Multi-year Partnership Announced at LIFT’s Annual Spring Benefit
NEW YORK--(BUSINESS WIRE)--May. 23, 2013--
LIFT, a national organization working to help families facing tough
times achieve economic stability and well-being in the United States,
has announced Capital One’s commitment to a multi-year investment
totaling $1 million toward LIFT’s work to expand economic opportunities
for people striving for a better future for themselves and their
families. In addition, the investment includes in-kind services for
on-the-ground community support from Capital One’s regional associates.
This announcement was made at the LIFT Annual Spring Benefit—the
organization’s flagship fundraising event of which Capital One is the
premiere sponsor—held last night at the Highline Ballroom in Manhattan.
“At both Capital One and LIFT, we understand that poverty is a complex
and multi-faceted problem and all of its associated issues—unemployment,
homelessness, hunger, illiteracy, health care costs, and more—are
interlinked,” said Heather Cox, LIFT national board member and executive
vice president, U.S. Card Operations at Capital One. “Working together,
we hope to help reshape the national conversation on poverty in a manner
that recognizes the inherent dignity, value and potential of all
individuals and works to find solutions to this complicated issue.”
This multi-layered, multi-year partnership comes as an expansion to
current regional engagements where Capital One is a key supporter of
LIFT’s comprehensive and customized wrap-around services to families.
This support enables LIFT to further address the multi-generational
cycle of poverty in six key U.S. cities: Chicago, Washington DC, New
York, Philadelphia, Boston and Los Angeles.
“This partnership is a critical step forward in our ability to advance
our work. The fact is that millions of our neighbors are in—or on the
verge of—economic crisis. And our experience has shown that moving past
crisis to economic stability requires more than income. It requires
strengthening a person’s confidence, making sure they have people in
their corner, and navigating to the resources they need to stabilize
their lives, like decent jobs and safe housing,” says Kirsten Lodal, CEO
and co-founder of LIFT. “Quite simply, at LIFT we believe we all need
the same types of support—confidence, connections and resources—to get
through shaky ground moments in our lives, regardless of our
neighborhood or our background. We are proud to have Capital One as a
partner in these efforts.”
According to the U.S. Census Bureau, approximately 50 million
Americans—one in six individuals—live below the poverty line. According
to the federal poverty measure, a family of four is considered below the
poverty line if it earns less than $23,550 a year, which translates into
an average of $16 per person per day to cover basic daily needs, such as
food, bus fare to doctor’s appointments and utility bills.
LIFT aims to establish a new standard for holistic and enduring
solutions in our country’s fight against poverty through its
comprehensive and compassionate model that helps its clients to secure
better-paying jobs, safer homes, valuable education and training, and
the means to afford healthcare, transportation and food.
During the organization’s Annual Spring Benefit, entitled “LIFTing Our
Veterans,” LIFT celebrated a year of remarkable growth and achievement,
and formally launched its New York office’s Veteran’s Initiative—a
veterans-serving-veterans model of support where veterans can work
collaboratively with a LIFT advocate to locate employment, housing, and
other critical services. The event featured a Capital One sponsored
concert by the New Directions Veterans Choir, an award winning a
cappella group that consists of men and women who have served proudly in
the United States Military. The group members, all of whom have
experienced moments of crisis such as homelessness and unemployment,
shared their journey to solid ground and stability with guests. To learn
more about LIFT or its event Annual Spring Benefit, visit www.liftcommunities.org.
About Investing for Good
Through Investing
for Good, Capital One focuses on four areas that are key building
blocks of economic opportunity: Affordable Housing, Education, Financial
Literacy and Small Business and Workforce Development. To maximize the
impact of Investing for Good, Capital One examines local market needs
and uses data-driven insights to develop innovative programs and engage
in meaningful partnerships with nonprofits to provide the wrap-around
support needed to address the most pressing economic issues challenging
the long-term economic prosperity and well-being of individuals,
families and businesses. An important aspect of Investing for Good is
sustaining strong relationships with nonprofit partners, and using
Capital One resources to help extend the capacity of nonprofit partners
to deliver on their missions and serve their constituents. In 2012,
Capital One was ranked number five in The Civic 50, a ranking of
America’s most community-minded companies. More information on Capital
One’s Investing
for Good initiative can be found at www.CapitalOneInvestingForGood.com.
About Capital One
Capital One Financial Corporation, headquartered in McLean, Virginia, is
a Fortune 500 company with more than 900 branch locations primarily in
New York, New Jersey, Texas, Louisiana, Maryland, Virginia, and the
District of Columbia. Its subsidiaries, Capital One, N.A. and Capital
One Bank (USA), N. A. offer a broad spectrum of financial products and
services to consumers, small businesses and commercial clients. We apply
the same principles of innovation, collaboration and empowerment in our
commitment to our communities across the country that we do in our
business. We recognize that helping to build strong and healthy
communities - good places to work, good places to do business and good
places to raise families - benefits us all and we are proud to support
this and other community initiatives.
About LIFT
LIFT works to lift families out of poverty in Boston, Chicago, Los
Angeles, New York, Philadelphia, and Washington, DC where it employs a
people-powered solution to support members of the community working to
secure a decent job, safe housing, the education they need to advance,
or critical social services. Each client gets a team of Advocates who
stick with them every step of the way during their journey with LIFT.
Advocates are rigorously-trained partners and problem solvers who work
side by side to set goals, and make connections to resources to help
clients move their lives forward. Since 1998, LIFT has helped more than
70,000 families get access to critical resources that help them move
from uncertainty to stability.
Source: Capital One Financial Corporation and LIFT
LIFT
Patience B. Peabody, 202-560-2457
pbpeabody@liftcommunities.org
or
Capital
One Financial Corporation
Shelley Solheim, 917-589-6203
shelley.solheim@capitalone.com