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Since the formation of our organization in 2000, CRA Partners has helped hundreds of banks obtain the CRA credit they deserve for ensuring safe, secure senior living environments.  Currently, our programs operate in 47 states and protect more than 115,000 seniors in nursing homes, HUD facilities and state veterans homes. We have reduced crime in our member facilities by 96%, thanks to our bank partners’ funding and support.

Our Foundation assets are held in trust by Fifth Third Bank.  Despite recent challenges of several large banks, our partners can rest assured that assets held in Fifth Third’s custody are not assets or liabilities of Fifth Third Bank.  The Foundations’ assets are segregated from the Bank’s assets, so any difficulties a custodial bank may incur do not affect the health of our organization. Fifth Third Bank is well-capitalized and remains a source of strength and stability. Their role as custodian is to hold the assets for safekeeping, to collect dividends and interest and provide other similar services. Account ownership in the assets remains vested in the individuals or entities for whose benefit the Bank is acting as custodian and the assets are not subject to the claims of creditors of Fifth Third Bank.

Just as we have for over 22 years, we’ll continue to provide protection and an enhanced quality of life for vulnerable senior housing residents through meaningful turnkey CRA compliance for community focused banks. Thank you for your continued support.

Please join us in welcoming our newest field rep, Meeka McIntyre. Meeka will be providing service to senior facilities in a CA, NV, OR, WA, ID, MT, WY, ND, SD, CO, UT, AZ, and NM. Meeka currently resides in the Southern California area. She has worked with the U-turn Foundation as a Consultant, which provides prevention/intervention for At-Risk-Youth. She has also worked in Christian Education and in the Medicare Dept at Kaiser Permanente. From an early age, she has been passionate about helping our seniors. She even hopes to one day to open an elderly daycare. She is thankful for this opportunity and looks forward to working with everyone.

Republished from:

https://www.aura.com/learn/holiday-scams

1. Fake charities that steal your money
2. Gift card scams (including empty gift cards)
3. Lookalike online stores
4. Phishing emails from companies you trust
5. Fraudulent seasonal jobs
6. Missed delivery notification scam texts
7. Grandparent scams
8. Social ads promoting fraudulent items 
9. Popular holiday gifts at low prices
10. Holiday travel and online airfare scams
11. Fake online giveaways and surveys
12. Scam online gift exchanges
13. Hacking over public Wi-Fi
14. Stealing mail and packages
15. Shoulder surfing and card skimming

Over twelve years ago, we created a Veterans Initiative in support of our Foundation’s mission. The focus of the initiative is to reduce all aspects of crime and provide ongoing, effective crime prevention programs that ensure a safe and secure environment for the residents of Veterans Homes all over the U.S.

Protecting the veterans that have served our country continues to be not only an important part of the Foundation’s mission, but is important to community bankers as well. CRA Partners, a subsidiary of the Independent Community Bankers of America (ICBA), brings nursing, HUD, and veterans’ homes together with community banks for sponsorship in their assessment area, earning the bank CRA credit.

In honor of Veterans Day, we take this opportunity to thank the following banks for their continued support of this on-going initiative. When you see the image at left in the window of a bank, know that their sponsorship of this initiative is one of the many ways they choose to give back to the brave men and women who have sacrificed so much. Our heartfelt gratitude goes to:

1st Summit Bank

Avidia Bank

Bank Five Nine

Centennial Bank

Central Bank of Oklahoma

ChoiceOne Bank

Community First Bank

Core Bank

Delaware National Bank of Delhi

F&M Bank

FirstBank

First Citizens Bank (IA)

First-Citizens Bank & Trust Company

First Command Bank

First Community Bank of Tennessee

First National Bank of Pennsylvania

Franklin Savings Bank (ME)

Franklin Savings Bank (NH)

GrandSouth Bank

Happy State Bank

JD Bank

Kearny Bank

Kennebec Savings Bank

Lakeland Bank

Machias Savings Bank

Main Street Bank (MA)

Manasquan Bank

Milford Federal Savings & Loan Association

NBC Oklahoma

Park National Bank

Peoples Bank (NC)

Pinnacle Bank

Poppy Bank

Sturgis Bank & Trust Company

The Dime Bank

Truist Bank

United Bank of Philadelphia

VeraBank, National Association

Westfield Bank, FSB

West Shore Bank

To better serve banks that support our Foundation, we have added a new member to our team. Steffani Jenkins will serve as CRA Liaison and Business Development Officer. Ms. Jenkins joins us with a wealth of experience gained in previous roles related to the CRA and Community Development at Cross River, Deposit Guaranty National, Iberia/First Horizon, Trustmark, and Regions Banks.

Ms. Jenkins brings a deep knowledge of the rules and regulations regarding the Community Reinvestment Act, and will aid banks in understanding how those rules apply to them, and how to best serve their customers and communities, while fulfilling their federally mandated CRA obligations.

“With CRA modernization on the horizon, we felt the time was right to create a support system to help bankers navigate the ever-changing waters of CRA compliance,” said David Lenoir, President & CEO of CRA Partners.

Steffani will also be instrumental in bringing together senior facilities that care for low-to-moderate income residents with banks in their communities that can provide sponsorship of programs that fight elder abuse and financial exploitation in those vulnerable senior populations.

Ms. Jenkins is a proud graduate if Mississippi State University and will be based in Vicksburg, Mississippi, working remotely out of our Memphis headquarters.

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About the Senior Crimestoppers program

CRA Partners and Senior Crimestoppers are operated by the Senior Housing Crime Prevention Foundation (SHCPF), headquartered in Memphis, Tennessee.

The SHCPF mission is to provide protection and an enhanced quality of life for vulnerable senior housing residents through meaningful turnkey CRA compliance for community focused banks.

Funded exclusively by the banking industry and endorsed by the ICBA and over 30 state bankers associations, the Foundation has developed a low-risk, profitable solution — CRA Partners — for banks of all asset sizes and charter types – to fulfill their federally mandated Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) requirements in the form of qualified loans, investments or grants through the operation of the nationally acclaimed Senior Crimestoppers program.

For more information about Senior Crimestoppers, visit SeniorCrimestoppers.org or call 800-529-9096.

We are pleased to announce that Arkansas Community Bankers has recently endorsed CRA Partners as a Preferred Solutions Provider in order to help protect vulnerable senior citizens in area nursing homes, while offering banks the opportunity to earn CRA credit.

We established The Senior Housing Crime Prevention Foundation a 501(c)(3) in 2000 as a way for banks to earn Community Reinvestment Act (CRA) credit through CRA-qualified loans and investments.  The structure of the SHCPF opens a segment of society to service by banks – the residents, family members and staff of nursing homes and senior HUD housing properties. Supporting low-to-moderate income Senior housing residents is an approved CRA activity designated by the federal regulatory agencies, allowing banks to receive CRA credit for supporting Foundation programs in nursing homes, HUD senior housing projects and the nation’s Veterans Nursing Homes.  The focus of the SHCPF is to reduce all aspects of crime and provide ongoing, effective crime prevention programs that ensure a safe and secure environment for the residents of senior housing.  In part, this is accomplished through the installation of their protection programs: Senior Crimestoppers, Senior Secure, and Senior Sentry.

“As a subsidiary of ICBA, we are delighted to work with an ICBA affiliate association as strong as Arkansas Community Bankers to help their members continue to serve their communities,” said David Lenoir, President, CRA Partners.

For over 20 years, CRA Partners has helped banks obtain the credit they deserve for safeguarding seniors, all without overhead or administrative hassles. Banks get involved through a community development loan, community development investment or a grant. Their flexible, low-risk funding options also help tailor the program to your bank’s CRA needs.

For more information about the Senior Housing Crime Prevention Foundation or to enroll in the program, visit www.SHCPFoundation.org, contact David Lenoir at the Senior Housing Crime Prevention Foundation at (901) 529-4786 or email him at  [email protected] .

Every year on June 15, World Elder Abuse Awareness Day (WEAAD) is commemorated in America and worldwide, with the purpose of raising awareness about the millions of older adults who experience elder abuse, neglect, and financial exploitation. As many as 1 in 10 older Americans are abused or neglected each year, only 1 in 14 cases of elder abuse ever come to authorities’ attention. Older Americans are vital, contributing members of our society, and their abuse or neglect diminishes all of us. WEAAD reminds us that, as in a just society, we all have a critical role to play to focus attention on elder justice.

CRA Partners is a turnkey CRA compliance program powered by the Senior Housing Crime Prevention Foundation. The Foundation operates Senior Crimestoppers, a nationwide crime prevention program educating and safeguarding against theft, abuse and neglect, and is funded exclusively by the banking industry.

Now, banks that partner with them to satisfy CRA requirements, boost community relations, and develop new business relationships, while ensuring safe, secure senior living environments in their communities, will receive a new benefit: “Cyber-Savvy Seniors”, a Resource Portal, where partners with password access can download documents with information geared toward senior citizens that will help them navigate the ever-changing waters of online safety. Digital scams continue to increase dramatically, and seniors are particularly vulnerable to cyber-crime.

“Banks involved in our programs will now have access to these valuable resources to share with their older clientele on subjects like stopping robocalls, keeping their data safe online, and how to avoid things like gift card scams, phishing, and more,” said Shea Gabrielleschi, VP Southeast Region – CRA Partners.

Additionally, CRA Partners will co-brand the materials with the partner bank logo if desired, and can even add nursing home brand identity of the bank’s sponsored facilities, so that the information can be distributed to residents and staff at their sponsored facilities.

Foundation programs are already protecting over 100,000 seniors nationwide.

“We are happy to have supported the Senior Crimestoppers program for many years. We have supported a long-term senior care facility and one of the NC State Veterans homes through the program. Our commitment to these facilities is ongoing and we look forward to participating in them for years to come.”

– Joseph Lampron, EVP & CFO – Peoples Bank, Newton, NC

New materials will be added regularly to build this valuable resource library. To learn more about participating in our programs, and to gain access to these resources for your bank or senior facility, please visit https://shcpfoundation.org/resources/ or contact [email protected] (901) 529-4783.

This issue brief will discuss:

The increased regulatory expectations associated with moving up from being a small bank to an intermediate small bank (ISB) or from an ISB to a large bank.
Strategies community banks can use to successfully manage these growing pains and demonstrate compliance.

See more at:

Crossing a New CRA Asset Size Threshold (icba.org)

With the approach of Valentine’s Day, we share this advisory from the Commodity Futures Trading Commission that warns the public to avoid offers to trade foreign currency contracts (forex), precious metal contracts, and digital assets with people they meet through dating apps or social media, even if the relationship has been building for weeks or months. See more at:

Customer Advisory: Avoid Forex, Precious Metals, and Digital Asset Romance Scams | CFTC

In order to better serve the residents that benefit from our Senior Protection Programs, and the banks that sponsor them, we’ve added two new members to our team. Marnie Stewart joins us as Partner Relationship Manager. In her previous position as an Operations Manager in local government, Marnie worked across multiple departments. Marnie will assist in bringing facilities and banks together to help protect the residents, and aid banks in building those relationships with the seniors in their communities.

Also joining our team is Audrey Thibodeaux, who will serve as a Field Representative in the Southern U.S. Audrey has worked to assist elders for over twenty-five years, in a community hospital setting, as well as in hospital-based home health and skilled nursing programs providing services primarily to elders in the community. Through grant funds, Audrey initiated a number of conferences, training programs, and certifications supporting elderly victims of abuse across the state of Louisiana. She will continue those efforts on our behalf, supporting facilities through assisting with the administration of our programs.