ARLINGTON, MASSACHUSETTS, November 13, 2006…At the grand opening ceremony of East Cambridge Savings Bank’s Broadway Office, Arlington, President and CEO, Arthur C. Spears announced donations to benefit affordable housing groups. The Housing Corp of Arlington and the Salvation Army’s Wellington House will each received $5,000 from the East Cambridge Savings Charitable Foundation to support their affordable housing efforts.

Arthur C. Spears, president and chief executive officer of East Cambridge Savings Bank, states, “Creating and maintaining affordable housing is very important to East Cambridge Savings Bank and we are pleased to be able to help support the dedicated efforts of the Housing Corp of Arlington and the Salvation Army.”

The Bank displayed more of its community caring in other elements of its grand opening. It held a week-long holiday food drive of non-perishable food items for the Arlington Food Pantry; customers who opened certain types of accounts were given a coupon for a Free Holiday Turkey which they could choose to donate to the food drive; it partnered with the Marine Corps League as a collection point for its Toys for Tots campaign; and on opening day, parents brought their children in for a photo ID and safety education program, Project Kid Care, developed by Polaroid and the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children.

Present at the grand opening ceremony on Saturday, November 11th were representatives from the Bank’s Board and management team, Arlington Town Officials, Salvation Army, Arlington Food Pantry, Housing Corp of Arlington, others associated with construction of the new facility and members of the community.

The Housing Corporation of Arlington (HCA) is a non-profit community development organization committed to helping members of our community with housing-related issues. Their mission is to support social and economic diversity, through affordable housing programs, for the town and residents of Arlington, Massachusetts. The HCA acts as an advocate for those less fortunate and also provides affordable housing for low-and-moderate-income members of the community.

Wellington House is The Salvation Army’s 20-room Single Room Occupancy Housing (SRO) in Arlington. This facility operates in a former nursing home that was purchased in 1999 and renovated by The Salvation Army Cambridge Corps. The SRO concept is designed to accommodate those clients who would not do well living an independent life in an apartment at this time in their lives. Wellington House is the final step in the substantial effort made by the Salvation Army and the client in his/her recovery from the stigma of being identified as a “homeless” person. A successful stay at Wellington House enables clients to be looked upon as decent, hard working and productive members of our society.