FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE                                      

CONTACT:    

Debra Johnson, PCHA, 727-443-7684, ext. 3137, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Christina Beyer Toth, Bank of America, 813-230-8499, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Mike Vietti, KaBOOM!, 785-320-2137, This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it      

DESIGNED BY KIDS, BUILT BY VOLUNTEERS

WHAT:                  More than 200 volunteers from Bank of America and the Pinellas County Housing Authority, organizers from KaBOOM! and residents of the local community will join forces on Saturday, Dec. 3 to build a new playground for children who live at Rainbow Village. The new playground’s design is based on drawings created by children who participated in a Design Day event in October.   

WHY:                 The new playground will provide more than 350 children in the Largo community with a new safe place to play. Currently, the children who live at Rainbow Village only have aging, worn equipment to play on that will be replaced by the bright new playground which will also incorporate features to promote physical fitness.  

                           The playground will be the fourth built by KaBOOM! and Bank of America in an effort to fight the play deficit and save play for children. Bank of America is providing $72,800 toward the project with Pinellas county Housing Authority contributing $8,500. The project is one of more than 150 playground builds KaBOOM! will lead across the country in 2011 in an effort to provide a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America.  

WHEN:              Saturday, December 3

                          8:30 a.m. to 9:00 a.m.             Kick off ceremony and volunteer deployment

                          11:00 a.m. to 1:00 p.m.           Best viewing of playground construction

                          1:00 p.m. to 2:30 p.m.             Final construction phase and adjustments

                          2:30 p.m. to 3:00 p.m.             Ribbon-cutting ceremony to dedicate new play area

                          (Note: all times approximate)

WHERE:           Rainbow Village

                          12301 134th Avenue North
                          Largo, FL  33774

WHO:                St. Petersburg Mayor Bill Foster;

                           District 51 Florida State Representative Larry Ahern;

                           Hundreds of volunteers from the community

VISUALS:         Before and after shots of the site

                           Volunteers assembling brightly colored playground equipment

                           Volunteers moving 60,912 square feet of safety surfacing by hand

                           Ribbon-cutting ceremony to dedicate the playground

Pinellas County Housing Authority

The Pinellas County Housing Authority (PCHA) is the largest housing authority in Pinellas County providing housing and rental assistance to more than 4,600 families. The authority is rated by HUD as a High Performing agency. More information about the authority's programs and services can be found at www.pin-cha.org.

Bank of America

Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 58 million consumer and small business relationships with approximately 5,700 retail banking offices and approximately 17,800 ATMs and award-winning online banking with 30 million active users. Bank of America is among the world's leading wealth management companies and is a global leader in corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to approximately 4 million small business owners through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations in more than 40 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

KaBOOM!

KaBOOM! is the national non-profit dedicated to saving play. Children today spend less time playing outdoors than any previous generation, a fact that is having disastrous consequences on their health, achievement levels, and overall well-being. To fight this Play Deficit, social entrepreneur Darell Hammond founded non-profit KaBOOM! 15 years ago in Washington, D.C. with a vision of creating a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America. Since then, KaBOOM! has mapped over 85,000 places to play, built more than 2,000 playgrounds, and successfully advocated for play policies in hundreds of cities across the country. KaBOOM! also provides communities with online tools to self-organize and take action to support play on both a local and national level. Hammond chronicles the founding of the organization and the importance of the cause of play in his The New York Times Best Seller KaBOOM!: How One Man Built a Movement to Save Play. The book details how businesses and communities can work together to save play for children across the country. All author proceeds support KaBOOM!. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., KaBOOM! also has offices in Chicago and San Mateo, Calif. For more information, visit www.kaboom.org.

# # #

The U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development announced another approval of funding to the Pinellas County Housing Authority (PCHA) to coordinate education, skills and job training to help public residents move to economic self-sufficiency.

"In today's economy, it's never been more critical to help families obtain the skills that lead to jobs," said HUD Secretary Shaun Donovan. "With HUD's help, these housing authorities will be able to assist families in finding employment, increasing their earning potential and putting them on a path to self-sufficiency."

Earlier this year PCHA applied for the grant. "The funding allows us to pay a full time Family Self-Sufficiency Coordinator to work with residents in setting goals, and in connecting them with local education and training opportunities, job placement organizations, and local employers" said Regina Booker, Director of Resident Services and Programs.  

PCHA's Board of Commissioners established "Increasing Services to Promote Self-Sufficiency" as a top priority for the housing authority in 2009.  Since that time PCHA has worked on building community partnerships and implementing programs to assist residents in moving to economic self-sufficiency.   

The Family Self-Sufficiency Program can be a tremendous help to anyone living in public housing or participating in the Housing Voucher program.   All residents are encouraged to participate!

BANK OF AMERICA, PINELLAS COUNTY HOUSING AUTHORITY AND KaBOOM! HOST DESIGN DAY FOR NEW PLAYGROUND AT RAINBOW VILLAGE

WHAT:              Bank of America, the Pinellas County Housing Authority and organizers from KaBOOM! will host a Design Day for children in the Rainbow Village public housing community on Tuesday, Oct. 4. Children who live at Rainbow Village will put crayon to paper and draw their dream playgrounds, which will ultimately become a reality. Elements from the children’s drawings will be incorporated into the final design for the new community playground to be built on Dec. 3 at Rainbow Village. Design Day will also be the first meeting of the playground planning committee that will work for the next eight weeks to plan and prepare for the construction of the new playground.

WHY:                The new playground will provide more than 350 children in the community with a new safe place to play. Currently, the children who live at Rainbow Village only have aging, worn equipment to play on that will be replaced by the bright new playground which will also incorporate features to promote physical fitness.

                           The playground will be the fourth built by KaBOOM! and Bank of America in an effort to fight the play deficit and save play for children. The project is one of more than 150 playground builds KaBOOM! will lead across the country in 2011 in an effort to provide a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America.

WHEN:              Tuesday, October 4

                          4 p.m. to 5 p.m.                       Children designing their dream playground

                          5 p.m. to 7 p.m.                       Volunteers participating in planning meeting

WHERE:           Rainbow Village

                         12301 134th Avenue North
                          Largo, FL  33774

VISUALS:         Children drawing their dream playgrounds

                          Before shots of the site                          

Pinellas County Housing Authority

The Pinellas County Housing Authority (PCHA) is the largest housing authority in Pinellas County providing housing and rental assistance to more than 4,600 families. The authority is rated by HUD as a High Performing agency. More information about the authority's programs and services can be found at www.pin-cha.org.

Bank of America

Bank of America is one of the world's largest financial institutions, serving individual consumers, small- and middle-market businesses and large corporations with a full range of banking, investing, asset management and other financial and risk management products and services. The company provides unmatched convenience in the United States, serving approximately 58 million consumer and small business relationships with approximately 5,700 retail banking offices and approximately 17,800 ATMs and award-winning online banking with 30 million active users. Bank of America is among the world's leading wealth management companies and is a global leader in corporate and investment banking and trading across a broad range of asset classes, serving corporations, governments, institutions and individuals around the world. Bank of America offers industry-leading support to approximately 4 million small business owners through a suite of innovative, easy-to-use online products and services. The company serves clients through operations in more than 40 countries. Bank of America Corporation stock (NYSE: BAC) is a component of the Dow Jones Industrial Average and is listed on the New York Stock Exchange.

KaBOOM!

KaBOOM! is the national non-profit dedicated to saving play. Children today spend less time playing outdoors than any previous generation, a fact that is having disastrous consequences on their health, achievement levels, and overall well-being. To fight this Play Deficit, social entrepreneur Darell Hammond founded non-profit KaBOOM! 15 years ago in Washington, D.C. with a vision of creating a great place to play within walking distance of every child in America. Since then, KaBOOM! has mapped over 85,000 places to play, built more than 2,000 playgrounds, and successfully advocated for play policies in hundreds of cities across the country. KaBOOM! also provides communities with online tools to self-organize and take action to support play on both a local and national level. Hammond chronicles the founding of the organization and the importance of the cause of play in his The New York Times Best Seller KaBOOM!: How One Man Built a Movement to Save Play. The book details how businesses and communities can work together to save play for children across the country. All author proceeds support KaBOOM!. Headquartered in Washington, D.C., KaBOOM! also has offices in Chicago and San Mateo, Calif. For more information, visit www.kaboom.org.

# # #

By Debra S. Johnson, Executive Director

In today’s fiscal and economic climate, it is more important than ever for housing authorities to initiate smart ways to increase efficiencies, realize cost savings, embrace streamlining, and encourage innovation while keeping the development of housing for low-income individuals and families a priority.  

The Board of Commissioners and staff of the Pinellas County Housing Authority (PCHA) embrace this philosophy.  Currently, 69% of the operating revenue for PCHA properties is derived from non-Federal and non-State sources.  

During the first half of 2011, I’m very pleased to report the following accomplishments:

• Added over 100 units of housing for low-income individuals and families to our portfolio 
• Registered PCHA as a State of Florida Ready to Work employer partner and seeking to become a Ready to Work training center for PCHA residents 
• Achieved outstanding fiscal and regulatory compliance – no audit findings in our recent audit report for FY 2010 
• HUD High Performer notification received - Received 100 out of 100 possible points on the HUD Section 8 Maagement Assessment Program for FY 2010 
• HUD High Performer notification received - Received 99 out of a possible 100 points on the HUD Public Housing Assessment for FY 2010 
• Obligated and expended all ARRA funds timely and correctly as noted in our annual audit 
• Implemented programs to link residents with education, job training, and employment to assist them in achieving economic self-sufficiency 
• Selected Nationally to participate in the HUD administrative fee and physical needs assessment studies; one of a few High Performing housing authorities asked to participate by HUD  

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