The Michigan Bankers Association has joined with the American Bankers Association (ABA) and the Senior Housing Crime Prevention Foundation (SHCPF) to ensure that 40,000 Veterans living in 160 State Veteran Nursing Homes in the U.S. are able to live out their lives in safe, secure, enhanced quality-of-life environments free from the daily fear of crime, abuse, neglect, hostility and deprivation of personal freedom, as provided through the Senior Housing Crime Prevention Foundation’s Senior Crimestoppers program.
“Choiceone Bank has provided $250,000, Sturgis Bank & Trust as provided $500,000 and a third bank committed another $500,000 in funded loans,” said Dennis Koons, Michigan Bankers Association president and CEO. “It is the MBA’s goal to work with its members to fully fund two State Veteran’s homes in Michigan; a 243 bed facility in Marquette and a 758 bed facility in Grand Rapids. With these three banks leading the charge, MBA member banks have funded five percent of the total $25,025,000 loans needed.”
“Protecting our nation’s 40,000 elderly veterans living in long-term care is a need that must be addressed, and I can’t think of a better way to get this done than by asking every bank in the country to allocate a portion of their annual Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) budget to securing the Foundation’s successful Senior Crimestoppers program,” said SHCPF Chairman Mr. Charles C. King III.
The Senior Crimestoppers program is a proprietary operation of the SHCPF, a national 501(c)(3) non-profit organization which was established to provide a vehicle for banks to earn CRA credit through support of nursing home residents, who are classified as low-to-moderate income individuals.
Senior Crimestoppers is built on a zero tolerance-to-crime platform that is vigilantly maintained for the residents, staff, management and visitors. Each resident is provided their own personal lock box to safeguard valuables. In addition, cash rewards up to $1,000 are posted on every crime incident that is reported to the SCS call center. Rewards are paid anonymously to tipsters having information about the crime incident reported. In addition, all facilities in the program display a membership charter and are provided regular in-service training for residents, staff and management together with employee oath sheets, yard signs and quarterly reporting of crime prevention status.
Under the bank initiative, each Veteran resident will be provided a specially designed Veterans personal lock box. In addition, SHCPF will provide each State Veterans Nursing Home with its annual Time of Your Life video exhibit for the resident’s enjoyment and each facility will receive an annual cash contribution for a Wish Comes True grant to be given to select Veterans.
“It is time for the banking industry to make a positive statement to the larger Veteran community since one out of every six American citizens is a Veteran. Now is time to step forward with our full commitment to solving this problem and restoring the dignity deserved to those who have defended our freedom and the rights that we as a banking industry enjoy every day,” said Mr. Edward Yingling, president and CEO of the ABA.
The Michigan Bankers Association (MBA), the voice of the banking industry since 1887, is comprised of Michigan financial institutions with more than 3,500 branches located throughout the state. The MBA promotes strong communities and economic activity in Michigan by advancing a positive business environment.
