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Employees from Fifth Third Bank (Eastern Michigan) prep a veteran’s home for paint
The Fifth Third Foundation and Fifth Third Bank (Cincinnati) proudly support the Learning is Cool program
Fifth Third puts its curiosity to work to help create vibrant and healthy communities where we do business. Whether it’s through strategic partnerships, offering grants, making investments or providing other financial services, we embrace our duty of good corporate citizenship.

Neighborhood conversations spark our interest because they help us understand how our communities are faring. We work on local boards, volunteer at non-profits and engage businesses to discover areas where our Company can help.

5-3 Impact

We take a holistic approach to community development. 5-3 Impact is an initiative that drives engagement with community stakeholders so that our efforts are more strategic, comprehensive, creative and impactful. 5-3 Impact helps our Company avoid singular actions—the making of one loan or the offering of an isolated grant—in order to fully leverage our resources and unite them with others for the betterment of a community.

5-3 Impact is working in North Carolina, where in 2012 and 2013, the Fifth Third Community Development Corporation (CDC) made a $21.5 million tax credit investment in Renaissance West in Charlotte. Renaissance West is a development with 184 low-income senior and multi-family housing units. When finished, it will feature an early childhood development center, K-8 charter school and a community center.

With the 5-3 Impact approach, we are utilizing the expertise of our local Community & Economic Development manager, who is a board member of the Renaissance Investment Community Initiative, which is spearheading the revitalization. Fifth Third is coordinating outreach to new and surrounding residents and hosting education seminars and homeownership events. Future support will include sponsorship of a computer lab in the new community center, Young Bankers Club in the charter school and educational workshops for businesses in the West Boulevard Business Corridor.

Empowering Leaders

We also invest directly in people. Through our Empowering Community Leaders program, we awarded 18 full scholarships to non-profit leaders in 2013 to attend industry-leading conferences. The conferences included the Cleveland Fed’s Policy Summit; the Association for Enterprise Opportunity’s Power of Microenterprise Conference; and the Underbanked Financial Services Forum.

We also enabled other non-profit leaders to attend state housing conferences and other events, including the U.S. Hispanic Chamber of Commerce’s Annual Conference. Fifth Third understands the value of these industry forums and is committed to connecting our community partners with these opportunities, especially those with limited means.


SPOTLIGHT:

Serving Those Who Serve

Fifth Third Bank gave back to veterans, active-duty military, reservists and their families through a special outreach effort across our Company’s footprint in November. This bank-wide effort to “serve those who have served” began several years ago in the Chicago affiliate when employees decided Veterans Day on November 11 would be a day “on” and not a day “off.” Instead of taking the usual Bank holiday, our employees deployed into the local community to honor veterans with their service.
This effort to help and honor veterans, which illustrates the Bank’s Value Proposition to markedly improve the lives of our customers and communities, has spread throughout our Company. Many have
joined Chicago in conducting fundraising
for the Folds of Honor Foundation, which provides scholarships to military family members, and other veterans and military-related entities. Our affiliates also participated in commemorative events and joined in outreach efforts like packaging goods and supplies for military men and women oversees.
The Bancorp’s Community & Economic Development (CED) department also joined the effort for veterans this year when it extended its commitment to serving low- and moderate-income communities to individual veterans in need. Through a partnership with Rebuilding Together and People Working Cooperatively, CED invested $160,000 in projects in seven market cities to revitalize
the homes of deserving veterans whose age or other limitations prevented them from making necessary repairs and upgrades on their homes. Nearly 400 employees and community partners joined this effort in Dayton, Cincinnati, Detroit, Tampa Bay, Knoxville, Atlanta, and Charleston, W. Va.

Enterprise Investment Fund

Fifth Third Bank’s Enterprise Investment Fund, managed by our Community & Economic Development department, helps build and revitalize local communities. In 2013, EIF grants worth nearly $900,000 were awarded to our Bank affiliates who applied on behalf of their local markets. Since inception, EIF grants totaling $3.2 million have been distributed.

In 2013, Fifth Third Bank (Eastern Michigan) partnered with Midtown Detroit Inc. to secure $50,000 for the redevelopment of Redmond Park, part of a broader economic plan for the area. Fifth Third Bank (Cincinnati) received a $50,000 grant for the Walnut Hills Redevelopment Foundation to support its Restore Walnut Hills program, which is working to fill vacant storefronts with viable businesses. Fifth Third Bank (Chicago) secured a $70,000 grant for Mercy Housing Lakefront to create jobs and build and preserve affordable housing for low-income families, seniors and formerly homeless individuals.

Additional funds were awarded to support workforce development and other initiatives aimed at addressing employment barriers. Fifth Third Bank (North Carolina) and Fifth Third Bank (Northeastern Ohio) worked with organizations on programs designed to bridge the skill and financial gaps of low-income adults seeking to re-enter the labor force. Fifth Third Bank (Central Ohio) supported Goodwill Industries of KYOWVA with a $40,000 grant to facilitate the renovation of the J.W. Scott Center in Huntington, W. Va. The renovated center will provide more efficient space for Goodwill’s nationally recognized medical, business clerical and hospitality workforce development programming.

Community Development Corporation

The Fifth Third CDC made investments of $287 million in 2013 in support of affordable housing, revitalization and historic preservation projects in Fifth Third Bank’s footprint. One such investment was $2.9 million for Sheppard Square B in Louisville’s historic Smoketown neighborhood. Sheppard Square B involves new construction of 50 affordable housing units and 10 market-rate family apartment units. It is part of the Louisville Metro Housing Authority’s larger $141.8 million redevelopment project that is likely to spur commercial and residential investment.

The Fifth Third CDC also invested $7.6 million in the Bronzeville Phase II Apartments project in Chicago in 2013, following a significant investment in 2012. The project is the continuation of the redevelopment of the Paul G. Stewart campus in the Bronzeville neighborhood. A new, 24-unit Section 8 apartment community, Bronzeville Phase II Apartments will create affordable housing for families in townhome-style units. Many of the units will have rents that target low-income seniors. The developer, People’s Consumer Cooperative, is providing supportive services for residents, including case management, crisis intervention, social programming, education, financial benefits advocacy and medical services.

Fifth Third Foundation

The Fifth Third Foundation was the first philanthropic foundation established by a financial institution. Each year since 1948, the Foundation has made strategic grants in the areas of community development, health and human services, the arts and education. In its 2013 fiscal year, total grants were $3.9 million.

One such grant was to help launch Teach for America—Southwest Ohio, a national teacher corps of college graduates and professionals who commit to teach for two years in public schools and raise student achievement. The Foundation’s grant is helping to launch Teach for America—Southwest Ohio.

The Foundation also supported the Marvin Lewis Community Fund for its Learning is Cool program. Learning is Cool encourages nearly 28,000 students in greater Cincinnati and Northern Kentucky to make the “A” honor roll at least two quarters of the year. Those who do are recognized at an Academic Achievement Celebration attended by Cincinnati Bengals Head Coach Marvin Lewis and current Bengals players. In the Cincinnati Public School district, the program witnessed a 155 percent increase in the number of “A” honor roll achievements after five years.


Local Affiliate Support

Much of our community support is accomplished on the local level. With staff living and working in those communities, our affiliates have their pulse on community needs. We have made many multi-year commitments with local universities and sports teams to greatly impact the regional economy, quality of life and arts in a community. Examples include Fifth Third Fields in Toledo and Dayton, Ohio, the Fifth Third Bank River Bank Run in Michigan, and the Fifth Third Pavilion in Lexington, Ky.