Bank Donates $100,000 For Heating Homeless Shelters

As a way to "spread the warmth," one Chicago-area bank Tuesday presented $100,000 to four local social service organizations to be used toward heating costs for the homeless.

Charter One Bank presented $100,000 to YMCA of Metropolitan Chicago, Southwest Women Working Together, Lakefront Supportive Housing and DuPage PADS, Tuesday morning at the Lawson YMCA, 30 W. Chicago Ave., according to Stacey Reineking, Charter One Bank spokeswoman.

Each organization will receive a check for $25,000 to be used toward heating costs, Reineking said in a telephone interview.

More than 80,000 people in the Chicago area are homeless and at least 15,000 of them cannot find adequate shelter on any given night, according to a bank release.

This is the first time Charter One Bank has donated to the organizations, Reineking said.

"We just felt we could launch a program to help the Chicago community," Reineking said. "We wanted to ensure organizations wouldn't have to cut programs."

The organizations were chosen because they serve a high number of people in multiple communities, Reineking said.

"Our goal was to be able to reach as many shelters as possible," Reineking said. In addition, the bank asked the public to "help spread the warmth" by donating money to be used for additional heating assistance at any of the bank's branches, the release said. Donations will be accepted until Jan. 31, 2006, the release said.

Those donations will also be evenly split among the organizations, Reineking said.

She declined to say if the program will become an annual program for the bank, but Reineking added, "As long as the need exists, we'll continue to find ways to help."

What are people saying about mortgages today:

Rates on 30-year mortgages edged down last week to a seven-month low. Mortgage-giant Freddie Mac reported Thursday that 30-year, fixed-rate mortgages fell to 6.3 percent, down slightly from 6.31 percent two weeks ago. It put rates at the lowest level since they were at 6.24 percent the first week of March.

Bank of Hawaii, Central Pacific Bank, Territorial Savings Bank and Wells Fargo Home Mortgages all cut their 30-year mortgage rates to 5.75 percent this week.

Most people think of a mortgage as a means to an end. After all, you buy a house, not a home loan. But a mortgage is much more than the path to homeownership. It is a financial instrument that must be managed, just like any other financial investment.