Joint Effort Between National Community Capital Association and Providian
Financial to Help Thousands of Children Across the Nation
PHILADELPHIA, Aug. 15 /PRNewswire/ -- National Community Capital
Association (NCCA) announced today that 13 community based organizations
across the country have won the first grants from its $11.9 million National
Partnership for Childcare Finance. The Partnership, funded by Providian
Financial Corporation (NYSE: PVN) aims to create new childcare opportunities
for 16,000 children in the nation's economically distressed communities over
the next five years.
Mark Pinsky, president and CEO of NCCA, praised Providian, calling the
Company's commitment the largest ever for Community Development Financial
Institution (CDFI) financing dedicated exclusively to childcare. "Providian is
making the most ambitious and innovative childcare investment of this type by
any financial institution," Pinsky said.
"Finding a high-quality, safe and affordable place for the kids while mom
and dad work is among the greatest challenges facing working families today,"
said Providian Chairman and CEO Shailesh J. Mehta. "With this partnership, we
aim to create childcare spots for more than 16,000 children nationwide over
the next five years and also provide a financing model that others can use to
deliver quality childcare to tens of thousands."
As part of the Company's broader Childcare Initiatives, Providian
dedicates a significant portion of all of its community giving toward
childcare, which it believes is critical to families' social, physical and
economic well being.
NCCA, a membership organization of CDFIs, and Providian, which focuses
much of its community giving efforts to support childcare, said the 13 grants
to CDFIs will be used to increase the supply of quality, affordable childcare
available to economically disadvantaged families.
The recipient organizations span the country, from Wiscassett, Maine to
Seattle, Washington. They also include programs in Washington, D.C.; Ithaca
and Albany, NY; Berea, KY; Jackson, MS; and Orlando, FL; Owatonna, MN;
Marquette, MI; and Milwaukee, WI.
NCAA made two grants in communities where Providian employees live and
work. Business Investment Growth (BIG) in Austin, Texas will use the
contribution to conduct a market analysis, research best practices in
childcare micro lending and develop outcome collection methods for its
childcare Business Financing Initiative.
The Oakland, California-based grant recipient, the Childcare Facilities
Fund of Low Income Housing Fund (LIHF), serves a nationwide constituency. This
group will use the funds to help to develop a childcare center in New York
City based on its successful San Francisco model.
Pinsky said that Providian did not place any geographical requirements on
the selection process and that all the winners were selected on independent
criteria.
The initial grants total about $225,000, with $75,000 in additional grants
under consideration. Pinsky also said the Partnership expects to provide
$5 million in customized financing to local CDFIs over the next several
months. The first of these funds should be available later this week.
The National Partnership for Childcare Finance
Through a combination of investments and grants provided by Providian
Financial, the Partnership works through CDFIs to provide financing for
childcare providers to open, expand, and enhance childcare facilities. CDFIs,
which provide capital, technical assistance and development services in
economically disadvantaged communities, specialize in supporting development
projects that reach low and moderate income families.
The Partnership will also create a financial infrastructure that will
enable other financial institutions to make significant new commitments to
childcare funding. The Partnership hopes to raise at least $25 million to
finance childcare facilities and operations over the next three years.
In addition to the $300,000 for individual CDFIs that are starting
childcare financing activity or developing new products or markets, Providian
is providing $9.5 million in Equity Equivalent Investments (EQ2s) to CDFIs.
EQ2s are deeply subordinated loans with equity-like features. The Company is
also providing another $1.9 million in grants that NCCA will pass through to
CDFIs to use as equity, childcare project equity, or for other childcare
purposes. It is making $291,000 in grants to support NCCA's work in launching
and managing the Partnership.
The Partnership program is the latest element in the Providian Childcare
Initiative, launched in 1997, and is similar to the approach taken by
Providian in the state of New Hampshire where it invested $1.8 million in the
New Hampshire Community Loan Fund (NHCLF) for loans to non-profit childcare
organizations. With that money, NHCLF was able to leverage an additional
$6 million to provide care for more than 1,500 youngsters in New Hampshire.
About Providian
Winner of the 2001 Rochester Institute of Technology/USA Today Quality Cup
for excellence in customer service, San Francisco-based Providian Financial
(http://www.providian.com) is a leading provider of lending and deposit products to
customers throughout the U.S., and offers credit cards and deposit products in
the U.K. and in Argentina. Providian Financial has been named one of America's
Most Admired Companies in a survey by Fortune magazine, one of the nation's
top financial institutions by U.S. Banker magazine, and one of the most
technologically innovative companies in the U.S. by InformationWeek magazine.
The Company has more than $36 billion in assets under management and nearly
18 million customer accounts.
About NCCA
The National Community Capital Association is a national membership
organization of community development financial institutions (CDFIs). National
Community Capital's Member CDFIs provide capital, technical assistance, and
development services to support the revitalization of
economically-disadvantaged urban, rural, and reservation-based communities
across the United States. CDFI's in National Community Capital's network have
provided more than $2.5 billion in financing with loss rates of less than
two percent.
National Community Capital's membership includes community development
credit unions, community development venture capital funds, micro-enterprise
lenders, and community development loan funds.
SOURCE Providian Financial Corporation
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Related links:
http://www.providian.com
CONTACT:
Mark Pinsky of National Community Capital
Association, +1-215-923-4754, ext. 204; or Ashley Vanarsdall of
Weber Shandwick Worldwide, +1-202-585-2130, or
avanarsdall@webershandwick.com
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