LOS ANGELES, Aug. 6, 2020 /PRNewswire/ -- CIT Group Inc.
(CIT) today announced that it has made a donation to A New Way of
Life Reentry Project, which will help the organization convert a
disused convent into safe housing for formerly incarcerated women
in the Los Angeles area. The
facility is expected to be completed in mid-August, addressing a
community need identified by a customer of CIT's Southern California retail bank OneWest Bank
as part of the company's Acts of Caring initiative.
CIT's donation will help A New Way of Life Reentry Project
renovate 4,500 square feet of living, communal and visiting space
for women.
Since 1998, A New Way of Life has worked with women rebuilding
their lives after incarceration, providing housing, case
management, pro bono legal services, advocacy and leadership
development. The organization has helped more than 1,200 women and
children in their reentry homes and has provided pro bono legal
services to thousands.
"When we acquired this convent, we immediately saw the potential
that it could have as safe housing for women but knew that we
needed some work to get there. CIT recognized its potential and
provided the donation we needed to refurbish it and transform it
into a beautiful, welcoming home for the women we support," said
Susan Burton, founder and president
at A New Way of Life. "It will serve as a safe place for successful
community reentry, family reunification and individual healing, and
we are looking forward to the work that we will accomplish
here."
"As part of our Acts of Caring initiative, we're completing ten
projects that address significant needs in the communities of our
customers," said Heather Ellison,
head of Retail Banking at CIT. "Our donation to A New Way of Life
addresses one of these community needs by providing a space that
will inspire and empower women in the LA-area to rebuild and take
control of their lives after incarceration."
CIT Acts of Caring
As part of CIT's Acts of Caring program, the company invited
customers to nominate a need in their hometown and share how the
company could support those efforts on their behalf. Identified by
a customer of CIT's Southern
California retail bank division OneWest Bank, A New Way of
Life is one of ten projects nationwide that was selected to receive
a donation from CIT this summer.
The customer program follows a month-long social good project
where CIT employees completed more than 3,000 Acts of Caring and
dedicated nearly 5,000 hours in support of causes such as COVID-19
relief, addressing food insecurity, improving the environment and
advancing social and economic justice.
Learn more about CIT's Acts of Caring initiative at
cit.com/ActsOfCaring.
About A New Way of Life
In 1998, Susan Burton founded A
New Way of Life Reentry Project (ANWOL) to help women, families,
and communities break the cycle and heal from the formidable
experiences of incarceration. ANWOL advances multi-dimensional
solutions to the effects of incarceration, including (1) providing
housing and support to formerly incarcerated women for successful
community reentry, family reunification, and individual healing;
(2) working to restore the civil rights of formerly incarcerated
people; and (3) empowering, organizing, and mobilizing formerly
incarcerated people as advocates for social change and personal
transformation.
A New Way of Life envisions a world where every person can make
decisions for his/her own life, is accountable for those decisions,
and is valued as a contributing member of the community. ANWOL has
been a driving force in considerable policy reforms, including the
ban-the-box ordinances and the Safe Neighborhoods and Schools Act
(Proposition 47), a historic measure to reverse decades of
antiquated approaches to community safety and justice, properly
redirecting costly prison construction and management resources to
education, reentry, and victims' services.
About CIT
CIT is a leading national bank focused on empowering businesses
and personal savers with the financial agility to navigate their
goals. CIT Group Inc. (NYSE: CIT) is a financial holding company
with over a century of experience and operates a principal bank
subsidiary, CIT Bank, N.A. (Member FDIC, Equal Housing Lender). The
company's commercial banking segment includes commercial financing,
community association banking, middle market banking, equipment and
vendor financing, factoring, railcar financing, treasury and
payments services, and capital markets and asset management. CIT's
consumer banking segment includes a national direct bank and
regional branch network. Discover more at cit.com/about.
MEDIA RELATIONS:
Lexa Tutela
212-461-5305
Alexandra.Tutela@cit.com
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SOURCE CIT Group Inc.