Senior Housing Crime Prevention Foundation Presentations

Senior Crimestoppers Program and Veterans Initiative

The accompanying photos of your colleagues were taken at recent presentations of member banks participating in the Association sponsored Senior Housing Crime Prevention Foundation (SHCPF). The SHCPF is a national organization that serves as a conduit for banks to earn CRA credit by providing the nationally-acclaimed Senior Crimestoppers program to low- and moderate-income nursing home residents and elderly Veterans home residents through CRA-qualified loans and investments in the Foundation. The program has been embraced by all of the federal regulatory agencies, is completely turn-key and requires no on-going administration by your bank.

Crime in nursing homes is a well-documented problem, and by offering the Senior Crimestoppers program at no cost to nursing homes in your assessment area, your bank will play an important role in giving vulnerable nursing home residents and elderly Veterans the safety and security they need and deserve. Massachusetts has a growing elderly population, and the need for the Senior Crimestoppers program is significant.

George Clinard, VP & Relationship Manager, SHCPF; Ron Notaro, VP & Commercial Lender - Vet Marine Corps, Avidia Bank; and Margaret Sullivan, SVP & CFO, Avidia Bank

George Clinard, SHCPF; and Cynthia A. Casey, President & CEO, Milford Federal Savings & Loan Association

Warren W. Chase, Jr., EVP, COO & Treasurer; North Middlesex Savings Bank; William P. Marshall, President & CEO, North Middlesex Savings Bank; and George Clinard, SHCPF

George Clinard, SHCPF; Robert J. Fraser, Chairman, President & CEO, South Coastal Bank, Rockland; John F. Bourne – Veteran; Anton Materna, Director of Veteran Services for the Town of Rockland, MA

For more information on how your bank can get involved in these worthwhile community service programs contact Annie Coldstream or Peter Blanchard at (617) 523-7595.

Visit the SHCPF web site.

MBA Endorsed Senior Housing Crime Prevention Foundation Helps Improve CRA Ratings

Senior Crimestoppers Program and Veterans Initiative

The American Banker published the article Harsher CRA Ratings Threaten Bank Mergers & Acquisitions on February 14, 2011. If you haven’t already read it, please do so. The article leaves the impression that CRA examinations are getting harder and banks are being expected to do more to earn a Satisfactory rating, and even more to earn an Outstanding rating.

The context of the article is mergers and acquisitions. As you know, a bank with less than a Satisfactory rating is not allowed to acquire other banks, which is something some strong and growing banks are interested in doing right now. One strategy banks may employ to avoid the risk of falling below a Satisfactory rating in this environment will be to over-achieve in their CRA efforts. At the same time, bankers are telling us that quality CRA community development loans and investments are becoming more difficult to find. The Association’s endorsed partnership with Senior Housing Crime Prevention Foundation is a perfect solution in this circumstance, because the Senior Crimestoppers Program and/or the Veterans Initiative are easy to do, completely turn-key, and risk-free…a safe, easy and proven solution for your CRA program.

For more information on the Association’s endorsement, please contact Annie Coldstream at the Association office at (617) 502-3816 or David Stone, Consultant at Senior Housing Crime Prevention Foundation, Inc., at (603) 387-7045.

Please contact me with any questions or comments.

Sincerely,

Peter T. Blanchard
Executive Director, Education Management and Member Services

Senior Housing Crime Prevention Foundation

Senior Crimestoppers Program and Veterans Initiative

The Massachusetts Bankers Association (MBA) is inviting members to participate in an initiative the Association has undertaken with the Senior Housing Crime Prevention Foundation (SHCPF) in the state of Massachusetts.

The MBA enjoys a selected partnership with the SHCPF – a highly successful conduit for banks to use in earning no-risk Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) credit while helping to resolve a problem that plagues society – the exploitation and abuse of nursing home residents. The Foundation’s mission is to provide safe, crime-free, high-quality of life environments for our nation’s 3 million residents of nursing homes and other senior housing facilities by providing the Senior Crimestoppers Program through loans and investments made by the banking community.

In Massachusetts, crime against nursing home residents is a well documented problem that occurs with regular frequency in spite of the precautions of well-intentioned owners and operators. The fact is: crime against nursing home residents is prevalent, and it has been proven to be abated by the Senior Crimestoppers Program. Nationally, the program has reduced crime by more than 92.7 percent in nursing homes and senior housing facilities.

The MBA has adopted the Foundation’s mission of ensuring that each of our state’s more than 52 thousand nursing home and senior housing residents are in safe, crime-free environments. We are asking our member banks to participate in this effort through sponsorship of nursing homes and senior housing facilities in their communities. Your bank’s participation in this program will provide many benefits:

• Cost-effective, profitable, risk-free, CRA credit for either the lending or investment test;
• Positive public relations exposure for providing a safe and secure living environment for seniors in your community;
• Access to the 50+ market, the sons and daughters of nursing home residents, who are among the most affluent segment of the financial marketplace; and
• The assurance of knowing that you’ve done something proactive to improve the quality of life for the men and women who built your community and your bank.

Contact
Annie Coldstream, Grassroots and Member Services Coordinator at Massachusetts Bankers Association
Telephone: (617) 502-3816
Fax: (617) 523-6373
or
David Stone, Consultant at Senior Housing Crime Prevention Foundation, Inc.
Telephone: (877) 232-0859 or (603) 387-7045
Fax: (901) 523-3620
Visit the SHCPF web site.