of the Isaiah Award.”

Providence House was selected among six finalists. Past recipients include: The AIDS Task Force of Greater Cleveland, West Side Ecumenical Ministry, North Coast Community Homes and The Gathering Place.

“We are truly honored to receive this award and could not be more appreciative of the support and recognition bestowed upon us by the American Jewish Committee,” said Natalie Leek-Nelson, CEO and President of Providence House. “The babies and children of Providence House have been blessed to receive support from so many members of Cleveland’s Jewish community since our founding in 1981; the Isaiah Award is truly a culmination of the spirit of their personal commitment to protecting children in our community.

This prestigious award was presented at the Cleveland Chapter of the American Jewish Committee’s Annual Meeting last night at Temple Emmanuel. David Bernstein, Associate Director of the Community Services Department of the AJC, was the featured keynote speaker at the event.

# # #

Providence House is a national model in providing safe and loving care for the area’s most vulnerable children: newborns through age five. More than an emergency shelter to protect against and help prevent child abuse, the organization promises to support families in crisis through innovative, intensive programs and family education. Our mission is to protect at-risk children, prevent child abuse and neglect and preserve fragile families. As a private, non-profit agency, Providence House is 98% privately funded.

Contact: Meghan Moroney, Ph: 216-651-5982, ext. 226
Email: meghan@provhouse.org

2037 West 32nd Street
Cleveland, OH 44113

Ph: 216.651.5982
Fax: 216.651.0112

www.provhouse.org