Newburyport, MA: Roof
Over Head Collaborative (ROOF), a non-profit organization providing housing and
services to local families in transition, recently welcomed its third family
into the program and into a wonderful new home in Amesbury. This home, ROOF’s second purchased property,
was possible in a large part from a generous donation from the Institution for
Savings and the extreme generosity of many other individuals and organizations.
The
Institution for Savings, through its Charitable Foundation, recently granted ROOF
$25,000. The Bank was instrumental in ROOF’s
start-up and provided a $50,000 grant in 2011. Michael J. Jones, President and CEO of the Institution
for Savings, said the Bank was pleased to contribute again to this worthy
cause. “The Bank’s vision statement
captures why we did this,” said Mike. “A
key element of our vision is to positively affect the lives of every person
within the communities we serve. ROOF’s
work is critical to helping the underserved members in Newburyport, Amesbury
and Salisbury and we are proud to be part of this”
Kimberly
A. Rock, Executive Vice President and
Chief Operating Officer, explained that this donation was only a part of the
bank’s investment. “As we have done with
past ROOF clients, we also provided other household items that the new family needed. We distributed the list among our employees
who welcomed the opportunity to contribute by bringing in donations of
housewares, furniture, and other things to make the house a home.”
“We
are thrilled to have our next family in place and on the road to financial
independence,” said Kerri Perri, ROOF co-chair.
“With the generous gift from the Institution, the tireless work of our
amazing volunteers, led by our own founding member Joyce Munier and her husband
Bob, and the generous donations of supplies and labor, we were able to
completely rehab this space to make it a wonderful fresh start for our new
family!”
Another
organization that helped to bring this new home online in record time was JulieKing of Samarra Painting. Paint It Forward is Samarra's community outreach project, and through this
program, they provided a color consultation and painting, including supplies,
for a bedroom at no charge.
ROOF is
currently fundraising to secure its fourth property to provide a local family
with dependent children with a roof over their heads while they take part in a
program to help them regain financial independence. Susanne Cameron, ROOF co-chair, noted, “There
are so many families with children right here in Newburyport, Salisbury and
Amesbury who need a chance to regain their financial footing. We are grateful to the Institution for
Savings for their gift to help us serve them.”
ROOF
welcomes donations of money, volunteer time, renovation skills and property to
continue their works. To learn more
about ROOF, please visit our website at www.RoofOverHead.org, email us
at info@RoofOverHead.org.
The mission of ROOF Over Head Collaborative is to provide transitional
housing for families in need in Amesbury, Newburyport and Salisbury. ROOF
collaborates with a support services partner to empower children and their
families so their lives can be lived with dignity, ending the frightening
reality of homelessness. Families pay a portion of the rent while maintaining
an active status with the support services partner working to improve their
education, job training, and other skills to help them to get up and out of
crisis. To learn more about ROOF or to
make a donation of time or money, please visit our webpage at RoofOverHead.org
or info@RoofOverHead.org or 978-961-1555.
About
The Institution for Savings: the Institution for Savings is widely recognized as
one of the oldest and most stable mutual banks in the country, with assets
totaling approximately $1.3 billion as of March 31, 2012. It is also the
largest mutual savings bank in the Greater Newburyport region and the third
largest on the North Shore.