Mercy Housing California & Citi Launch Financial Education Program for Visitacion Valley Residents

Mercy Housing
Mercy Housing, a national not-for-profit affordable housing organization headquartered in Denver, has a presence in 41 states, serves more than 58,000 people each day and has developed nearly 19,000 homes. About 69 percent of Mercy Housing’s portfolio is rental units, and the remaining 31 percent is homeownership. Mercy Housing serves families, seniors and people with special needs (formerly homeless, people with HIV/AIDS and the developmentally disabled). For more information about Mercy Housing, please visit www.mercyhousing.org.

Citi Financial Education Program
The Citi Financial Education Program is a global, company-wide effort to identify, support and implement initiatives that help give individuals, families and communities the tools needed to make sound financial decisions. In 2004, Citi and the Citi Foundation announced a 10-year, $200 million global financial education commitment, the formation of a new Office of Financial Education and a global initiative designed to encourage its 300,000 employees around the world to devote time to support financial education and other charitable causes. Under this initiative, employees may take a day off from work to volunteer for non-profit organizations in their communities. For more information please visit http://financialeducation.citigroup.com.

Citi
Citi, the leading global financial services company, has some 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 100 countries, providing consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, insurance, securities brokerage, and wealth management. Major brand names under Citi’s trademark red arc include Citibank, CitiFinancial, Primerica, Smith Barney, and Banamex. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com or www.citi.com.

Citi Foundation
The Citi Foundation supports organizations that help people improve their lives, businesses to grow, and communities to prosper around the world. The Citi Foundation focuses its grants primarily in three areas: financial education, educating the next generation, and building communities and entrepreneurs. Additional information can be found at http://www.citigroupfoundation.com.


	Printer Friendly Page		FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE Citigroup Inc. (NYSE: C) Apr 26, 2007 Mercy Housing California & Citi Launch Financial Education Program for Visitacion Valley Residents Programs in California, Illinois and Colorado Made Possible By $600,000 Citi Foundation Grant San Francisco, CA – Mercy Housing California residents at Britton Court and Heritage Homes in San Francisco’s Visitacion Valley will soon have the skills to achieve their financial goals through a program called Making Dreams Happen. Mercy Housing and Citi launched the second year of their successful financial education program today at the Heritage Homes Community Center. Through a $600,000 grant from the Citi Foundation, Mercy Housing staff and Citi volunteers are combining their efforts and knowledge to teach low-income residents the skills they need to open checking and savings accounts, establish and maintain positive credit, and stop using check-cashing stores. The grant will also help fund Mercy Housing’s efforts to develop and preserve affordable housing in California and Illinois. Last year, through a $250,000 grant from the Citi Foundation, Mercy Housing and Citi kicked off the program with residents and community members in San Leandro, California, where Mercy Housing California properties are home to nearly 200 families who make an average annual income of $19,000. The area median income in San Leandro is $82,000. Mercy Housing properties in Chicago and Denver also served as pilot sites. Last year, more than 50 residents and community members in San Leandro successfully completed the pilot program. As a result of the three-city pilot, about 88% of students established household budgets, and about half opened savings accounts. Because of the success of Making Dreams Happen in 2006, Citi gave Mercy Housing a $600,000 grant to offer the program again to the original sites and expand to Britton Court and Heritage Homes in Visitacion Valley and one more property in Chicago. Mercy Housing and Citi have collaborated for many years on both local and national levels to make safe, affordable housing more widely available. In 2003, Citi and the Citi Foundation awarded Mercy Housing a three-year, $1 million grant for the development and revitalization of affordable housing in Chicago and California. Through this grant, Citi supported Mercy Housing in developing 1,500 affordable rental homes in Chicago and in creating more than 2,000 affordable rental and homeownership opportunities in California. “Our residents work hard to provide safe, stable environments for themselves and their families,” said Sister Lillian Murphy, RSM, Mercy Housing Chief Executive Officer. “Through Citi’s generous grant and the Making Dreams Happen program, these residents are on their way toward reaching their financial goals. We are so thankful to the Citi Foundation and Citi volunteers for their commitment to our residents in 2006, and we’re excited that more people in Chicago and San Francisco will have the opportunity to learn important financial skills this year.” Americans of all income levels lack financial education. The Center for Financial Education reports that 90% of Americans have never received financial training. “It was natural for us to expand our relationship with Mercy Housing into one of Citi’s main areas of focus – financial education,” said Cheryl Evans, Community Relations Director for Citibank’s Western U.S. division. “Learning to manage money is critical in helping people improve the quality of their lives, and that, in turn, strengthens and ultimately benefits all of us in the community.” Making Dreams Happen refers to the American Dream of owning a home, purchasing a major asset such as a car, starting a home business or financing higher education. Many Mercy Housing California residents in Visitacion Valley have this dream, but have struggled to achieve it in an area that has historically suffered from severe drug and crime problems. Mercy Housing California built Britton Court and Heritage Homes in 1998 on the former site of Geneva Towers, a government-operated housing development. The two properties are located across the street from each other and are home to 232 families who make an average income of $5,000 a year. Most of these residents use check-cashing services or local grocery stores to bank, losing as much as 30% of their incomes in charges per month. Through Making Dreams Happen, these residents will have the opportunity to learn financial skills from Citi volunteers and Mercy Housing California staff members. In addition to the class time and study sessions each week for nine to 12 weeks, students will undergo household assessments to learn about their current levels of financial and household stability. # # # Mercy Housing Mercy Housing, a national not-for-profit affordable housing organization headquartered in Denver, has a presence in 41 states, serves more than 58,000 people each day and has developed nearly 19,000 homes. About 69 percent of Mercy Housing’s portfolio is rental units, and the remaining 31 percent is homeownership. Mercy Housing serves families, seniors and people with special needs (formerly homeless, people with HIV/AIDS and the developmentally disabled). For more information about Mercy Housing, please visit www.mercyhousing.org. Citi Financial Education Program The Citi Financial Education Program is a global, company-wide effort to identify, support and implement initiatives that help give individuals, families and communities the tools needed to make sound financial decisions. In 2004, Citi and the Citi Foundation announced a 10-year, $200 million global financial education commitment, the formation of a new Office of Financial Education and a global initiative designed to encourage its 300,000 employees around the world to devote time to support financial education and other charitable causes. Under this initiative, employees may take a day off from work to volunteer for non-profit organizations in their communities. For more information please visit http://financialeducation.citigroup.com. Citi Citi, the leading global financial services company, has some 200 million customer accounts and does business in more than 100 countries, providing consumers, corporations, governments and institutions with a broad range of financial products and services, including consumer banking and credit, corporate and investment banking, insurance, securities brokerage, and wealth management. Major brand names under Citi’s trademark red arc include Citibank, CitiFinancial, Primerica, Smith Barney, and Banamex. Additional information may be found at www.citigroup.com or www.citi.com. Citi Foundation The Citi Foundation supports organizations that help people improve their lives, businesses to grow, and communities to prosper around the world. The Citi Foundation focuses its grants primarily in three areas: financial education, educating the next generation, and building communities and entrepreneurs. Additional information can be found at http://www.citigroupfoundation.com.